The writers and producers of Person of Interest seem to know just how far they can take us without taking us too far.  Case in point:  At the end of this season’s second episode Finch is rescued and he and Reese are back together at the library, ready for the next number.  (The numbers never stop coming, Mr. Reese.)

Good!  I enjoyed watching Reese handle both sides of the job in The Contingency as well as enjoyed his work with Carter as they followed their (ill-gotten) leads in Bishop, Texas; however, things felt a little off.  That’s not criticism, things were supposed to feel a little off; Finch was kidnapped and the chase was on.  But, one of the main anchors of this show is the interplay between Reese and Finch, having them apart for nearly two episodes was just enough time.  Another episode and it would have felt too long.  

 I also enjoy how understated the writers and the actors keep things between the characters, all very much in keeping with who these four characters are.  The scene at the train station where John checks Harold over is desperate enough in the moments of fear that Harold had been shot but then they quickly pull it together and walk rapidly from the scene without so much as a glance behind.  Simple.  Sometimes the best storytelling and the best acting is that which breathes and allows we the viewers to fill in the blanks.  I thought the reunion was deeply satisfying.  

Fusco and Carter reuniting at the station and sharing small smiles and a moment as they realized that ‘their friend’ was safe and sound was also satisfying.  In typical POI fashion they bring us back to the beginning of the episode, off for a drink – sans raw egg, thank you very much;  a call back to Judgment which begins and ends with a small moment between Reese and Finch at a diner.  Nice.

And what of Root?  She has developed into a villain similar to Elias.  She is slippery, dangerous and driven by her own code and her own vision.  Similar to Elias we get an episode that spends much of its time telling us just who Root is.  We get the character in the present revealing bits of herself but also flashbacks serve to show us how she got to where she is…or at least show us her reasons for choosing the path she chose.  Bad Code is to Root what Flesh and Blood is to Elias…only thing missing…kicking tune by Unkle.  Not to fear, there’s 22 more episodes to go this season, there will be more awesome music!

Some observations I made:

Root seems to be a combination of both John Reese and Harold Finch.  Her downfall though is that her code is well and truly bad while both of theirs have flaws but they are clearly seeking redemption.

Root judges the government as bad for its use of torture while having no compunction with utilizing torture when it suits her (not only the present torture of Denton Weeks but the psychological torture she inflicted for years on Barbara Russell through the sending of the book, Flowers for Algernon, every year.

Person of Interest does at times require us to simply wink, wink and smile.  Hey, the writers wanted Reese to handle a crossbow and give us that fun little moment (Police business…We’re good…Why is there a crossbow on the bed?)…and I enjoyed every second of it.  Still, ‘tis not deer season in May in Texas.  The only season I could find was squirrel (May 1 through the 31stin East Texas).  Me thinks a crossbow is too massive a weapon for a squirrel!  (not to mention every other weapon those hunters wielded.)  Me, I just let my German Shepherd have at them (he’s still 0 for about 100 + tries…kitty, however, has bagged over 8 chipmunks.  There are no more chipmunks gracing my back yard, so he holds his count at 8)

Love the continuing idea of Reese’s redemption and the road he is on.  Root only sees what he’s done in the past and judges him as merely a ‘knuckle-dragger’ while Finch saw potential to help because of the skills John has.  And we’ve known from the beginning that John is smart. 

Root’s arrogance will ultimately be her downfall, she thinks of herself as above and that makes her ripe for the fall.  I think POI will keep her around a bit though before she gets her final comeuppance…and it will be grand when it comes.  In the meantime, I like that she’s lurking out there somewhere, licking her wounds and readying herself for her next attack.  We’ll just add her to the list, Stanton and Snow (soon to be arriving on the scene), Simmons of HR, Elias and more.  

Keep layering on the baddies, POI, and occasionally adding an ally.  Since The Pilot we’ve picked up Fusco, Carter, Zoe and Bear, I think there might be some more in the future but I like our odds as they are.

As always, thanks for reading!

Next POI is October 18th…gotta get the vice presidential debate out of the way.  Oh, well, I can use the time off to catch up on my POI season 1 DVDs.  Number Crunch and Super seem like a good double header of viewing.

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