Person of Interest: Honor Among Thieves
November 12, 2014 9:46 PM - Season 4, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Shaw joins a team of international thieves in order to keep tabs on the latest POI, but an unexpected turn of events puts her in danger of being detected by Samaritan. Meanwhile, Finch and Root undertake a dangerous sabotage mission.
I am now worried about Shaw.
posted by homunculus at 10:12 PM on November 12, 2014
posted by homunculus at 10:12 PM on November 12, 2014
I am now worried about Shaw.
Me, too. Though, technically, when Samaritan cleans-up the image and sees Shaw's face, the hack that Root installed should label her as non-threat. This, however, will probably raise a bunch of red flags for Samaritan, since the security image clearly shows her as a threat.
Might this end up revealing Root's hack to Samaritan?
posted by Thorzdad at 6:43 AM on November 13, 2014
Me, too. Though, technically, when Samaritan cleans-up the image and sees Shaw's face, the hack that Root installed should label her as non-threat. This, however, will probably raise a bunch of red flags for Samaritan, since the security image clearly shows her as a threat.
Might this end up revealing Root's hack to Samaritan?
posted by Thorzdad at 6:43 AM on November 13, 2014
Yeah, I think some of what Root has done is about to come apart - Samaritan has to understand, at some level, that something isn't right because it can't find any of Finch, Reese, Shaw or Root. So when it gets to Shaw's face, even though it still might not connect it to Shaw of the Machine Gang, that face is going to be a tagged as a relevant one. And that might just start the cascade of events necessary for the dots to be connected.
And given that it used a "gait analysis" to figure out that the person it initially thought was a legal secretary was someone else, it should be able to figure out Professor Wheeler is Finch fairly quickly I think - all it needs is some footage of Finch since the accident, which it likely already has.
My money is still on Reese being the one to die this season though...there have been a few episodes now where he's been kinda caught unready (was it last week where he fumbled with loading a gun and was squatting helpless under a gun until Shaw saved his ass?). He's burnt out, and I feel like the show is giving us some nudges to get us ready for him going.
posted by nubs at 7:53 AM on November 13, 2014
And given that it used a "gait analysis" to figure out that the person it initially thought was a legal secretary was someone else, it should be able to figure out Professor Wheeler is Finch fairly quickly I think - all it needs is some footage of Finch since the accident, which it likely already has.
My money is still on Reese being the one to die this season though...there have been a few episodes now where he's been kinda caught unready (was it last week where he fumbled with loading a gun and was squatting helpless under a gun until Shaw saved his ass?). He's burnt out, and I feel like the show is giving us some nudges to get us ready for him going.
posted by nubs at 7:53 AM on November 13, 2014
Heh. From reading the io9 recap:
This is what it means to live in a society full of duel-use technology. An educational project can be used to ferret out social "deviants." A violence-averting machine can turn into an assassination algorithm.
Emphasis mine. A great typo, given where the series is headed..
posted by nubs at 8:04 AM on November 13, 2014
This is what it means to live in a society full of duel-use technology. An educational project can be used to ferret out social "deviants." A violence-averting machine can turn into an assassination algorithm.
Emphasis mine. A great typo, given where the series is headed..
posted by nubs at 8:04 AM on November 13, 2014
My money is still on Reese being the one to die this season though...
I dunno. If they're going to whack anyone, I'd rather it be Fusco. He's pretty irrelevant anymore, especially now that Reese is a cop, too. (He is still a cop, right?)
Maybe Reese's lack of attention gets Fusco killed? Which wakes Reese up and snaps him back into action? A new partner to replace Fusco would complicate things, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:39 AM on November 13, 2014
I dunno. If they're going to whack anyone, I'd rather it be Fusco. He's pretty irrelevant anymore, especially now that Reese is a cop, too. (He is still a cop, right?)
Maybe Reese's lack of attention gets Fusco killed? Which wakes Reese up and snaps him back into action? A new partner to replace Fusco would complicate things, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:39 AM on November 13, 2014
As long as they don't kill Bear!!! I loves me some Bear!!
posted by Pendragon at 10:48 AM on November 13, 2014
posted by Pendragon at 10:48 AM on November 13, 2014
I think Fusco is going to die, too. He's the only member of the group not protected by Root's hack and, capable as he is, he's the least formidable member.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:19 AM on November 14, 2014
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:19 AM on November 14, 2014
Jeez, if they kill off Fusco, then it's All-Action-Superheroes-All-The-Time. He keeps it bordering on the realm of realism. I have only seen a few episodes from Season 2 on, so watching it now, I am struck by the emphasis on Shaw and Root (and Harold of course) and the de-emphasizing of Reese. His character was never that interesting to me to begin with (shrug); clearly the writers are having more fun with the Shaw/Root dynamic.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:58 AM on November 16, 2014
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:58 AM on November 16, 2014
I enjoy Shaw and Root as much as the next person, but... The one thing I truly don't enjoy about the expanded cast is how it crowds out recurring guest stars. Early in the series' run, they would revisit people occasionally who'd helped them in the past, sort of collecting on the debt of their earlier service. I had high hopes this would lead to something like The Shadow's network of accomplices/associates. Seeing this avenue abandoned has been a bummer.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:40 AM on November 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:40 AM on November 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think a few things might happen. Based on character arcs/development, Reese and Fusco seem the most "done" to me, and I've been leaning towards Reese dying to allow for some space to open up on the "badass killer" front, as Shaw and Root are both also pretty decent in that regard. You could drop Reese and have more time for Fusco/other characters as needed...
Or kill off Fusco, use it as a moment to give Reese some further momentum and a new arc. There was a brief time where I thought that perhaps they were going to develop a bit of a romance with Reese and the new Captain of the PD; maybe they will go there still.
Or you kill off both Reese and Fusco...and then you have Finch, Shaw and Root. And lots of room for something new. Maybe they pick up another female agent and it becomes Finch's Angels...
(I think Finch, Shaw and Root (and Bear!) are all safe as they still seem to have lots of potential avenues for character development.)
And I do think we will see some of those recurring guest stars again DirtyOldTown; as the season shapes up and the conflict with Samaritan gets nastier, they will be pulling on all their contacts.
posted by nubs at 9:45 AM on November 16, 2014
Or kill off Fusco, use it as a moment to give Reese some further momentum and a new arc. There was a brief time where I thought that perhaps they were going to develop a bit of a romance with Reese and the new Captain of the PD; maybe they will go there still.
Or you kill off both Reese and Fusco...and then you have Finch, Shaw and Root. And lots of room for something new. Maybe they pick up another female agent and it becomes Finch's Angels...
(I think Finch, Shaw and Root (and Bear!) are all safe as they still seem to have lots of potential avenues for character development.)
And I do think we will see some of those recurring guest stars again DirtyOldTown; as the season shapes up and the conflict with Samaritan gets nastier, they will be pulling on all their contacts.
posted by nubs at 9:45 AM on November 16, 2014
Seeing this avenue abandoned has been a bummer.
This is true, but at the same time, the scrutiny everyone's under from Samaritan probably means they're better off not visiting any past acquaintances (except Elias, I guess, who is presumably good at staying off the radar) for both their own safety and the safety of those folks they've helped. I agree with nubs that we'll probably see some of them again - for one thing, Root still has her little crew of hackers stashed somewhere; for another thing, I miss Zoe, so I hope some of them show up again eventually.
posted by mstokes650 at 11:02 AM on November 16, 2014
This is true, but at the same time, the scrutiny everyone's under from Samaritan probably means they're better off not visiting any past acquaintances (except Elias, I guess, who is presumably good at staying off the radar) for both their own safety and the safety of those folks they've helped. I agree with nubs that we'll probably see some of them again - for one thing, Root still has her little crew of hackers stashed somewhere; for another thing, I miss Zoe, so I hope some of them show up again eventually.
posted by mstokes650 at 11:02 AM on November 16, 2014
I think a few things might happen. Based on character arcs/development, Reese and Fusco seem the most "done" to me, and I've been leaning towards Reese dying to allow for some space to open up on the "badass killer" front
I agree about Reese being done, and they could do a lot more with Shaw's arc if Reese were gone than vice versa. But I'm worried that they may decide that they simply have to have a Male Action Star in that role, in which case they're more likely to kill off Shaw instead.
(I think Finch, Shaw and Root (and Bear!) are all safe as they still seem to have lots of potential avenues for character development.)
I'm still waiting for an episode which centers around Bear being guided on a mission by the Machine, with the humans running around in the background. Since the Machine isn't human, I'd think she would look at Bear as simply another asset with a different set of skills than the two-legged ones.
posted by homunculus at 11:10 AM on November 16, 2014
I agree about Reese being done, and they could do a lot more with Shaw's arc if Reese were gone than vice versa. But I'm worried that they may decide that they simply have to have a Male Action Star in that role, in which case they're more likely to kill off Shaw instead.
(I think Finch, Shaw and Root (and Bear!) are all safe as they still seem to have lots of potential avenues for character development.)
I'm still waiting for an episode which centers around Bear being guided on a mission by the Machine, with the humans running around in the background. Since the Machine isn't human, I'd think she would look at Bear as simply another asset with a different set of skills than the two-legged ones.
posted by homunculus at 11:10 AM on November 16, 2014
My partner and I were talking about something they used to do with Reese that they have de-emphasized or maybe even abandoned. He used to measure his response to a threat to how valid a threat he considered it to be. Trained professionals? Duck and cover. Time your shots carefully. Average thugs/regular uniformed cops? OK, duck behind a wall or something, if you have to, but take your shots as you like. Some dumb assholes with guns? Fuck those guys, just stand right in the middle of the street and shoot 'em down.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:04 PM on November 18, 2014
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:04 PM on November 18, 2014
Yeah, it looks to me like Reese is almost careless/sloppy at times right now, compared to how he used to be - like you say, he used to size up the situation and respond carefully, based on what he was facing. Now he just responds, and at times with what seems to be excessive force - my partner (who doesn't really watch the show since the first season) has commented that the show's action sequences seem more violent/more casually brutal/more potential fatal than she recalls. I think part of that is the stakes are now much higher, but maybe there's something there. And they also aren't spending as much time showing Reese scoping out the situation - none of them have much time anymore, and just showing up and responding efficiently might be part of that too.
Shaw has always been fairly blase when it comes to inflicting a high level of violence, regardless of situation, so it could be just that they are doing the action sequences in such a way to minimize the differences between the two or to show that Reese no longer cares quite as much.
We don't get much time with Reese anymore, so it's hard to know what's going on with him.
posted by nubs at 1:25 PM on November 18, 2014
Shaw has always been fairly blase when it comes to inflicting a high level of violence, regardless of situation, so it could be just that they are doing the action sequences in such a way to minimize the differences between the two or to show that Reese no longer cares quite as much.
We don't get much time with Reese anymore, so it's hard to know what's going on with him.
posted by nubs at 1:25 PM on November 18, 2014
I'm still waiting for an episode which centers around Bear being guided on a mission by the Machine, with the humans running around in the background.
Oh my god yes. A "pizza dog" episode would be brilliant.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 3:36 PM on January 2, 2016
Oh my god yes. A "pizza dog" episode would be brilliant.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 3:36 PM on January 2, 2016
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posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:12 PM on November 12, 2014