Person Of Interest

From New York ComicCon

EDIT: Something i just realized... I think Fusco has been filled in on the machine or at least knows it exists in some capacity. Not sure why he'd be a part of this scene otherwise...

EDIT 2:CBS will not be continuing the show beyond season 5 but there is hope that someone else may pick it up instead

edited 12th Oct '15 1:28:09 AM by TwilightFalchion

They can't wrap things up in 13 episodes? Because that sounds like enough episodes to wrap up any kind of story.

Man, this series used to be so damn awesome and I kept up with the episodes every week...then Season 4 came along and goddamned breaks and overpowered villain, and things got boring for me.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Season 4 is the Darkest Hour. I'm not surprised the villain is overpowered. It's supposed to be the direst point.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

Yeah, except Darkest Hour usually don't last a full quarter of the series.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Yyyeah, that's kinda been my issue as well. The season finale came off as particularly grating. (Specifically, having every running subplot get unceremoniously wiped out after a) accomplishing nothing, or b) turning out to be part of the Master Plan all along, which just feels like They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot. I'd be a bit more okay with it, except that's pretty much exactly how Season 3 ended, so it feels like we've gone nowhere narrative-wise.)

I can't say I disliked the season as a whole (especially because it had some really good episodes mixed in— "Terra Incognita" was great, and "If-Then-Else" is probably one of my favorite episodes of any show I've watched), but the overall arc is lagging.

edited 13th Oct '15 10:21:55 PM by Blueeyedrat

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

Seriously, I still think the whole Dominic arc was unnecessary.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

I definitely don't think so, especially if you want to assess that Samaritan really is capable of what it claims to be capable of. There already was a climactic ending to a "classic criminals" arc before with HR, so we already knew that the show was able to pull these ones off (and Elias was involved already). Having another arc about smart criminals giving a good fight with Team Machine would be a real stutter.

Dominic is the kind of guy who would have thrived under HR - he was here to show that, no matter how great, the real threat is Samaritan now. And it also shows the ambiguity of Samaritan by not painting it as viscerally bad as it could be - sure, it killed Elias who was, let's say, a "known evil" with some definitive redeeming qualities, but it also helped NY get rid of Dominic who had none of these qualities. Beforehand, all we saw as Samaritan was its antagonism towards Team Machine, which painted it as completely bad, and the ending helped showing that not all of Greer's claims are false and that while he is a Big Bad, he can definitely be considered a Well-Intentioned Extremist. It questions the morality of the show, I think it is something much more interesting than having a lcear-cut "good guys doing good things, bad guys doing bad things", and it goes well with all of Harold's issues when designing the Machine.

I'm glad Person of Interest isn't going past season 5 from looks of it and I really hope it isn't picked back up anywhere else. Not out of malice, but out of love. I can't recall if I posted this here yet or not, but sometimes a story has to know when to end. I want Person of Interest to go out strong and be what I consider a solid piece of entertainment with a conclusive finale as opposed to it drag out like some shows do and lose what was once great about it.

Basically, I feel we're close to Act III at this point and it's time to bring this to a close. I just hope it has a proper sendoff and I think 13 42-45 minute episodes (I could of swore it got 15?) is more than enough time to do that in.

That was beautifully stated with Samaritan.

Improving as an author, one video at a time.

.. I kind of agree? And kind of not. The issue is that at the present point, the format is pretty much going to be non-viable post season 5. Samaritan is done being subtle, and even if they beat it, the world can not reasonably go back to the status quo ante bellum. Those bridges were nuked from high orbit. Which means future seasons would have to operate entirely in a futuristic / sci -fi mode.

.. Which would work better as a spin-off than as anything called season 6, I suppose. But I would really like to see a series pull a complete genre switch just once.

edited 16th Oct '15 11:59:12 AM by Izeinsummer

Yeah I think the show has to end with season five, the momentum has been built up to this moment. The real thing i DON'T want is a shortened season, because they have the mother of all mountains to climb to beat Samaritan. They need every episode they can get.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

While I think that world would be fascinating, as you said, that would be better for a different series. It wouldn't really change the surface of everything - certainly some things, but I just don't feel that's best for the narrative of this story.

I actually felt the same in many ways there, but from what I've read, the creators have wanted shorter seasons up until now anyway. So I trust their judgment.

edited 16th Oct '15 11:52:19 PM by Prime_of_Perfection

Improving as an author, one video at a time.

Looks like Season 4 is finally on Netflix.

Any news on when season 5 is airing?

All of time and space, anywhere and everywhere, any star that ever was. Where do you want to start?

I honestly don't think they need 22 episodes to fight Samaritan if they just get rid of all the filler/side investigations that took quite some time during earlier seasons. Which should actually happen since the Machine is offline.

13 episodes to properly end a story is enough if you are not Game of Thrones and your 200 characters. Especially since after four seasons you don't need to introduce anything anymore.

I agree with that? That's even what I said just a couple of posts above.

edited 2nd Jan '16 3:26:18 PM by Prime_of_Perfection

Improving as an author, one video at a time.

Yeah I was agreeing with you. I just pointed to you because you were the latest answer to the debate.

Oh, got you there!

Thinking real quick, what all is left to resolve and deal with?

- Reese and the therapist, looking forward to that the least

- The Machine's rebuild

- Shaw's situation and relationship with Root

- Fusco not knowing the details of war he's in (it's been said he's finally going to ask questions this season)

- Samaritan/Greer resolution

- What happened to Control

I might be forgetting something.

edited 2nd Jan '16 4:54:28 PM by Prime_of_Perfection

Improving as an author, one video at a time.

I think what happened to Control is pretty evident from what Greer said. She'll just rot away in a cell forever, and really that's a very fitting end for the character.

Also, they need to solve Alistair Fucking Wesley. You know, this guy, the only Evil Counterpart to Reese (literally, his theme is Reese's theme in reverse).

Also, "The Ghost", the Finch Evil Counterpart from last season.

You know what would be fascinating? If the show ended with Reese and Finch out of the stage (dead, retired, happy ending, e.t.c) and Wesley and the Ghost assuming their operations because "the numbers never stop coming"

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

There is also the deal with whatever the Machine was planning with Rose.

Also the young computer prodigy that created his own company, I can't remember if his story arc was over or not.

I wouldn't mind that conclusion to Control at all, if that was her conclusion. I just had a feeling she might be found and somehow turn out useful. If she isn't though, I'm certainly fine with that.

I've just assumed that guy (or hell, them both) was a Karma Houdini at this point. I kept assuming or hoping he'd return in Season 3, but alas. Could have been a cool reoccurring nemesis.

Also wouldn't be a fan of that ending because it doesn't feel organic to me. More it's just forcing Evil Counterparts who have little to do with the overarching plotline into that. It's a cool concept though, but not suitable for this story.

Forgot about that kid, I assume whatever happens with him just goes with Samaritan. As for Harper Rose, hmm... not sure if I really care enough about her or not. Do hope we get some Zoe though. ...Hell, even more now I wish they continued to develop Zoe stuff more than that damn therapist.

Improving as an author, one video at a time.

Still no airdate for season 5 in sight, but we do have a tentative episode list:

edited 26th Jan '16 7:40:11 PM by Blueeyedrat

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

Episode 100 is titled "The Day The World Went Away". It fills me with foreboding and anticipation.

Also, I think "Line Hunt" got retitled into "Sotto Voce".

edited 13th Feb '16 8:36:59 AM by Ishindri

So I have never seen this show but everything I read about it makes it sound like the prospect of an AI ruling the world would be a bad thing since it would go crazy and declare itself a God. But wouldn't putting everything in charge of a computer be BETTER in the long run? No Donald Trumps or other incompetent and corrupt individuals in charge of the planet. Just a pure unemotional machine working solely for the greater good. Does this show make a good point against it other than "It goes megalomaniacal"?

It's mostly the trail of death, mayhem, and destroyed lives it leaves in its wake.

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

That's actually not what it's about, since Samartin isn't the only AI in the show. When the Machine was in charge, it controlled certain things, but still let people have free will (i.e. it provided the government the SSN of terrorists, while providing Mr Finch with the SSN of those in trouble), but Samaritan takes a more "hands on" approach, since it sees humanity's free will as detrimental to humanity (it just assassinates any "outliers" it sees as impediments to it's plan).

Both the Machine and Samaritan have declared themselves gods (or, rather, other people have declared them gods), but each one has a different outlook. The Machine thinks humanity just needs a little help, while Samaritan thinks humanity needs to be completely controlled.

Markedly, the argument of "no corrupt idiots" is basically what Greer (the Big Bad of sorts) is basing himself on: the concept that humanity is frail and corrupt, and that it needs a strong guiding hand to be at peace. So he basically represents that argument, and the show, to its credit, does not present him as wholly unreasonable as he's clearly a Affably Evil Anti-Villain, but the ultimate gist is: Bad humans cause so much fuss in the planet, and they have limited ability to cause harm, imagine what a bad machine with unlimited poptential could cause?

"All you Fascists bound to lose."