Person of Interest: Panoptican

September 23, 2014 7:29 PM - Season 4, Episode 1

The team is incognito to Samaritan, which (who?) has found a John of its own. A number comes up and the way forward is made slightly clearer.

Why doesn't Harold have Bear declared a special-needs dog? If anyone needed an emotional support companion, it's Professor Whistler.

posted by viggorlijah (15 comments total)

I wondered the same thing about the special needs dogs, it seems so obvious.

I really missed this show. So good. Although I do hope that they will use "Samaritan is watching" as an excuse to dial back some of John and Shaw's action-hero-ness which had gotten kind of out of control...one of the things I liked in the first season was that they generally tried to keep John's violence kind of understated - efficient, direct and not flashy. It just gradually escalated each season from there to kind of jarring "goes through a second-story plate-glass window, lands on a car, walks away" superheroish kind of stuff from the previous season and really needs to be dialed back or at the very least not escalate any further.

Also loved that nice little moment at the end there, when John looks at Fusco and looks at the desk and you can tell that even though he knew he was partnering up with Fusco he hadn't really thought about whose desk he'd be sitting at.
posted by mstokes650 at 8:54 PM on September 23, 2014 [6 favorites]

I am very happy this show is back.
posted by homunculus at 9:25 PM on September 23, 2014

Person Of Interest's Creators Explain Why A.I. Could Be The New A-Bomb
posted by homunculus at 12:11 AM on September 24, 2014

Yeah. I kinda miss the weirdly measured violence John used in the first season. I particularly liked how he'd only use as much defensive action as he felt his opponent deserved. Fighting a pro? Duck and cover. Some asshole with a gun? Calmly stands in the open and takes his shots.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:06 AM on September 24, 2014

I missed swaths of season 3, and am wondering if I should continue.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:26 AM on September 24, 2014

I think it's one of the more intelligent prime time dramas out there, man of twists and turns - if my opinion means anything.

It can get a little campy/over the top with the action sequences - but the treatment of AI and the interaction between the characters is top notch.

But you should probably catch up on Season 3, or what is going on now won't make much sense (I can try to write a synopsis for you, if you want).
posted by nubs at 7:56 AM on September 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

The AV Club review

I generally agree with it; however, I also think you can't expect them to open Season 4 with a huge, ambitious piece - when last we saw the gang, they were splitting up, off to assume their new identities and to hide. You can't expect that Season 4 will open with all out war against Samaritan - they need to re-establish themselves, find the holes and cracks in the system from which they can operate.

So it was safe, and it started what I expect will be the theme of the opening few episodes - the group finding the means to carry on (this week they got a communications network and probably a base; next week - who knows? I suspect Shaw's new gig will help to provide some other needed pieces).

That aside, I do so enjoy the interactions between Shaw and Root. Never thought I'd be a shipper.
posted by nubs at 8:04 AM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Annalee Newitz's recap: Person of Interest Is Back, and Here's Everything That's Changed
posted by homunculus at 7:57 PM on September 24, 2014

Also "Be safe" is the POI equivalent of "As you wish".
posted by viggorlijah at 8:25 PM on September 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

The show was due for a big change of pace - the show had been progressively expanding the scope to epic proportions and it was at a point where it wasn't sustainable, so a big shift down to "working in extra-secret hiding" and providing a reason for things to crank back to a smaller scale seems like a good shift. And, yeah, loving pretty much every time Root and Shaw are on screen together.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:05 AM on September 26, 2014

Surely I'm not the only one holding out hope that the end of True Blood might mean Carrie Preston could have more time on this show, am I?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:02 AM on September 26, 2014

Surely I'm not the only one holding out hope that the end of True Blood might mean Carrie Preston could have more time on this show, am I?

I'd rather she get more time on The Good Wife, but whichever.
posted by Etrigan at 11:09 AM on October 1, 2014

I wonder how Finch will react when he finds out her new boyfriend is a vampire.
posted by homunculus at 12:11 PM on October 1, 2014

I liked this episode. Mesh network, and a reason to stay in NYC. I think the team works better when they have to stick to the cracks. This was echoed in the POI- like the father said, the space wasn't important, the people are important.
Samaritan seems much more powerful, and resource rich. But The Machine has been operational for much longer, and is, I hope, more cunning.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:03 PM on October 2, 2014

Shaw as a cosmetics sales associate? Come on, she wouldn't last a week. I also have a hard time believing Reese would be able to pass as a cop. He breaks too many rules and spends too much time off doing his own thing. Finch, however, would make an awesome university professor. I do want to know what Root's cover is. And how did Fusco escape Samaritan's notice?

I heart Bear.
posted by orange swan at 8:35 PM on September 26, 2015