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Best Moments in POI

StarBrand

By StarBrand
in Person Of Interest [V]

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wevel

wevel

Oh, good topic!  Setting aside anything in 4X11 for now, 'cos that episode has too many best BESTs, I find the way that Root's relationship with Harold has changed over the seasons really compelling, and quite key to her development as a character.  I think my favorite scene between them is in 4X5 Prophets, the one where Harold takes Google, Root takes Yahoo.  That whole "You must be so lonely" conversation, which includes Harold telling Root he (now) considers her a comrade and a friend, Root showing a new uncertainty and even fatalism about the future, as well as foreshadowing the challenges ahead for Team Machine (including people dying, like-maybe-Shaw-ouch) packed quite a emotional punch for me.

  • Love 2
Agent Dark

Agent Dark

The whole of Relevance imo.  I mean the show was good before, but it was that episode where it went from Good to fan-fucking-tastic.  Everything from The Machine interrupting the opening credits, to the fact that the show was entirely from the point of view of a new character with only 'cameo' appearances from the main characters.  And the fact that it really opened up the show's wider lore.

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stealinghome

stealinghome

Off the top of my head:

 

-If-Then-Else might be the best episode this show has ever done. Every minute of it is utterly fantastic, but special shout-outs to Root's simulated death conversation with Shaw, Harold teaching The Machine how to play chess, and especially the last five minutes. Everything about Shaw's last scene--showing up unexpectedly to bail the team out, kissing Root, and sacrificing herself to save everyone else--was utterly perfect. Beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, and the music is great.

-The Devil's Share is also uniformly excellent from start to finish, but the beginning set to Hurt is amazing. Easily the best opening sequence the show has ever had. Reese walking away from the burning car never fails to make me shiver. Harold trying to talk John down in the hotel room is also a wrenching scene.

-"How badly did you have to break it to make it care about people so much?" Acker and Emerson are at their best acting opposite each other, and their conversation in Root Path might have been the best they've ever had...

-...although their two conversations in Prophets were also fantastic. ICAM that the evolution of their relationship has been wildly compelling, and Prophets was a real turning point. Also in Prophets, Root and Martine's two-level shootout--the cinematography was just gorgeous.

-Scarface and Elias' last conversation. D'awwwww.

-In Death Benefit, the closing montage set to Medicine, when the congressman is rescued, the team runs through the woods and Shaw gets shot, Greer makes his shady backroom deals, and Harold leaves Reese and Shaw. That could have been the season-ending montage (though Deus Ex's was quite good too).

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Mars477

Mars477

(edited)

Relevance still holds a special place in my heart.  Goddamn, that was good television, and it really felt like it signaled a sea change in the show that blew the horizon wide open.  Everything from the disruption of the opening credits to the point of view being focused strictly on Shaw's perspective for much of the hour to Future Starts Slow was perfect.  As far as major character introductions could go, the creative team could do no better than Relevance.

 

Come back soon, Shaw :(

Edited by Mars477
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fastiller

fastiller

Great topic. I'll toss in the two-parter episodes Lethe + Aletheia. I remember watching it at the time and thinking, "Wow, this show has taken it to the next level". And in retrospect, it's significant for both introducing Samaritan and Control into the mix. It was also one of the first times I actually felt afraid for Root.

It's amazing how many times I've read that an episode does this: takes it to a new level.  A sign of a great crew, etc...

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FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

John's speech at the end of the episode where he kept the doctor from killing her sister's rapist.

In season 1, when Fusco started talking about how he was feeling better about himself, liking doing good, doing something his son could be proud of. (I hated John's reply/treatment of him though).

Fusco before he thought he was going to die, and then Shaw saves him.

and oh so many more...

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Agent Dark

Agent Dark

Great topic. I'll toss in the two-parter episodes Lethe + Aletheia. I remember watching it at the time and thinking, "Wow, this show has taken it to the next level". And in retrospect, it's significant for both introducing Samaritan and Control into the mix. It was also one of the first times I actually felt afraid for Root.

Oh yeah, those episodes had some great dialogue in them ranging from Harold and Arthur's poignant philosophising on the nature of their machines (including the Harold flashbacks), to Root's chillingly defiant threats to Control, to the outright funny one-liners from Shaw.  And then the end scene with The Machine showing true humanity and offering comfort to Arthur and showing him the footage of him and his wife when they were younger. 

 

The only thing that let that episode down was the Reese and Fusco plotline which felt completely at odds with the rest of the episode.  That's easy to overlook considering how good the rest of those two episodes were.

DeLurker

DeLurker

John's speech at the end of the episode where he kept the doctor from killing her sister's rapist.

Not knowing for certain what John did with the rapist was brilliant.

 

I loved when Finch gave Reese an apartment key for his birthday present and said something about respecting his privacy but the apartment overlooks the park where Reese goes to play chess.

 

And I don't remember what ep it was in, but the first time Reese calls Finch by his first name (it was a phone call and I think Reese was expecting to die) and just the look on MEs face - oy!

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kahauna

kahauna

Has to be The Devil's Share for me. Along with the aforementioned opening montage—Reese in his wet works days, with his face back lit (?) so that he looks like a talking skull; Elias: "Well, there remains a debt. Civilization rests on the principle that we treat our criminals better than they treated their victims. That we not stoop to their level. But you and I are outliers. We're not really a part of civilization. We're something... older. Which means, of course, that we can do the things that civilized people can't. I offered to kill you for Detective Carter many times, and she always said no. She was civilized to the very end. I don't think she liked me. But I liked her very much. And you killed her. So now I consider it my responsibility to fix the particular problem that is you, Officer Simmons....;” the expression of almost feral rage on Lionel's face after breaks his own thumb, slips his handcuffs, and kills the HR killer by crushing his windpipe, and then thoroughly curb stomping Simmons, and then arresting him.

 

I would add, in “The Devil You Know,” Anthony, knowing he is going to die one way or the other, facing Link as he is being viciosly beaten, telling him, “someday you might find yourself in a chair like this” and we see a shadowt of sudden doubt flicker across Link's face; Elias trying to hold back tears giving Dominic the key code, knowing that Anthony is going to get his when the safe bomb detonates...

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wevel

wevel

(edited)

This is just one line from 3X10 The Devil's Share, but I never get sick of Fusco seriously side-eying Root in the car and saying, "You know, if you'd told me about the car pooling arrangements, I would've driven separately."  It pointed to the strange alliances needed to save Reese, but was also hilariously delivered. 

 

While I'm on funny lines, there's also Shaw's classic "I got finesse comin' outta my ass, Harold" during 3X12 Alethia.  Ah Shaw, both scalpel and hammer ...

Edited by wevel
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stealinghome

stealinghome

(edited)

Pretty much everything Fusco says to or about Root is gold, honestly. The litany of cereal nicknames never fails to crack me up...and there was the immortal "Lucy and Ethel" crack a few episodes ago. Ha! If he ever finds out about The Machine, he's just going to croak when he finds out Root is the Analog Interface and actually talks to her.

 

On my list above, I can't believe I forgot to mention the flashbacks to the 42 pre-The Machine AIs that Harold killed in Prophets! Such a horrifying, perspective-changing, utterly fascinating set of flashbacks that explain oh so much. That episode casts such a different light on literally all the other pre-show Finch flashbacks.

 

While I didn't love the larger episode, I got such a kick out of Carter, Zoe, and Shaw teaming up in 3x03.

 

While I'm on funny lines, there's also Shaw's classic "I got finesse comin' outta my ass, Harold" during 3X12 Alethia.  Ah Shaw, both scalpel and hammer ...

Oh, but don't forget Finch telling her to consider what Reese would do, and Shaw's disgusted "Brood???" Hee.

Edited by stealinghome
prican58

prican58

I love the scene in one ep (forgot which one) where Root is standing over Shaw's bed and says "Did you miss me? We're going to have so much fun together." And then proceeds to taser her yet again. What's great about that in hindsight is that I think Shaw actually does have fun with Root.They steal jets, take out militias and have cocktails in Miami.  I think she even enjoyed Roots incessant flirtatious comments. 

 

Really, who wouldn't like all that?

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GodsBeloved

GodsBeloved

(edited)

John's speech at the end of the episode where he kept the doctor from killing her sister's rapist.

Cura Te Ipsum.

 

JC was all kinds of awesome in that scene. Its one of his best on this show. Adam Rothenberg, who played the rapist Andrew Benton was awesome too. I haven't seen any other scene that surpasses this one. No huff, no puff, no splash, no "slick" lines. Just 2 guys playing the hell out of a low key scene.

Edited by GodsBeloved
GodsBeloved

GodsBeloved

(edited)

I can't remember the episode title, but the scene with Carter owning Lasky in the bar was amazing.

Razgovor

 

Carter's take down of Lasky was supreme. I really enjoyed Brian Wiles. He was a good actor.

I can't remember the episode title, but the scene with Carter owning Lasky in the bar was amazing.

Razgovor

 

Carter's take down of Lasky was supreme. I really enjoyed Brian Wiles. He was a good actor.

Edited by GodsBeloved
stealinghome

stealinghome

I'm rewatching selected episodes on Netflix, and ugh, the part in The Crossing where Fusco thinks Lee is going to be shot, and Shaw saves Lee, always gets me. The way Fusco is sobbing on the phone, the way Shaw is obviously emotional over Lionel's impending death, the way Fusco is so happy when she saves Lee and then so coldly takes down the HR goon about to kill him...all the feels. I love their thank you in the car later, too.

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Trillium

Trillium

(edited)

Season 1

Best:  This was hard to pick because there were some many great moments. Witness was what made me like the show, and then ending of Number Crunch is were I loved it. It was pretty much like Barney's NYE mixed CD, all rise. But if I had to pick one I'd say Many Happy Returns. 

Worst: It wasn't bad, it was far better than some of the one offs in Season 4 but Risk was just ok.

Most Fun: Baby Blue and Identity Crisis. I could watch a clip of high Finch any time. 

 

Season 2

Best: Relevance followed very closely by Prisoner's Dilemma. Both were just terrific in there own way. I'll give a shout to Finch's speech about Pi, the math nerd in me loved it.

Worst: Triggerman. Even Elias couldn't get me into this one. No desire to re-watch that one. 

Funnest: Booked Solid. Although Reese really hated that bellhop uniform, I think he got over it by punching the manager, the knife fight with Hersch, and whatever he and Zoe did in that penthouse. Plus Root shows up in the end after being MIA for many episodes.

 

Season 3

Best: Overall this was my favorite season. Pretty much everything from the Crossing until Alethia  was amazing. The

Worst: Last Call, just pointless. The first two episodes weren't too great either. There were a few forgettable ones before we get to the Death Benefit- Deus Ex Machina. 

Most Fun: Lady Killer. It's a shame we didn't get more of the Shaw, Carter and Zoe team. It would have been interesting to have added Root in there as well. 

 

Season 4

Best: YWYH and If-Then-Else, followed by Control-ALT-Delete. I felt this season was very uneven. The great episodes were as good as this show has ever done.

Worst:  Pretty much anything with Iris. Sorry, try as I might I can't get myself on board with her. Same with Harper. I know SS pregnancy changed the game plan but ugh, but compared to Shaw, Carter, Root Zoe, and even Kara Stanton, these two were just not interesting enough for all the screen time devoted to them. 

Most Fun:  Guilty, blocking out the Iris stuff, this was a great season 1 call back. 

 

Season 3 is my favorite as a whole, then 1, then 2 and finally season 4. But not that I hate season 2 and 4, there are some really phenomenal episodes. But they are just the most uneven to me and ones I am least likely to rewatch start to finish. 

Edited by Trillium
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DeepRunner

DeepRunner

Have been binge-watching this series for the past week or so on DVD. Best moments I've liked so far:

 

* The introduction of Carl Elias and anything involving him. 

* Reese saving Taylor, Carter's son. Reese is a great anti-hero

* The introduction of Shaw--She is Fiona to Reese's Michael Weston, without the romance angle

* Harold and Grace--it's great that they had Carrie Preston, Michael Emerson's real wife, play Grace

* Root and Root's backstory--Amy Acker has done excellently painting a complex character 

* The death of Scarface--a wise guy you can't help but root for. "Morior Invictus"

* Carter taking the Dons into protective custody

* Scenes between Harold and Nathan Ingram

* Team Machine vs. Samaritan

* "Cold War"--the spooky and wildly-awesome creepiness of using a kid as Samaritan's avatar, opposite Root as The Machine's. I think it would have been better to have a slightly-tatted teen rep Samaritan, but the point was made

* "If/Then/Else"

 

I haven't seen every last episode so far, and it's been a bit disjointed in terms of series progression. I have watched eppys occasionally on this quaint thing called "television," but the heavy DVD dosage has helped get me up to speed.

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33kaitykaity

33kaitykaity

(edited)

My all-time favorite episodes in no particular order are Wolf and Cub, The Fix, and 2-pi-R.  The series sort of lost me when the whole Machine/Samaritan story took over and after Carter's death.  I still watch religiously, but I don't go back and obsessively binge-re-watch them all.  

 

Favorite scene is when John walks out of police custody to this song.  

Edited by 33kaitykaity
stealinghome

stealinghome

I have to confess I've never gotten the love for the end scene of Cura Te Ipsum. I do think it's great that we never find out what Reese did with the rapist, but to me, Caviezel's best episodes are Prisoner's Dilemma--pretty much entirely on the back of his interrogation scene with Carter where he tells her about "Allison West"--and The Devil's Share. By far his best performances on this show imo. Am I alone in my love for the Prisoner's Dilemma scene?

 

Also I love just about every scene with Kara Stanton. I'll always wonder whether, if Annie Parrisse hadn't signed on for the (absolutely awful) The Following, whether Stanton might have stuck around a bit longer.

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stealinghome

stealinghome

Zero Day and God Mode are both excellent, among the show's best episodes overall, but I think the last flashback shot of Finch in God Mode is so, so poignant. When he asks The Machine "Did you know???" and it pops up with Nathan's number as an irrelevant before deleting itself at midnight, and Finch just watches in horrified realization? Ugh, ME reaches through the screen and tears your heart out just by staring at a desktop.

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DeepRunner

DeepRunner

With less than two months to go until the mid-season premiere, I thought it would be good to look back at some of the best episodes (imo). So, after the first few, there is no particular order:

 

* The Crossing--The End of HR, The End of Joss Carter. Features The Kiss between Reese and Carter, and a soul-crushing ending

 

* If-Then-Else--Team Machine defeats Samaritan as the Cold War heats up, after a series of simulations run by the Machine. And oh, yes, Root and Shaw have their kiss before Shaw is shot and (presumably) captured

 

* YHWH--Greer starts the The Correction, Dominic is dead, Elias is probably dead, and "God is either dead or running on Double-A's." Sad ending with morose music from Pink Floyd

 

* The Devil's Share--The loss of Carter, the manhunt for Quinn, the end for Simmons. Features a spree by Reese, Root becoming an important ally, Fusco capturing Simmons, and Scarface killing Simmons while Elias watches

 

* God Mode--A parallel universe of sorts, as Root and Harold work opposite Reese and Shaw. Carter rescues Elias. Hersh ends Special Counsel, who was an interesting bad guy. Not the best villain, but Jay O. Sanders did a good job with what he was given

 

* Any of Root Cause, The Firewall The Contingency, and Bad Code--Sam Groves as an incredibly intriguing black hat

 

* Deus Ex Machina--The end of Peter Collier, the end of Vigilance, the death of Hersh, the rise of Samaritan, with Greer as an excellent puppet-master

 

* The Devil You Know--Invictus Morior. Invictus Maneo. 'Nuff said.

 

And then...any episode with Zoe Morgan of Kara Stanton. OK, those are some of the best from my POV. What about you?

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stealinghome

stealinghome

If-Then-Else and The Devil's Share, in that order, are easily the best episodes of the series imo. There have been some other really great episodes, but those two are transcendent. Just on an entirely different level.

 

Other standouts in chronological order: Baby Blue, Firewall, The Contingency&Bad Code, Prisoner's Dilemma, Relevance, Zero Day&God Mode (probably the best season finale the show has done to date), The Crossing, Lethe&Aletheia, Root Path, Beta&A House Divided&Deus Ex Machina, Prophets, Control-Alt-Delete, Asylum&YHWH.

  • Love 1
StarBrand

StarBrand

  • Author

I don't know if anyone will be looking in here any more, but...more of my best of the best...

I have to say "The Day The World Went Away" is one of most emotionally draining hours of TV I've sat though. There's not one second of it that feels wasted to me. So many character beats being played in the midst of all the chaos;

1. Finch starting off everything by making a mistake-going to the place where he and Grace had their first date, not realizing that Samaritan could connect that with him.

2. Shaw, back with the team, but feeling she's to blame for Finch being outed

3. The conversation between Finch and Elias about how they thought their lives would play out

4. Root and Shaw's interactions-brief, but enough to please any Shoot fan.

5. The car chase. That was pretty damn good.

6. Finch's monologue. Chilling.

7. The ending shot, with the ominous-sounding song that gave the episode its title.

One of the most heartbreaking things about this episode involved Root's confession to Shaw that, after years of running, not finding any sort of personal happiness, that she finally feels like she's a part of something, a family-then holding Shaw's hand to let her know this family most definitely includes her. Their conversation during the shootout, where Root picks a completely inappropriate time to wax philosophical, and to turn it into a flirtation "and darling....you got a great shape", which had Shaw grinning by the end of it.  And Shaw, being practical and all, insisting, above Root's protesting, to get the hell out while she diverts attention. Little did she know it would be the last time she'd see Root alive.

After it was all over, it was hard to take in all that happened. After the optimism of the end of the last of the last episode, it was disheartening to have all that optimism promptly taken away.

  • Love 5
Gigi43

Gigi43

There was a lot I liked in "The Day The World Went Away", but honestly I thought that car chase and shootout was ridiculous. It would probably bother me a lot more if I wasn't giving it the pass of "there were 3 episodes left, okay they went crazy", but I still thought it was just too over the top. However, Finch saying "I wasn't talking to you" and that whole speech was a top-notch favorite moment.

 

The ending of The Devils Share, Elias' speech about civilized people vs. uncivilized people, then declaring that he was actually going to just watch Simmon's die is one absolutely one of my favorite moments. It was just so damn satisfying. (Does that make me uncivilized?) 

 

Every second of high Finch in that season one episode, though somehow the title is escaping me.

 

Finch finding out Nathan had been accessing the irrelevant list and Nathan declaring the deserve to be helped etc.

 

All of the Reese/Finch stuff in the finale. All of it. I love those two together, and it was sad but completely did them justice.

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Ghost Ship

Ghost Ship

I'm going to ditto everything that Gigi43 said, especially about the car chase in 5.10. It wasn't just ridiculous, it was poorly shot. I do remember Nolan saying in an interview that they ran out of time and money on the day.

The season 1 episode with Finch on ecstacy was Identity Crisis.

I'll be back with some more when I finish my rewatch.

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stealinghome

stealinghome

High Finch was funny, but the high point (no pun intended) of Finch humor for me remains Baby Blue. That whole episode was gold--easily the most entertaining episode of S1. I still get a chuckle out of Finch and Carter in the corner store shopping for baby supplies ("Is this your first?" Hee!), and Finch and Reese looking for the baby when she has a grenade!

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