In the third episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest, Fusco follows a pick-up artist, John plays by the rules, and Harold goes on a scavenger hunt with Root. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.Â
This isn’t a showstopper of an episode, but it’s quite a lot of fun. It’s probably the only emotional respite I’m gonna get this season, so I accept it.
Wingman
There are a few odd things here, I admit, like Andre’s choice of profession after being a longshoreman. It feels artificial, like it was created to simply give Fusco his story. Which isn’t terrible, and I’m glad this episode focused so heavily on him! But I couldn’t quite accept that a longshoreman would jump to being a well-dressed dock worker, especially since it came across as so deliberately random. Still, it was cool to see that the show could delve into Fusco’s personal life, even if it was mostly superficial. The case itself wasn’t that complicated or thrilling, especially not once we learned why Andre was being targeted. I’m so used to the layered stories that we’ve been getting that this felt straight-forward, and that’s no necessarily a bad thing! It’s just that I wasn’t quite excited about seeing it unfold. Plus, the real antagonists were pretty boring, given that they seemingly turned to murder practically overnight??? There’s no explanation for it!
I hope Fusco gets a longer arc out of this. He deserves it!
Captain Moreno
This was a surprise. The new precinct captain is introduced quite suddenly into Person of Interest, and while I’m intrigued by her, I’m not sure where the show is going with her. She’s strict, but I found her to be kind, too. She’s heavily invested in doing a good job, but her relationship with John and Fusco is cordial practically every time we see her. With Fusco’s nudging, John learns to work within the confines of the NYPD’s rules and help people out along the way. It’s also neat to see, but—again!—I’m not sure what point there is to this. Are the writers going to push this angle in the future? Will Moreno get a story of her own, or is this merely a way for the writers to talk about the challenges of the cover stories the protagonists are meant to maintain?
A Gift
My favorite plot of “Wingman,†however, involves the Machine’s attempt to prove to Harold that it has the best interest of the team in mind. Even if it isn’t spelled out for us, I’d count this as another example of the Machine’s growing brilliance. The Machine is able to understand Harold’s very human emotions, and it adapts its technique to provide persuasion. It understands that it needs to convince Harold that it can help, and through a complex set of events, it does just that.
Of course, dealing with the Machine under the eye of Samaritan takes an act of faith, and it’s the main obstacle here between Harold and understanding. He only sees the pieces, and he has to accept that those pieces—even if they are a missile—will lead him to a beneficial end. At this point in Harold’s story, though, that’s a deeply difficult thing for him to accept! There have been so many bad endings, and Harold’s helplessness in the face of that is a large part of his characterization at this point.
But the Machine delivers: supplies, weapons, and lots of money. It is still astounding to me that this device can be so complicated, but the Machine must be if it’s going to outlast Samaritan and destroy it. I’m still worried about who else will get recruited, but for the moment, I appreciated the dose of hope.
The video for “Wingman†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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