Person of Interest: The Devil You Know
November 26, 2014 8:23 AM - Season 4, Episode 9 - Subscribe
Team Machine is caught in a power struggle for control of the city's gangs when Elias is targeted by Domonic, the ambitious leader of The Brotherhood. And Samaritan may not be able to see them, but the operatives working for it can.
"The Brotherhood" is named thus because it is not one.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:59 AM on November 26, 2014
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:59 AM on November 26, 2014
Another interesting episode that pulls more on relationships than anything else - Reese and Elias, Elias and Anthony, Root and Shaw. Finch in the middle of them all, trying to keep everyone safe and secure. The exchange between Anthony and Dominic's second in command was great.
The Shaw/Root dynamic seems to be changing a bit - Shaw seems to have less time for it/interest in it?
I like the parallels between the sides in the coming war between The Brotherhood and Elias/Samaritan and the Machine Gang. Elias and the MG work with things like loyalty, respect, friendship - which is why the MG and Elias can work together, to a degree. The Brotherhood and Samaritan act on assumptions - of people's interests and motivations, of willingness to carry out orders without question.
posted by nubs at 11:10 AM on November 26, 2014
The Shaw/Root dynamic seems to be changing a bit - Shaw seems to have less time for it/interest in it?
I like the parallels between the sides in the coming war between The Brotherhood and Elias/Samaritan and the Machine Gang. Elias and the MG work with things like loyalty, respect, friendship - which is why the MG and Elias can work together, to a degree. The Brotherhood and Samaritan act on assumptions - of people's interests and motivations, of willingness to carry out orders without question.
posted by nubs at 11:10 AM on November 26, 2014
My least favorite thing about this episode was the constant and ridiculous amount of gunfire. Lazy action filler.
posted by homunculus at 11:49 AM on November 26, 2014
posted by homunculus at 11:49 AM on November 26, 2014
I am definitely worried that Shaw is going to get Root killed. I can see the appeal for the writers - in a way, Root sacrificing herself to save another human being, one that she decides she cares about even more than she cares about serving the machine, would mark the complete evolution of Root from where she started the series into a full-fledged human-type person. So it would sort of complete her arc. And Shaw doesn't really have the emotional bandwidth to deal with the feelings she'd have if Root died like that, so I expect she'd become quite dangerously unstable. But I would really miss Root, so I hope that doesn't happen. Hopefully the writers won't want to give up on having a character like Root around who can have those kinds of interesting "the nature of AI" debates with Finch.
I loved how quickly Fusco made Martine and how easily he got rid of her. This show lets everybody else underestimate Fusco because he doesn't really know what's going on, but at the same time he's always shown as very competent in his area of expertise. He's really a damn good cop.
And I did love the exchange between the two right-hand-men. Seems like Scarface got a name and got killed off all in one episode, only to be immediately replaced by Elias's new, out-of-nowhere other right-hand-man (left-hand-man?) Bruce, though. Bruce doesn't have the same "Anti-Reese" thing going on that Scarface did, though.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:03 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
I loved how quickly Fusco made Martine and how easily he got rid of her. This show lets everybody else underestimate Fusco because he doesn't really know what's going on, but at the same time he's always shown as very competent in his area of expertise. He's really a damn good cop.
And I did love the exchange between the two right-hand-men. Seems like Scarface got a name and got killed off all in one episode, only to be immediately replaced by Elias's new, out-of-nowhere other right-hand-man (left-hand-man?) Bruce, though. Bruce doesn't have the same "Anti-Reese" thing going on that Scarface did, though.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:03 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Shaw/Root dynamic seems to be changing a bit - Shaw seems to have less time for it/interest in it?
Shaw doesn't like messy feelings, so maybe she's put-off by Root's growing affection.
I am definitely worried that Shaw is going to get Root killed.
Me too. It would complete Root's arc, but Root's arc doesn't need to be ended. She is one of the most interesting characters on the show and it would suffer for her loss. If any arc should be ended, it's Reese.
posted by homunculus at 12:23 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Shaw doesn't like messy feelings, so maybe she's put-off by Root's growing affection.
I am definitely worried that Shaw is going to get Root killed.
Me too. It would complete Root's arc, but Root's arc doesn't need to be ended. She is one of the most interesting characters on the show and it would suffer for her loss. If any arc should be ended, it's Reese.
posted by homunculus at 12:23 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
My money is on Reese dying this season.
posted by Pendragon at 2:34 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 2:34 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Elias: "I suppose it was inevitable this day would come."
Reese: "It's coming for us all."
posted by Pendragon at 2:43 PM on November 26, 2014
Reese: "It's coming for us all."
posted by Pendragon at 2:43 PM on November 26, 2014
They keep dropping lots of hints and teases that someone is going to die. In a way, it's becoming somewhat tedious - drop the hammer or do something else.
It would complete Root's arc, but Root's arc doesn't need to be ended. She is one of the most interesting characters on the show and it would suffer for her loss.
Part of Root's arc would be completed if she sacrificed herself for Shaw; but there's another arc she has that is continuing to develop with Finch, in which she plays the prophet and Finch the skeptic. That arc is frankly more interesting to me (much as I love the Shaw/Root stuff - the little smirk Shaw had on her face as they nestled in the moving van, for example). Root is also an interesting counter-point to the fanatics of Greer and Martine - she's as much a believer in AI being the salvation of humanity as the other two, but it is tempered by her emerging humanity.
Shaw doesn't like messy feelings, so maybe she's put-off by Root's growing affection.
That could be it. It might also be the fact that she doesn't want that messy feeling stuff while on mission, which she definitely was for most of the episode.
posted by nubs at 3:40 PM on November 26, 2014
It would complete Root's arc, but Root's arc doesn't need to be ended. She is one of the most interesting characters on the show and it would suffer for her loss.
Part of Root's arc would be completed if she sacrificed herself for Shaw; but there's another arc she has that is continuing to develop with Finch, in which she plays the prophet and Finch the skeptic. That arc is frankly more interesting to me (much as I love the Shaw/Root stuff - the little smirk Shaw had on her face as they nestled in the moving van, for example). Root is also an interesting counter-point to the fanatics of Greer and Martine - she's as much a believer in AI being the salvation of humanity as the other two, but it is tempered by her emerging humanity.
Shaw doesn't like messy feelings, so maybe she's put-off by Root's growing affection.
That could be it. It might also be the fact that she doesn't want that messy feeling stuff while on mission, which she definitely was for most of the episode.
posted by nubs at 3:40 PM on November 26, 2014
I think Shaw's seemingly standoffish attitude to Root in this episode is more a reaction to suddenly being targeted by Samaritan's forces, despite the "cover" given her by The Machine. She's in full-battle/survival mode and that precludes any distraction. It also probably didn't help their relationship that Root told her she couldn't have another identity.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:51 AM on November 27, 2014
posted by Thorzdad at 5:51 AM on November 27, 2014
My money is on Reese dying this season.
I dunno. How about Harold? His character has pretty much become the disembodied voice of an air traffic controller (along with the occasional awkward hobbling out from the bunker to meet/do someone/something.) To me, it's a tossup as to who is the weakest character now, Harold or Reese. I think Reese is simply looking for purpose, while Harold's character seems to have plateaued in terms of relevance.
Losing Harold would probably go a long way in re-focusing Reese and the team in-general. Root could certainly take his place, and do it on-the-run since she's tied directly to The Machine.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 AM on November 27, 2014
I dunno. How about Harold? His character has pretty much become the disembodied voice of an air traffic controller (along with the occasional awkward hobbling out from the bunker to meet/do someone/something.) To me, it's a tossup as to who is the weakest character now, Harold or Reese. I think Reese is simply looking for purpose, while Harold's character seems to have plateaued in terms of relevance.
Losing Harold would probably go a long way in re-focusing Reese and the team in-general. Root could certainly take his place, and do it on-the-run since she's tied directly to The Machine.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 AM on November 27, 2014
I think the important relationship for Finch is with the Machine; there is still a lot of development to happen there with respect to Finch's role as a mentor/teacher/father. Root wouldn't bring the same perspective.
posted by nubs at 11:13 AM on November 27, 2014
posted by nubs at 11:13 AM on November 27, 2014
I like how nobody's safe. But it's definitely not Fusco... he just doesn't get enough screen time for it to be him.
What I want though, is for them to actually do something to even things out between the two AI's. The next episode might be the start of that... I feel like the Machine needs to be more active... I liked the dual purpose numbers it had in recent episodes.
posted by gryftir at 2:10 PM on November 29, 2014
What I want though, is for them to actually do something to even things out between the two AI's. The next episode might be the start of that... I feel like the Machine needs to be more active... I liked the dual purpose numbers it had in recent episodes.
posted by gryftir at 2:10 PM on November 29, 2014
I think what they might do in the near future is use the guy from the "relevant numbers" team - the one who knew Shaw previously, was questioning the new system, and who attempted to hide the video evidence. Samaritan makes him a target, knowing that the Machine Team might also get tipped due to past connections, and has it's new group of agents waiting for the Machine Team...
I found it quite interesting that we never get to clearly see the faces of Martine's new team of agents...we're in the dark as to who the threats are, just as much as our heroes.
posted by nubs at 10:49 AM on December 2, 2014
I found it quite interesting that we never get to clearly see the faces of Martine's new team of agents...we're in the dark as to who the threats are, just as much as our heroes.
posted by nubs at 10:49 AM on December 2, 2014
I hope next week Martine and Sameen have a shootout on the set of the Victoria's Secret show.
posted by homunculus at 10:15 PM on December 9, 2014
posted by homunculus at 10:15 PM on December 9, 2014
I loved how quickly Fusco made Martine and how easily he got rid of her. This show lets everybody else underestimate Fusco because he doesn't really know what's going on, but at the same time he's always shown as very competent in his area of expertise. He's really a damn good cop.
Fusco is a freaking badass. I'll never forget that scene in which he broke his own thumb in order to slip out of the zip tie that was around his hands and kill the man who was torturing Fusco as well as threatening to kill his son. I definitely don't want Fusco to get killed off. Reese is the one character we could most easily do without and who is the least interesting, so he's my pick in the death pool.
Good work on the Damon and Pythias plot with Elias and Anthony. Anthony really got to Dominic's number two guy as well, because he's realized he's serving someone who doesn't repay loyalty with loyalty in the way Elias does.
posted by orange swan at 9:12 PM on September 30, 2015
Fusco is a freaking badass. I'll never forget that scene in which he broke his own thumb in order to slip out of the zip tie that was around his hands and kill the man who was torturing Fusco as well as threatening to kill his son. I definitely don't want Fusco to get killed off. Reese is the one character we could most easily do without and who is the least interesting, so he's my pick in the death pool.
Good work on the Damon and Pythias plot with Elias and Anthony. Anthony really got to Dominic's number two guy as well, because he's realized he's serving someone who doesn't repay loyalty with loyalty in the way Elias does.
posted by orange swan at 9:12 PM on September 30, 2015
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posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:28 AM on November 26, 2014