kwnyc

I noticed that Harold actually referred to "Mr. Reese," at one point. So despite his scolding about covers, he is capable of making a mistake. (I wonder if that will come back to hurt them later?) I also did not care for this week's number; she's not a very good actress, or was directed to be almost an idiot savant. Good luck with that one, Samaritan. Since both Harold and his friend were effectively "fathers" to their respective machines, you wonder where Samaritan got the mean streak...how it came up with the language of "deviants" and "assets." Did the machine evolve into a more compassionate AI because Harold had longer to work with it? Since Samaritan was never actually booted up until Decima did it, are we looking at a beta version that's MUCH rougher around the edges? ...I'm interested in seeing how the two intelligences square off this season, and whether Samaritan recognizes The Machine as a deviant, asset to be acquired, or not at all.

I think this is going to be a pivotal early season moment: it's when Alicia begins to use the kind of justifications that Peter did on his road from idealistic leader to party politician. Will she acknowledge that he was right? (And yes, he was). Or, will she hold it against him and start building her own storyline that will allow her to skirt ethical issues in the name of helping someone? Will she talk herself into running because it's for the greater good of someone else? Or, to "protect" herself from being just Peter's wife and in a startup law firm? If they can manage the details better, the change of Alicia Florrick from The Good Wife into...whatever she's about to become could be riveting.

I think she knew that it was going to be all Canning/David Lee from here on out (and so did they). A chance to start over at a firm in which 2 of the 3 name partners are women and which hasn't yet calcified into a glass-ceilinged structure/hierarchy is probably quite attractive to the L/G folks, particularly Diane's protegees (and not so surprisingly, David Lee's...he doesn't seem like the sort to cultivate or reward loyalty). And I don't see why Kalinda & Robyn would clash: Kalinda actually liked Robyn, and urged her to take the gig at F/A (and gave her advice on how to keep it). All signs point to Alicia running for State's Attorney, so I suspect we'll see little or nothing of the old firm if this bunch goes together well.

I remember the m***** stuntmen (!) got not one, but two penalties in their race: one for hiding equipment other teams needed for a task, and another for paying for a taxi with a watch, rather than cash. I wonder if the realtors hadn't been last whether they'd have been penalized for their marker snatch. So to speak. Also: Boston Strong & Slow (about four hours behind).

Who knew dentists needed steroids to pull teeth? Yes, he DOES look like the subject of a Dateline "the husband did it" profile. I don't know how long they are for the race, because his pronouncement that "they haven't come up with an obstacle that can stop us," seemed awfully prophetic. (Like, maybe in the next couple weeks, I hope?) Also, South Carolinians have had a poor record on the race, so I hope that tradition continues. (And I say that as someone who graduated from high school in the town they are from). The mother/daughter team and girl scientist team look like they could shake out into good teams (though hysteria from the daughter in next week's previews looks intense). I came to MBTV in 2001 to find recaps when all the over-the-air TV reception in NYC was screwed up because of 9/11, and found Miss Alli's coverage of TAR, and I've been following the show (and have been to many TARcons) since. I'm thrilled and kind of mindboggled that we are here starting season 25. Good to see so many of the faithful here.

...that's right up there with CoCo Puffs for Root! Nice one.

I love how they use bits of NYC urban legend...like lost subway stations...in this show. I'm not sure why the machine is sending Shah off into a life of crime, unless it realizes she gets bored easily. I'm also wondering how easily John's ID as a detective can be poked through: after all, he has no guys he's worked with before on the force (granted, NYPD has 30,000+ cops) except, well, Fusco. And yeah, the pause at the desk was exactly the reason I love this show.