{"id":6682,"date":"2017-12-14T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T21:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6682"},"modified":"2017-12-04T11:21:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T19:21:56","slug":"mark-watches-person-of-interest-s04e20-terra-incognita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2017\/12\/mark-watches-person-of-interest-s04e20-terra-incognita\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S04E20 – Terra Incognita"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twentieth episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest<\/i>, Happy Holidays! EVERYONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

I miss Joss Carter so much.<\/p>\n

I adore \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Terra Incognita\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in ways I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t easy to convey, and I also feel bitter about the loss of potential here. There are glimpses within John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dying hallucination that remind us what the story could<\/i> have been like if Carter hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t died at Simmons\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand. (Slightly unrelated, but my boyfriend is binge-watching Law & Order: SVU<\/i>, and the actor who plays Simmons has a recurring role and I hiss every time I see him.) Of course, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partially the point of all of this: Why did John wait so long to open himself up to Carter? Why is he so determined to push everyone away? Thus, Carter holds a specific meaning to John and<\/i> to the narrative itself. She is loss: loss potential, loss opportunity, and John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sense of loss, too.<\/p>\n

The structure of this story, though, is just as fascinating as the thematic exploration of loss and grief. I appreciate that the episode\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s big twist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat in death, John hallucinated a different version of a memory while in the present timeline\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwas designed in a way to confuse the audience. I recognized that there were three different layers unfolding within the story: John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attempt in the present to solve the Patterson murder; flashbacks to show us Carter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first experience with the case; and an unconnected scene where John and Carter were on surveillance together. (Some time shortly after the Team acquired Bear, mind you.) The editing for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Terra Incognita\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is INCREDIBLE, and all the transitions between timelines looked EFFORTLESS. And it lends itself to the tragic fairy tale tone of the storytelling, as if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re watching Person of Interest\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/i>version of a holiday film. That felt intentional to me, and for that, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thankful. Like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If-Then-Else,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I want<\/i> this show to experiment with different narratives, and this episode is no exception.<\/p>\n

Which is also why Root, Fusco, and Harold all take a backseat for the most part. By revealing the twist as early as the script did, this allowed the writers to devote a lot<\/i> of time to Carter and Reese. At least the show didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t invite Taraji P. Henson back for a bit part, and I was glad she got so much screen time here. The trade-off, of course, was that this felt like one of the most actively devastating and cruel episodes imaginable. I now understand why<\/i> Carter said so many heartbreaking things before the big reveal. THERE WERE SO MANY CLUES AS TO WHAT WAS GOING ON. But this is like one giant therapy session for John, a chance for him to face his major flaw before his death. Through that, he must also contend with the fact that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> start treating Carter like a real, close friend before she died either, despite that he had convinced himself he had. He wasted that opportunity, too! Why?<\/p>\n

Because John has truly believed that keeping people at an arm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s length will make him a better soldier. Obviously, that manifests a little differently in the present, since he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s somewhat closer with Harold, but even with Iris, you see the same behavior. (Well, at least until very<\/i> recently.) And he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever move on if he repeats these habits over and over again! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly the sort of thing we heard Iris tell him, so where does that leave him? In the same place. The same trauma. The same grief. And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be stuck in that rut forever unless…<\/p>\n

Unless his experience here changed him. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a question for another day, though. This was a deeply emotional experience, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and THAT BIG FINALE MADE ME CRY, I HATE ALL OF YOU, I MISS JOSS CARTER SO MUCH. Christ, what an episode.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Terra Incognita\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"