Getting Down To The Root

[Primetimer]

Samantha Groves continues to keep Person Of Interest atop the Most Wanted List.

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[merylinkid]

Not in my book.   This show is about "irrelevants" those that the Powers That Be have deemed unimportant.   Making a psychopath -- who only sees people as "bad code" -- the center of the show detracts from that.    Until she admits she was completely wrong calling people bad code and actually shows some empathy for people she doesn't know personally, she is NOT the reason I watch the show.   In fact, the Root centric episodes are my least favorite.   I would be perfectly happy if she left the show completely.

[beadgirl]

While I genuinely enjoy having her character on the show, I agree that I will not see her as hero, or a "good guy," until I see some sign that she actually repents of the horrible things she has done in the past (and, apparently, is still willing to do).

[stealinghome]

While I don't fully agree with the article's take on Root--no way is she Catwoman! If anyone is, it's Zoe--ICAM that her presence has really elevated the show. She is, by far, the most interesting character on-screen right now imo (even if the writers are also totally whiffing on her storyline at the moment, sigh). And the way she shakes up Finch especially is very needed and always awesome to watch.

 

The showrunners should thank their lucky stars every day that they got Acker for the role--she's just magnetic, you can't look away when she's on-screen. Plus she has great chemistry with the rest of the cast, especially Emerson and Shahi.

[Lorimac]

Sorry beadgirl and merlyinkid, I completely agree with Mr. Martin, and this entry is so well-written, I actually went back and read it twice! Of course, it did help that it was about one of my favorite characters on one of my favorite shows on TV right now. The PoI writers have slowly been humanizing Root - her character has slowly evolved, but just when you think she has turned sappy, they give her some motivation that moves her back into the ends-justify-the-means category. Let's just say - when the apocolypse comes, I will be wishing I had Root around.

[caseylane]

Totally disagree. Hate Root, wish she were off this show and may end up being, along with weaker writing, why I decide to stop watching. Right now I'm doing it out of loyalty but that's it. Much more Root and even that won't be able to make me stay.

[kirakira]

I love this article. Root really makes the show for me. I tried watching when it first started because I adored Michael Emerson on Lost so much and while it was an entertaining premise, I just couldn't really get into it. Years later I heard about Root and how great she was and seeing her on screen just blew away even my already high expectations. I really have to commend Amy Acker for making Root such an intriguing, unique and amazing character. Got to admit that I love it when Root goes a little dark and I enjoy her not necessarily misplaced views on humanity. I'm so thankful for the great age of television we live in now with so many gray characters who you can still totally cheer for.

[Lorimac]

I am so surprised that Root is such a polarizing character!

[AlwaysWatching]

More Root, please. She is the only reason I watch the show.

[agu]

Agree! Root is amazing she just goes and does what she gotta do, and I love how she cares now! And how she has been accepted into the TeamMachine! <br />I love all the characters but ROOT is definately my favourite! And Shaw of course it's hard too pick they are to amazing woman with funny, and incredible lines! <br />But I think that the show wouldn't be the same without root! I need her in it if not IDK. And YES I need Shaw back as well.

[Lelugray]

I hated Root, who was an obvious attempt to get the audience used to another female character before killing Carter off, before Carter left and I hated her for the several episodes I watched after that. And she was the reason I quit. I am glad she seems to have turned into something deeper. But I don't want to go back. I hope it pays off. I need the DVR space.

[skywalker9]

Excellent article, I LOVE ROOT. Amy Acker does such an amazing job creating this complex, charming and mysterious female anti-hero. The first season was very hard to get into (although I do love the cast) but when Root was introduced, she shifted the balance of the show completely. (For the best, of course).

I'm looking forward for when Sarah gets back, it will be very interesting to see how Root x Shaw's relationship plays out, meanwhile I'm enjoying watching Root's grieve over Sameen...

(Amy makes it beautiful to watch her working through her feelings.)

PS: Catwoman's comparison was great! Root literally purrrrs! haha

[jordielithium]

Root is my favourite character, she has had so much amazing character development, but it the character development feels natural, Amy Acker potrays her so well that when Root enters the screen she commands your attention, honestly i loved the storylines but i stuck around for Root, such an incredible character :)

[kalamac]

I love Root, I thinks she's an amazing character, and Amy Acker does a brilliant job playing her.

[alias1]

I love Root and I love her interactions with Finch.  Their scenes together are electrifying.  The show wouldn't be nearly as interesting without her.  What an amazing character they've created.

[Trini]

Completely disagree with this article. She's a psycho murderer, and I hate that she's working with the Good Guys and is a regular. Pretty much dropped the show already; might come back if they kill her off. But it's not just the character, I don't like the way the actress plays her either -- her voice is nails on a chalkboard.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Trini

[immortalfrieza]

I hated Root, who was an obvious attempt to get the audience used to another female character before killing Carter off, before Carter left and I hated her for the several episodes I watched after that. And she was the reason I quit. I am glad she seems to have turned into something deeper. But I don't want to go back. I hope it pays off. I need the DVR space.

I wouldn't say Root has become "deeper" at all. She's simply a psychopath that has become a religious zealot and thus only avoids killing people because her "god" says she shouldn't, nothing more. Root's attachment to Harold is like someone worshiping Cronus because he fathered Zeus, the god they actually care about, not because she actually believes in anything Harold has preached, as the most recent episode in particular makes very clear. The attempts by the writers to act like she's preformed a genuine heel-face turn just get more ridiculous simply because she's too nuts for that ever to be believable.

 

The fact that Root worships The Machine to the point of religious fanaticism is the only reason she didn't switch over to Samaritan's side a long time ago. Had Samaritan come first Root would have followed it without a hint of question no matter what it did while doing everything in her power to destroy The Machine, because it's philosophy and Root's "bad code" philosophy match up perfectly.

Edited April 8, 2015 by immortalfrieza

[MrWhyt]

I hated Root, who was an obvious attempt to get the audience used to another female character before killing Carter off, before Carter left and I hated her for the several episodes I watched after that.

She was introduced long before Carter was killed. i doubt that her joining the show and Carter's death are that closely linked.

[kechara]

I have always likes Amy Acker.

[Mari]

I wouldn't say Root has become "deeper" at all. She's simply a psychopath that has become a religious zealot and thus only avoids killing people because her "god" says she shouldn't, nothing more. Root's attachment to Harold is like someone worshiping Cronus because he fathered Zeus, the god they actually care about, not because she actually believes in anything Harold has preached, as the most recent episode in particular makes very clear. The attempts by the writers to act like she's preformed a genuine heel-face turn just get more ridiculous simply because she's too nuts for that ever to be believable.

 

The fact that Root worships The Machine to the point of religious fanaticism is the only reason she didn't switch over to Samaritan's side a long time ago. Had Samaritan come first Root would have followed it without a hint of question no matter what it did while doing everything in her power to destroy The Machine, because it's philosophy and Root's "bad code" philosophy match up perfectly.

Yes.  Yes to pretty much your whole post.

 

The other thing that bothers me about Root is that they've made her too much. 

 

She's as smart and as devious (or more, on both accounts) than Harold.

She's as dangerous as Reese and Shaw.

She's the interface for the Machine.

She's . . . .

 

Any time she "unexpectedly" shows up in an  episode, you know she's probably going to be the one that fixes everything, because why let Harold, Reese, or Fusco do it?

[rtms77]

I'm on the fence with Root. I think they need to dial down Roots participation in the show. She's good in small doses but this in your face all the time is lessening the value and interest in Root.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I'm not a procedural person, so I only started watching this show because I heard how great Root was, and when she finally showed up, I was not disappointed. To me a viewer like me, the arc episodes about the AI war are where this show really cooks, and Root is a crucial part of that. Someone who enjoys the procedural stories more, is not going to agree, and that's OK, but but I can see where Root is a stand in for disagreement about those two aspects of this show.

I think the unfortunate aspect of that reaction to Root is that some people are missing out on some really great work by Amy Acker. Her scenes with Michael Emerson are always a treat. Emerson does a lot of work (e.g., chief exposition fairy) to make this show work, and carries it off with skill, so it's great when the show pairs him with another great character for scenes where he can step outside of that role.

I don't think Root is Catwoman, though, if moral ambivalence is what you mean by that. I think, Elias, the gang boss with a code, is closer to that idea though he's more of a Magneto style take on that type of character.

Root is someone who has a differently centered morality that is not just white hat/black hat/on the fence. She is that unique in human history religious zealot whose god really does talk to her. One of the best pieces of evidence for the Machine's benevolence is "her" impact on Root, and how Root has evolved under the constraints and guidance of the Machine.

The AIs are a new development that changes everything, and Root is a new type of human being that will exist in their world. And I think Acker has really sold that.

[inkworks]

Add me to the list of people who LOVE Root. If she wasn't on the show, I probably wouldn't watch it.

 

Amy Acker is amazing and I just love watching her. I hope there are more great things to come for this character.

 

I especially can't wait to see her reaction to finding out Shaw is alive :)

[immortalfrieza]

Yes.  Yes to pretty much your whole post.

 

The other thing that bothers me about Root is that they've made her too much. 

 

She's as smart and as devious (or more, on both accounts) than Harold.

She's as dangerous as Reese and Shaw.

She's the interface for the Machine.

She's . . . .

 

Any time she "unexpectedly" shows up in an  episode, you know she's probably going to be the one that fixes everything, because why let Harold, Reese, or Fusco do it?

Now it's my turn to say yes to everything. Root is good at seemingly everything and seems to exist solely at the plot device for the writers to swoop in and fix everything when the rest of Team Machine is backed into a corner, instead of making the rest of Team Machine be competent enough to get out of the jam on their own and/or having a line to The Machine as well (and seriously, the rest of Team Machine really needs to start talking to The Machine, it's getting more and more ridiculous that they don't routinely talk to each other with each passing episode.)

 

I liked things a lot better before Root was around and on Team Machine's side and thus the writers didn't have to make everybody less competent just to justify Root's existence. Before if they got into a jam someone on the team would rush in and cover for the rest, while making sure there was always someone around to do so, but it was believable and came out of skills they had demonstrated before. Now they just have most of Team Machine either too divided up to come to the rescue when someone is in trouble or put all their eggs in one basket so everybody is in trouble at once, then Root steps in and solves everything. The stock exchange is probably only time I can think of that Root wasn't entirely in control of the situation.

Edited April 8, 2015 by immortalfrieza

[khedron]

Such a well-written article, although I'd like to point out that Root isn't a "Catwoman", she's a wild "mix" of several characters like Catwoman, Harley Queen, perhaps even Illyria, Spike and some Callisto from Xena:Warrior Princess. A Frankenstein's Bride for Harry's Frankenstein(The Machine) if you'd like.

One thing I know for sure is that Root needs her own show. Amy Acker is simply brilliant and she's the main reason I stuck with POI. I was ready to quit watching it three times and only Root kept me from doing that. She deserves to have a show centered around her and Amy Acker would make a perfect lead-in.

[33kaitykaity]

Loved the Lisbeth Salander reference.  That was spot-on.  

[Trini]

She is sooooo NOT Catwoman in this Batman analogy. That would be Zoey.

[Coxfires]

The other thing that bothers me about Root is that they've made her too much. 

 

She's as smart and as devious (or more, on both accounts) than Harold.

She's as dangerous as Reese and Shaw.

She's the interface for the Machine.

She's . . . .

 

Any time she "unexpectedly" shows up in an  episode, you know she's probably going to be the one that fixes everything, because why let Harold, Reese, or Fusco do it?

 

I adore Root and find her fascinating to watch, but I have to agree with this, sometimes they get overboard with her capabilities/skills, making the rest of TM look dumb or even incompetent at times. Maybe if they evened out a bit the awesomeness of the rest of the team whan she's around the character would be less polarizing. I get that Root quasi omnipotence overshadows the other characters and that, for some of the audience, resentment towards the character can stem from it, which is a pity since Amy Acker knocks it out of the park in each scene.

However, her character is awesome: I love that we have a independent, clever, morally ambiguous female character that isn't defined by her relationship to a man, fully skilled and capable on her own (well, yes she's the Machine's interface, but she was already awesome even before that). I don't want them to change that, but just allow the rest of the Team to be awesome even when she's there, Reese particularly (in the 2 first seasons, Reese was the guy that blew a grenade under Fusco's seat just to get out of a car, nowadays, such awesome scenes would go to Root).

[Mari]

I adore Root and find her fascinating to watch, but I have to agree with this, sometimes they get overboard with her capabilities/skills, making the rest of TM look dumb or even incompetent at times. Maybe if they evened out a bit the awesomeness of the rest of the team whan she's around the character would be less polarizing. I get that Root quasi omnipotence overshadows the other characters and that, for some of the audience, resentment towards the character can stem from it, which is a pity since Amy Acker knocks it out of the park in each scene.

Yes.  The thing is, I want to enjoy Root.  I've always liked Amy Acker, and unpredictable, unbalanced characters can be really interesting and fun to watch, even when you don't think their sudden emotional investment in other people genuine ('cause I have trouble seeing Root as genuine.  To me, she always comes across as manipulating.)

 

But in this last episode, Root beat up Martine.  I could understand Root outthinking or outcomputerskillsing  Martine, but she physically beat up Martine, who's a trained operative whose expertise is shooting things and physical fighting.

 

There are characters I could see doing that fairly easily--Reese or Shaw, for example--but shouldn't Root be less skilled at some things than other people?  It was ridiculous, and made me roll my eyes and add another ticky mark to the list of things that Root is able to do.  If she'd at least managed to drug or wound Martine first, and level the physical playing field a bit, first, yes, but that doesn't seem to be what happened.

 

So, go ahead, make Root amazing.  But maybe don't make Root amazing at absolutely everything, and allow the other characters to do really cool and smart things on a regular basis, too? 

[DEM]

 

She's as dangerous as Reese and Shaw.

And she's arguably more psychopathic than Shaw yet also capable of a deep and abiding love (or obsession) that leaves her open to emotional devastation ala Reese.  Oy vey.

 

When Root flipped Martine over her head, I was done.  She is now basically all of Team Machine in one person.  To me that's not great characterisation. It's the opposite.  Root is the kind of character that, were she the lead, I would change the channel (and for a while there network teevee was churning out that lead character type every other day, so I speak from experience).

 

When Root was first introduced, I enjoyed her as a formidable villain. The Caroline Turing reveal stands as one of the Top Ten moments in POI history. Even through at least half of S3 I appreciated the character and was all set for some sort of 'dark mirror' partnership to form between Shaw and her.  However, by the end of S3 the writing had become obnoxious, and now it feels like it's gone way over-the-top and completely off the rails.

Edited April 9, 2015 by DEM

[Julia]

If only the writers actually had the nads to kill their darling instead of just the character they wanted to get rid of. But no, they don't, and they're going to keep beating the audience over the head with the increasingly poorly written sheer superhuman awesomeness of Root until there's nothing but a hard core of true believers left.

I'm kind of grateful Reese and Fusco don't like her so I can feel reasonably certain they too won't get fridged on her behalf. I'm increasingly worried about Harold.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Julia

[Mari]

She is now basically all of Team Machine in one person. To me that's not great characterisation. It's the opposite.

In this last episode, I was surprised when they had Reese shoot the cameras out, simply because Root was featured in the episode and she wasn't doing it. I shouldn't be surprised that they're having the character with weapons skills use the weapons instead of the hacker/interface/genius/psytho/fighter/assassin/lover/master manipulator.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Mari

[Agent Dark]

But in this last episode, Root beat up Martine.  I could understand Root outthinking or outcomputerskillsing  Martine, but she physically beat up Martine, who's a trained operative whose expertise is shooting things and physical fighting.

 

There are characters I could see doing that fairly easily--Reese or Shaw, for example--but shouldn't Root be less skilled at some things than other people?  It was ridiculous, and made me roll my eyes and add another ticky mark to the list of things that Root is able to do.  If she'd at least managed to drug or wound Martine first, and level the physical playing field a bit, first, yes, but that doesn't seem to be what happened.

 

So, go ahead, make Root amazing.  But maybe don't make Root amazing at absolutely everything, and allow the other characters to do really cool and smart things on a regular basis, too? 

Root's backstory is that she was an Assassin/Mercenary.  Martine's backstory was that she used to be a Human Rights investigator for The Hague.  If I had to pick between the two who I would have thought had better combat skills, I'd probably go with the Assassin/Mercenary...  Though to be honest, I wouldn't really say either of them are that skilled at melee combat.  It's their respective Gods that make them crack-shots with hyper-situational awareness.  But I don't think it was unreasonable at all that Root matched Martine in a physical brawl.

 

Besides, Root has Shaw.  I'm sure Shaw would have enjoyed 'training' Root in hand-to-hand combat.  And by 'training' I mean beating the shit out of her.  Or other stuff ;)

[Trini]

 

When Root was first introduced, I enjoyed her as a formidable villain.

 

Yes, this. She was an elusive, and dangerous adversary to the Team, and... now she's around all the time. Nope, nope, nope. Hate it.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Trini

[stealinghome]

Root's backstory is that she was an Assassin/Mercenary.  Martine's backstory was that she used to be a Human Rights investigator for The Hague.  If I had to pick between the two who I would have thought had better combat skills, I'd probably go with the Assassin/Mercenary...  Though to be honest, I wouldn't really say either of them are that skilled at melee combat.  It's their respective Gods that make them crack-shots with hyper-situational awareness.  But I don't think it was unreasonable at all that Root matched Martine in a physical brawl.

This is actually a question I have about Martine in general--namely, as a human rights investigator for The Hague, what exactly would her combat training have included? Obviously at the minimum she had to be able to take care of herself in a pinch, so I assume they would have trained her to have gun skills that are more than "okay" and given her basic training in self-defense. But how much more training in those things would she have had? Would she be expected to be an ass-kicker like Reese or Shaw, familiar with every firearm ever made and way to blow thing up known to man and able to kick the asses of 3486394 guys in a bar without breaking a sweat, or would her job have been more what we saw her do in 4x08--follow leads, interrogate people, investigate--with enough self-defense training to take care of herself but without the expectation of regular ass-kicking? Samaritan seems to see her mandate as the SEARCH part of "Search and Destroy" more.

 

I've been wondering because I've had some vague thoughts recently about Samaritan seeming to recruit based on personality more than skills necessarily (ie Claire). Now, obviously Samaritan has a great number of assets--isn't Martine number, like, 66 on a graphic at some point?--but I'm wondering if part of Samaritan's hubris is that is assumes its awesomeness will, like, rub off on its assets without taking into consideration their training. Whereas aside from Admin, The Machine employs three (or two now, sob) people who have spent most of their lives killing people as a job. That's a not-insignificant difference....

[LUIS BARATA]

Root is one of the best tv characters ever , and this is a great review .

[DNR]

I'd never seen or heard of Amy Acker before POI and I've thoroughly enjoyed her as Root. In fact , I'd love to see her as the lead in a 24/Jack Bauer type role on TV - I'd be all in. Hope we get to see AA on our screens again soon