{"id":6700,"date":"2018-01-03T13:00:44","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T21:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6700"},"modified":"2017-12-24T14:16:38","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T22:16:38","slug":"mark-watches-person-of-interest-s05e11-synecdoche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/01\/mark-watches-person-of-interest-s05e11-synecdoche\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S05E11 – Synecdoche"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh episode of the fifth season of Person of Interest<\/i>, the team is given their most ridiculous number yet, and I LOVE THIS EPISODE SO MUCH. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For brief discussion of grief<\/b><\/p>\n

Somehow, this show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s twisting mythology will end in just two episodes, and yet, with the Samaritan threat more real, more deadly, and more important than ever, the writers decide to stage the most absurd person of interest yet. The best part of it?<\/p>\n

It works so fucking well<\/i>.<\/p>\n

This has been a dark season at times, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fueled by the fact that Samaritan, Greer, and Decima have won so frequently. Samaritan is stronger than the Machine; it has more agents; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got access to more surveillance feeds (I think???); it is entirely free to do as it pleases and isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t held back by its programming. There might have been small victories along the way, but at what cost? Elias and Root are both dead, as well as a whole host of innocent people that Samaritan had killed because they got in the way of it. The world has slipped into a nightmare, and most people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know that this is the case. Well, not everyone<\/i>, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Synecdoche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d proves, but for the most part, this is a battle that has been waged privately, at least since the decimation of Vigilance.<\/p>\n

But this episode provides two necessary elements to this show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s longstanding mythology. First, it acknowledges that there are other people in the world who have noticed that the United States\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of mass surveillance has become monstrous, and even if they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sure of all the details, they know it has become invasive and wrong. I think the plot in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Synecdoche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would have had a stronger impact if the audience had been given hints of this rejection or political movement. It does<\/i> feel a tad tacked on at the end, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m willing to forgive that because of what the episode accomplishes.<\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the person of interest in this episode is THE PRESIDENT. The writers do a clever thing in making this more of a figurehead thing than examining an actual character. We never learn the President\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name; we only catch brief glances of him; he only represents an end goal for the team. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliant way to convey distance, first of all. Given that the President is surrounded entirely by the Secret Service, it means that the team can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually infiltrate his daily life, which severely limits what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re able to do.<\/p>\n

But it also shifts the focus. The team is tasked with a ridiculous mission in the wake of Root\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, and thus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a means of touching on how Shaw might or might not grieve for Root. (I mean, she IS grieving, in her own way.) It allows us to experience this wholly through Shaw, Fusco, and John, since there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no time spent examining the President. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost immaterial to the story, which is sort of the point. How did the President\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s number appear in the Machine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awareness without<\/i> ISA also being on the case? BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT IS SO IRRELEVANT TO SAMARITAN THAT SAMARITAN WAS WILLING TO LET HIM DIE. Again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another calculation, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain Samaritan would have found a means to twist that assassination as a means to support itself. So yeah, the activists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plot is muddled, a bit confusing, and probably would have backfired, rather than turn more people to their side.<\/p>\n

However, there is<\/i> a reason this all had to happen: we had to have hope. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Synecdoche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reveals one last great twist on the Person of Interest<\/i> format: John was the number given to Logan, Joey, and Harper, who have been recruited as agents of The Machine. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through this that we are given a sense of scope for the Machine. How many other teams were commissioned? How many other agents are doing what they can to help the Machine? I LOVED THAT THESE THREE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING, TOO. There was no trickery, no subterfuge. They knew the Machine had sent them to provide an exit strategy for John, Fusco, and Shaw. From the audience\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a goddamn treat, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and it felt like a final chance for the show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s writers to demonstrate to us that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.<\/p>\n

Which leaves us with Harold. Oh, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still bitter about Root\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, and I am also elated<\/i> at the transformation that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing in Harold. His long conversations with the Machine are incredible, especially when you think about how Emerson has to act against a voice and nothing more. The topics Harold addresses with the Machine over the course of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Synecdoche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfrom what voice the Machine should use, to how grief works for the Machine (HELP ME, THAT MAKES THE EVENTS OF \u00e2\u20ac\u0153IF.THEN.ELSE\u00e2\u20ac\u009d A MILLION TIMES MORE UPSETTING), to the uncertain future\u00e2\u20ac\u201dall help us understand how Harold is changing.<\/p>\n

But then, we see<\/i> it. In a moment eerily reminiscent of Root\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behaviorisms, Harold uses the Machine to escape detection\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 by threatening the life of a child of a security agent in a military base. It is a demonstration that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now willing to threaten others, to use emotional manipulation, to win this war. And that includes the virus that he apparently designed or had to stop Samaritan. Do we know if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll work? No, but Harold is willing to take risks now. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willing to be messy<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, what the HELL is he planning in these last two episodes??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M AFRAID.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Synecdoche\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":"