{"id":6490,"date":"2017-08-21T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6490"},"modified":"2017-08-14T19:55:10","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T02:55:10","slug":"mark-watches-person-of-interest-s01e08-foe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2017\/08\/mark-watches-person-of-interest-s01e08-foe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S01E08 – Foe"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighth episode of the first season of Person of Interest<\/i>, I cannot believe how much this episode fucked me up in just forty minutes. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of torture.<\/b><\/p>\n

In just eight episodes, this show has found a sweet spot between episodic adventures and serialization. It should also stand as an incredible example of what this medium can do. I am astounded<\/i> at what a complex and emotional arc is given to these characters who are introduced and then shuffled off-screen, ostensibly to never be seen again. THIS WAS SO EMOTIONAL AND IT ALL HAPPENED SO FAST.<\/p>\n

Kohl<\/b><\/p>\n

There are two angles to this story, though, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll address the main one first. For the first half of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Foe,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sympathy offered to Ulrich Kohl, despite that he was part of one of the most vicious secret police organizations in the world. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not until the second half of this episode that Kohl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full characterization is given to us, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional. Much like the experience was for his wife, Anja, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know the truth, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier to ignore<\/i> it. Instead, it seems like Kohl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fellow Stasi agents merely sold Kohl out to the Americans and Germans in order to secure a life for themselves. They were responsible for Kohl being locked up in a prison while being wiped from society. As far as any official record could state, he no longer existed. Even worse? Kohl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s associates got his wife killed. This was a case of revenge, plain and simple. These men skirted accountability and found success in New York City, all at the expense of Kohl, who suffered for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n

So yeah, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly feel all that bad for the men who were being hunted down and killed by Kohl. They deserved it! And in that sense, you can have sympathy for Kohl without necessarily approving of who he is and what he did. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because that detachment is easy until you know the truth. That \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is revealed in pieces until it comes rushing forth in one of the most shocking moments in the series thus far. (IT IS A LOT TO DEAL WITH AFTER \u00e2\u20ac\u0153WITNESS,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d OKAY.) Kohl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife never died<\/i>. SHE FOUND OUT THAT MURDERED COUNTLESS PEOPLE AND WAS AN ASSASSIN AND DID AWFUL THINGS FOR THE STASI AND SHE FAKED HER OWN DEATH TO ESCAPE HIM.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Foe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d becomes an entirely different story from this point on, and I was breathless<\/i>. Suddenly, Kohl had every reason to kill his wife for betraying him, too, but is that enough? Is Person of Interest<\/i> content with this major twist? NOPE. GUESS WHO WAS PREGNANT WHEN SHE FAKED HER DEATH AND GUESS WHO GAVE HER DAUGHTER A LIFE FREE FROM THE ATROCITIES OF HER FATHER.<\/p>\n

What is this show. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW.<\/p>\n

John Reese<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh my god, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Sometimes, in episodic fiction like this, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll often get main plots that are supposed to provide some sort of insight into the protagonist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life or past. And sometimes, those stories are like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 barely connected? Or seem really forced? But holy shit, THAT IS NOT THE CASE HERE. There is an unreal sequence in this episode where Reese surprises Kohl in Anja\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s apartment that haunted<\/i> me. After Kohl reverses who is in control and tries to torture Anja\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s location out of Reese, Kohl realizes he is dealing with another spy. The writers brilliantly<\/i> use this to address Reese\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniably fucked up past, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. THEY DO NOT PULL ANY PUNCHES AT ALL. I mean, we knew<\/i> he used to work for the CIA, and we knew<\/i> that he had a traumatic, violent history, but the flashback in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Foe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d spells it out very, very clearly. Even if Reese didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what he was getting into initially, he became a tool for the state. That scene with his former partner (whose name was either not said or I did not catch) demonstrated what was expected of him. Were those two men truly deserving of death? Or was Reese ordered<\/i> to believe that?<\/p>\n

Thus, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a synchronicity between these characters. They understand what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to become someone deplorable, violent, and inhumane. They know what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to take a life. And they know what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to choose to push everyone else out of their own lives. That scene in Anja\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kitchen is tense because TORTURE WITH NEEDLES, NO THANK YOU. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also intense because these two men have done unspeakable things for their respective countries, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost pretty much everything that matters because of it. John even lost his name<\/i>. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL, WHAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S HIS ACTUAL NAME???<\/p>\n

What. The. Fuck. Is. This. Show.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Foe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

-\u00c2\u00a0Please visit my new site for all announcements<\/a>. If you’d rather not have to rely on checking a website regularly, sign up for my newsletter instead<\/a>! This will cover all news for Mark Reads, Mark Watches, and my fiction releases.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"