Person of Interest: Aletheia
February 18, 2025 12:11 PM - Season 3, Episode 12 - Subscribe
Multiple enemies converge on the POI team as they protect a dying man whose number has come up. They struggle to keep their enemies at bay but without Reese, being down one man could have catastrophic repercussions for the team.
The Machine reviews major events leading up to the episode: Reese and Fusco fistfight in Colorado and get caught by the cops; Control and her government agents capture Finch, Shaw and Arthur Claypool.
Finch, Shaw, and Arthur are all at gunpoint, and Control asks about Samaritan's location. Finch insists that Congress shut down the project in 2005, but Control presses on that it exists and asks Arthur. Though he tries hard to fight his brain tumor and remember, Arthur is unable to provide Control with an answer. Control leans over to Shaw, telling her that it was a "thrill" watching her work, before ordering her men to execute Shaw and Finch. Root suddenly bursts in with two guns and opens fire, allowing Shaw to use the distraction to escape and free her two partners. Root is shot by Hersh and she tells the other three how to access the elevator out of the building before Hersh crushes her phone and knocks her out.
Finch, Shaw and Arthur make it out of the building and escape in a car before Hersh can stop them.
1979 In Iowa, Harold is packing for his father, who doesn't remember that his son is taking him to an assisted-care center, The Pines. Harold tells him that he'll take care of him later and glances over at the memory circuit he's created. He tells his father that it's more of a friend than a machine, and that one day it will help and protect his father. Harold's father goes to change, saying that he's going to tell everyone at the Pines that is son is going to "change the world."
Finch drives to a bank and explains to Shaw that even though Samaritan's drives are broken, Control can have someone fix them if she can obtain them. Until then, they have to avoid any enemies. They later arrive at the bank, where Arthur begins to drift away into his college memories, bringing up Nathan Ingram. Arthur is sad to learn that Nathan is dead, but Finch switches the subject, asking if Arthur built backup drives for Samaritan. Shaw figures that Arthur would probably not remember until Arthur surprises them by saying he did in fact build a backup, and that he faked his memory loss to get away with lying to Control. He then says that the backup drives are stored in the vault at the bank.
Root, meanwhile, is placed inside a cell in a secure government facility. She meets Control, who offers to help her escape Reese and Finch in exchange for telling her how to access the Machine. Root continues on with witty retorts, but Control is unimpressed. She pulls out a syringe and injects Root with a tranquilizer.
In Colorado, Reese wakes up in a cell, and tells Fusco that it was stupid of the detective to pick a fight with him, going on to say that he is lucky to still be alive. Fusco ignores the comment and says that the sheriff is keeping the two locked up for now.
Back in New York, Finch, Shaw and Arthur go into the bank and Arthur explains that he put the two drives in a safe deposit box. He stomps his medical alert medallion and takes a key out from inside. The bank manager asks them if they need anything, and Arthur gives her his key, identifying himself as Rudiger Smoot.
Control injects Root with an amphetamine, causing her to forcefully wake up. Control explains how she will continue alternating between tranquilizers and amphetamines until Root can provide her with an answer - an interrogation method one can withstand only for so long until their heart explodes. She then reveals a bag full of syringes. Root simply says that the Machine is beyond Control's reach, but Control still injects her with another tranquilizer.
The bank manager takes Finch and Arthur to the safe deposit vault while Shaw works out that Arthur's bank alias, Rudiger, is the name he gave to the interrogator at the hospital in the radiology room. Shaw notices Vigilance members using lasers to disable the cameras, and then spots Peter Collier arriving with a team. Shaw warns Finch about Vigilance, and she notices a SWAT team pulling up. She spots Hersh and realizes that his team is disguised as SWAT. Shaw considers her options, but tells Finch that he and Arthur have to get out of the vault. Collier goes to the vault before Finch can escape with his friend, and he has no choice but to close the vault door. As he slams it shut, Collier fires, hitting the bank manager in the leg before the door can fully close.
In Colorado, Fusco says that they should head home but Reese tells him that he has no home and that all they've been doing is delaying the inevitable by saving POIs. He figures that Fusco will eventually go back to his crooked ways, and nothing has changed. Disgusted, Fusco tells Reese that Carter was better than either one of them, and he isn't giving up even though she's dead. He then calls to the waiting sheriff, and the man releases them. As Fusco leaves, Reese tells him to thank Finch for the job, and Fusco says that he hasn't heard from Finch, and their friend is probably in danger. However, Fusco pretends to think how Reese would, taunting Reese by saying that saving Finch would still be "pointless" and that they would simply be "delaying the inevitable." Reese is left thinking.
Finch maintains contact with Shaw via radio and she tells him how to treat the bank manager's wound. She admits that she can't take out Collier and his men because they're the only thing keeping Hersh's team from storming the bank.
Hersh calls Collier on the phone and says that he'll let Collier's team walk away in the next sixty seconds. After that, he'll wipe them out. Collier, however, knows that Hersh will kill him and his men no matter what and promises to obtain the Samaritan drives to "expose the abuses that the government has perpetrated upon them." He hangs up and continues with his operation.
Arthur opens the safe deposit box and removes the two Samaritan drives, as well as a handwritten note dated February 2005. It's in Arthur's handwriting but Arthur doesn't remember why he wrote it.
Root, meanwhile, screams in agony, unable to handle her interrogation for much longer. She finally gives in and reveals to Control that she is in fact the interface and needs a phone to communicate with the Machine. Control takes out a cell phone but then puts it down on a table, and Root tells her that the Machine uses her. Control accepts that she is telling the truth and is surprised to learn that Root considers it a superior force. Figuring that the only way to halt Root's contact with the Machine is to do it physically, Control prepares to perform a stapedectomy on Root's right ear to remove a bone there, but without anesthesia.
Arthur finally works out that he wrote the note one day before Samaritan was shut down, and realizes that he solved the AI problem that day and that Samaritan was a true sentient AI.
1980 Harold is working with his computer when it catches power and sets on fire. Harold extinguishes the fire and realizes that he needs more power. He hacks into ARPANET to continue powering his machine.
As Hersh prepares to move inside, Collier calls to give Finch one last chance before he blows the vault open, but Finch hangs up on him. Meanwhile, Arthur looks at the drives, and Finch advises him to destroy them before they fall into the wrong hands. He finally reveals to Arthur that he and Nathan built the Machine. Arthur is fascinated, but is still unable to destroy what he views as his child. Finch says that their enemies will use Samaritan to enslave others and asks him if that's what he wants for his child. Convinced, Arthur bids his creation farewell and crushes it.
Shaw informs Finch that she has created a pipe bomb nearby, which will detonate along with Vigilance's bombs and blow open an exit to the sewers. Finch says that it's reckless, but Shaw knows that they're out of options, and tells Finch to take cover with Arthur. Collier blows the vault open, and Finch and Arthur get up. They are found by two Vigilance men, but they are shot down by Shaw, who tells Finch and Arthur to get moving.
Hersh and his men burst into the bank, killing off Collier's men. Shaw holds off gunfire while escorting Finch and Arthur down the stairs, but Collier and his four remaining men hold the two at gunpoint and force Shaw to surrender. Once Arthur tells him that he destroyed the drives, Collier figures that having Arthur will be sufficient. He tells his men to dispose of Shaw and Finch, but two SWAT officers open fire from the stairway. Collier manages to escape with two of his men while the officers reveal that they're Fusco and Reese.
While the team escapes into the sewers, Hersh and his men surround the last Vigilance agent. Hersh demands to know the location of the drives, but the man responds by saying, "the tree of liberty must be replenished by the blood of patriots and tyrants." He reveals a hand grenade and detonates it as Hersh and his men take cover.
Root, now deaf on her right ear, reveals to Control that the Machine had been giving her Morse code messages through the phone Control placed on the table earlier. Root tells Control she knows that Control is scared of her, and that she brought a knife along. Root had managed to pickpocket the knife when Control came close by to perform the surgery. The guards in the room have somehow fallen to the ground, having been "disabled" by the Machine, and Root lunges out of her chair at Control, holding the knife to her head. She asks the Machine what to do with Control, and begins speaking the Machine's mind. Control asks what the Machine wants, and the Machine, speaking through Root, tells Control not to follow it or its agents, and that it's trying to save her. Control asks what the Machine is trying to save her from, but Root simply laughs, asking, "isn't she the best?" Control's fate is left unknown.
The next day, Finch takes Arthur to a private hospital. Arthur says that he's glad Finch built the Machine but admits that his memories are fading. Finch tells him that his memories are still there, just hidden. He then gets a call from Root, who is now posing as a civilian out in the city. Root says that if she and Finch had worked together, then Samaritan's drives wouldn't have fallen into the wrong hands. Finch remembers Arthur destroying the drives, but Root says that the bank manager they were with was an impostor who swapped the drives with fakes, the real one having been murdered prior to their arrival. Finch wonders who the woman is.
Root has Finch put Arthur on the line, and she tells Arthur that The Machine has something to send him on his way. The TV that Arthur is watching brings up footage of Arthur's wife, his best times with her and at MIT with Finch. Both Finch and Arthur are stunned.
1980 Harold goes to see his father and warns him that men will soon come to talk to him, and will claim Harold is a traitor. He assures his father that he isn't, but his father no longer remembers who Harold is. Devastated, Harold sees a bird outside and asks his father what kind of bird it is, expecting him to remember from Finch's childhood. However, his father is unable to identify the bird. Harold hands his father a book about birds, kisses him on the head, and leaves.
Reese goes to the Library to see Finch, who explains how the Machine helped Root escape. He welcomes Reese home, but Reese says that he only came back to protect Finch. Reese no longer trusts the Machine, pointing out that blindly trusting it got Carter killed. He wonders if the Machine cares who matters and who doesn't anymore, and says goodbye. Finch says that he can't go but Reese walks away.
That night, the fake bank manager meets with her employer: Greer. He confirms that she didn't check the contents of the two drives and that she didn't tell anyone about them. Once he's satisfied, Greer shoots her dead to cover his trail. As he walks away, Greer promises Samaritan that it is "destined for great things."
Points of Interest
Aletheia (ἀλήθεια) is a Greek word meaning disclosure, lack of concealment or truth. It is associated with German philosopher Martin Heidegger's view of disclosure not as truth but as being open. The various characters have experiences that force them to be open, but not necessarily truthful, about events in the pastThe Machine reviews major events leading up to the episode: Reese and Fusco fistfight in Colorado and get caught by the cops; Control and her government agents capture Finch, Shaw and Arthur Claypool. (“Lethe”)
This two-episode arc makes several references to Finch's days at MIT with Claypool and Ingram. MIT emphasizes research and technology education with a faculty including multiple Nobel Prize laureates. Although not part of the original ARPANET, it has a long history of research tied to the development of modern computer technology and defense. It also has a reputation, along with Caltech and Stanford University, for having a highly creative student body given to pranks and other high profile activities.
Arthur reminds Finch of a hack that Nathan and they perpetrated in 1981 at the Harvard-Yale game. This may refer to a real event on November 20, 1982 when during the second quarter of the Harvard-Yale football game, a big black balloon with “MIT” written all over it suddenly emerged from the Harvard Stadium field.
This episode explains why Finch uses bird names: as an homage to his father who was fond of birds. The book young Harold gives to his father in the nursing home is Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson, a field guide to identifying birds in eastern North America.
Rudiger Smoot, the false identity that Finch created to open a bank account on a dare, refers to a common MIT student joke. Smoot refers to a non-standard unit of measure first used by undergraduate Oliver R. Smoot to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge as part of a fraternity initiation. MIT jokes involving measures in smoots (roughly 5' 7", Smoot's height) have become so well known that the ridges in the bridge are now one smoot apart, as opposed to the traditional 6'. Oliver Smoot went on to become chair of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and later President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), bodies charged with standardization of various units and measurements.
The quote "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places." is drawn from Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, his romantic novel set amid the Italian Campaign during World War I. The novel was published in 1929, and is known for securing Hemingway's reputation as an American novelist.
The reduction in hearing range with age is genuine; the Morse code audio broadcast to Root is in the range that older people cannot hear but younger people can.
Young Harold is seen hacking ARPANET with a homemade computer. This was previously referenced in “2πR” s2 e11. Later in the scene, he is seen dialing a telephone number with the area code 703.
At that time, 703 served most of the Washington DC metropolitan area.
The date Young Harold hacks into ARPANET is October 27, 1980. In real life, ARPANET experienced a 4 hour long outage on October 27, 1980. In reality, the outage was later shown to be caused by a hardware malfunction.
The bird in the tree that Harold's father fails to identify is an American Robin, which makes the scene particularly tragic as this is one of the first birds most people learn in North America. The copy of Roger Tory Peterson's Eastern Birds that Harold leaves with his dad may be the (then) recently-published 4th edition, (copyright 1980). The birds on the pond outside The Pines are Tundra Swans.
The Machine sends an actual message through Morse code at a frequency of about 14,200 HZ. It can be decoded as "SORRY.(...) INCREASED PERSPIRATION. HEART RATE AND BREATHING ELEVATED. INDICATIVE OF FEAR.(...) 2 OCLOCK. 2007 ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT TORN. SURGICAL REPAIR PARTIAL SUCCESS. 2010 PHYSICAL THERAPY DISCONTINUED AGAINST DOCTORS ADVICE.(...) 8 OCLOCK."
The two "drives" shown in this episode are identified as two 800 GB Linear Tape Open Ultrium 4 (LTO-4) tape cartridges, an industry standard for backup due to their high memory density and archivability. These two LTO cartridges would most definitely be sufficient to contain the operating system for Samaritan.
However, the props used in the episode are actually SAIT-1 (500 GB) tapes, not LTO tapes. LTO-4 tapes were not available in 2005 (when the Samaritan program was shut down, as per Claypool's note), so the original Samaritan tapes could not possibly have been on LTO-4 tapes. SAIT-1 tapes on the other hand are plausible, since they were produced from 2003 to 2006.
The Machine reviews major events leading up to the episode: Reese and Fusco fistfight in Colorado and get caught by the cops; Control and her government agents capture Finch, Shaw and Arthur Claypool.
Finch, Shaw, and Arthur are all at gunpoint, and Control asks about Samaritan's location. Finch insists that Congress shut down the project in 2005, but Control presses on that it exists and asks Arthur. Though he tries hard to fight his brain tumor and remember, Arthur is unable to provide Control with an answer. Control leans over to Shaw, telling her that it was a "thrill" watching her work, before ordering her men to execute Shaw and Finch. Root suddenly bursts in with two guns and opens fire, allowing Shaw to use the distraction to escape and free her two partners. Root is shot by Hersh and she tells the other three how to access the elevator out of the building before Hersh crushes her phone and knocks her out.
Finch, Shaw and Arthur make it out of the building and escape in a car before Hersh can stop them.
1979 In Iowa, Harold is packing for his father, who doesn't remember that his son is taking him to an assisted-care center, The Pines. Harold tells him that he'll take care of him later and glances over at the memory circuit he's created. He tells his father that it's more of a friend than a machine, and that one day it will help and protect his father. Harold's father goes to change, saying that he's going to tell everyone at the Pines that is son is going to "change the world."
Finch drives to a bank and explains to Shaw that even though Samaritan's drives are broken, Control can have someone fix them if she can obtain them. Until then, they have to avoid any enemies. They later arrive at the bank, where Arthur begins to drift away into his college memories, bringing up Nathan Ingram. Arthur is sad to learn that Nathan is dead, but Finch switches the subject, asking if Arthur built backup drives for Samaritan. Shaw figures that Arthur would probably not remember until Arthur surprises them by saying he did in fact build a backup, and that he faked his memory loss to get away with lying to Control. He then says that the backup drives are stored in the vault at the bank.
Root, meanwhile, is placed inside a cell in a secure government facility. She meets Control, who offers to help her escape Reese and Finch in exchange for telling her how to access the Machine. Root continues on with witty retorts, but Control is unimpressed. She pulls out a syringe and injects Root with a tranquilizer.
In Colorado, Reese wakes up in a cell, and tells Fusco that it was stupid of the detective to pick a fight with him, going on to say that he is lucky to still be alive. Fusco ignores the comment and says that the sheriff is keeping the two locked up for now.
Back in New York, Finch, Shaw and Arthur go into the bank and Arthur explains that he put the two drives in a safe deposit box. He stomps his medical alert medallion and takes a key out from inside. The bank manager asks them if they need anything, and Arthur gives her his key, identifying himself as Rudiger Smoot.
Control injects Root with an amphetamine, causing her to forcefully wake up. Control explains how she will continue alternating between tranquilizers and amphetamines until Root can provide her with an answer - an interrogation method one can withstand only for so long until their heart explodes. She then reveals a bag full of syringes. Root simply says that the Machine is beyond Control's reach, but Control still injects her with another tranquilizer.
The bank manager takes Finch and Arthur to the safe deposit vault while Shaw works out that Arthur's bank alias, Rudiger, is the name he gave to the interrogator at the hospital in the radiology room. Shaw notices Vigilance members using lasers to disable the cameras, and then spots Peter Collier arriving with a team. Shaw warns Finch about Vigilance, and she notices a SWAT team pulling up. She spots Hersh and realizes that his team is disguised as SWAT. Shaw considers her options, but tells Finch that he and Arthur have to get out of the vault. Collier goes to the vault before Finch can escape with his friend, and he has no choice but to close the vault door. As he slams it shut, Collier fires, hitting the bank manager in the leg before the door can fully close.
In Colorado, Fusco says that they should head home but Reese tells him that he has no home and that all they've been doing is delaying the inevitable by saving POIs. He figures that Fusco will eventually go back to his crooked ways, and nothing has changed. Disgusted, Fusco tells Reese that Carter was better than either one of them, and he isn't giving up even though she's dead. He then calls to the waiting sheriff, and the man releases them. As Fusco leaves, Reese tells him to thank Finch for the job, and Fusco says that he hasn't heard from Finch, and their friend is probably in danger. However, Fusco pretends to think how Reese would, taunting Reese by saying that saving Finch would still be "pointless" and that they would simply be "delaying the inevitable." Reese is left thinking.
Finch maintains contact with Shaw via radio and she tells him how to treat the bank manager's wound. She admits that she can't take out Collier and his men because they're the only thing keeping Hersh's team from storming the bank.
Hersh calls Collier on the phone and says that he'll let Collier's team walk away in the next sixty seconds. After that, he'll wipe them out. Collier, however, knows that Hersh will kill him and his men no matter what and promises to obtain the Samaritan drives to "expose the abuses that the government has perpetrated upon them." He hangs up and continues with his operation.
Arthur opens the safe deposit box and removes the two Samaritan drives, as well as a handwritten note dated February 2005. It's in Arthur's handwriting but Arthur doesn't remember why he wrote it.
Root, meanwhile, screams in agony, unable to handle her interrogation for much longer. She finally gives in and reveals to Control that she is in fact the interface and needs a phone to communicate with the Machine. Control takes out a cell phone but then puts it down on a table, and Root tells her that the Machine uses her. Control accepts that she is telling the truth and is surprised to learn that Root considers it a superior force. Figuring that the only way to halt Root's contact with the Machine is to do it physically, Control prepares to perform a stapedectomy on Root's right ear to remove a bone there, but without anesthesia.
Arthur finally works out that he wrote the note one day before Samaritan was shut down, and realizes that he solved the AI problem that day and that Samaritan was a true sentient AI.
1980 Harold is working with his computer when it catches power and sets on fire. Harold extinguishes the fire and realizes that he needs more power. He hacks into ARPANET to continue powering his machine.
As Hersh prepares to move inside, Collier calls to give Finch one last chance before he blows the vault open, but Finch hangs up on him. Meanwhile, Arthur looks at the drives, and Finch advises him to destroy them before they fall into the wrong hands. He finally reveals to Arthur that he and Nathan built the Machine. Arthur is fascinated, but is still unable to destroy what he views as his child. Finch says that their enemies will use Samaritan to enslave others and asks him if that's what he wants for his child. Convinced, Arthur bids his creation farewell and crushes it.
Shaw informs Finch that she has created a pipe bomb nearby, which will detonate along with Vigilance's bombs and blow open an exit to the sewers. Finch says that it's reckless, but Shaw knows that they're out of options, and tells Finch to take cover with Arthur. Collier blows the vault open, and Finch and Arthur get up. They are found by two Vigilance men, but they are shot down by Shaw, who tells Finch and Arthur to get moving.
Hersh and his men burst into the bank, killing off Collier's men. Shaw holds off gunfire while escorting Finch and Arthur down the stairs, but Collier and his four remaining men hold the two at gunpoint and force Shaw to surrender. Once Arthur tells him that he destroyed the drives, Collier figures that having Arthur will be sufficient. He tells his men to dispose of Shaw and Finch, but two SWAT officers open fire from the stairway. Collier manages to escape with two of his men while the officers reveal that they're Fusco and Reese.
While the team escapes into the sewers, Hersh and his men surround the last Vigilance agent. Hersh demands to know the location of the drives, but the man responds by saying, "the tree of liberty must be replenished by the blood of patriots and tyrants." He reveals a hand grenade and detonates it as Hersh and his men take cover.
Root, now deaf on her right ear, reveals to Control that the Machine had been giving her Morse code messages through the phone Control placed on the table earlier. Root tells Control she knows that Control is scared of her, and that she brought a knife along. Root had managed to pickpocket the knife when Control came close by to perform the surgery. The guards in the room have somehow fallen to the ground, having been "disabled" by the Machine, and Root lunges out of her chair at Control, holding the knife to her head. She asks the Machine what to do with Control, and begins speaking the Machine's mind. Control asks what the Machine wants, and the Machine, speaking through Root, tells Control not to follow it or its agents, and that it's trying to save her. Control asks what the Machine is trying to save her from, but Root simply laughs, asking, "isn't she the best?" Control's fate is left unknown.
The next day, Finch takes Arthur to a private hospital. Arthur says that he's glad Finch built the Machine but admits that his memories are fading. Finch tells him that his memories are still there, just hidden. He then gets a call from Root, who is now posing as a civilian out in the city. Root says that if she and Finch had worked together, then Samaritan's drives wouldn't have fallen into the wrong hands. Finch remembers Arthur destroying the drives, but Root says that the bank manager they were with was an impostor who swapped the drives with fakes, the real one having been murdered prior to their arrival. Finch wonders who the woman is.
Root has Finch put Arthur on the line, and she tells Arthur that The Machine has something to send him on his way. The TV that Arthur is watching brings up footage of Arthur's wife, his best times with her and at MIT with Finch. Both Finch and Arthur are stunned.
1980 Harold goes to see his father and warns him that men will soon come to talk to him, and will claim Harold is a traitor. He assures his father that he isn't, but his father no longer remembers who Harold is. Devastated, Harold sees a bird outside and asks his father what kind of bird it is, expecting him to remember from Finch's childhood. However, his father is unable to identify the bird. Harold hands his father a book about birds, kisses him on the head, and leaves.
Reese goes to the Library to see Finch, who explains how the Machine helped Root escape. He welcomes Reese home, but Reese says that he only came back to protect Finch. Reese no longer trusts the Machine, pointing out that blindly trusting it got Carter killed. He wonders if the Machine cares who matters and who doesn't anymore, and says goodbye. Finch says that he can't go but Reese walks away.
That night, the fake bank manager meets with her employer: Greer. He confirms that she didn't check the contents of the two drives and that she didn't tell anyone about them. Once he's satisfied, Greer shoots her dead to cover his trail. As he walks away, Greer promises Samaritan that it is "destined for great things."
Points of Interest
Aletheia (ἀλήθεια) is a Greek word meaning disclosure, lack of concealment or truth. It is associated with German philosopher Martin Heidegger's view of disclosure not as truth but as being open. The various characters have experiences that force them to be open, but not necessarily truthful, about events in the pastThe Machine reviews major events leading up to the episode: Reese and Fusco fistfight in Colorado and get caught by the cops; Control and her government agents capture Finch, Shaw and Arthur Claypool. (“Lethe”)
This two-episode arc makes several references to Finch's days at MIT with Claypool and Ingram. MIT emphasizes research and technology education with a faculty including multiple Nobel Prize laureates. Although not part of the original ARPANET, it has a long history of research tied to the development of modern computer technology and defense. It also has a reputation, along with Caltech and Stanford University, for having a highly creative student body given to pranks and other high profile activities.
Arthur reminds Finch of a hack that Nathan and they perpetrated in 1981 at the Harvard-Yale game. This may refer to a real event on November 20, 1982 when during the second quarter of the Harvard-Yale football game, a big black balloon with “MIT” written all over it suddenly emerged from the Harvard Stadium field.
This episode explains why Finch uses bird names: as an homage to his father who was fond of birds. The book young Harold gives to his father in the nursing home is Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson, a field guide to identifying birds in eastern North America.
Rudiger Smoot, the false identity that Finch created to open a bank account on a dare, refers to a common MIT student joke. Smoot refers to a non-standard unit of measure first used by undergraduate Oliver R. Smoot to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge as part of a fraternity initiation. MIT jokes involving measures in smoots (roughly 5' 7", Smoot's height) have become so well known that the ridges in the bridge are now one smoot apart, as opposed to the traditional 6'. Oliver Smoot went on to become chair of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and later President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), bodies charged with standardization of various units and measurements.
The quote "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places." is drawn from Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, his romantic novel set amid the Italian Campaign during World War I. The novel was published in 1929, and is known for securing Hemingway's reputation as an American novelist.
The reduction in hearing range with age is genuine; the Morse code audio broadcast to Root is in the range that older people cannot hear but younger people can.
Young Harold is seen hacking ARPANET with a homemade computer. This was previously referenced in “2πR” s2 e11. Later in the scene, he is seen dialing a telephone number with the area code 703.
At that time, 703 served most of the Washington DC metropolitan area.
The date Young Harold hacks into ARPANET is October 27, 1980. In real life, ARPANET experienced a 4 hour long outage on October 27, 1980. In reality, the outage was later shown to be caused by a hardware malfunction.
The bird in the tree that Harold's father fails to identify is an American Robin, which makes the scene particularly tragic as this is one of the first birds most people learn in North America. The copy of Roger Tory Peterson's Eastern Birds that Harold leaves with his dad may be the (then) recently-published 4th edition, (copyright 1980). The birds on the pond outside The Pines are Tundra Swans.
The Machine sends an actual message through Morse code at a frequency of about 14,200 HZ. It can be decoded as "SORRY.(...) INCREASED PERSPIRATION. HEART RATE AND BREATHING ELEVATED. INDICATIVE OF FEAR.(...) 2 OCLOCK. 2007 ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT TORN. SURGICAL REPAIR PARTIAL SUCCESS. 2010 PHYSICAL THERAPY DISCONTINUED AGAINST DOCTORS ADVICE.(...) 8 OCLOCK."
The two "drives" shown in this episode are identified as two 800 GB Linear Tape Open Ultrium 4 (LTO-4) tape cartridges, an industry standard for backup due to their high memory density and archivability. These two LTO cartridges would most definitely be sufficient to contain the operating system for Samaritan.
However, the props used in the episode are actually SAIT-1 (500 GB) tapes, not LTO tapes. LTO-4 tapes were not available in 2005 (when the Samaritan program was shut down, as per Claypool's note), so the original Samaritan tapes could not possibly have been on LTO-4 tapes. SAIT-1 tapes on the other hand are plausible, since they were produced from 2003 to 2006.
just briefly:
The Machine sends an actual message through Morse code at a frequency of about 14,200 HZ
Oh THIS SHOW; they actually DID THAT? I didn't spot it in that scene, but maybe it's easier to notice on rewatch if you know you're looking for it? Although I am more Control's than Root's age so entirely likely that it's above my threshold now.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:54 PM on February 24
The Machine sends an actual message through Morse code at a frequency of about 14,200 HZ
Oh THIS SHOW; they actually DID THAT? I didn't spot it in that scene, but maybe it's easier to notice on rewatch if you know you're looking for it? Although I am more Control's than Root's age so entirely likely that it's above my threshold now.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:54 PM on February 24
Root overtly tells Control what's happening at the 27 minute mark of the episode.
(Close up of phone with subtle beeping and whirring noises.)
Control: We have your friends surrounded. So if they try anything, I will have them all killed. And then I will take the ear you have left and then your eyes and then your tongue. Do you understand?
Root: You're too late. The machine's already talking. (Control looks at the phone.) You're too old, older than 40. You can't hear a sound over 15 kilohertz. But I can (smiles) with the ear I've got left. My friend's been beeping morse code at that frequency since you brought your phone in here. She's been talking to me the whole time, telling me about you. You're scared of me. Even with all these guards watching, by the way that one has a bum knee. You're so scared of me you hid a knife in your pocket. I couldn't reach it until you got close enough to cut me. You still have the scalpel. I'd call that a fair fight. (Root attacks Control.)
posted by miss-lapin at 7:18 PM on February 24
(Close up of phone with subtle beeping and whirring noises.)
Control: We have your friends surrounded. So if they try anything, I will have them all killed. And then I will take the ear you have left and then your eyes and then your tongue. Do you understand?
Root: You're too late. The machine's already talking. (Control looks at the phone.) You're too old, older than 40. You can't hear a sound over 15 kilohertz. But I can (smiles) with the ear I've got left. My friend's been beeping morse code at that frequency since you brought your phone in here. She's been talking to me the whole time, telling me about you. You're scared of me. Even with all these guards watching, by the way that one has a bum knee. You're so scared of me you hid a knife in your pocket. I couldn't reach it until you got close enough to cut me. You still have the scalpel. I'd call that a fair fight. (Root attacks Control.)
posted by miss-lapin at 7:18 PM on February 24
I think what We had a deal, Kyle was referring to was the ambiguity of the trivia "The Machine sends an actual message through Morse code at a frequency of about 14,200 HZ"
So did the show actually broadcast morse code at 14.2kHz? I didn't hear any, but that doesn't mean that compression excluded frequencies higher than a certain threshold. I don't know if the original broadcast TV was able to transmit that frequency. It's doable on DVD, but whether the codec compression supported it or not is another story.
Ultrasonic ringtones
On my PC monitor speakers I can hear up to 15.8kHz, the rest I can't hear or I just hear a click.
On my cellphone I can just barely hear up to 14.9kHz.
I'm an old fart (47) but I've been kind to my ears over the years.
posted by porpoise at 8:19 PM on February 24
So did the show actually broadcast morse code at 14.2kHz? I didn't hear any, but that doesn't mean that compression excluded frequencies higher than a certain threshold. I don't know if the original broadcast TV was able to transmit that frequency. It's doable on DVD, but whether the codec compression supported it or not is another story.
Ultrasonic ringtones
On my PC monitor speakers I can hear up to 15.8kHz, the rest I can't hear or I just hear a click.
On my cellphone I can just barely hear up to 14.9kHz.
I'm an old fart (47) but I've been kind to my ears over the years.
posted by porpoise at 8:19 PM on February 24
My question was 1) why Control let a turned-on cell phone within Root's vicinity, and 2) I can't think of a plausible way that a phone could be "remote hacked" to such a degree that it could connect and transmit audio signal without the phone apparently "waking up."
But yeah, the entire scene was a little wtf - not the technological limitations - but Root letting/ getting her stapes get amputated, but her utterly cool demeanor.
posted by porpoise at 8:23 PM on February 24
But yeah, the entire scene was a little wtf - not the technological limitations - but Root letting/ getting her stapes get amputated, but her utterly cool demeanor.
posted by porpoise at 8:23 PM on February 24
The phone arrives at 21:00 until the the beginning of the stapesectomy. Couldn't hear anything.
Could be that the morse message was broadcast after the cut away.
posted by porpoise at 8:31 PM on February 24
Could be that the morse message was broadcast after the cut away.
posted by porpoise at 8:31 PM on February 24
I think what We had a deal, Kyle was referring to was the ambiguity of the trivia
Yes, just so. The show explains to us what happened in-universe, but the production --at least if this Reddit comment and this YouTube video are to be believed -- actually did go to the trouble of encoding a message to Morse and transmitting it in the show's audio. It's an admirable commitment to the bit for the handful of fans that would notice and decode it; much like how the glitch codes in series 2 were an actual decodable cipher.
(Whether the ultrasonics make it through Amazon Prime's compression, eesh, I don't know offhand. Might be fun to watch that scene with Spectroid running on a phone and see if there are any spikes at 14.2 kHz.)
On the "wait what, the Machine can silently turn on a phone?" question: eh. The show already pretty much handwaves over all the bluejacking stuff that Team Machine does; we're already firmly in suspension-of-disbelief there.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:33 AM on February 25
Yes, just so. The show explains to us what happened in-universe, but the production --at least if this Reddit comment and this YouTube video are to be believed -- actually did go to the trouble of encoding a message to Morse and transmitting it in the show's audio. It's an admirable commitment to the bit for the handful of fans that would notice and decode it; much like how the glitch codes in series 2 were an actual decodable cipher.
(Whether the ultrasonics make it through Amazon Prime's compression, eesh, I don't know offhand. Might be fun to watch that scene with Spectroid running on a phone and see if there are any spikes at 14.2 kHz.)
On the "wait what, the Machine can silently turn on a phone?" question: eh. The show already pretty much handwaves over all the bluejacking stuff that Team Machine does; we're already firmly in suspension-of-disbelief there.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:33 AM on February 25
I'm sorry for misinterpreting the comment. I'm still struggling with the flu and so my brain isn't braining at 100% right now.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:46 AM on February 25
posted by miss-lapin at 8:46 AM on February 25
I was just tickled that my driveby comment yesterday got so many responses. Get well soon!
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:14 AM on February 25 [1 favorite]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:14 AM on February 25 [1 favorite]
But yeah, the entire scene was a little wtf - not the technological limitations - but Root letting/ getting her stapes get amputated, but her utterly cool demeanor.
I found the entire torture scene utterly horrifying -- which I mean as a compliment here. It's very revealing of how both Control and Root are utter true believers in their opposing causes, of how much they're respectively willing to do versus willing to endure in service of those causes. And Root of course has utter unshakeable faith that the Machine will find a way to save her -- or at least a way to help her to save herself.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:15 PM on February 25 [1 favorite]
I found the entire torture scene utterly horrifying -- which I mean as a compliment here. It's very revealing of how both Control and Root are utter true believers in their opposing causes, of how much they're respectively willing to do versus willing to endure in service of those causes. And Root of course has utter unshakeable faith that the Machine will find a way to save her -- or at least a way to help her to save herself.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:15 PM on February 25 [1 favorite]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by porpoise at 5:47 PM on February 18 [1 favorite]