Occasionally there is honor amongst thieves, and spies.  Just as Reese had former colleagues reappear in his life, Shaw has some reappear in hers.  Let’s just say that this second appearance of a former colleague was a bit better than the first – remember, Hersh ‘killed’ Shaw the first time around, even as he became an ally of convenience in the end.  (Still miss you, Hersh!)  This time, Grice, who was already questioning orders (similar to John) did his very best to help Shaw out.  He seemed almost relieved that she had the vials in her hand, as if he knew she would do the right thing with the dangerous virus.  His comments to his partner were echoes of John’s to Kara’s.  John wondered how they got their intel, and if they could trust it, while Grice bemoans the fact that now their orders are only to kill.  He doesn’t even know why they’re killing, just that that’s their orders.  Careful, Grice, if Samaritan thinks you a danger, it will take you out of the picture.  Reese was in danger and a hit taken out on his life, and the Machine is much cuddlier than Samaritan.


Person of Interest proves its mastery at storytelling yet again in this episode, which started out as not much more than Sameen Shaw in heat over a good looking man, who was an excellent thief.  I do enjoy that Shaw is not the same robotic individual that we first met; she is now a well-socialized stray in Harold’s pack.  With that being said, I was getting bored with her lusting after Tomas and was hoping it would lead to something more than her scratching an itch, and then it did.   Sarah Shahi has done great work at making Shaw multilayered:  She’s a killer, but she’ll soften for a little girl in need; she’s a thief, but will go the extra mile to aid her cohort in crime remedy the situation he unknowingly got himself into because simply keeping the virus from the unknown bad guys isn’t good enough – Samaritan cannot have it either.  Tomas had honor here as well.

Samaritan is very quick on its circuits (yeah, not sure what qualifies as toes in technospeak here) as it sends a text to someone it found nearby and with the necessary skills to reconnect the lost Internet connection, and it also realized that Grice was destroying valuable intel and is working to reconnect the pixels and find out just who it is he let go.  Shaw, you are a target, if not now…soon.  (In fact, I’ve read upcoming episode summaries, very soon.)

While all this is going on, we continue to see Harold struggle with what the Machine is asking them to do and just how far they all need to go in abiding its wishes.  Harold wanted to simply let the Relevant side of things handle the virus, but John and Samheen pulled him back as they reminded him that letting Control have that power, is akin to giving it to Samaritan; in other words, danger, Harold, danger.

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Reese and Fusco provided much of the levity in this episode, especially as Fusco – who has been most willing to do whatever is asked of him without asking for much in return, was decidedly not impressed with John pulling him into a gunfight:  “It’s not cool that you ask me to this stuff with you, man.  Not cool!”  That’s putting it mildly, Lionel. 

David Slack wrote this episode, and I have to say that I have yet to be let down by an episode he writes.  He’s given us memorable team moments – he wrote Judgment with the Finch/Reese moments that bookend that episode; he gave us Super with all the backstory on the Machine, plus Reese teaching Finch some self-defense:  “If that doesn’t work, stick your thumbs in his eyeballs and twist until you hit his brain.”; he gave us No Good Deed that showed Finch’s relationship with Grace, and the first of the several characters since who have caught wind of the Machine’s existence; Bury the Lede allowed Reese to pull off his best Clark Kent moment as well as drive a fab car and we got to see his apartment again, with the closet of destruction; there was Prisoner’s Dilemma which was a character study all the way through – and Fusco had time with a model!; there’s Razgover that thawed Shaw a bit and softened, slightly, some of her rough edges, we have /, where Root made a critical decision to save an irrelevant rather than simply do the Machine’s bidding; there’s Deus Ex Machina – need I say more on that one?  And now we can add Honor Among Thieves.  David Slack rarely misses. 

Season 4 is excellent.  Hard to believe that winter hiatus is soon to be upon us.  Amanda Segel regularly provides updates on her twitter feed, and she advised that there will be ten episodes before the break.  Looking ahead at the Futon Critic schedule, we are due for Point of Origin (next week) and then The Devil You Know (beware, Elias, Dominic is making a move) and then there is a break until December 16th for the tenth episode.  We’ll have to wait just two short weeks though for January 6th when PoI returns for the new year.  My, where does the time go?

Until next week, thanks for reading, Elle2.


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