S04.E12: Control-Alt-Delete

[Boundary]

 The seeds of potential turning on her part have definitely been sown-she might have killed the "terrorist" at the end, but she sure let him talk for a long time about what he was really up to.

 

I didn't pay attention to it at the time, since all focus was on Control but what exactly do we think happened? Where those guys responsible for writing the Samaritan code? If not, they definitively produced something Samaritan wanted destroyed, meaning it should be of interest to Harold. And, if Samaritan was so intent on killing them, why not just send Martine?

[johntfs]

Greer definitely shouldn't be killed yet. We still haven't learned his motives. I'm very interested in them. And I am really, really dreading the return to Dominic and Brotherhood and crime of the week. I guess unless they'll increase the proportion of CIA/Samaritan centric episodes I'll have to wait until season finale to binge on the show, because they tend to kill my enjoyment of it.

 

Of course we know Greer's motives.  He's an ex-spy who's experienced the cruelty, pettiness and tit-for-tat bullshit of the world firsthand.  He's a man who has decided that humans aren't fit to govern themselves, so, he first tried to steal a god to do it for him (his plot with The Machine in season 2) and ultimately built one (Samaritan).  Greer's problem is his refusal to recognize that his new "God" is the same mixture of hubris, pettiness and evil from which it was supposed to save humanity.

 

 

Speaking of creepy little Damian, I wonder if Control's daughter (Julie? Julia?) and he are supposed to become the "New Generation" for the future, as I think Pruneface envisions.  Adam and Eve of AI World.   Everyone in this universe has an opposite or a complemenary -- Harold/Pruneface, Shaw/Martine, Control/Root, Reese/Shaw's friend.

 

Control's daughter is just her daughter - a potential hostage to, well, control Control but not likely anything more.  "Damian's" counterpart is Root.  Control's counterpart is likely to be the Chief of Staff with him being the gutless politician willing to sell out or knuckle under to Samaritan and Control the cold, ruthless patriot who will keep killing for her country until the very last.

[Dusty]

 

She genuinely loves for her daughter but wouldn't break despite Root's threats to the girl.

 

Actually that was the one part that I wasn't sold on this episode.  I don't know if it was the acting or just the sheer difference between her as Control and her as Mom but when she was talking to her daughter it felt like customer service voice to me.  It just sounded so fake.  Overall I think she did an excellent job.  I think her slow turn is going to be interesting to watch.

 

 

Where those guys responsible for writing the Samaritan code? If not, they definitively produced something Samaritan wanted destroyed, meaning it should be of interest to Harold.

 

I think they wrote a code that Samaritan wanted.  Once that was done, boom, dead so no one would know and be able to use it against it.  That's why it wouldn't let Control access the hard drive.  That's what I thought happened anyway.

 

Even though we didn't really see the team until halfway into the episode I did like how they kept them in it in the beginning through the newscast.  It was only subdued by the time we got to them, before that it was all mayhem and destructive.  Also, they can really get around.

 

I'm excited to see where they go with this story but I'm still sad about no more Shaw for the time being.  I hope, even if they "confirm" Shaw's death for the team that there's no body to show.  Then I can keep my hope alive.  In the various interviews that they've been giving these last two weeks they say the ways that Shaw can be brought back and some of them are with dead!Shaw.  If Sarah Shahi decides to come back to the show once she feels comfortable to (sooner rather than later please!) I would prefer it to be fulltime and with the team.  A glimpse here and there can be fun but I just don't want her to be dead.  Just leave me with some hope guys!

[FurryFury]

Of course we know Greer's motives.  He's an ex-spy who's experienced the cruelty, pettiness and tit-for-tat bullshit of the world firsthand.  He's a man who has decided that humans aren't fit to govern themselves, so, he first tried to steal a god to do it for him (his plot with The Machine in season 2) and ultimately built one (Samaritan).  Greer's problem is his refusal to recognize that his new "God" is the same mixture of hubris, pettiness and evil from which it was supposed to save humanity.

 

 

Control's daughter is just her daughter - a potential hostage to, well, control Control but not likely anything more.  "Damian's" counterpart is Root.  Control's counterpart is likely to be the Chief of Staff with him being the gutless politician willing to sell out or knuckle under to Samaritan and Control the cold, ruthless patriot who will keep killing for her country until the very last.

I agree about Julia, but no, I don't think we know all about Greer's history and motives yet. We saw only so much, and while we can assume some things, I hope there's more to it.

By the way, I've had a few thoughts about crime of the week episodes. Why not reformat them a bit for the remainder of the season? I mean, we have an epic, potentially apocalyptic struggle against Samaritan. Taking a break from this for some street-level crime would be a terrific letdown and totally anticlimactic. Why not make all Persons of Interest connected to some scheme against Samaritan (or Samaritan's own scheme, or both). Some of them may not even know anything about the larger scheme, yet securing their lives or their help could be crucial to the eventual win. At this points, the heroes are at a severe disadvantage, so I'd definitely find it much easier to believe in them getting the upper hand if it's earned. Of course, we can assume that Control would eventually help them, but she's still one woman, even if highly placed.

[kwnyc]

Root communicates with The Machine via the cochlear implant...but didn't they make a point of showing that the kid didn't have one? Perhaps he's got some kind of concealed microphone or other implant we can't see. I'm also wondering whether he's somewhere on the autism spectrum or developmentally disabled, because as pointed out, a child his age would most likely not just repeat words he heard without interjecting his own thoughts/actions.

[Bort]

That creepy kid -- exactly how is Samaritan controlling him? I don't care how powerful and all-seeing it is, if it were whispering into my son's ear, there's no way it would be able to get him to obey for more than five minutes. Is it promising video games or candy or something every time the kid parrots it's message?

The hell with that, where did Samaritan GET that kid? Where are his parents? He's a little young to go traipsing around New York city unsupervised. Did Samaritan adopt a foster kid nobody would be looking for?

Root's confrontation with Control was, for me, remarkably restrained-of course Reese, and then Harold, pulled her back from doing something really nasty.

Knowledge of Shaw's whereabouts would be the only thing of value from Control, as far as Root is concerned. And since the whole Control-napping was basically a sting operation to bug the Samaritan operative's phone, Team Machine probably all knew that Control knew nothing about Shaw. So it was a good thing Harold intervened, because Root likely would have killed her dead. I don't think she's changed THAT much.

Edited January 14, 2015 by kariyaki

[merylinkid]

 

whether he's somewhere on the autism spectrum

 

That is what the

monster Link

used in the Belisarious alternate history series.   

[stealinghome]

The hell with that, where did Samaritan GET that kid? Where are his parents? He's a little young to go traipsing around New York city unsupervised. Did Samaritan adopt a foster kid nobody would be looking for?

This may be far too cynical of me, but since Samaritan's initial meeting with Root/The Machine, I just assumed Martine and Lambert have been shuttling him around (that Samaritan revealed his ID to them afterward). And that Greer and co., um, liberated him from his parents in one way or another.

 

I didn't look last night, but in the first episode with the Creepy Kid, they did, in fact, make a point of showing that he had an earpiece in, the kind Root used to wear before the cochlear implant.

 

Re: Greer, I don't necessarily know that I want or need more motive and backstory for him--I was disappointed with what we saw in 4x10--but I do want him to return to having a semblance of menace. He used to be one of my fave villains on the show, but this season, him being Samaritan's errand boy is so bloody boring and uninteresting. Let's just give him some teeth back, please.

Edited January 14, 2015 by stealinghome

[Netfoot]

When Travers pulled out his phone the second time, threatening to shut down the system, I was just waiting for a machete to come whistling down from off-camera and eliminate that threat, close to the elbow.  Because if I was comfortable with killing 800+ people, what's an arm to be worried about? 

 

You can be sure that if I was Control, buying the machete would have been priority one.

[shura]

Why not make all Persons of Interest connected to some scheme against Samaritan (or Samaritan's own scheme, or both).

 

Actually, I thought at first the guy Control was hunting was the POI, and that was the reason Root and Reese were at the train station. It just seems that, to nab Control for this super-duper sting operation, they could have found an easier opportunity, something less likely to go wrong, like when she was alone in a park somewhere and not riding in a car with armed bodyguards. 

[stealinghome]

Actually, I thought at first the guy Control was hunting was the POI, and that was the reason Root and Reese were at the train station. It just seems that, to nab Control for this super-duper sting operation, they could have found an easier opportunity, something less likely to go wrong, like when she was alone in a park somewhere and not riding in a car with armed bodyguards. 

I think they had been intending to grab her in DC, though--hence T-boning the car that held her normal bodyguards, as her new!bodyguards mentioned. It's just that Control at that moment decided to go to Detroit herself...so Root and Reese had to follow her there to kidnap/interrogate her.

 

In an ideal world, they could have waited to nab Control once she was back in DC, but in this situation time was (obviously) of the essence. They didn't have the luxury of waiting for the perfect moment--they had to create the right moment.

 

 

On a total sidenote: last season, Root told Control that the only thing Control loves lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, right? And yet her daughter seemingly lives in DC with her. Hm.

Edited January 15, 2015 by stealinghome

[Mars477]

 

On a total sidenote: last season, Root told Control that the only thing Control loves lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, right? And yet her daughter seemingly lives in DC with her. Hm.

Clearly, Control took the threat to heart and relocated her daughter.

[jhlipton]

Everybody was popping up all over the country (and Canada) tonight.  Control got from DC to Detroit to outside Toronto and back to DC in about 5 minutes per trip.  She may have her own private plane, but that was a bit silly.

[bros402]

This show keeps getting better and better; I don't even miss the POI-of-the-week right now.  Strong acting, strong writing, and a hell of a story. 

 

I loved seeing more of Control this episode. She genuinely loves for her daughter but wouldn't break despite Root's threats to the girl.  She commits great evil, but because she wants to protect innocent people.  She is incredibly arrogant and confident, but is willing to consider that she might be wrong or in the dark about something, and rather than just trust the people around her she tries to learn the truth.  Once Control sides with Team Machine, I don't think Samaritan will stand a chance.  And I am really looking forward to that.

 

That creepy kid -- exactly how is Samaritan controlling him?  I don't care how powerful and all-seeing it is, if it were whispering into my son's ear, there's no way it would be able to get him to obey for more than five minutes.  Is it promising video games or candy or something every time the kid parrots it's message?

 

Maybe Greer & Martine adopted him.

 

That could be an entertaining webseries.

[ABay]

Wacky hijinx would definitely ensue.

[mad_typist]

Maybe Greer & Martine adopted him.

 

That could be an entertaining webseries.

 

I would watch the crap out of that.

[Netfoot]

What do you suppose the kid wants to see POTUS (drink) about?  To strike a deal?  Or to issue a demand?

[FormerMod-a1]

Everybody was popping up all over the country (and Canada) tonight.  Control got from DC to Detroit to outside Toronto and back to DC in about 5 minutes per trip.  She may have her own private plane, but that was a bit silly.

Control had said it was 3 hours until the freight train to Canada, and she got there just as it was leaving.  So I wouldn't call that minutes  Granted, 3 hours to fly from DC to Detroit and then drive to the train is still very tight, if not impossible.   But it wasn't 5 minutes.  We also went from daylight to night.  Then  the Toronto thing - I thought that was days later, or at least a day later.  She was just catching up to him after being tortured and detained by our team - she had to have time to clean up, find his where abouts again and get there.  I didn't see anything that indicated to me it was even the say day.

[Dagny]

Control was able to bring her gun into Canada with her? Huh.

 

I wanked taht the kid was able to sneak around the White House the same way that Root wanders the dark areas. As told by the great computers monitoring the camera feeds.

 

I do love Control going down to the basement of the Exchange to check things out, but since TV doesn't have smell-o-vision, we have to see her touch the wet paint. ou Can't you usually spell the paint if it is that wet?

[shura]

I thought that Harold knew Control didn't necessarily know anything about Shaw, but he also knew that Samaritan was tailing her. So, since he just wanted access to Samaritan's phones, he set up this scenario of them capturing Control and either a) getting info out of her, if she had any or b) finding a Samaritan agent (who, I agree, very well may be Grice's blonde partner) and getting the worm in their phone, so they could use it to scour for info basically in every Samaritan phone.

 

I think I'd prefer it if they didn't imply that the whole thing was planned from the beginning. It's not a good plan - it's too complicated and calling for unnecessary steps. If all Finch wanted was to break into the ISA truck and upload the worm, why not do just that? You know where the truck (or an equally suitable one) is - it's parked across the street from Control's house. Surely bugging that Samaritan phone will work just as well whether Control knows anything or not. Kidnapping her only introduces a lot more difficulty without increasing the chances of the payoff. 

[ABay]

The worm wasn't the only objective, although I think it was Finch's main one. It was possible that Control did know something about Shaw's whereabouts, and that alone would've made kidnapping her Root and Reese's main objective. It was a two-fer.

[DrLar]

I'm guessing the "Samaritan Kid" has some kind of ear implant like Root right? 

 

Still little hope for Shaw, specially if they mentioned refrigerated truck, seems to me they transport dead bodies in there not live ones.. (amongst the cell phone Finch hacked)

 

IDK but doesn't seem to anyone that the Samaritan Liaison, the black guy, is clearly the spy? he has access to everything Control has..

[FormerMod-a1]

I am dubious about the kid too.  Even when kids are doing something they want, they don't always do exactly what is asked or expected.  Why is this kid just mindlessly doing whatever is asked of him and doing it exactly as expected.   Even if he is on the spectrum or is anal-retentive or obsessive/compulsive or something that would make him more prone to it, he can't be "perfect" all the time. 

 

But even before I tried to apply logic to it, I was finding him to just be "too much".  It takes me out of the story.  It's not enough to make me hate the show or even the character though.

[stealinghome]

Yeah, I don't think Team Machine necessarily thought Control was going to be able to say "Yes, Agent Shaw is at xxxxx coordinates," but I do think they were surprised that she was so utterly and completely in the dark about all the Shaw/Stock Exchange stuff. At minimum, I think they were hoping she could at least confirm Shaw was alive (or, in Finch's case, fearing that she'd confirm Shaw's death).

 

I took the mission as having two equal objectives--interrogate Control and slip the worm into Samaritan's system (using the chaos of the rescue op for Control as cover for the insertion). They were more confident that the worm would get some form of results, but given the seeming link between the Stock Exchange and Control, she was a stone they couldn't leave unturned. And again, I do think they were surprised at how totally clueless she was.

 

We also went from daylight to night.  Then  the Toronto thing - I thought that was days later, or at least a day later.  She was just catching up to him after being tortured and detained by our team - she had to have time to clean up, find his where abouts again and get there.  I didn't see anything that indicated to me it was even the say day.

Agreed. I took the cabin scene where Control shot the kid thing to be early in the morning hours the next day, after which she flew back to DC to drop her kid off at school (that's the part of the timeline that strains credulity, I agree). But while Team Machine had obviously had the time to fly or drive back to NYC in the intervening hours, I really doubt Root and Reese would have sat on their hands for a full 24 hours before heading out again--they clearly didn't even wait for Harold to fully finish decoding what he found via the worm, they just left for upstate immediately after getting back to NYC. So. I think everything that happened from Control shooting the kid to the end of the episode happened the next day, within 12 or so hours of Control's kidnap. (Boy, Control sure got around in that 24 hour span, didn't she?)

 

IDK but doesn't seem to anyone that the Samaritan Liaison, the black guy, is clearly the spy? he has access to everything Control has..

Oh, I think there's no question Travers is a spy. But there has to be a second one, because when Control's six-person rescue squad came to rescue her, Harold said that one of those six people was a Samaritan mole and he knew that because one person's phone was broadcasting to Samaritan. So Travers is the obvious, overtly in-your-face spy, but there's also a covert mole. (Personally, my money is on Brooks, Grice's partner, being the mole, due entirely to the fact that we know it's not Grice and the other four at the warehouse were nameless faceless agents. Plus Brooks turning on him would definitely shove Grice to the Team Machine side, toward which he's already leaning, and the show loves to play with partners....)

 

Still little hope for Shaw, specially if they mentioned refrigerated truck, seems to me they transport dead bodies in there not live ones.. (amongst the cell phone Finch hacked)

I believe refrigeration can actually really help people who are critically wounded, though. There was a story a few years ago, for example, of a college football player who was paralyzed during a game. All the reports said that he actually likely would have died if the doctors who first saw him hadn't lowered his core temperature by something like at least 20 degrees? So, yeah, it could definitely have been transporting a dead body, but if Shaw was (as seems likely if she was still alive) critically injured but Samaritan wanted her alive, a refrigerated truck makes sense.

 

ETA: I didn't pick up on it until I read it elsewhere in a review or comments section or something, but: not once did Finch call Shaw "Ms. Shaw" this episode. Instead, it was only "Sameen." Ugh, the feels.

Edited January 15, 2015 by stealinghome

[StarBrand]

 

The track played at the end of the episode was The Violent Bear It Away, by Moby.

This. I haven't been able to stop listening to it.....

[FurryFury]

But if Grice's blonde partner is the spy, why hasn't she shot the Arab programmer? She had him in her sights, and Samaritan definitely wanted him dead. I also thought that of those 6 operatives, nobody except her could be working for Samaritan simply because we don't know the other four, but this doesn't make sense.

Edited January 15, 2015 by FurryFury

[roomtorome]

Man, just keeps getting better - I love the turns and risks this show takes to keep it interesting.  For me, most shows are so formulaic that after the 2nd or 3rd year, I'm bored and stop watching.  This one has gone in directions I never expected from the first season and, is still doing that - - just terrific writing, acting, etc.

[tessaray]

The idea that Control would have had a baby or adopted a child after 9/11 took me out of the episode but other than that, loved it.  

[Dusty]

 

But if Grice's blonde partner is the spy, why hasn't she shot the Arab programmer? She had him in her sights, and Samaritan definitely wanted him dead.

 

If she went against orders then that would give away her double spy status wouldn't it?  I have no clue if it is her or not.  It could be that other lady that was with her.  Was that Shahi's stunt double also?  Maybe she's it so they can play with our emotions until (lalalalalala, refriger-what? I CAN'T HEAR YOU) and during Shaw's return.

 

I wouldn't mind them going back to POI of the week..  I think with American shows especially there's only so much lore episodes that you can do within a season or else it'll get unnecessarily frustrating. (Which at times it has been)  It's the consequences of having a bajillion episodes per season.  They've been doing a really good job with it that I wouldn't want them to do episode after episode of it if they can't service the story like I feel like they have been doing lately.  So far I think they've been doing a good job of advancing the core storyline throughout the season while also evolving it so it doesn't turn into something stupid like so many other shows.

[shura]

Speaking of the fourth programmer, the guy gets held up at gunpoint, crashes through a window and falls to the ground a couple stories below. If that were me, I'd be hightailing it out of there in full panic mode. What does he do? He dusts off and flags himself a cab. That's one composed innocent civilian, isn't he?

[jhlipton]

 (Boy, Control sure got around in that 24 hour span, didn't she?)

 

Yeah, I was exaggerating (a  bit), but that was my point.

[bros402]

I would watch the crap out of that.

 

I bet Samaritan would chime in every once in a while "WELL, I READ IN THIS PARENTING MAGAZINE..."

 

Control had said it was 3 hours until the freight train to Canada, and she got there just as it was leaving.  So I wouldn't call that minutes  Granted, 3 hours to fly from DC to Detroit and then drive to the train is still very tight, if not impossible.   But it wasn't 5 minutes.  We also went from daylight to night.  Then  the Toronto thing - I thought that was days later, or at least a day later.  She was just catching up to him after being tortured and detained by our team - she had to have time to clean up, find his where abouts again and get there.  I didn't see anything that indicated to me it was even the say day.

 

Control is officially a part of the Pentagon - she could've used her authority to have a military jet fly her to Detroit. After she was rescued, they probably just had a helicopter fly her back to D.C.

[roomtorome]

As to shows with "lore" - I think Fringe did it beautifully - a good mix of "case of the week" sort of episodes (one series that always, every time, made me care about the guest character in those one off cases - amazing) together with the "lore" of the series overall - The writing has to be stellar though and few shows on network TV really have that caliber of consistent writing; at times, we get a terrific first season as if all their creative juices are shot in that one season and then a huge nose dive.

 

This show has enough pieces on the chess board to play with and move around so I haven't yet gotten bored - while I ditched all the CSI/Law&Order/NCIS shows after - tops - two seasons.  I wish more networks would get their mitts on the good writers - Justified is another one (starting next week for its last season) that also has amazing writers and characters.  More, please!

 

As an aside, I want more Bear - he is so deserving of a wee bit more air time - that face of his gets me every time.  I can just "see" what he's thinking….

[Zahdii]

As an aside, I want more Bear - he is so deserving of a wee bit more air time - that face of his gets me every time.  I can just "see" what he's thinking….

 

I agree, more Bear!  Love that dog. <3

[Jack Kerouac]

Samaritan's kid avatar was a terrible idea and he's still a terrible idea now.

 

ITA. I get that they want to humanize Samaritan at the same time as making it creepy, but that kid is terrible.

 

Not really interested in seeing more Root(ugh); which is what we get without Shaw around.

 

Word. Can't stand Root at all. Her combination of arrogance and deifying the Machine makes me roll my eyes every time she is on screen. They still haven't explained why the Machine talks to her and not to its CREATOR, so there is that as well. Basically, they could throw Root off a bridge and I for one, think the show would be much better off.

[stealinghome]

They *have* explained why The Machine talks to Root and not Harold, though*: for the longest time, Harold himself didn't want to talk to The Machine, and The Machine respected his wishes. That was said explicitly in S3.

*=as of Prophets, Harold and The Machine do seem to be talking, though they've kept the extent of the conversation(s) pointedly mysterious so far. I have a feeling it will be revealed around, oh, May or so.

[FormerMod-a1]

Right, Harold's "We need to talk..."  We never saw the follow-up.  I'm sure it will not be dropped (like some other shows), so yeah, probably May sweeps.

[MrWhyt]

Control was able to bring her gun into Canada with her? Huh.

I doubt she entered through any official border control points.

[TigerLynx]

I liked Reese's response of there are no good guys here to Control's good cop/bad cop question.  However, I loved Finch telling Control if she really knew anything about Samaritan, she would realize why HE was there.

 

Fusco and Finch are hilarious together.

[DioxinBlues]

I think Control-Alt-Delete is going to be one of those episodes I appreciate more and more with distance. Upon first watch, I was still so emotionally raw after the brilliance of If-Then-Else that I found myself a little removed from this ep, particularly when the first half took that "hard left" that Nolan and Plageman warned us about. But, the more I think about it, the more I both appreciate it and love it and I suspect as the season progresses it will become the linchpin for the events that culminate in the final. Control and the Relevant team (I'd love to see more of Grice; he's interesting) are by all accounts being primed for bigger roles down the line and ultimately transitioning into some much needed allies for our team who were too few to begin with and now even more vulnerable with Shaw's absence. We need bodies to take Samaritan's bullets and I for one don't want any more of our people to be the ones to take them. Gah. Watching Root's anguish is brutal enough! 

 

Also, I must've listened to Moby's "The Violent Bare It Away" a dozen times since last Tuesday. This show does so many things well and its selection of music is yet another example of excellence. 

[Zahdii]

(I'd love to see more of Grice; he's interesting)

 

I'd like to see more of him as well, get him a spot on the POI calendar.  Seriously though, I fear he's not long for the show.  But if he goes out, I hope he's fighting for Team Machine at the time.

[webruce]

Control is being watched by her own(Decima) people. Mr. Travers needs to have that smirk knocked off his face. I liked that both Mike Richelli(liked him on both Unforgettable and The Mentalist) and Senator Ross H. Garrison,(Like him on Gotham and Rizzoli and Isles), seem to be kinda on Controls side. Either could also knock Mr. Travers and Greer into next week, lol. Even if they did question her work. Also wish that Reese and Root saved the rocket launcher for Greer's skinny little A'' and his office. I thought we would see the Congressman Roger McCourt, just to rub in that Harold said not to kill him .

I figured the 2 masked bandits that were attaching the government teams were Root and Reese. Especially when they were only kneecapped or wounded. But they finally did get Controls team. Was surprised she was the only one that crawled out of the flipped Suburban.

So "The Relevants" Yasim Said, Massoud Shammar, Hussain Ashoor, Tariq Al Juhani, were possibly set up by Samaritan to be taken out by Control's (Northern Lights) team? Was it just to give the team something to do, or was it to make it look to the Government that it was doing it's job? Control hesitated when she found Said at the cabin, but gunned him down anyway. Did she want to believe her bosses information, or was it to not be singled out as a problem? Also must be Said's laptop was booby trapped to keep Control from finding any info. or lack of on it? Said didn't know why it happened, he told her.

After what Root and Reese did to Controls men, I wouldn't think that in interrogation she would be able to say to Reese, "What is this, good cop and bad cop?" Then Reese replied,"There are no good cops here!" Root also was nice with her tazer and the ear play with Control. Also pointing out about daughter Julia being vulnerable should make her worry. But maybe Finch's telling her about her home being watched and the other information has gotten her thinking. She probably misses Hersh.

I think that Agent Devon Grice maybe the next Shaw? I worried his fight with Reese, one would get hurt. But he does miss Shaw. Maybe he will help in the search. But unfortunately between his partner Brooks, or Greer's Lambert and Martine, he will more then likely be taken out either just before Shaw is found or just after. But I like him. I liked how Fusco knocked out the surveillance operator, Strobel, in the van. Wasn't sure how Root with her shootout with Grice's associates, Brooks and Shiffman ended? Finch said there were 6 people at that warehouse and they only had 5 accounted for? Someone was watching? How did Reese and Root get out of the building, and Finch?

Mike's banter with Gabriel Hayward(Kid Samaritan),was cute, creepy and interesting. Him knowing what the stocks of Mike would end that day at was creepy. I would think he would check into it. But Samaritan would be watching.

Control told Mike she had 854 (kills)saves and counting. When she checked out the basement with the Security Guard of the NY Stock Exchange she found fresh paint on the walls. Didn't they both smell it before she touched it? There also was a cam right there probably watching that area

[wevel]

I just realized that the shoulder cannon that Root and Reese used was the one featured in 4X03 (the episode where Finch hilariously poses as "Egret" with Root the hottie in tow) - nice continuity. 

[Camera One]

This episode was surprisingly engaging considering there was so little of Team Machine.  I can't believe they had me rooting for the despicable Control in the first half, when she was against the tyranny of Samaritan.  I wish shows couldn't manipulate my emotions like that so easily, LOL.  Finally, we get to see Root exact some revenge for the horrific ear torture, but it was unsatisfying because they had the "wrong guy" and it was under the wrong circumstances, which is so typical on shows.  It was just not emotionally rewarding to see Reese and Root to be on the rampage on wrong info.   I was actually looking forward to the show doing a shift and Control & Grice allying with Team Machine.  I wouldn't mind her becoming more of a regular presence and a government "insider", sort of like how Fusco and Carter were NYPD insiders.  I still hated seeing that innocent guy die at the end, but I suppose it works personality-wise, and I'm glad she's putting the pieces together and not completely discounting what she learned.  Her smugness towards Harold still bugged though.  

 

I don't find that kid that creepy, so those scenes lost all atmosphere.

[kahauna]

I was hoping for something similar to the beginning of “The Devil's Share” but I realize that would have just been too obvious.

 

Dear God, I love this show...

[AudienceofOne]

Yawn. This show is getting extremely silly.

[ABay]

I could watch Harold talking to Control on a loop all day.

[stealinghome]

So, I totally agree with DioxinBlues that Control-Alt-Delete improves with time and knowing in advance the structure of the episode. As an individual episode, I like it a lot more now, with the benefit of some distance from If-Then-Else's original airing, than I did initially. That said, while I understand intellectually why they chose to put this particular episode here, I still find it a little too unsatisfactory emotionally on the heels of If-Then-Else--but one of the writers recently tweeted that the trilogy is more like a quadrilogy ending with the next episode. So depending on what happens in 4x13, this one might become a little more satisfying retroactively.

 

Camryn Manheim was a f’ing POWERHOUSE in this episode. I think she’s gotten better and better as Control with each appearance, and holy crap, she just utterly and completely hit it out of the yard in this one. From her voice being the opening credits’ voice (such a clever change—and how upsetting was it to see Shaw get gunned down in real time?) to being SO unimpressed with Team Machine in the cage, she was just a boss in this episode. Regardless of how one feels about her politics and how she approaches her job, you have to admire the stones on that woman. And it’s interesting that she seemed to be distrustful of Samaritan even before it refused to let her into the laptop—she insisted on double-checking the independent evidence before greenlighting the mission, and clearly knew the closest blind spot away from Samaritan’s vision. I wonder what run-ins she’d had with Samaritan/Travers (who really needs to tone the smug down 15%) before now to cause that tension. Also her conversation with Grice was hilarious. But I thought Manheim did especially good work when she shot Yasin; you could tell that despite herself, at least part of her believed him, and she didn’t enjoy/wasn’t satisfied by shooting him nearly as much as she had expected. She seemed more emotional/regretful than you'd expect. I think Harold walking away from her in the cage like she was nothing rattled her 500% more than anything else did.

 

While I wish we’d seen way more of it, I do get a real kick out of the running gag of the background news constantly reporting on Reese and Root’s rampage. I still think the best scene of the episode is them in the car with Harold on the comms--just so, so sad and poignant for both of them. Really, really looking forward to seeing where the show goes with the Reese-Root relationship now, especially as it had so deliberately kept them separate in the first half of the season. 'Cause this was a good start: Reese and Root with the rocket launcher, and then coolly striding up to Control “like a demented Bonnie and Clyde” and taking their masks off, never.gets.old.

 

I don’t think I noticed it the first time, but Root was PISSED when Control went “Agent Shaw? Why, did something happen to her?” She totally thought Control knew all about Shaw and was taunting them. Acker was just on fire in the cage scenes. The right mix of demented, totally inconsolable, and clinging to belief/hope so fiercely and 100% determined. She's going to utterly and completely lose it when either the trail goes cold or Team Machine thinks they get confirmation of Shaw's death.

 

I want to know more about why/how the surveillance footage from the stock exchange is “unreadable” (John’s term) and why The Machine hasn’t/won’t tell them what she saw. I suspect that will be covered in the next episode, but I'm still quite curious at the moment. Speaking of John: this time around, the moment where he lets Grice go really tugged on my heartstrings. The tears in his eyes when he said "This is for Shaw." Big bro really misses his little sis.

 

I want SO MUCH MORE of Harold being a terrifying mastermind. He was just chilling when he really cut loose on Control. So, so, SO MUCH MORE of THAT Finch, please, show!

 

A timeline note: After re-watching the episode, it does seem that the first full day after Shaw’s disappearance is the day the episode begins (with Root and Reese breaking into the security firm the night previously--so the night of the day they lost Shaw--because the episode refers to "yesterday's" market crash), and the second full day is when Control shoots Yasin in the morning and Gabriel meets the Chief of Staff again in the evening/Control taunts the CoS with “854.” Then the third full day after losing Shaw is Control dropping her kid off again, going to the stock exchange, and Root and Reese heading out to New Jersey. But I call foul on a) Team Machine sitting on their hands for a full day and b) Gabriel meeting the Chief of Staff on the second day to taunt him about his portfolio when he had made his predictions on/for the previous day. Seems a little goofy to me.
-Reese also says that Shaw’s cover identity was burned 8 days after Grice let her go, which fixes the timeline between 4x07 and 4x09 at 8 days.

 

I enjoyed Grice chasing Yasin through the abandoned building, but while a cool sequence, I thought that was way too unnecessarily complicated. Why didn’t Grice just jump him from behind while pretending to be a drunk and then drag him into the building? The alley was a blind spot. I’m also still banking on Brooks being the Samaritan mole, but I hope she’s not, because I kind of enjoy her and Grice together. They’re like Reese-Shaw, but with more real friction (but not to the extent of Reese-Stanton).

 

Root’s comments to Control re: mothers are really interesting given Root’s own backstory and the hint that her mom had problems (what kind, we don’t really know). I thought it was a nice touch that Control was noticeably warmer to her kid after her ordeal.

[areca]

Tonight was fucking amazing. And yet, I saw the first glimmerings of the thing that loses me with shows like this. They are setting up the 'episode of the week' fillers until they can move forward with the idea of when, or if, Ms. Shahi will be returning. And the problem with that is that they always, always, truly lose the plot during these types of things. I will be utterly gutted if this show goes the way of so many other JJ Abrams series which started out strong, and then started downhill at season 3. It is in my top 10 TV shows of all time. And I'm both old and a Firefly fan, so there ya go. That's only 9 slots left. :P

Edited January 28, 2015 by areca

[DeLurker]

 

They are setting up the 'episode of the week' fillers until they can move forward with the idea of when, or if, Ms. Shahi will be returning. And the problem with that is that they always, always, truly lose the plot during these types of things.

After the last few eps of such intensity, I need a filler and a lighter ep so I am hoping we get the return of Ken Leung's Leon.  I seriously want a Leon-Bear cam when they are left in the subway.  Wishful thinking on my part, but a gal can dream.

 

I've got confidence that they'll move forward without Shaw and we won't be marking time plot wise awaiting her return.  Let's hope I am not wrong!