Line #35 Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E17


1	'''Season 3, Episode 17''':
2	![=/=]
3
4	-> '''Root''': Maybe you should be more worried about what happens when Samaritan comes online rather than what happens to some janitor.\
5	'''Harold''': How much do you know about this janitor, Ms. Groves?\
6	'''Root''': Well, he's got some interesting ideas about metaphysical determinism, and...I think he's a Doris Day fan?
7
8	Root returns to New York, under instructions to meet up with Cyrus Wells, an investment banker turned janitor. Shortly after making contact with him, Root is approached by Finch, who tells her that Cyrus' number came up exactly at the moment she first talked with him. Whatever she's there to do with him, it's going to put his life in great danger.
9
10	-----
11	!!Tropes present in this episode include
12
13	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Vigilance seal the building Shaw is in, and Collier offers Shaw a chance to come over to their side.
14	-->'''Shaw:''' And if I refuse?
15	-->'''Collier:''' In the words of Benjamin Franklin: Join or die.
16	* ArcWords:
17	** "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E01 The Machine offered me a job, She never said it would be easy.]]" Doubles as a CallBack.
18	** "Everyone is relevant to someone."
19	* TheAtoner: Root had murdered Cyrus' friends back when he was an investment banker and she was a professional criminal.
20	* BaitAndSwitch: Reese is standing on a street looking up at a surveillance camera. A red light next to the lens blinks, then a nearby payphone rings...but it's Root calling, not The Machine.
21	* BatmanColdOpen: The episode begins with Root breaking a car thief who resembles a German scientist out of a prison transport so that he can intercept a package meant for the scientist on his behalf. Then she gives him some advice on how to make his sentence bearable and walks off to let the police recapture him.
22	* BittersweetEnding[=/=]YouCantThwartStageOne: Team Machine and the [=PoI=] all survive the encounter, but Decima gets away with the microchip they need to make Samaritan functional, and Finch, Reese, Root, and Shaw are all at the top of their hit list.
23	* TheBookCipher: And the choice of book tells Finch that Vigilance is involved.
24	* BorrowedBiometricBypass: Subverted. Decima keeps Cyrus in one piece to open the lock.
25	* BreakTheHaughty: Root, when she loses access to The Machine due to Decima's jamming. Her finding out what she had done to Cyrus, and Decima winning again, further drive the point home.
26	* CatchPhrase:
27	** "It's all part of the plan." Doubles as a sort of [[ArcWords arc phrase]] for the episode.
28	** '''Root''': I wasn't talking to you
29	* CellPhonesAreUseless: Decima has a device that can jam Root's connection to the Machine. At least until she gets a receiver installed in her ear to replace her missing stapes.
30	* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Frying Pan]]: Root, among other things, is directed to heat up a frying pan in Cyrus's apartment. When Vigilance later is about to assault Root and Cyrus in the apartment, Root is about to take them out with her gun. Cyrus strongly objects to this, saying guns make him very nervous and The Machine points Root to that [[FryingPanOfDoom frying pan]] in response. Root cheers up and, [[GenderInvertedTrope unlike what one might expect]], [[BoringButPractical makes tear gas with it]]. It then crosses into ChekhovsBoomerang territory when Reese shows up in the apartment and uses the same frying pan [[ImprobableWeaponUser in a more blunt fashion]] to finish up the Vigilance {{Mooks}}.
31	* ContinuityNod: Root tells the Japanese kid who's been following her to meet [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E16 Casey]] at the Perth safehouse.
32	* ADayInTheLimelight: For Root. We get a little more insight into what exactly she's doing at the Machine's behest: trying to prevent Samaritan from going online.
33	* DissonantSerenity: Root strolls through the lobby of a building, calmly putting down Decima agents without any more expression than a slight smile as they unsuccessfully try to jam her link to the Machine.
34	* DivineConflict: What Root says is coming if Samaritan goes online; its first priority will be to take out The Machine.
35	* DoesNotLikeGuns: Cyrus, so Root hands her pistols to Fusco and goes StrollingThroughTheChaos unarmed to save him.
36	* EnemyMine
37	** Finch reluctantly concedes that he needs to work with Root to stop Samaritan.
38	** Rejected when Collier offers Shaw a chance for revenge against the government that betrayed them both.
39	* FacialRecognitionSoftware: The Machine is shown scanning the faces of the convicts for a suitable {{doppelganger}}.
40	* FakeOutMakeOut: Root pushes Billy against a nearby car (though doesn't actually kiss him) as a police car goes past.
41	* FieryCoverUp: Decima torches their MissionControl once they've stolen the chip.
42	* FriendOrIdolDecision: Root is given one of these at the ending. She chooses to save Cyrus instead of the chip.
43	* GetIntoJailFree: Root hands some eggs to Cyrus, then [[{{egging}} throws one at a passing patrol car]], so he will get arrested and [[TryAndFollow (temporarily) away from Decima and Vigilance]].
44	* GunsAkimbo: Root and later Fusco.
45	* HandshakeSubstitute: Root shares a fist bump with the Japanese hacker.
46	* HeadTurningBeauty: The cons WolfWhistle appropriately when Root steps on the bus.
47	* HealItWithBooze: Finch winces more than Shaw does when he sees her pour alcohol over her shoulder injury.
48	* HeelFaceTurn: Root, who finally does something unambiguously ''good''.
49	* HonorBeforeReason: Team Machine again; they miss another chance to stop Samaritan because they're saving Cyrus.
50	* InMysteriousWays: Root uses the line, naturally enough when referring to her Machine God. When she does work out what the Machine is up to, it doesn't make things any easier for her.
51	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Given that she's on a MissionFromGod, Root treats Cyrus' belief that everything is part of a plan with amusement, until Cyrus mentions the murder of his friends, a contract killing Root did back in her criminal days.
52	-->'''Cyrus:''' What happened that day was part of a plan.
53	-->'''Root:''' No. No, what... whatever this was, believe me, it was not part of some grand cosmic plan!
54	* NewspaperThinDisguise: Finch in the park, which of course doesn't hide him from Root.
55	* NoSell: After Decima agents jam Root's open channel to the Machine, she gets herself upgraded with a customized cochlear implant that can communicate with the Machine through cellular signals, [=WiFi=], Bluetooth, and ''infrasound''. Their second attempt at neutralizing the link doesn't go so well.
56	* NotSoDifferentRemark:
57	** Collier gives one to Shaw in an attempt to recruit her. [[ShutUpHannibal Shaw refuses]].
58	** Reese tells Root he also knows the power you get from having direct access to the Machine.
59	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Most of Shaw's fight against Vigilance is missed because the focus of the episode is on Root and Decima.
60	* OneLetterTitle: One Punctuation Mark Title: "/", though it's supposed to be read as "Root Path".
61	* PrisonRape: Billy gets threatened with this by the large tattooed crook on the prison bus ([[AssholeVictim who later gets tasered by Root]]). Just before he's recaptured, Root leaves him a tip for befriending a large cellmate who'll protect him from this fate.
62	* PublicSecretMessage: Root emails Finch spam for a '[[TheLoinsSleepTonight performance enhancing]]' drug. Shaw and Reese quip that it means that Root likes him, but Finch discovers a message encoded in the picture.
63	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Shaw counters Collier's recruitment offer by stating that ''how'' one goes about doing things is just as important as ''what'' you do and ''why''. Collier's methods make him just another terrorist, and [[PreAsskickingOneLiner she kills terrorists]].
64	* RedemptionRejection[=/=][[EvilCannotComprehendGood Anti-Heroism Cannot Comprehend Good]]:
65	--> '''Root''': And the punchline, is that your Machine keeps telling me to save Cyrus. How badly did you have to break it to make it care about people so much?
66	--> '''Finch''': That didn't break it, that's what made it work. It's only after I taught the Machine that people mattered that it could begin to be able to help them. I'd like to do the same thing for you, if you'd let me...
67	--> ''[{{beat}}]''
68	--> '''Root''': In the first thirty minutes after Samaritan comes online, a lot of people are gonna be killed. But they're gonna start with four: you, me, your helper monkey and Shaw. And there won't be a damn thing anyone, including your Machine can do to stop it. [[DidYouThinkICantFeel You think I don't care about people]], Harold? I'm doing all of this to save you.
69	* RefugeInAudacity: Root pretending to be an FBI Agent to Fusco, who knows exactly who she is
70	->"Sorry, boss, Agent King is actually a superpowered nutball. Just ask my buddy, the urban legend."
71	* SadisticChoice: Root is forced to choose between saving Cyrus or protecting the chip that Decima is trying to steal to help bring Samaritan fully online. She chooses Cyrus.
72	* ShoutOut: Fusco refers to Root as "[[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest Cuckoo's Nest]]" and "[[{{Mascot}} Cocoa Puffs]]".
73	* ShownTheirWork: The message Root intercepts in the BatmanColdOpen is a set of specifications for a processor chip, written in a shorthand used by computer engineers.
74	* ShipTease: More LesYay between Root and Shaw.
75	-->'''Shaw:''' ''[examining her injury]'' Keep 'em dry. Change the dressings every 72 hours.
76	-->'''Root:''' I love it when you [[PlayingDoctor play doctor]].
77	* SpecialEditionTitle: Root and Harold alternate narrating duties, [[SmashToBlack until it cuts out]]. [[RunningGag Again.]]
78	* TastesLikeFriendship: Root tosses an energy bar down to Shaw, who's been staking out the house in the cold all night.
79	* TemptingFate:
80	** Fusco says he's not handing over Cyrus to anyone without a warrant. Root produces both a genuine warrant and an FBI badge.
81	** Root tells Cyrus that "things are about to get interesting" (because a hit squad is about to kick down the door) when she catches sight of a picture that tells her exactly who Cyrus is.
82	** Root tells Cyrus she can protect him no matter where he is. Shortly after Decima takes Cyrus off her.
83	* ThisIsThePartWhere: Root notes that Cyrus isn't asking her the usual bewildered questions.
84	* TitleConfusion: IMDB called it "Root Path," which is accurate in that "[=/=]" represents the root location in a Platform/{{UNIX}} or Linux operating system, or more literally, just the root.
85	* UnflinchingFaithInTheBrakes: Root stops the prison bus by lying on the road in front of it.
86	* UnflinchingWalk: An upgraded Root in god mode strides through the lobby of the building, shooting Decima agents without breaking stride, without looking at them, and even through walls.
87	* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: The first time Decima take on Root, they successfully jam her contact with The Machine, leaving her powerless. Later she has The Machine's access put directly into her head, making Decima unable to do it again.
88	* WeCanRuleTogether: Averted with Samaritan, who intends to wipe out Team Machine the moment it comes on line.
89	* WhamEpisode: Decima wins again and is one step closer to bringing Samaritan online and Root has to undergo serious CharacterDevelopment.
90	* WhamLine: Probability of Admin death: 68%
91	* WorkingTheSameCase: It turns out that Cyrus Wells, one of the assistants Root has recruited for her task, is also one of the Numbers Finch has received from the Machine.
92	* WorkingTitle: The episode title was originally announced as "Entanglement."
93	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: A non-lethal version when Root lets the crook she freed get recaptured. Played straight with Cyrus once he's used his eye to get Decima into the secure floor.

Context Recap / PersonOfInterestS03E17