Person of Interest: Skip
March 25, 2015 7:25 PM - Season 4, Episode 18 - Subscribe
Reese tries to protect a bounty hunter who continues to pursue her target despite a potential threat to her life; Finch puts his plan into motion.
I can't shake the feeling that the writing team was each tasked with creating a possible replacement for Shaw. This week's model was better than most.
I think it helped that they made it a B-plot this week instead of the focus of the episode. (I suppose technically the bounty hunter number was the A-plot, but, Finch&Root was the A for me.)
posted by oh yeah! at 4:43 AM on March 26, 2015
I think it helped that they made it a B-plot this week instead of the focus of the episode. (I suppose technically the bounty hunter number was the A-plot, but, Finch&Root was the A for me.)
posted by oh yeah! at 4:43 AM on March 26, 2015
Honestly... there have been a lot of these: junior hacker, MMA fighter, IA cop, grifter, bounty hunter. Not one of them is a shadow of Shaw though.
I guess the other possibility is that they already had the stories broken when Sarah Shahi bowed out and they created a string of ass-kicking guest stars to hold her seat for a bit.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:21 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I guess the other possibility is that they already had the stories broken when Sarah Shahi bowed out and they created a string of ass-kicking guest stars to hold her seat for a bit.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:21 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not one of them is a shadow of Shaw though.
I think they'd be making a mistake to try to create another Shaw. The team needs something different. I liked this week's attempt; there was some chemistry there (not just the romantic kind) and she would bring a different energy to the show. She's more Fusco than anything else, and the show could use a bit more of that rough energy. But the fact that the con artist is back for round 2 and is getting texts from the machine has me expecting (and disappointed - I think she's been the weakest) that she's going to be the new member.
But a good guest star in the B-plot and lots of Root and Finch in the A-plot made me happy. And I suspect that the activator isn't gone...it's the only hint we've had that the team has tried to make any effort against Samaritan, and if this war is going to progress, they need a weapon.
posted by nubs at 7:45 PM on March 26, 2015
I think they'd be making a mistake to try to create another Shaw. The team needs something different. I liked this week's attempt; there was some chemistry there (not just the romantic kind) and she would bring a different energy to the show. She's more Fusco than anything else, and the show could use a bit more of that rough energy. But the fact that the con artist is back for round 2 and is getting texts from the machine has me expecting (and disappointed - I think she's been the weakest) that she's going to be the new member.
But a good guest star in the B-plot and lots of Root and Finch in the A-plot made me happy. And I suspect that the activator isn't gone...it's the only hint we've had that the team has tried to make any effort against Samaritan, and if this war is going to progress, they need a weapon.
posted by nubs at 7:45 PM on March 26, 2015
"I can't shake the feeling that the writing team was each tasked with creating a possible replacement for Shaw. This week's model was better than most."
I already said previously about how this show is auditioning for Highlander: The Raven, and this really was, with more than one girl in it to boot. Yeah, it was slightly better, but I'd probably prefer say, an older woman like the lady on jury duty or even poor Elizabeth in this one as a replacement lady than the chicks we've seen. Right now I guess I'd rank the cop girl as the best option, followed by the blonde in this one (though really, everyone is putting the mack on Reese this ep), followed by YoSafBridge who came back again. I figure they need another action heroine if the reason Shaw was brought in was to take a load off Caviezel, but so far I don't love anybody they've tried out. *shrug* I feel sorry for the show folks trying to solve this problem.
But the Root and Finch story was chilling and aces. Damned good performances out of them in that hotel room.
Uggggggggggh, of COURSE the cute young redheaded therapist wants to bang Reese. Despite losing her career over it if anyone finds out. If my shrink watched this show she would plotz.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:55 PM on March 26, 2015
I already said previously about how this show is auditioning for Highlander: The Raven, and this really was, with more than one girl in it to boot. Yeah, it was slightly better, but I'd probably prefer say, an older woman like the lady on jury duty or even poor Elizabeth in this one as a replacement lady than the chicks we've seen. Right now I guess I'd rank the cop girl as the best option, followed by the blonde in this one (though really, everyone is putting the mack on Reese this ep), followed by YoSafBridge who came back again. I figure they need another action heroine if the reason Shaw was brought in was to take a load off Caviezel, but so far I don't love anybody they've tried out. *shrug* I feel sorry for the show folks trying to solve this problem.
But the Root and Finch story was chilling and aces. Damned good performances out of them in that hotel room.
Uggggggggggh, of COURSE the cute young redheaded therapist wants to bang Reese. Despite losing her career over it if anyone finds out. If my shrink watched this show she would plotz.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:55 PM on March 26, 2015
And I suspect that the activator isn't gone...it's the only hint we've had that the team has tried to make any effort against Samaritan, and if this war is going to progress, they need a weapon.
Oh, I thought it was pretty clear, in that particularly Root-style way of saying things, that when she said it was gone, because activating it would've killed Professor Whistler, that she was saying she took it because she can find a way to activate it that maybe only burns one of her (expendable, replaceable) cover identities.
Agreeing with folks about the sudden plethora of Shaw-wannabes. I'd take more regular Zoe appearances over any of them, tbh, but I get that they're specifically looking for someone action-y.
posted by mstokes650 at 9:04 PM on March 26, 2015
Oh, I thought it was pretty clear, in that particularly Root-style way of saying things, that when she said it was gone, because activating it would've killed Professor Whistler, that she was saying she took it because she can find a way to activate it that maybe only burns one of her (expendable, replaceable) cover identities.
Agreeing with folks about the sudden plethora of Shaw-wannabes. I'd take more regular Zoe appearances over any of them, tbh, but I get that they're specifically looking for someone action-y.
posted by mstokes650 at 9:04 PM on March 26, 2015
I can't shake the feeling that the writing team was each tasked with creating a possible replacement for Shaw.
I thought the same thing. She was played by Katheryn Winnick, who also plays Lagertha on Vikings, btw.
posted by homunculus at 2:36 PM on March 27, 2015
I thought the same thing. She was played by Katheryn Winnick, who also plays Lagertha on Vikings, btw.
posted by homunculus at 2:36 PM on March 27, 2015
Peter Watts: Person of Interest
Tough-as-nails lady cop who gets the job done, check. Taciturn mysterious bad-ass stranger haunted by a dark past, check. Dumpy rumpled detective on the take, check. Manic pixie dream girl, check. Warrior Chick Who Takes Shit From No Man, check. Dweeby computer nerd with thick glasses and limited social skills, check. Starched cardboard villain with mandatory British accent, check.posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:39 AM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
If the cliches were stacked any higher, you’d have an episode of The Big Bang Theory. How the hell did such a formulaic piece of crap get so bloody fascinating?
I agree with DOT that these were scripts already in the pipeline when Shaw was around. And it's been a parade of kick ass black leather wannabes ever since.
It's a mistake to try to replace her with the same kind of character. But Episode 20 features Zoe and it was the most interesting episode since the departure of Shaw.
It also featured more foreshadowing of the demise of Reese.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:05 PM on April 8, 2015
It's a mistake to try to replace her with the same kind of character. But Episode 20 features Zoe and it was the most interesting episode since the departure of Shaw.
It also featured more foreshadowing of the demise of Reese.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:05 PM on April 8, 2015
From the Watts post:
The first two whole seasons were utter crap. And you can’t skip over them, either; there’s important stuff, canonical stuff scattered here and there throughout those thirty-some hours of unremitting lameness. But if you just hold your nose and grit your teeth and endure those awful two seasons, it gets really good in the third. It totally pays off.
He has a point; at one point during the 2nd season I had about an 8-10 episode backlog on my DVR and was thinking about giving up on the show because it hadn't really started to do anything interesting. But I had this pile of ironing to do and so I started watching because I have a binge-watching theory: either you'll discover you love the show, or the problems will become so glaring and obvious and annoying that you'll quit.
And I couldn't stop watching; I can't remember what point everything was at, but the hints and pieces of the larger storyline started coming out, especially because I was binging I think, and I could not stop. The show still has its problems, but it's interesting how it's taken all the cliches and (most of the time) transcended them.
posted by nubs at 3:16 PM on April 8, 2015
The first two whole seasons were utter crap. And you can’t skip over them, either; there’s important stuff, canonical stuff scattered here and there throughout those thirty-some hours of unremitting lameness. But if you just hold your nose and grit your teeth and endure those awful two seasons, it gets really good in the third. It totally pays off.
He has a point; at one point during the 2nd season I had about an 8-10 episode backlog on my DVR and was thinking about giving up on the show because it hadn't really started to do anything interesting. But I had this pile of ironing to do and so I started watching because I have a binge-watching theory: either you'll discover you love the show, or the problems will become so glaring and obvious and annoying that you'll quit.
And I couldn't stop watching; I can't remember what point everything was at, but the hints and pieces of the larger storyline started coming out, especially because I was binging I think, and I could not stop. The show still has its problems, but it's interesting how it's taken all the cliches and (most of the time) transcended them.
posted by nubs at 3:16 PM on April 8, 2015
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:00 PM on March 25, 2015 [4 favorites]