{"id":6655,"date":"2017-11-23T13:00:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T21:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6655"},"modified":"2017-11-13T16:03:53","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T00:03:53","slug":"mark-watches-person-of-interest-s04e05-prophets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2017\/11\/mark-watches-person-of-interest-s04e05-prophets\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S04E05 – Prophets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifth episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest<\/i>, I am so fucked up. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I REGRET SAYING THAT THIS SHOW IS GETTING DARKER BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA HOW TRUE THAT WOULD BE<\/i>. What the hell<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all? WHAT IS THIS SHOW TURNING INTO.<\/p>\n

Well, the script for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Prophets\u00e2\u20ac\u009d makes reference to a cold war, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the most apt description of this whole nightmare. The only change I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d make to that, though, is that this war is unfolding entirely<\/i> in secret. Only those with knowledge of the Machine and Samaritan even know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening, and, to make matters worse, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re restricted in their response because they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let Samaritan find them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s within this impossible framework that one of the most deeply upsetting stories unfolds.<\/p>\n

Look, I figured that Samaritan would be used for nefarious means, that perhaps surveillance could be directed at<\/i> 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<\/i>. It is the stuff of conspiracy theories, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening<\/i>. 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T IT.)<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s admirable, which is why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so heartbreaking when this episode tips over into bleakness. Simon tried<\/i>. 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.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto make Governor Perez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s running mate the actual<\/i> governor\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit sets out to manipulate people and information to make that happen. And much like those flashbacks, which are full of the Machine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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:<\/p>\n