{"id":6645,"date":"2017-11-15T13:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T21:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6645"},"modified":"2017-11-07T13:42:21","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T21:42:21","slug":"mark-watches-person-of-interest-s03e23-deus-ex-machina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2017\/11\/mark-watches-person-of-interest-s03e23-deus-ex-machina\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S03E23 – Deus Ex Machina"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-third and final episode of the third season of Person of Interest<\/i>, what have you done to me. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the end of this season, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think of a better feeling than \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disturbed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to explain what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going through right now. This is one of the most deeply upsetting finales imaginable because EVERYTHING IS SO GODDAMN AWFUL. I did begin to suspect that Samaritan would go online at the end of the season, but guess what? STILL NOT THE WORST PART OF ALL OF THIS. Somehow, there are worse things!<\/p>\n

I guess I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect this to get so dark<\/i>, and the severity of this situation hit me hard<\/i>. I fell right into Greer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trap, just like everyone else did. I was focused on the excitement of Collier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kangaroo court, rather than thinking of the endgame, and GUESS WHAT. I even noticed that Greer wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t freaked out by Collier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan<\/i>. But I still didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put two-and-two together! I AM A FOOL, WHAT HAVE YOU ALL DONE TO ME.<\/p>\n

Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discuss.<\/p>\n

Kangaroo Court<\/b><\/p>\n

Obviously, the major driving force of suspense in this episode is Collier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s court, and it required us to believe that it was being transmitted live. That belief was easy to maintain, right up until Lionel seemed confused by the mention of the trial. Even then, perhaps he was so busy that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what else was going on, right? Right??? THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WHAT I TOLD MYSELF. Yet it was all a ruse, an attempt to control information by manufacturing<\/i> it. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s particularly upsetting about this is that, for a moment, the show still managed to provide a biting criticism of the surveillance state. No matter how Control justified her usage of Northern Lights, she was still complicit in the violation of the rights of other Americans and international citizens. She ordered the murder of an untold number of people. And, as we saw with Peter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brother, it is highly likely that the Machine gave Control a number and people<\/i> misused it. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the team make mistakes with the irrelevant numbers. Are you telling me that Control and her division had a perfect<\/i> track record all those years?<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I loved so much about the courtroom scenes: Peter Collier, for all his flaws and mistakes and downright nightmares he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d perpetrated, was still on the pulse of something true, on this great injustice acted out against the American people. Was he set up? Yes. Was he radicalized by a third party who had a vested interest in that outcome. Absolutely. Does that mean Control, Garrison, Greer, and Harold suddenly aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t complicity in this terrible system? Nope! Garrison felt slightly guilty and was interested in saving himself; Control believed in what she had been doing; and Harold felt that sacrificing<\/i> himself would solve everything. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an incredible distillation of their characters, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? That whole sequence events summarizes them perfectly<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Plan B<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, Shaw and Root were doing so well that even as all of this was falling apart, I still held out hope that Root and the Machine had come up with some way to disable Samaritan. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what seemed to be happening, but once again, I was fooled by appearances. Well, except for one \u00e2\u20ac\u0153appearance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d: SHAW AND ROOT ARE SERIOUSLY RAMPING UP THE FLIRTING. I am not imagining this, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening, right???<\/p>\n

Anyway, I feel like the surprise reveal of Root\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan B highly suggests that the Machine never really wanted its analog control or admins to kill anyone. If the way to stop Samaritan was to kill Congressman Garrison, it appears that the Machine did not tell Root to do this. Instead, it found other means to survive, which meant protecting the seven people who had the means to stop Samaritan. So, does this imply that Harold really did<\/i> push the Machine toward being moral? Does it truly<\/i> protect every life? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, since that puts it in direct contrast to Samaritan, which doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aim to protect people but identify threats regardless of the context of them.<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another Plan B here, though, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the hidden plan that Greer had orchestrated for years<\/i>, utilizing surveillance feeds to push Peter to become more and more radical. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucking insidious<\/i> about this is that Greer created Vigilance and Peter, and then used their activities as JUSTIFICATION FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SAMARITAN. Vigilance literally would not exist without Greer! He manipulated Garrison and Control, too, and they ate it up<\/i>. Why? Because all they care about is seeing themselves as being on the front lines of protecting national security. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re complicit in creating<\/i> the very things that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fighting against.<\/p>\n

My god, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucked up. The look on Peter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face in his final moments is the worst<\/i>. He was taken down by the same force he was trying to stop. I FUCKING HATE GREER SO VERY MUCH, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so unrepentantly evil??? He is one of the most openly villainous characters I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever come across? And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even on the same level as Control, who truly believes<\/i> that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing something just and right. Greer just wants to be in control, to be at the forefront of a new world where AI makes people… what? Agents of their will? THAT LAST IMAGE IS SO HORRIFYING. Greer is going to take commands<\/i> from Samaritan??? For what?<\/p>\n

Apart<\/b><\/p>\n

I am guessing that Root will stay in contact with the Machine, but what about the other three characters? The end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Deus Ex Machina\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (WHAT A TITLE) sees everyone assume new identities and disappear into new lives. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now hiding from Samaritan. Will they still get numbers? How can they help the Machine and<\/i> do what they normally do? WHO THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY TO CHOOSE THAT RADIOHEAD SONG FOR THE END MONOLOGUE? This show is so evil, I swear<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Deus Ex Machina\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":"