Person Of Interest

That's actually exactly what I was thinking. It's also somewhat grating, because near the commercial breaks you get the surveillance shots and some of them seem rather omniscient, yet in the episode you don't see Reese or Finch utilize it as much as they should. I mean, if the machine sees everything, it should see everything - so the people they're tracking and keep losing shouldn't actually be that hard to find.

That's not how it works. Finch locked the Machine, so he can't personally access that information. Only the Machine can.

Yeah, Finch can only get the "irrelevant" social security numbers from the Machine, everything else is inaccessible.

Funny enough, my dad and I both watch the show and we were talking about some parts of it just yesterday.

It became clear as we were talking that there are a number of things about the show that have not been explained.

For starters, there's the three flashbacks about Reese and Jessica. The first one had Reese being told by Jessica that she got engaged to a man named Peter while Reese was in Afghanistan. The second one had Reese and his CIA partner Stanton bringing up Jessica, and that he should be staying away from her, because he's with the CIA now. The third one has Reese meet Peter at a bar, and he was going to meet Jessica, but Stanton points out that Jessica would be unable to understand what Reese has done, so he decides to up and leave.

Now, all that seems clear enough. However, it has been stated on Wikipedia and maybe other sources that Jessica is deceased. How did that happen? Was it an accident? Was it murder? Was Peter involved in it somehow? Whatever happened to Peter? There are also hints that Stanton is dead. What happened to her? Was Reese involved in that somehow?

The fact is that Reese went Absence Without Leave from the CIA, and he was broken and a Death Seeker by that point. Clearly something happened that made him leave the CIA. The big question there is what happened?

There are a lot of questions about Mr. Finch, too. He has stated that the Machine he works on can predict terrorist attacks. Does the government still use the Machine for that purpose? This is important to ask, because there has not been one scene that shows Finch in contact with any government members!

Does the CIA know about the Machine? My dad doesn't think so, and I have to say that the CIA would have a field day if they knew about its existence!

I wonder when Finch noticed the numbers of ordinary people involved in murder, as murder victim or murderer. Did he just stumble upon this one day, or did a specific incident occur that led to him making use of them?

Like I said, there's a number of parts about the show that raise up a lot of questions when you think about them!

edited 19th Feb '12 6:00:33 AM by TiggersAreGreat

Ben Linus is now a good guy. My brain just exploded.

x3 & x4. I'm going to admit that I completely forgot about that. Makes a lot more sense.

I don't know about the rest but the reason why Finch has the social security numbers of the victim/murderer of ordinary people is because the machine spit out a bunch of numbers, so Finch programmed it to separate the numbers into to the two separate lists - and then he kept access to that list when he left. Is that what you're asking?

I'm going to speculate on the Jessica thing. I have two different theories: one was going to be that her death had something to do with the CIA and consequently, lead to the death of his partner as well. However, since Jessica's name was on the irrelevant list, I'm not sure if the CIA would've been involved directly in her death. I think they are connected somehow, personally, but it's hard to know in what way.

Another issue is the Inspector Gerard-type, plainclothes cops chasing after Finch and Reese. I appreciate the idea, but somehow it doesn't quite work. For one thing, the cuts to Carter and her bonehead partner feel ripped from Without a Trace — not something I like to be reminded of, lemmie tell you. It's like switching to a generic CBS cop show. When Reese gets on the horn and trades barbs with the Tyler Perry chick, it's painful. These two are depicted as equals. If I were Reese, I wouldn't give her the time of day.

You can't have a vigilante show without the police being involved. It's a necessary part of the show.

Yeah, I think that's what I'm asking. It's just that there are lots of details and some of them seem difficult to understand. I take the approach that everything's related until I know that it's not. I just get the feeling that in Person Of Interest, there are plenty of related things!

Admittedly, at first I didn't really like Carter and the whole plot-line of her trying to catch Reese, but I started really liking her around 1x09 and I like how Reese and Finch utilize Carter and Fusco to help them in their mission. The only thing I don't like is now that Carter is with them, her department doesn't seem to be interested in catching Reese anymore. Although, that could be because the CIA took over the case.

Besides, it adds some dimension to the show. I think it would getting boring fast if it was just Reese and Finch.

Well, didn't her captain pretty much tell her Reese wasn't her problem anymore in the episode where Reese got shot?

Well, yesterday's episode was pretty interesting to watch. Finch and Reese have a new "person of interest" named Adam, who works on big bad Wall Street. It was pretty funny seeing Finch make a big deal out of Reese dressing nicely, and later Reese foregoes the "dress nicely" part anyway!

There were a lot of twists and turns, like Adam keeping money in shoe boxes, Adam having a sexual relationship with his boss, as well as Adam having an uncle who is happy to work a seemingly small-time business.

It turns out that Adam had gotten on the bad side of a failing company named Tritech. It also turns out that Adam's boss gets murdered, and Adam's fingerprints are left all over the crime scene as part of a Frameup. Adam's so-called friend Victor and the SCC guy who had been hounding Adam for information were working together on insider trading. Later, the SCC guy gets killed off some time after being arrested. Carter quickly figures out there was The Man Behind the Man in this, because someone had access to high-powered assassins and political access, and she saw a certain Corrupt Cop with a scar on his face drop something into a trash can. She finds a cell phone in it, gives it to Reese, and Reese dials the last number called and Elias himself answers!

I wondered when Big Bad Elias was going to show up again!

It was also interesting how Reese shows that he lived as a homeless person for a time, probably after that incident that caused him to leave the CIA.

edited 24th Feb '12 5:51:41 AM by TiggersAreGreat

A Nyone else hope that homeless lady shows up again? I sense an interesting backstory.

Yeah, I wonder if the homeless lady has some secrets of her own....

I saw the new episode last night and I have to say this: Oh My God! Finch and Reese are trying to protect a six-month-old child named Leila Smith. Finch kidnapped her, which happened off-screen, and set off the Amber Alert. He did this because he thought some men were going to hurt her. Carter sure wasn't happy when he explained to her what happened.

It was pretty cute watching Reese and Finch (who have most likely never handled a baby before) trying to take care of Leila, especially with scenes like Finch setting up a pen made out of books for the baby, and Reese trying to get the kid to quit playing with a tear gas grenade!

Oh, I've heard it said that Reese hasn't raised his voice yet, and that you can be sure that it won't be a good day if that happens! Well, guess what? Reese was pretty much doing this, especially when little Leila ended up in danger!

That plotline with the cops trying to handle Elias' Disappeared Dad did have some interesting moments, especially with Fusco finding out the guy's location on his own but decides not to divulge it to a Corrupt Cop.

How did that plotline get resolved? Well, it's a long story, but here goes:

Leila gets kidnapped by Eastern European thugs. Reese questions the people who hired them and this one guy at a Bad Guy Bar, but they don't know. So he goes to Elias, and he appeals to Lawful Evil and Even Evil Has Standards. Elias helps him to disrupt a trade going on between the Eastern Europeans and child-smuggling Mexicans. Reese saves Leila...only for Elias to turn on him. Elias crosses the Moral Event Horizon when he reveals that he Would Hurt a Child when he locks Reese and Leila inside a truck...and freeze them to death in there! Why would he do this? Because he wants to resolve his Daddy Issues, he knows that Reese knows the guy's location, and he figures that a few hours of child endangerment will get Reese to talk! Reese ends up telling Elias where the father is, and Elias lets both of them go in return. Despite alerting Carter, Elias' goons snatch the father and shoot a good cop, possibly killing him. Reese ends up explaining to Carter what he did, and tries to say I Did What I Had to Do. She refutes it, saying that he could have just called the cops when Leila got kidnapped, and she decides that she just can't work with him anymore. Leila gets put into the hands of her mother's parents, and meanwhile Elias has his father right where he wants him.

Like I said, it's a long story. It has Nice Job Breaking It, Hero in it. Let me ask you, do you think the cops would have been able to protect Leila and save her from being taken out of the country? Do you think Elias' father would have ever cooperated in taking down his son? Do you think this is the end of Carter and Reese's partnership? Do you feel, as I do, that this episode had a Bittersweet Ending bordering on Downer Ending?

Okay, first things first. Finch and Reese taking care of the baby was the cutest thing ever. I loved the scene in the supermarket when Finch tells Carter that Leila is with Reese and she loses it.

That's kind of a hard question to answer. I don't think Reese should have used Elias, but I don't think he had a choice. The police probably wouldn't have been able to find Leila in time, but I think Reese should have still called Carter or Fusco for back-up.

edited 9th Mar '12 1:48:56 PM by zombielovescore

Well, I guess it just shows right there just how little faith Reese has in the law. Then again, he's spent so many years living in lawlessness (working for the CIA will do that to you) and using I Work Alone, that it's no wonder he has little faith! He definitely had What the Hell, Hero? coming.

What is it that makes watching a straight-laced character tripping so damn entertaining?

Was just going to comment on that. Freakin' hilarious.

Also the implication that Finch invented social networking to gather more data for the Machine is...disturbing.

Well, see, that's what I thought, too! Seeing Finch on Ecstasy and watching him behave Out of Character was just so funny and entertaining!

I'll admit that the implication of Finch inventing social networking to gather up precious data for his Machine is disturbing. Then again, maybe he's the writer's mouthpiece on how people carelessly and cheerfully reveal Too Much Information about themselves on the Internet...which leaves them wide open to identity theft and all sorts of little problems. Funny enough, I joined up with Facebook at one point, but then I removed my account from it, because it felt so...artificial...compared to Real Life social stuff, and the fact that security on the computer is just not the same as physical security (or on the same level, for that matter) was a great concern for me (and it still is).

Am I the only one who thinks that Carter and Reese have a Foe Yay thing going on between them? Especially with Reese calling what has to be over 100 times on the phone and Carter not answering at all. It just makes it look like an angry girlfriend deliberately avoiding a desperate and needy boyfriend. At least the episode made it clear that that one cop who got shot in the last episode is not dead, even if he came pretty darn close! Yeah, Reese, nobody's perfect, but how are you going to explain that to Carter?

What do you think's going on with the FBI? The stuff the agent was saying to Carter has me frowning. I mean, some of it is off the mark...I think. Some of other things...well, I think he's got a point there. Maybe CIA agent Mark Snow is having agents operate on U.S. soil (which is very illegal, in case you didn't know), and getting rid of the ones who got exposed (like that drug lord CIA agent) and the Wild Card ones (like Reese). My dad watches this show, and he seems to think that CIA is pulling the FBI's strings or might even be masquerading as the FBI! I don't know myself, because it's so confusing!

What did think about Finch saying "Good night, Nathan!"? Does this indicate that he knows a lot more than he's telling, or was that just unreliable information?

edited 30th Mar '12 7:19:37 AM by TiggersAreGreat

I don't know... drinking something that someone else offered him was a little bit too out of character for me. Remember, Finch is paranoid. Rule number one for any paranoid (I know this from personal experience, being one myself) is always prepare your own food and drink.

Not only that, but he fell victim to his own hormones, and was probably thinking "Aw, what a nice lady! I'd really like to go out with her!" Just goes to show, Love Makes You Dumb...or is it lust in this case?

I can see Carter isn't ready to capture Reese yet. I think she won't do it because she knows that he knows something that she doesn't. Such as how he always knows when someone is about to get hurt.

I don't think she would try to catch him because she wants to know how he is doing what he does.

Which means she eventually is going to start looking for the Machine, although the show seems to indicate that it is taking measures to protect itself...

Yes, Hormones Make You Dumb. And yeah Finch reminded me of an old friend of mine who I always wanted to see drunk or stoned because he was always so damn self controlled.

Woo hoo! I saw that new episode last night, and it was a big one for sure!

The episode starts off with 5 numbers corresponding to 5 Mafia dons coming up. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Elias is most certainly gunning for them. Protecting them proves to be difficult, thanks to Elias using Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!!

This was definitely Elias's episode. It's made clear that he has Daddy Issues, because his father killed Elias's mother, and the father moved on to another woman, and made himself another son, which means that Elias has a half-brother. It's made very clear that the father has a But for Me, It Was Tuesday attitude towards the mother's death. I was surprised when it turned out that Elias didn't kill the old man, but he apparently wanted his old man to watch him take over. It was certainly a little frightening how Elias pretty much states that he is Not So Different from Reese. Apparently Elias believes that The Power of Friendship is a load of nonsense, but he averts Ineffectual Loner by proving that he gets his strength by being alone. Elias seems to think of himself as a Knight Templar, but just about everyone can see that he's being a Hypocrite. Pretty frightening villain, when you think about it.

Have you wondered what the difference is between Affably Evil and Faux Affably Evil? Just look at Elias. He ends up defeated and arrested, being put into the system, put into a cell and the whole nine yards. Not once does he go into a Villainous Breakdown when this happens. Not once. In fact, he makes a phone call to his father to tell him goodbye rather politely, and the car his father and half-brother are in blows up, killing them both. Yep, Elias just became a Self-Made Orphan, with all the inflection of someone completing a list of chores! Elias is totally A.E., when a F.A.E. would have gone into a V.B. at that point!

The good news is Elias is down. The bad news is Elias is not out. His number one goon still roams free. Out of the 5 mafia dons, 4 of them are dead, and 1 is seemingly still alive. But the one that is still alive may not last for long, which can be considered Fridge Horror.

I wonder what will happen, considering that this is not even the season finale, and this show is going to go into a second season! Oops, Did I Just Say That Out Loud??

Great episode. The commercials for it were kind of misleading, though; they made it look like the main plot was Elias kidnapping Carter's son, which only happened about halfway through the episode, after he had already knocked off two of the Mafia dons; Elias kidnapped him to get Carter to trade him for the remaining three.