S04.E19: Search and Destroy

[FormerMod-a1]

Reese and Finch scramble to protect a software CEO when his behavior becomes increasingly erratic following a hacker attack that reveals all his secrets and unravels his life.

[immortalfrieza]

This sounds oddly familiar. Didn't they do the same sort of plot with the CEO of some social media site?

[kechara]

"shotgun"

[janeta]

So the egg was...just an egg?

Love Zoe. :)

[merylinkid]

Finch needs to stop being so shrieky about Samaritan.   He designed the Machine.   He is not a total idiot.   But he is letting his fear of being found impair his ability to think of a solution.   

 

Should have protected Khan better.   Now he's dead because Our Intrepid Heroes were more concerned about Samaritan finding them.

 

Dammit, fight back.   Stop hiding.   Martine can shoot up public spaces but it took her 3 shoot outs to get Shaw.   The odds are on OIH's side.

 

And boy are they really trying to make bland little Iris look good, Paige Turco looked ancient.   You could see ever damn line in her face and even her hair looked dull and lifeless.   

[alias1]

Oh my.  Aasif Mandvi!  Has he acted in any other TV show?  I only know him from Jon Stewart.  I thought he was really good.  I was on the edge of the couch the entire time.   How sad that he was eliminated.  Damn Samaritan.  And I'm really mad that Reese didn't just shoot Martine when he had the chance.  I was hoping Root would grab his gun and finish her off.

[Yokosmom]

Agree that Our Team should have protected Khan better.  He died in part because they weren't open (enough) with him.  I know that they think that they can't risk trusting anyone, but he'd already guessed about the AI aspect.  He was a brilliant guy--I expected that the Machine had marked him out to be saved to be a future asset for the Team, but it was really his software that she was interested in.

 

Of course, I was equally pissed at Khan for running from Team Machine, when they'd saved his life and he already knew or suspected that he could be easily found.  Didn't have as much sympathy for him as I might have.

 

I'm glad that Root is talking to the Machine again.

 

I guess that I wasn't paying enough attention.  WTH was the deal with the egg?  And I hope to heaven that it wasn't an original Faberge egg.

 

Didn't anyone else think that Finch was going to whip out a gun and kill Martine, saving Root?

 

Next week's promo looks.....bizarre.

[Apprentice79]

Based on the promo for next week. Is Carter coming back via flashbacks? It will be good to see Taraji as Carter again..I have gotten used to her being Cookie..I wonder will she become Carter seamlessly...

Edited April 8, 2015 by Apprentice79

[MrWhyt]

Oh my.  Aasif Mandvi!  Has he acted in any other TV show? 

He actually had a long and varied acting career before he joined The Daily Show.

[stealinghome]

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! Welcome back, Person of Interest! It feels like you’ve been on hiatus since MIA, and just now returned. THIS is the show I love, back in top form. This episode packed so damn much into an hour, it almost feels like we needed a 1.5 hour episode. Nevertheless, great episode. I am suddenly more hopeful for the end of the season, qualms about next episode aside.

 

So, that first scene, and then Finch’s later refusal to take the handgun, were SO OBVIOUSLY foreshadowing, right? Now the question for me is who Finch is going to shoot/kill before the season is done. Martine? Greer? Dominic? Elias? Does anyone want to place any bets? Also, did Finch just blow Reese’s cover? Surely SOMEONE heard him yell "Riley" in the woods. That seems like a huge slip, especially from Mr. Cautiously Cautious McCaution.

 

I was soooo rooting for Root to kill Martine, and loved seeing her kick some righteous Martine ass. (Yeah, John, you should’ve let Root kill her. Or, you know, shot Martine yourself with your HUGE-ASS RIFLE while she was lying there on the ground.) Root’s gotta kill Martine soon, right? Pretty please? For Shaw? I did love how Reese cheered her on--he gets it. And awww, Root’s FACE when John said killing Martine won’t bring Shaw back. She still misses her boo so bad. I am convinced that Shaw has to pop up in the season finale all Winter Soldiered up, because Root seems to have (perhaps unknowingly) come to terms with her likely death and is mourning and moving on, and we definitely need Root still thinking about Shaw next season....

 

More broadly, this episode reinforced for me that Reese and Root should team up more often. I enjoy how they alternately exasperate and amuse each other, and have come to a somewhat reluctant understanding/begrudging in-laws relationship. Also Root makes Reese more interesting, so.

 

This episode really worked in part because Aasif Mandvi (the guy playing Khan) was really good. The character could have been unlikable, but the actor made him sympathetic while still obviously flawed (hence his death at the end). You could FEEL his terror when in the cell at Riker’s. And it was an interesting callback to Prophets--"sometimes it’s better not to know." But my sympathy is also kind of muted because he was a bit of a dumbass, so.

 

Also, Halle-freaking-lujah, FINALLY the show touched on Root’s strained relationship with The Machine. MORE OF THAT, please. Can we get more info as to how strained it’s been, and how The Machine got Root back into the fold? Also, Root was awesome in the hotel room. Shaw would be proud. (Actually Shaw would be so proud of Root’s first scene, too, drugging the restaurant. Awe-freaking-SOME. Oh Root, you bamf, never change.) I really do wonder what that case is for. Wild speculation: Caleb's compression algorithm + indestructable case + Samaritan actively searching for The Machine (which I'm soooo interested in, ps, I kind of want to meet The Machine myself!) = The Machine is going to get tiny and go into the briefcase? That sounds crazy, and yet.

 

John and Zoe had more chemistry over the comm in this episode than John and Iris have had in person all season, but why has it become poor Zoe’s job to awkwardly deliver exposition about Reese/Iris? That was just weird. The conversation was way out of place--and tonally off given that John and Zoe were sooo flirting over the comms beforehand. Also I love, love, LOVE Zoe. Come back soon, awesome lady! Wish she'd been in tonight's episode more.

 

I know it’s not that kind of show, but the show really should do more team dinners and so forth--I got a real kick out of the scene in the safehouse before Khan woke up.

 

“Need a lift?” “Shotgun.” Heh. The snark was strong in this one.

 

Suddenly more optimistic for the end of the season. Nice return to form, PoI.

Edited April 8, 2015 by stealinghome

[janeta]

Yeah, i think the egg is a distraction, and it's all about the case.

I know this is blasphemy, but i never cared about Carter. Didn't care about her when she was alive, don't care that she's dead. But i wouldn't be surpised if TPTB want to ride on the coattails of Empire's success and try and bring her back for a minute.

And yes, discussing the therapist (Iris? Thanks... ) with Zoe was just...odd.

[stonehaven]

When they opened the Hatch doors, I was expecting Desmond to show up...Great episode otherwise...

[MrWhyt]

 But i wouldn't be surpised if TPTB want to ride on the coattails of Empire's success and try and bring her back for a minute.

 

The episode i nquestion was probably written and shot before Empire became a ratings juggernaut.

[Apprentice79]

Plus, at the time of Carter's death. The producers said that we would see Carter again via flashbacks and that was back in 2013, when she died..Empire did not even exist back then..We have seen every dead person on the show via flashbacks...

Edited April 8, 2015 by Apprentice79

[stealinghome]

Yeah, the showrunners and TPH have always all said that they wanted to bring Carter back in flashbacks, so I don't think TPH coming back is only because of Empire's success...but I'm sure Empire's success didn't hurt that decision either! I do think by the time this episode was written Empire had made a huge splash. (In fact this episode is probably placed so late in the season because TPH was busy filming Empire beforehand.)

 

I didn't notice before, but apparently Root was again eating pancakes in the restaurant in Shaw's honor. D'awwwwww.

[Apprentice79]

Yeah, the showrunners and TPH have always all said that they wanted to bring Carter back in flashbacks, so I don't think TPH coming back is only because of Empire's success...but I'm sure Empire's success didn't hurt that decision either! I do think by the time this episode was written Empire had made a huge splash. (In fact this episode is probably placed so late in the season because TPH was busy filming Empire beforehand.)

 

I didn't notice before, but apparently Root was again eating pancakes in the restaurant in Shaw's honor. D'awwwwww.

I saw a picture of Taraji as Carter in the promo for next week's episode, wow! she transformed back into Carter..I did not see any hint of Cookie at all..She is truly a gem as an actress...Go Taraji, I always loved her ever since she was in Baby boy with Tyrese....

Edited April 8, 2015 by Apprentice79

[thuganomics85]

Loved Aasif Mandvi as the POI.  Obviously, I'll mainly associated him with The Daily Show, but I'll always remember him from Spider-Man 2, when he fired Peter Parker for not delivering the pizza in under thirty minutes.  Good times.  It was too bad Khan had to die.  I was frustrated with him running off, and also frustrated with Finch and the rest, for not being open with him.  It sounded like Reese was willing, but Finch just had to hold firm.  But, I knew Greer wasn't going to let him live for long, once they got their hands on him.

 

Drat, Martine almost bit it.  You should have gave Root a few more seconds, Reese!  Or maybe a gun!  It doesn't matter what color her hair is: that smirk and the smugness behind it, needs to dealt with!

 

Glad that Zoe made another appearance, even if just reminds me how much more awesome I think she is then Iris, and that there is no way Jim Caviezel will ever generate the chemistry he and Paige Turco have, with Wrenn Schmidt.  Yeah, yeah: different type of characters and everything, but still.

 

Not much Fusco, but he was fun as always.

 

We'll see how next week plays out.  I know they always intended to have Carter flashbacks, but I'm pretty damn sure CBS is really hoping Taraji P. Henson's sudden Empire fame, will rub off on this show.

[tennisgurl]

Oh, hey there Aasif Mandvi! Fancy seeing you here! I thought he did a great job here. Its always weird to see Aasif in actual acting roles, having gotten so used to him on The Daily Show, but he always does a good job. He was one of the few people to walk away from the atrocious Last Airbender movie with even a modicum of dignity. While he was totally in the wrong for running off, I think the fault is more with the gang. They knew he was extremely emotional, and was desperate for answers, and they wouldn't give him anything. 

 

Always good to get a Zoe appearance, even if her convo with John in the car seemed a little...off. 

 

So, when is Finch going to have to shoot someone? Its inevitable now, right? With all the foreshadowing going on there, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow ended up with Pete`s gun from Mad Men. 

 

So next week...what? Like, Carter comes back as computer software? A flashback? A ghost? A sassy music producer? What? 

Edited April 8, 2015 by tennisgurl

[Apprentice79]

Oh, hey there Aasif Mandvi! Fancy seeing you here! I thought he did a great job here. Its always weird to see Aasif in actual acting roles, having gotten so used to him on The Daily Show, but he always does a good job. He was one of the few people to walk away from the atrocious Last Airbender movie with even a modicum of dignity. While he was totally in the wrong for running off, I think the fault is more with the gang. They knew he was extremely emotional, and was desperate for answers, and they wouldn't give him anything. 

 

Always good to get a Zoe appearance, even if her convo with John in the car seemed a little...off. 

 

So, when is Finch going to have to shoot someone? Its inevitable now, right? With all the foreshadowing going on there, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow ended up with Pete`s gun from Mad Men. 

 

So next week...what? Like, Carter comes back as computer software? A flashback? A ghost? A sassy music producer? What? 

A flashback..John will be investigating an unsolved case of hers....

[DEM]

 

So, when is Finch going to have to shoot someone? Its inevitable now, right?

I only wish the foreshadowing hadn't been so heavy-handed, tennisgurl.  I don't know if it's because I haven't really felt much mounting tension in this part of the season or what, but all I could think was "Finch & Reese have been doing this for nigh on four years and been in plenty of tight spots, so this feels very sledgehammery."  Perhaps if it had been tied into some sort of existential angst on Reese's part, but even that hasn't been fleshed out very well. That's the sort of thing I'd hoped would come out more in his therapy sessions.

[Netfoot]

Samaritan takes over the anti-viral software built in to all the hardware in the net.  Samaritan suborns this software to search for The Machine.  The search is obviously successful, because Khan saw what we're told is The Machine indicated on the monitor down in the hole. 

 

The team fails to save the PoI (Khan) who gets killed by Samaritan/Greer.  The team fails to wrest control of the viral scanner from Samaritan.  The team fails to stop or even hinder the detection of The Machine.  In other words, the entire episode is one big failure for Team Machine.  So, week after week, Team Machine gets it's ass handed to it each and every time it finds itself in a confrontation with Samaritan.  And frankly, I don't like that.

 

Now, the only success, such as it is, is that root* steals an industrial strength briefcase for it's own self, discarding the contents.  That must be significant, and I'm looking back at other seemingly inconsequential moments which took place amongst all the recent losing we've been having.  Root applying for a job doing what we don't really know.  Root stealing that bit of hardware from Harold.  I can't remember what all.  Somehow, it all has to come together to be a big, unexpected win for Team Machine.  Because they need a win!

 

* It is really correct to spell it "root" with all lower case letters, wouldn't you say?  I generally capitalize when speaking about Amy Acker's character, but after all, the superuser is not capitalized in practice.

[johntfs]

 

The team fails to save the PoI (Khan) who gets killed by Samaritan/Greer.  The team fails to wrest control of the viral scanner from Samaritan.  The team fails to stop or even hinder the detection of The Machine.  In other words, the entire episode is one big failure for Team Machine.

 

That's not completely true.  They failed to save the PoI.  However, their "failure" on the other two points was mostly irrelevant.  While Samaritan has a piece of the Machine's code, that's something it uses as an exemplar, like a piece of a fugitive's clothes that allow pursuing dogs to know his scent.  Samaritan used Khan's software to search for the Machine's code and ultimately failed to find her.  At best Samaritan knows where the Machine is not, which is somewhat helpful but certainly not a ringing victory.

 

If anything this episode continued to illuminate Greer and Samaritan's shared flaw of hubris.  They should have kept Khan prisoner and interrogated him about Team Machine.  It's very possible that they might have even been able to recruit him to their cause.  Instead they simply murdered him.  That hubris is going to contribute to their downfall.

[Coxfires]

This episode proved that the show works better for me when it doesn't isolate the 2 aspects of it as Numbers vs AI war, like they've been doing since MIA. It also makes me want to see the Team Rocket kick ass more often. Not that I don't like Root on her own, but too much of her doing her random missions would tire me out, I find the various interactions within the Team more interesting.

I too wondered why Reese didn't just put a bullet between Martine's eyes when saving Root. I'll fanwank the he was out of ammo, otherwise, it really makes no sense, only a plot device to let Martine escape.

The first opening scene with Reese trying to teach Finch to shoot is heavy forshadowing. I wonder if Finch will shoot before the end of the season, and if he does, it'll mean that either Reese or Root are about to die/dead. Can't really see an other option.

Loved Reese telling Finch to "kiss and make up" with Root. They definitely have gone a long way from "Firewall"!

So the Machine finally talks to Root again, yay. And I loved that Root destroyed the Fabergé Egg, I always found those stuffs hideous. Now, what will go in this briefcase....

[Trillium]

I enjoyed the number a lot and was hoping he'd survive and become an asset. It was a little clunky in the beginning and I agr the Reese and Zoe parts, while good, were out of place and they could have used her more. But I'm just glad they didn't kill her off or turn her into a jealous ex. It was nice that she was worried about Iris getting hurt. At least someone's looking out for her. Reese doesn't seem to be concerned that he's put her life at risk with out her knowledge. Or that Reese is living on very borrowed time. That whole storyline is just weird to me. He might want more of a commitment and would like a family but that's just not in the cards for him. p lus as others mentioned Zoe and Reese have sparks even when they aren't in the same room. I still have hope for this uncoventional pair. Reese seemed a little bit too pleased that Zoe might be jealous and still had major heart eyes for her.

I'm not sure I'm looking forward to next week and Reese's man pain. I just hope it connects to something plot wise. The seasons almost over.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Trillium

[shura]

I know it’s not that kind of show, but the show really should do more team dinners and so forth--I got a real kick out of the scene in the safehouse before Khan woke up.

 

Is that a thing, eating an egg rolls with a fork like Reese was doing? I've always thought of egg rolls more as finger food. I bet Reese goes all George Costanza on candy bars.

 

When they opened the Hatch doors, I was expecting Desmond to show up...

 

And when Root was opening the case, I thought they'd go for a treasure of Marcellus Wallace kind of thing.

 

They should have kept Khan prisoner and interrogated him about Team Machine.  It's very possible that they might have even been able to recruit him to their cause.  Instead they simply murdered him.  That hubris is going to contribute to their downfall.

 

I hated that they killed Khan. Another thing I really didn't like there was that Greer just went "I'm gonna be gratuitously evil and shoot you myself right here and now". There was just no reason for that cartoonishness, he has people for stuff like that.

 

Question. How did Khan get on the Machine's radar? Since it was Samaritan planning Khan's murder, it's unlikely the Machine could have seen visible signs of this planning (as it needs to to predict violence). Does the Machine see into Greer's lair? Can it see what Samaritan itself is planning?

Edited April 8, 2015 by shura

[Yokosmom]

Does the Machine see into Greer's lair? Can it see what Samaritan itself is planning?

 

The Machine is as smart as Samaritan.  Maybe it realized that this is what it would do itself, if the situations were reversed.

[stealinghome]

I'm not sure I'm looking forward to next week and Reese's man pain. I just hope it connects to something plot wise. The seasons almost over.

Yeah, this is my major concern about next week's episode. I like Carter and can certainly understand the desire to bring her back in flashbacks, even if John's manpain is soooo not my thing, but as the third-to-last episode of the season? There's no way it doesn't stunt the momentum of the charge to the end of the season. And *just* when the half-season has finally found some footing after MIA, to boot--momentum's been in very, very short supply recently. I have the bad feeling this is yet another episode where we'll be saying "not a bad episode but really poorly placed." All of which makes me just say ARG. Edited April 8, 2015 by stealinghome

[Good Queen Jane]

Khan got on the Machine's radar when the news of his being hacked got out. It appeared that Finch got the phone call about the same time Khan did.

[TV Anonymous]

Is that a thing, eating an egg rolls with a fork like Reese was doing? I've always thought of egg rolls more as finger food. I bet Reese goes all George Costanza on candy bars.

 

You mean handling the oily and greasy egg rolls with one's fingers...? I use chopsticks as they are meant to. But hey, I am Asian.

[DeLurker]

I enjoyed the number a lot and was hoping he'd survive and become an asset. It was a little clunky in the beginning and I agr the Reese and Zoe parts, while good, were out of place and they could have used her more. But I'm just glad they didn't kill her off or turn her into a jealous ex. It was nice that she was worried about Iris getting hurt. At least someone's looking out for her. Reese doesn't seem to be concerned that he's put her life at risk with out her knowledge. Or that Reese is living on very borrowed time. That whole storyline is just weird to me. He might want more of a commitment and would like a family but that's just not in the cards for him. p lus as others mentioned Zoe and Reese have sparks even when they aren't in the same room. I still have hope for this uncoventional pair. Reese seemed a little bit too pleased that Zoe might be jealous and still had major heart eyes for her.

I'm not sure I'm looking forward to next week and Reese's man pain. I just hope it connects to something plot wise. The seasons almost over.

While I enjoyed this ep because Khan was a great PoI, they certainly are dropping anvils about the future.  One thing that got me though was when they were in the shootout post-hatch, Khan was spewing questions nonstop at Finch.  I'm thinking ducking bullets is going to take precedence over 20 Questions.

 

The ManPain preview does not interest me.  The dialogue sounds a lot like S1 Carter is the most specialist of special snowflakes (note:  S1 had everyone talking about how wunnerful Carter was, but did not show it to me.  S2 got a better handle on the show vs tell).

[DEM]

Would someone care to explain the 'cochlear implant' scene to me, like the actual mechanics of it? Here is a gif-set.  Who and the what now?/Xander  I suppose that was meant to be an "ultra cool cyborg Root" moment and another instance of foreshadowing the final episodes, but it was nonsensical to me.

Edited April 8, 2015 by DEM

[kwnyc]

So in case we didn't get it, last night's subtext was: HAROLD CAN'T PULL THE TRIGGER.

 

He won't hold a gun, he's against John going in to retrieve Khan, he won't read Khan in (which would have been awesome), he won't trigger the code in the laptop (last week), etc. etc. Clearly, it's his end of season arc...he has to commit to an action. 

 

And, silly me, I thought there might be something INSIDE the Faberge egg. I guess it's the really cool briefcase the Machine wants. (And it's a good thing Harold didn't see Root destroy some art!)

[shura]

Khan got on the Machine's radar when the news of his being hacked got out. It appeared that Finch got the phone call about the same time Khan did.

 

But why did that make Khan a number? Was there something in his being hacked that would cause the Machine to calculate that Khan is in imminent danger? Or is the Machine now calling Finch with things other than Irrelevants?

[stealinghome]

But why did that make Khan a number? Was there something in his being hacked that would cause the Machine to calculate that Khan is in imminent danger? Or is the Machine now calling Finch with things other than Irrelevants?

We've seen The Machine direct the team toward important/very helpful/possible recruit Numbers before (the mesh phone network guy in the season opener, for example, or Harper this season)--is it possible that The Machine WANTED the team to read him in, and Harold messed up that plan? That it knew Khan would be a perfect recruit now that his life was ruined? I could totally see TM pointing the team at him for that reason.

 

It's also entirely possible that The Machine calculated that Khan, based on his personality, would be unable to let things rest and would KEEP digging and digging and digging until he got himself into hot water, and surmised that he would become a Samaritan target even if he wasn't a high-priority target right at that particular moment.

[Good Queen Jane]

Khan was targeted by Samaritan when he accidentally found out about the excessive fuel drain which would lead him to finding out that Samaritan was using his anti-virus programs to search for the Machine. Samaritan caused all Khan's investments to drop and his personal information to be released so he would be fired by his company before he found out what Samaritan was doing . The hacking caused a lot of conversations on the Internet about Khan which attracted the Machines attention and she figured out that Samaritan (or someone) was targeting Khan in a particularly hostile way. It wasn't a terrorist attack, so Khan was an Irrelevant.  Or at least that's my speculation. The Machine and I are on worse speaking terms than she and Root.

[shura]

My understanding is that usually the Machine needs to see something more solid than hostility towards someone to declare them a number, like a plan to actually kill them, or their own plan to do something that would place them in danger of being killed. Here, we have a guy being ruined personally and financially. To me, it indicates that the original plan was not about killing him since all of this hacking was unnecessary to achieve that goal. The idea that the Machine calculated that Khan wouldn't stop and will have to be killed does make sense, though.

[beadgirl]

Wow, what a great, tense episode.  I really wanted them to tell Khan the truth and/or have Khan stick with them (the people keeping you alive, you dummy!), so I hated that he was killed.  Plus I was hoping his reputation would be vindicated; I hate injustice, especially when it's based on misinformation.

 

As much as I loved Carter, and get why they want an episode about Reese dealing with his grief (esp. as preparatory to this romance he's apparently going to have), I'm not interested in his ManPain (heh) right now.  Have I mentioned how much I am looking forward to a finale where the Machine and our group takes down Samaritan for good, using Control, the piece of hardware or whatever Root took, the briefcase, the various and sundry POIs with suitable talents, and even Harper or Parker or whatever her name is?  I'd especially love it if some of them didn't even realize the larger consequences of what they were doing, or were unaware of the others involved -- kind of like a Rube Goldberg machine organized by the Machine, with Root and maybe Finch the only ones to really see the whole plan.  I'm also afraid my expectations are too high.  although if any show can pull it off, it's this one.

 

 

And boy are they really trying to make bland little Iris look good, Paige Turco looked ancient.   You could see ever damn line in her face and even her hair looked dull and lifeless.

I thought she looked lovely, and I appreciated that they didn't try to youngify her.

Edited April 8, 2015 by beadgirl

[Princess Lucky]

Very good episode. As are all the episodes centered on Samaritan. A lot of action, poignant interactions between team members and a great number, awesomely played by Aasif Mandvi. Excellent casting, by the way. Even if we didn't know much about Khan, the writing but mostly Aasif's performance gave us a sense of who he was, how he was. A genius, a visionary, an almost likeable asshole, a justifiably paranoid man, a sometimes volatile man, a man too curious for his own good. He was one of the most memorable numbers and that's why his loss stung.

So, first things first; "I won't be around forever"? Someone tell me that wasn't foreshadowing. Reese did mean death, right? Not like he would leave? But I agree, the part about Finch picking up a firearm when "all [will be] lost" totally was foreshadowing. Finch will likely waste somebody by season's end. Or, hey, what if he fails and gets Reese killed? Damn.

I was glad to see Finch wasn't ready to work with Root just yet. On most shows they would have skipped that part, we'd see the argument, Finch asking for some time apart and then boom, by the next episode everything would be fine. I love the character/relationship continuity (if you will) on PoI.

I remain tickled by the fact Reese views spying on someone as an endearing pastime. He's always flattered or even touched when he realises someone cares enough to stalk him. I did like that Zoe specified she was being "protective" (of Iris but, let's be real, of John as well) and I like that she was immediately all business, making astute observations and not dwelling on the romance drama. I love it when an episode showcases her skills. This was a very organic way to bring her back, she's always been shown to be involved in corporate shenanigans. It's always a pleasure to see her, even for a little bit (because the actress is busy).

I always like it when the show gives us super-smart people who have figured out Samaritan exists even though they don't know the details. It only makes sense that Khan would have put it together, knowing what he did (his personal portfolio, his losses), and it also makes sense that something like that (him being targeted via his companies) would probably go unnoticed by most others.

"There's no way to keep the victim safe if the perpetrator is Samaritan". Chilling. I always love it when we see all the little, everyday ways Samaritan can interfere with someone's life, like traffic lights or the bollards. I gasped when the van flipped. Scary shit.

I must say, I did not appreciate seeing that hatch, certainly not on Lost Day (when I watched the episode, thank you timezone difference). I'm with you all, I was half-expecting Desmond down there. Instead, it was Samaritan searching globally for the Machine. Hijacking all the servers of a huge company. Man. The look on Root's face said it all.

Speaking of which, Root's determination to kill Martine was amazing. Because she "killed" Shaw. And Marine alsoy seems to be holding a grudge, because Root keeps evading her, because she wasn't able to complete that one mission. Nothing is ever forgotten on PoI. And I loved seeing Root and Martine fighting, hand to hand (convenient as that was). So many awesome women with agency, with skills, with a purpose. I could hardly contain myself.

Also, that Root/Reese moment? "It won't bring Shaw back" "..." "You're right, I should have let you kill her". Amazing. Yet another reference to Carter (which, AAAAAH) in such a subtle way. None of this was explicitly said, by the way. Root and Reese just conveyed it.

I loved that the Machine just needed that awesome suitcase. That was one way to do it I guess. Plus, the Machine is treating Root like a full-fledged team member again, no? And Reese never really stopped, kind of quietly being there for Root since Shaw's disappearance. Even prodding Finch to make up with her. Aw. What an interesting dynamic. Reese really can't lose anyone else; the way he looked at Finch after he was almost shot, well, it sure was something. I just hope nothing happens to Reese himself.

The episode was very tense, and it gave off a vibe of desperation, futility. It was strangely fitting that Khan died in the end. And how; I did find it oddly sweet that Khan got to learn what was happening right before his death. His request to look in Samaritan's eyes also spoke to me. He would want that. Especially after seeing the Machine's (or Finch's, really) unique code. I love that he was more excited, more curious than he was afraid.

But it seems that the only way to look into Samaritan's eyes is in death. Nice touch that Khan didn't die instantly, he got to see just how far Samaritan's reach extends. Scary thing to see right before you die. And I appreciated that Greer himself did the deed. I think it's good to see him literally getting his hands dirty once in a while.

So. The Machine is talking to Root again, it acquired a suitcase, Root is involved with Caleb's company, plus she has Finch's device. Also, Samaritan seems close to finding the actual, physical location of the Machine. Looks like it's all falling into place for the finale and I can't wait.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Princess Lucky

[Xantar]

So in case we didn't get it, last night's subtext was: HAROLD CAN'T PULL THE TRIGGER.

 

He won't hold a gun, he's against John going in to retrieve Khan, he won't read Khan in (which would have been awesome), he won't trigger the code in the laptop (last week), etc. etc. Clearly, it's his end of season arc...he has to commit to an action. 

 

 

Let's also remember that if Harold had agreed to kill that one Congressman like the Machine wanted him to, Samaritan probably wouldn't have gone online and all of the pain and terror of this season would have been avoided. It seems like the past year or so has been all about rubbing Harold's face in the fact that his noble stands are probably costing more lives than they are saving.

[stealinghome]

What's weird, though, is that the show refuses to let/have Finch confront these things directly (at least thus far). I'm still waiting for ONE scene, just one, wherein he owns that maybe Shaw would be alive/uncaptured if he had offed the Congressman. Or that any of the people that Samaritan has killed might still be alive. Etc. Instead he's holding fast to his "we did the right thing, guys, REALLY" mentality. I'm hoping that the show will go there in the last 3 episodes, but.... And it may be too little too late even if he does. (ETA: Come to think of it, S4 really should be subtitled "The season in which the writers set up a lot of really interesting plots and followed through on exactly none of them.")

His refusal to even pick up a gun is starting to irritate me because it's bordering on endangering his comrades. Like, ffs, you don't even have to AIM at anyone, but at least have it as a deterrent!

Edited April 8, 2015 by stealinghome

[basiltherat]

The Machine knows that Harold does not want to kill ... how long will TM put up with her Daddy's indecision?

 

KHAAAANNNNN !!!!!!! /James T. Kirk

 

No, Desmond was not in The Hatch -- the dude looked more like Hurley (chomping candy bar).

 

I was really expecting Root to knock off Martine's chest or head and discover that she is a cyborg!

[ABay]

No, Desmond was not in The Hatch -- the dude looked more like Hurley (chomping candy bar).

If only he'd had an Apollo bar.

[wevel]

First episode in a while where I found the person of interest interesting!  It was gripping, actually, to see his straits get progressively more dire; even though there was a certain predictability, the pacing was great and the fact that it all tied into the Samaritan plotline (finally) helped a great deal.  I wish they hadn't killed him off (although I had no problems with Greer doing it), at least not immediately; it would've been good to see the team have an unexpected addition who understands the technology behind the ASIs.

 

So, that first scene, and then Finch’s later refusal to take the handgun, were SO OBVIOUSLY foreshadowing, right? Now the question for me is who Finch is going to shoot/kill before the season is done. Martine? Greer? Dominic? Elias? Does anyone want to place any bets?

 

I hope it's not Martine; let's save her for Root!  But yes - Finch was being his typical "I shalt not go against mine principles" self even though it may endanger not just him but the people around him.  Presumably he will finally kill to save Reese, Root, or maybe even Fusco.

 

Wild speculation: Caleb's compression algorithm + indestructable case + Samaritan actively searching for The Machine (which I'm soooo interested in, ps, I kind of want to meet The Machine myself!) = The Machine is going to get tiny and go into the briefcase? That sounds crazy, and yet.

 

 

Ha, that would be wild - but just within the bounds of the show's plausibility to happen, I think.  

 

I too wondered why Reese didn't just put a bullet between Martine's eyes when saving Root. I'll fanwank the he was out of ammo, otherwise, it really makes no sense, only a plot device to let Martine escape.

 

Yeah, they should have had him be out as well, which would better justify him grabbing Root and running for it.  I agree that the two of them work really well together; they have a dynamic that's different from Reese/Shaw but also different from the more snippy Reese/Root interactions pre-4X11.  That exchange in the subway carriage about killing Martine and losing Shaw was great, and I especially liked that Root didn't even seem that angry at John when she said "You should've let me kill her."  I mean, she *was* furious when she was trying to kill Martine, but it seems like Root is coming to terms with Shaw actually being gone.  She didn't ask Martine "Where is she?" or anything; she just wanted to avenge Shaw's "death."

 

Also, while it was definitely satisfying for me to see Root beating Martine up and then trying to strangle her to death, even as a Root fan I have to admit I found it a bit hard to believe that she could best a trained Samaritan operative in hand-to-hand combat (too bad we didn't see Shaw giving Root lessons!).  That scene would've worked better for me if Root had first clipped Martine in one arm or something before they both ran out of ammo.

Edited April 9, 2015 by wevel

[TigerLynx]

They lost track of the number, and now he is dead.  Finch wouldn't answer his questions.  Finch won't learn to shoot a gun even though they are in constant danger.  John stopped Root from killing Martine.  If they keep this up, they are going to lose the war.

[benteen]

Really good episode.  Aasif Mandvi did a great job as the POI...I'm sorry that he got killed off although his death scene was very well-done.  I think Harold should have trusted him more though I don't know how the hell he managed to evade the team at the end so quickly.  Khan's fate feels like a Twilight Zone episode.  I can just hear Rod Serling saying "Mr. Khan went looking for the truth.  He found it.  In the Twilight Zone."

 

Tense episode and the escape from Ryker's and the car overturning is classic POI.

 

Loved Root's beatdown of Martine.  If John wasn't going to let Root kill Martine, he should have at least kneecapped her.

 

Finch not even wanting to carry a gun is annoying me too.  He has to start accepting that things have changed.

 

Nice to see Zoe back so soon.  It's going to be great to see Carter back again next week!

[immortalfrieza]

(ETA: Come to think of it, S4 really should be subtitled "The season in which the writers set up a lot of really interesting plots and followed through on exactly none of them.")

And the Samaritan arc should be subtitled "The arc where the heroes farts around saving a bunch of unimportant people instead of actually fighting the villains while the Big Bad does whatever it wants."

 

Seriously, these Samaritan episodes are just plain awful I have no idea why so many are praising this one. I really hate this episode and similar ones because I am so sick and tired of every Samaritan episode having Samaritan win completely EVERY SINGLE TIME without so much as a scratch while Team Machine can't so much as manage a pyrrhic victory nor do they make any attempt to actually attack Samaritan or Decima in any way. Getting that case is the ONLY thing of potential worth that happened the entire episode, otherwise one could skip the entire episode and the viewer would miss precisely exactly nothing of importance to this entire arc, and if it's anything like the Hong Kong computer virus subplot the case won't lead to anything anyway. All the Samaritan focused episodes are like this, I would say Team Machine has been running on a hamster wheel this entire arc if only they had been that productive.

 

Speaking of the case, Root smashing that Faberge egg was ridiculous. I have no idea how much Faberge eggs go for, but based on the resilience of the case I'm guessing Root just literally threw away something she could have sold on the black market for several million dollars. Sure, the case is important, but the kind of money selling that thing could have gotten them would have been pretty useful, and knowing The Machine Root could have found somebody for her to sell it to without risk to herself or exposing anybody.

[benteen]

I don't know why Reese and Finch didn't suspect Samaritan immediately in this episode.

[stealinghome]

because I am so sick and tired of every Samaritan episode having Samaritan win completely EVERY SINGLE TIME without so much as a scratch while Team Machine can't so much as manage a pyrrhic victory nor do they make any attempt to actually attack Samaritan or Decima in any way.

While I agree that Team Machine needs to be more proactive, losing Shaw while saving the world economy seems to me to be the very definition of a Pyrrhic victory. I also don't think it's true that Samaritan completely wins without a scratch every single time. In fact, Samaritan has done pretty poorly against TM. The team saved Simon Lee from direct targeting in 4x05 (and Martine walked away with a few bullet wounds); the team successfully prevented Samaritan from getting the Ebola-light virus in 4x07 (though the trade-off was Shaw's cover being blown, so that may qualify as a Pyrrhic victory too); Shaw escaped Samaritan's forces with relative ease in 4x09; Root and Reese did enough damage to cause Samaritan to leave Maple in 4x13; hell, Samaritan had Finch in its grasp in 4x15 and Root yanked him away (again sending Claire off with a new bullet wound in the process). I think this episode was a draw, more or less, because Khan only died because he was so fucking stupid he wandered away from the only people in the world protecting him in the middle of a firefight, so I'd say the team is batting about .500 against Samaritan overall. imo, the only clear-cut losses aside from the Pyrrhic victory of 4x11 were 4x02, Claire choosing Samaritan over Finch, and 4x10, all the havoc Samaritan managed to wreak over the city.

 

Actually, typing that all out made me realize how little Team Machine has actually gone head-to-head against Samaritan or its agents this season. Samaritan has pervaded the season, of course, but actual showdowns have actually been limited compared to how much paranoia Samaritan has engendered in the team.

 

I have no idea why so many are praising this one.

Probably because the prior few episodes have been atrocious!

Edited April 9, 2015 by stealinghome

[Princess Lucky]

Wild speculation: Caleb's compression algorithm + indestructable case + Samaritan actively searching for The Machine (which I'm soooo interested in, ps, I kind of want to meet The Machine myself!) = The Machine is going to get tiny and go into the briefcase? That sounds crazy, and yet.

I. LOVE. THIS. I now need it to happen. And, on this show, it just might.

 

What's weird, though, is that the show refuses to let/have Finch confront these things directly (at least thus far). I'm still waiting for ONE scene, just one, wherein he owns that maybe Shaw would be alive/uncaptured if he had offed the Congressman. Or that any of the people that Samaritan has killed might still be alive. Etc. Instead he's holding fast to his "we did the right thing, guys, REALLY" mentality.

I've always written about Finch's hypocrisy (which, to reiterate, I find not obnoxious but a fascinating character trait), so my thoughts on this are coloured by my perception of him. Personally, though the show hasn't explicitly said he was wrong, I think it has been clear that his position is not one that can produce any kind of victory. We know that the Congressman's death would have prevented all this (which Root did say explicitly). We know that his insistence on sticking to his plan likely cost Khan his life (and Reese did allude to that, in a nice Reese way). He also ingested poison, basically, because he just couldn't stand it if another innocent person died, and he had a suicidal plan to stop Samaritan. So I feel that Finch is kind of grasping at straws this season. Also, in my opinion, his words to Reese in this episode, that Khan was likely on some beach, smacked of denial. So, while Finch isn't saying any of this out loud, I think the show has done a decent job of showing us that he has changed; not in his ways but in his feelings. Denial, denial, denial. And it's not like he's shown to be sanctimonious; this has gone beyond "we can't kill person A, it's wrong" (like the Congressman). Like you said, now we're at "we can't do that because we're the good guys and I will lose my shit if we hurt one more person and we're better than that and oh my God this is all my fault". (again, I may be projecting)

 

Would someone care to explain the 'cochlear implant' scene to me, like the actual mechanics of it? Here is a gif-set.  Who and the what now?/Xander  I suppose that was meant to be an "ultra cool cyborg Root" moment and another instance of foreshadowing the final episodes, but it was nonsensical to me.

I seem to recall that Root had her implant modified to pick up on infrared frequencies, so she could always communicate with the machine on those wavelengths. In this episode, she said she was picking up wifi signals, some of which might be on the infrared spectrum (which ranges pretty widely)? Or she could still pick up on them after her implant has converted the signals? I'm no physicist (only an amateur one, mostly based on my love for popular science books) so I don't know if that holds, but if it doesn't I can buy this as some kind of not-quite-real but plausible explanation.

[tennisgurl]

At this point, they should always assume its Samaritan. If Reese stubs his toe walking down the street, assume its Samaritan, and plan accordingly.