In the fifth episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest, I am so fucked up. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.
I REGRET SAYING THAT THIS SHOW IS GETTING DARKER BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA HOW TRUE THAT WOULD BE. What the hell, y’all? WHAT IS THIS SHOW TURNING INTO.
Well, the script for “Prophets†makes reference to a cold war, and it’s about the most apt description of this whole nightmare. The only change I’d make to that, though, is that this war is unfolding entirely in secret. Only those with knowledge of the Machine and Samaritan even know it’s happening, and, to make matters worse, they’re restricted in their response because they can’t let Samaritan find them. It’s within this impossible framework that one of the most deeply upsetting stories unfolds.
Look, I figured that Samaritan would be used for nefarious means, that perhaps surveillance could be directed at people to serve government desires. But this? This episode reveals a vicious, horrific future, one where Samaritan can literally manipulate millions upon millions of people, where Samaritan can change reality and no one will know. It is the stuff of conspiracy theories, y’all, but it’s happening. Of course, this left me deeply unnerved because it is yet another example of the writers hinting at things that are indeed based in our reality. We live in a world where countries hack elections, where gerrymandering guarantees Republican victories, where felons are stripped of the right to vote so that entire swaths of populations are left without a voice. (Funny who ends up being statistically more likely to be a felon. REAL FUNNY, ISN’T IT.)
In short, there are days when I feel like Simon Lee. Jason Ritter plays Simon with a ferocious sense of paranoia, but his character also remains dedicated to revealing the truth about the rigged election. Until the team has to lie to him to keep him quiet, he never stops trying to contact someone, to tell the truth, to fight for democratic process. It’s admirable, which is why it’s so heartbreaking when this episode tips over into bleakness. Simon tried. He risked his reputation, his job, and his life to tell the American public the truth, and Samaritan saw him as nothing more than an obstacle to its objective.
That’s why those flashbacks to the early days of the Machine are so important. All of them demonstrate to us just what the Machine was like before Harold altered it, stripping it of memory and voice, directing it to think of humans as living beings that deserve to live. Samaritan is all logic, all puzzles, all complicated mathematics. When given an end—to make Governor Perez’s running mate the actual governor—it sets out to manipulate people and information to make that happen. And much like those flashbacks, which are full of the Machine’s attempt to survive, escape, and retaliate, Samaritan uses complicated, creative means to get exactly what it wants. If we think this through, that means that Samaritan:
- Figured out which voters would be susceptible to forgetting to going to the polls without getting a call from Murray’s phone back.
- Made sure those voters were also likely or confirmed to be voting for Murray.
- Blocked those calls from making it through.
- Sent Martine after Perez won to assassinate Martine in a way that would make it look like an accident.
- Deliberately goaded a volatile person with fake information so that they would murder Simon in the crossfire of their attack.
And that’s just the original plan! As we watch Samaritan adapt, it’s horrifying to see just how much Samaritan can do, and it doesn’t help that Martine is fucking terrifying, too. The potential of this machine, though, is exactly why Root and Harold argue about their relationship to the Machine. The conversation unfolds as if they’re talking about a religion, though, and it fascinated me. Who gives faith and why? Harold assumes the worst of the machine because he knows 42 other versions of it either tried to escape or kill him, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t respond like Root did. Root, however, derives a sense of meaning and order from the Machine, which calls back heavily to themes we’ve already seen this season.
But let’s be real. There are two things I’ve been avoiding. First of all: THE MACHINE HASN’T SAID ANYTHING TO ROOT SINCE SAMARITAN CAME ONLINE. WHY DO I KEEP FALLING FOR THESE THINGS. It explains SO MUCH of her behavior, and also gives us a reason why she’s moved closer to Harold in the process. She’s lonely. ALSO???? WAS THAT A CANONICAL REFERENCE TO HER WANTING HAROLD TO TELL SHAW THAT SHE LOVES HER? THIS FUCKING SHOW BETTER NOT BE TEASING ME OR OH MY FUCKING GOD I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’LL ACTUALLY DO BECAUSE… well, it’s not on the air anymore. I can’t do anything. I will just yell at all of you?
Christ, I think it’s canon. I mean, I need more—so much more!—but my heart already can’t take this.
The video for “Prophets†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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