In the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest<\/i>, John and Fusco assist a bounty hunter while Harold and Root deal with the ramifications of one of Harold\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lots of plots to talk about! Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s jump right into this.<\/p>\n
Frankie Wells<\/b><\/p>\n
While I enjoyed this story\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand in particular, Katheryn Winnick is a lot of fun as Wells\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit comes off the heels of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Karma,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d another episode about what people are willing to do for revenge. By virtue of similarity to this previous episode, it kind of pales in comparison, but only<\/i> because of that. Otherwise, I found it solid! Wells was a tricker number this time around because she was previously a victim; her brother had been murdered by Pratt. Yet she never intended to bring him to court alive<\/i>. She wanted to frame him and blame his death on self-defense. (Again, a little too similar to the ending of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Karma.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)<\/p>\n
What made this stand out more, though, was the surprise inclusion of Harper. The main plot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Skip\u00e2\u20ac\u009d works best when there were multiple parties onscreen, all with their their own motivations and desires. That shootout in the docks, for example! It would not have been as interesting if Harper was not there as an intermediary of sorts. She forced the story in a new direction: What were these people willing to compromise<\/i>? It isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about revenge anymore, but pragmatism. What was the best end each could get for themselves? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no wonder, then, that the Machine has now recruited another person to work its interests. (Which explains how Harper ended up being Pratt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contact at all.) Harper needed<\/i> to be there to best resolve a situation that could have easily ended with the death of multiple people.<\/p>\n
And it makes me wonder: What else is the Machine having her do? Who else has the Machine recruited?<\/p>\n
Iris<\/b><\/p>\n
Well, guess I was wrong about that! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen me all struggle with exactly what the show was trying to say about John and Iris. Initially, I theorized that John was just going to finally open up to her, and then maybe they were doing something offscreen? But I was right the first time! I do think these two have chemistry, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compelling to think of John trying romance (especially at this point in the show), but… y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna die, right? NO ONE CAN BE HAPPY YET. What if Greer discovers this connection? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll exploit it in a heartbeat! I LIKE IRIS, THIS CANNOT END WELL.<\/p>\n
Balance<\/b><\/p>\n
As the credits were rolling, I began to realize the role reversal that had just unfolded. When Root was first becoming part of Team Machine, she was monitored. Harold kept an eye on her because he knew very well what sort of tendencies she had and how far she was willing to go. Here, Root and Harold have grown close enough that she is able to recognize HIS worst tendencies.<\/p>\n
This was a complicated, emotionally devastating plot because the writers made it easy to understand why both these characters did what they did. Harold took the opportunity months earlier to set up a Trojan horse within Beth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s laptop, all with the goal of gaining access to the smallest bit of code belonging to Samaritan. One thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve appreciated about this season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arc is that the show portrays multiple fronts of the war. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just a simple back and forth! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain Greer has some terrible long con up his sleeve, too.<\/p>\n
But Harold\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desperation, combined with his affinity for Beth, led him to a gamble that Root believed was not worth the risk. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what we watch unfold: Root tried to stop Harold from making a mistake, one that could have gotten him killed AND exposed his new identity. And exactly how long would it have been until Samaritan found the others? On top of that, both these characters were raw from the loss of Shaw (SHE ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DEAD, OH MY GOD THEY ARE ALL GONNA LOSE IT WHEN THEY FIND OUT), so EVERYTHING about this is a disaster. Root ignores the Machine because she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bear to lose Harold. Harold refuses to accept that he may be risking his cover and his life because he has too much affinity for Beth. Even after he nearly dies, HE STILL GOES BACK TO BETH. He was still gonna activate the Trojan, ignoring everything Root told him!!! Does that make what she did right<\/i>? No, and this show knows better than to give us moral absolutes. Root could have very well saved Harold\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life. But the cost is that he pushed away someone he cared about very, very much, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only fair that he asked her to step away for a while. He might be acknowledging that it was necessary, but it also hurt<\/i>.<\/p>\n
LIKE ME. IT ALL HURTS.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Skip\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":" In the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest, John and Fusco assist a bounty hunter while Harold and Root deal with the ramifications of one of Harold\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch … Continue reading