In the fourth episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest, the team tracks two kids in foster care when they become targets of the Brotherhood gang. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.
I admit that I’m starting to warm up to the Brotherhood arc, and that’s mostly because of the twist ending in this episode. That’s the single most compelling element of this story, especially since the Brotherhood are very one-note right up to that moment. As I said last week, I’m still suspicious about the usage of an all-black gang within this narrative when pretty much all the other antagonists get nuance and complicated layers. There’s nothing redemptive or forgivable in what they do either, given that they literally chase down two children for the entirety of this episode so that they can murder them. Like… that’s relentlessly evil, isn’t it?
The Booker kids are more interesting than this, as is Mini and his true identity, and that’s where “Brotherhood†truly makes its impact. At the heart of this is a set of injustices: the Booker children’s mother was jailed on a gun charge when something as inconsequential as that is rarely treated with such severity. I AM GUESSING THERE IS PROBABLY ONLY ONE REASON THEIR MOTHER WAS GIVEN SUCH A HARSH PUNISHMENT. And from that act, the kids’ lives unravel. They’re put in foster care, but separated into different homes. It’s because of this that Malcolm takes advantage of being in the wrong place at the right time. His intent is to reunite his family, even if that means stealing drug money from the Brotherhood. And from his point of view, it’s a simple plan: use the money to buy nice clothes and then hire a fancy lawyer to fight his mom’s charges. Does he think in the long term? No, of course not, but can you blame him? In his mind, he set all of this motion and now, he’s got to undo it all as quickly as he can.
It’s a rather crushing story once you think about it. Malcom always wanted the best for his family, and in attempting to keep them all safe, he made matters worse. You can watch him grapple with that guilt over the course of “Brotherhood,†too! It’s totally why he decided to sacrifice himself to Link. It was the easiest way to keep his sister out of harm’s way while taking responsibility for what he’d done. As frightening as that was, I admired him for doing it. That’s a bold thing for anyone to do, and Malcolm was just a kid! I’m glad that he and his sister get a happy ending, though, since I was worried that this might have a bleaker tone than I expected. THIS SEASON GOT DARK, OKAY.
It might get darker, too, given the two signs of what is to come. The reveal that Mini was Dominic the entire time COMPLETELY took me by surprise. I really feel like I need to watch all of this to fully understand his character because I definitely thought he was just one of the Brotherhood soldiers and nothing more. It’s Dominic’s catch-phrase—that we all die in the end—that worries me more than everything. It’s a very strange philosophy within this context, and I’m intrigued as to why that’s going to be important. How does it manifest for Dominic? Does this mean all his soldiers are always expendable? What about himself?
Then there’s Elias. I am SO incredibly into the fact that Harold has had to form a shaky and odd alliance with him because that’s obviously one of my favorite tropes. But Elias is also one of the first characters in a very long time who has asked about the Machine in the way that he does. I voiced this question during the video, but I’ll repeat it here: How many people will eventually learn of the Machine? Of Samaritan? Elias knows something is wrong with Harold, but Harold can’t risk telling someone else the truth, right? It’s too dangerous! BUT ELIAS IS VERY CONVINCING. Oh god, will Fusco ever know the truth??? PLEASE.
The video for “Brotherhood†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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