S05.E02: SNAFU

[ElectricBoogaloo]

NOTE: In May, Person of Interest will be airing two episodes a week, the first on Monday and the second on Tuesday. In June, the show will revert back to one episode a week on Tuesdays.

Quote

The Machine experiences a glitch during rebooting, supplying Reese and Fusco with the numbers of dozens of people not actually involved in crimes, while also locking Finch and Root out after identifying them as threats based on past violent behavior.

Promo:

[janeta]

Hmm, the picnic was a little jarring...

[FormerMod-a1]

I could watch Reese all day.  Yes, even in that bowling shirt.  ahem... 

[TigerLynx]

The Machine confusing Reese, Finch, Fusco and Root was funny.

"That's a hell of a bug," - Hee!!!

Fusco has become a really good cop.

[AimingforYoko]

I liked the facial glitches at the beginning. I imagine that was a lot of fun for the cast.

I'm not much for naval-gazing, but it was interesting looking at the acts of our heroes free of context. They have done some pretty heinous shit. Even Finch, who's pretty clean, has done some questionable things. John, Root and Fusco? Hoo boy.

[janeta]

Now, cochlear implants can be disconnected (and quickly). Why didn't Root just pull the plug?

[whatsatool]

Best comedy on TV.

[stealinghome]

First of all: Samaritan must DIE for stealing Finch's sales pitch! Die, I tell you! Of all the evil it's done, that's by far the evilest!

This was a solid episode that in some ways felt like more of a season opener than the actual premiere did, 2-month time jump included. Again, it felt like they compressed a LOT of material into this episode and I don't think all the threads came together as nicely as they did last week in terms of thematic payoff. The pacing also wasn't quite as smooth as last week--something in either the direction or editing felt a bit off, so that some scenes dragged while others went too fast (though maybe this was a tonal issue?). At any rate, this was definitely a little arc I would have liked to see play out over two episodes, but it's worth saying that the writing staff definitely brought their A game to the show this year--this season really is supercharged so far. The writing has stepped it up bigtime. Compare it to the writing for the first two episodes any of the previous seasons, and damn, huge difference.

This episode also felt like a big love letter to the fans, with its retrospective feel and all the callbacks to previous episodes, especially the numbers, which is fitting on a number of levels.

I'm so glad that this season is giving Finch/Michael Emerson a chance to shine, because he knocked his monologue tonight out of the park, even if I'm pretty sure emoting at a machine won't actually help it much. But I love Finch's retrospection and reflectiveness, and his admission of fallibility, because it's just so, for lack of a better term, parentlike. This is where the episode threads didn't entirely come together, but still, Emerson rocked it. Also, I loved his and Root's JOY when The Machine got back up at the start--you rarely see either of them so happy, it made me melt a little at just how HAPPY they were that The Machine is up and running again.

Everything related to the Root's jewel-toned room in the subway subplot was pure gold, including Reese mocking Finch's shopping list at the very beginning of the episode (and Reese and Finch's little fistbump, d'awwwww). Just all gold. Speaking of Root: how bad did you feel for her when she had The Machine searching for Shaw and it couldn't find her? Broke my heart just a wee little bit. The Machine can locate everyone in the world except the one person Root desperately needs it to find. The way Root's eyes were just welling up killed me. Also, Root got pretty damn hardcore tonight, putting herself under, but I loved that Bear stepped up to guard her. Somewhere Tiny Hammer Lady is nodding in approval and paw-bumping Bear really hard.

The facial glitches at the beginning were AWESOME. ME as Reese and AA as Finch were the highlights, with ME as Root a close second. His little hair flip!

I kind of knocked it above, but I do want to give props to the humor tonight. Loved it! This season has been so delightfully FUNNY--this might have been the funniest episode of PoI ever. It's gotta be up there with Baby Blue and a handful of others, at least. And while I'm sure it's going to get darker, this is the kind of humor at which PoI excels. Awkward John (or dry John watching paint dry) is never not fun, and we got a ton of that tonight, even if the character anvils ("you're lonely and jealous!" "I told Iris enough to stay safe!" "Get a hobby, Mr. Reese!") were falling a bit too heavily. And you can definitely tell that Caviezel was phoning it in bigtime in S3 and S4, because this is the second episode in a row that he actually looked awake and the change is glaring.

Also, it's worth saying that visually, this episode was BEAUTIFUL. That 360-degree pan around Reese in Times Square was a gorgeous shot, and the neon lights of Chinatown at night? Just beautiful. Well done to everyone involved in the look of this episode.

I liked the idea of the family picnic at the end, but thought it was a weird note to end the episode on. Didn't entirely work for me. But again, I get it--the calm before the storm....

Keith David will forever be GOLIATH to me, so I'm looking forward to seeing him tomorrow SO MUCH!

 

Oh, and I forgot to say, I think we now know where the subway car is going in the flashforward that began the season!!!!

Edited May 10, 2016 by stealinghome

[Twilight Man]

34 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

Keith David will forever be GOLIATH to me, so I'm looking forward to seeing him tomorrow SO MUCH!

and SPAWN!!!!

[Chorusgirl]

I have to ask....why was Root dressed like a girl scout?

[juliet73]

I loved the facial glitches in the beginning. I would love to see a blooper reel/outtakes for those scenes.

Didn't Harold tell John in the first ep "You need a purpose. You need a job" just like the employment agent told the house painter?

By Harold's reaction when first reading Root's shopping list, I thought she was asking him to pick up some ladies days supplies. 

I've watched this show since day one and I'm going to miss it when it ends. Besides the awesome writing and cast, I love that nothing is "dumb downed" for the viewer. (I'm looking at you CSI franchise, Law & Order, etc) The show basically explains everything through the storytelling, flashbacks, future episodes, etc; you just have to pay attention. 

[stealinghome]

Quote

Didn't Harold tell John in the first ep "You need a purpose. You need a job" just like the employment agent told the house painter?

Yeah, Samaritan totally stole that line from Finch in the pilot. I guess it knows Finch is a good recruiter....

Quote

By Harold's reaction when first reading Root's shopping list, I thought she was asking him to pick up some ladies days supplies. 

Me too. I TOTALLY thought Root was trolling the guys by asking for like 13 different types of tampons and 7 different types of pads. ;)

Quote

I have to ask....why was Root dressed like a girl scout?

Just a new cover identity, like all the other ones she burned through in S4. I'm pretty sure that outfit was just to tell us that The Machine is back to generating a bunch of IDs for her.

Poor Root, just as she got her subway room in order, she finally gets freed.

[thuganomics85]

OK, show.  If you are going to have Reese join the bowling league, you better have an episode where they get jumped at the bowling ally, and Reese has to start taking fools down with bowling balls and pins.  All while wearing that shirt.  That better happen!

Interesting idea with The Machine having bugs due to it's power source (I guess Playstation 3s have their limits), and it considering Reese, Finch, and Root to be "threats."  I guess if you just looked at the numbers, yeah, you would think those three were a bunch of murdering, manipulating bastards.  I'm glad everything is better now.  Not surprise Finch played a big part in it.  I heartily approve of this season discussion to have plenty scenes of Michael Emerson owning the screen.

Loved Reese and Fusco dealing with a bunch of false alarms, until it ends with Reese having an assassin sent after him (by The Machine!), and Fusco getting to save the day with another POI.  Yay, Fusco!  I really hope all these good moments for him doesn't mean he's being set-up for a tragic end by series end.

Liked all the callbacks to past cases and incidents, and even characters.  I still remember Dr. Tillman!

I bet the actors had a lot a fun with the "facial glitch" scenes.

If this was going to be the final season and limited episodes, I would totally watch a stand-alone filler episode, where Finch and Root are dealing with the roommate situation and hijinks ensuing.  Especially with Bear there.  And Reese is pretty much the nosy neighbor, who keeps barging in and occasionally trashes the place.

[bros402]

3 hours ago, janeta said:

Now, cochlear implants can be disconnected (and quickly). Why didn't Root just pull the plug?

A combination of:

1. We needed some alone time between Finch and the Machine

2. Root was shocked that her deity was harming her/not remembering her devotion.

[Agent Dark]

Liking Root's sweet new digs.  Hopefully Shaw will be liking them soon too ;)

 

Harold thinking he was seeing Grace, and then seeing all the faces blurred out, seemed ominous especially since Root didn't seem to have any reaction to it.  Harold's father had suffered from Alzheimer's, and I'm wondering if this is Harold possibly having the same.  Remember, the very genesis of the idea of The Machine to Harold came from when he was a boy and wanting to build a machine that could keep all of his dad's memories for him.  It would be a very bittersweet ending if that came full circle in the end; The Machine keeping Harold's memories safe as he loses them.

 

John is lonely without his Mayhem Twin around :(  The idea of him getting destroy by The Fuscinator at bowling is terribly amusing though lol.  I also got the impression that that little picnic they had might be the last chance they're gonna get to catch their breath and relax...

 

8 hours ago, stealinghome said:

Keith David will forever be GOLIATH to me, so I'm looking forward to seeing him tomorrow SO MUCH!

Captain Anderson from the Mass Effect games to me.  Or from the Saints Row games, where he also played Vice President Keith David lol.  He's got such a great voice.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Agent Dark

[benteen]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think we saw a list of the names of John's family when the computer profiled him.  The last name was redacted but it listed the first name of his father, his mother and a sister we had never heard about named Sophie.

[stealinghome]

benteen, that's correct--we saw parents and a sister. All are listed as deceased.

[StarBrand]

Stupid question;

What's the difference between an "open" and "closed" system in regards to the machine, exactly?

[juliet73]

17 minutes ago, StarBrand said:

Stupid question;

What's the difference between an "open" and "closed" system in regards to the machine, exactly?

Anyone, correct me if I'm wrong since I'm not a technology guru.  I believe an open system has external interactions  It allows you to share information.  Where as a closed system are isolated from their environment.  

[Netfoot]

28 minutes ago, StarBrand said:

Stupid question;

What's the difference between an "open" and "closed" system in regards to the machine, exactly?

There can be several interpretations of the term, but:

An open system is one which is not constructed of proprietary components.  An "IBM Compatible PC" is an example of an open system.  You can buy disk drives, motherboards, etc, from any of a large number of vendors, and you are not tied to one particular vendor for spares and upgrades.  An Apple computer on the other hand, is a closed system, because (in theory at least), you can only get components, spares and upgrades from Apple.  

[StarBrand]

I was surprised by how funny this episode was.  Not that there wasn't serious things going on. There was the whole business with the machine marking Reese, Finch, and Root as threats, and rather aggressively defending itself, even going so far as to physically hurt Root, and hiring a hitman(woman?) to take out Reese.

But there was a lot of funny stuff. On that, and other points;

1. Lionel's amusement at Reese not being all buddy-buddy with people at work

2. Root "decorating", and her bunny slippers

3. The machine initially giving numbers for a fake bomb threat ("go to your room"), a "death" in a play, and the really dead person.

4. The Finch-Reese fist pump.

5. Finch to Reese-"you complained about having too much free time, this is what you get"

6. The Machine-"I am sorry". Finch-"can you call off that hit?" Machine-"ummmmm....yeah, about that..."

7. When Finch mentioned to Root that the machine would remain an open system for now, I thought she was going to ask Finch if he had a fever.

8. I didn't mind the whole picnic thing. The team hasn't been able to relax in a long time, and might not at all after this. Although Reese in his bowling outfit was rather jarring...

9. I'm assuming Finch disposed of the numbers the Machine originally gave them, dismissing them as being glitches. At least one of them should have been paid more attention to. Something tells me that will prove to be a mistake.

Edited May 10, 2016 by StarBrand

[fastiller]

11 hours ago, janeta said:

Now, cochlear implants can be disconnected (and quickly). Why didn't Root just pull the plug?

I thought that Root's implant was 'hardwired' (as in, without the quick disconnect).  Anyone else remember that particular episode?

[Syme]

50 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

There can be several interpretations of the term, but:

An open system is one which is not constructed of proprietary components. ....

Quite true, but not the open meant here.

Finch went to great lengths to limit even his own access to the Machine, hence the kludged pay phone communications scheme; keeping him at arm's length. He wanted to prevent anyone from using him against it, as Pruneface used Grace against him. He also did not want to be moral arbitrator of who is naughty or nice, although in reality his code does exactly that.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Syme
[redacted]

[tessaray]

Okay, I take what I said back about not liking ambiguous endings (in another post) as long as Harold doesn't lose his memories.  I don't think I could take him suffering from Alzheimers. 

I wonder when in the manufacturing process Samaritan gets itself embedded.  Harold didn't seem to be worried at all about it.  Or is that why the machine was kind of split up at the end? I need to rewatch.

So, SNAFU.  (Situation Normal, All Fracked Up...)  Definitely an appropriate title for this episode.  :-) 

Edited May 10, 2016 by tessaray

[MrWhyt]

24 minutes ago, Syme said:

Finch went to great lengths to limit even his own access to the Machine, hence the kludged pay phone communications scheme; keeping him at arm's length

yeah remember in the beginning all Finch and Reese got was a number. In this episode during the Times's square test, once The Machine found Reese Finch asked it to tell him about the people surrounding Reese and it gave him all sorts of data that he didn't have access to under the old setup.  This is what he meant by an open or closed system, just how much he could use The Machine to invade people's privacy.

[benteen]

2 hours ago, stealinghome said:

benteen, that's correct--we saw parents and a sister. All are listed as deceased.

Thanks for clearing that up.  I didn't notice the deceased part.

[basiltherat]

Finch's Dad had Alzheimers, but also his friend who invented Samaritan had Alzherimers (or something similar) as well.  So Finch's Dad and his brother-in-inventing-machines both have memory problems, and Finch designed Machine to lose its memory every day.  This season is so very poetic.

One complaint:  why wasn't Bear on the picnic.  Dude needs some air and running around!

[CoderLady]

1 hour ago, StarBrand said:

2. Root "decorating", and her bunny slippers

Two pairs: one for her and one for Bear. Aw.

[Good Queen Jane]

I'm confused as to what is going on with Grace. Is she in New York or not? I couldn't read the captions on the picture that the Machine showed Finch at the end (the light was bad, that was it, couldn't be the fact I wasn't wearing my glasses.) I thought that the Finch's decision to keep the system open had something to do with being able to watch Grace.

[Princess Lucky]

2 hours ago, StarBrand said:

Stupid question;

What's the difference between an "open" and "closed" system in regards to the machine, exactly?

 

1 hour ago, MrWhyt said:

yeah remember in the beginning all Finch and Reese got was a number. In this episode during the Times's square test, once The Machine found Reese Finch asked it to tell him about the people surrounding Reese and it gave him all sorts of data that he didn't have access to under the old setup.  This is what he meant by an open or closed system, just how much he could use The Machine to invade people's privacy.

Yes. On this show, an "open" system means they can input data (i.e. a name, like they did with Shaw or Grace in this episode) and the Machine will give them any information it uncovers on the "target" of their choice (so the Machine can be used as a weapon). Additionally, an "open" system means that Finch (Admin) has access to all the information the Machine unearths in general. Like we saw with those people surrounding Reese, the Machine "sees" a person and can immediately access all their info. With an "open" system, this process is visible to Finch et al.

Conversely, the "closed" system is the old Machine. No one can ask it anything, no one can access the information the Machine possesses, and all that comes out is a number. They can't even ask for a clarification (not even to determine if the number is a victim or perpetrator). The Machine is a black box, with no way of accessing its inner processes.

In early S1, Nathan made a great point when he was selling the Machine to the US government (talking to Alicia Corwin and Denton Weeks, whom we saw in clips last night, getting shot by Root). There would be constitutional issues if the US government owned and operated an "open" system, violating everyone's privacy and having direct access to huge amounts of data/information (I'm laughing as I type this, by the way). But if only the Machine has access to the data, the "morality" of the endeavor is far less complicated.

Anyway, on to this episode!

It was HILARIOUS. Reese was especially amazing, with his bummed out reaction when that other cop ignored him, with the bowling shirt, with the "that's a hell of bug", with the fist bump, with "are you taking fashion risks?" Man, I love Reese.

Day "R" was such an awesome idea for a bug. The Machine being unstuck in time. It was such cool nerdy (and I mean this as a compliment) reference. But it was also emotional. "You're hurting me right now" was glorious. And Michael Emerson delivered, as always. He squeezes so much emotion out of those scenes, it's beautiful to watch. Though, to be fair, I don't know why Finch was talking about Anubis and weighing hearts, like, dude, you're talking to a machine, maybe she'll take that literally, like, don't!

Speaking of hearts, though, Reese having the heaviest heart of all hit me right in the feels. Poor Reese. And he has a dead sister, too? Sigh.

I'm not sure what to think about Grace. Why so many references to her? Will she be Finch's happy ending?

Also, and speaking of the open vs. closed system, it seemed to me that Finch only wants to keep it open to keep watching Grace. Whereas Root does want to look for Shaw, but her main motivation is keeping the Machine intact. Not crippling her goddess. I'm sure Finch agrees, at least in part, but I got the feeling it was more about Grace. Which is somewhat strange, if you ask me.

I loved Root asking for two pairs of slippers! Initially I thought one was for Shaw, because Root wanted to welcome her with comfy footwear. But then I realized Shaw would never wear bunny slippers. And then we saw the slippers were for Bear to chew on, and that warmed my cold heart.

That hitwoman was BADASS. I love the subverted stereotype. A bubbly "aw shucks" girl from Oklahoma, Reese letting his guard down as always, and then almost getting his ass handed to him because she's awesome. I continue to love how women aren't sexualized on this show, by the way. They're all in sensible shoes and jeans and ready to kick ass.

Speaking of Reese letting his guard down, how about that Blackwell guy? Reese wants to believe in the goodness in people, even though he does have sucha heavy heart (or because of it). Reese wasn't wrong, not necessarily, because the guy really was trying to keep his head down and make an honest living. Reese couldn't have predicted that Samaritan was going to recruit the guy, but he was still wrong to dismiss the case so quickly, and he might experience some guilt when he realizes what happened. I love that idea. And I really liked the Blackwell actor, he's intriguing. And how about Mona? I hope we see a little more of that. The "other side".

Such a good episode. I'm still trying to get used to the fact there's going to be a new one tonight. This season is shaping up great.

[Writing Wrongs]

What the hell was Root wearing when they went on their picnic?

[TigerLynx]

This was a funny episode.  When Finch asked The Machine if she could call off the hit on Reese, and she told him she had paid in advance, I laughed for the rest of the show.

Reese telling Finch The Machine would be okay because Finch had given her Finch's moral compass, and then they put on masks to commit a breaking and entering, was hilarious.  Although in the First Season, I thought Finch had given The Machine Nathan's moral compass.

Fusco has come a long way from where he started.  He's determined to be a good cop and help people no matter what danger he might be in because of Reese and Finch. 

[Gigi43]

Last weeks episode was a good set up but this one was more enjoyable. I loved the amount of humor. I did think at first Root had some "woman products" on her list. The Reese and Finch fist bump made me smile.  The picnic was a bit too... hokey for me and I was bothered they didn't bother to bring Bear!
 

I could listen to Finch talk about humanity for hours. But I do wish I hadn't watched the extended trailer so many times because then Finch's speech about "there's not good and evil, just people" speech, a lot of it was in the trailer and it would have been even better to listen to had it been the first time hearing it.

 

It's beyond time to bring Fusco in fully. I know during last season Kevin Chapman has said he plays it as Fusco having figured out a general idea but didn't want to know more in the past. But now that Fusco is outright asking and times running out with the show... just do it. I hope there's one episode before the end where its more old school working a number, more than working on The Machine, with Reese and Finch front and center before the end.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Princess Lucky said:

That hitwoman was BADASS. I love the subverted stereotype. A bubbly "aw shucks" girl from Oklahoma, Reese letting his guard down as always, and then almost getting his ass handed to him because she's awesome. I continue to love how women aren't sexualized on this show, by the way. They're all in sensible shoes and jeans and ready to kick ass.

Interesting, that The machine identified a "bad" person (Reese), and sent a competent killer (from Oklahoma?) to eliminate him.  Sorta like Reese's number came up and went to another operator to be dealt with.

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Interesting, that The machine identified a "bad" person (Reese), and sent a competent killer (from Oklahoma?) to eliminate him.  Sorta like Reese's number came up and went to another operator to be dealt with.

It was also interesting the way the Number code made the Machine slightly schizophrenic in its approach.  It hired the hitwoman but still had to send in her number as someone who might be a victim or perpetrator.

[DeepRunner]

This episode seemed a bit throttled-back after last week's speed. Interesting that the Machine hired a contract killer to kill Reese and label Finch and Root as threats. Very Samaritan-like.

The ending was a spooky callback to the pilot..."More than a purpose, you need a job," with Samaritan co-opting the Finch line to Reese, making the HR person seem like a zombie while assessing the likelihood that the former criminal would use violence.

Bonus points for Fusco shooting the Lithuanian mafiosi in the kneecaps.

Now, on to tonight's episode.

[Cranberry]

6 hours ago, fastiller said:

I thought that Root's implant was 'hardwired' (as in, without the quick disconnect).  Anyone else remember that particular episode?

I thought so, too... which would make sense, as she does not want anyone to be able to quickly and easily sever her connection with the machine. Didn't she have Harold modify the implant before taking it to the surgeon for implantation?

[janeta]

4 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I'm confused as to what is going on with Grace. Is she in New York or not? I couldn't read the captions on the picture that the Machine showed Finch at the end (the light was bad, that was it, couldn't be the fact I wasn't wearing my glasses.) I thought that the Finch's decision to keep the system open had something to do with being able to watch Grace.

The very last shot of "Grace" was from Italy.  (I'm using quotes because we haven't actually seen her face...    dun-dun-dun...)

[HawaiiTVGuy]

19 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

I liked the facial glitches at the beginning. I imagine that was a lot of fun for the cast.

I'm not much for naval-gazing, but it was interesting looking at the acts of our heroes free of context. They have done some pretty heinous shit. Even Finch, who's pretty clean, has done some questionable things. John, Root and Fusco? Hoo boy.

They are the poster-children of the true complexities of human beings and how human beings can change.  

Regarding the man who was recruited, if I recall correctly, wasn't his crime vehicular homicide?  In other words, being drunk and driving?  That isn't something that the Machine is supposed to pick up and generate a number since it isn't like there was much prior data to portend the crime.  If I am correct above, then yeah, it looks like the Machine knew that Blackwell was going to be recruited by Samaritan, thus the number generation.  But then that also brings into question, what kind of criteria is Samaritan using to recruit?  Being a remorseful, reformed drunk driver doesn't seem like a prime candidate to be an assassin.  He may want a purpose and a job, but there is a huge leap between that and thinking killing for a computer is right.  And the way that Samaritan seems to be recruiting human operatives, unless they are going through psychological brainwashing, and not just using each recruit's own personal biases and beliefs to lead them to follow Samaritan's orders, it would seem to open the door to some recruits questioning their orders and possibly causing the crack in the organization Team Machine needs.

[Agent Dark]

19 minutes ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

 But then that also brings into question, what kind of criteria is Samaritan using to recruit?  Being a remorseful, reformed drunk driver doesn't seem like a prime candidate to be an assassin.  He may want a purpose and a job, but there is a huge leap between that and thinking killing for a computer is right.  And the way that Samaritan seems to be recruiting human operatives, unless they are going through psychological brainwashing, and not just using each recruit's own personal biases and beliefs to lead them to follow Samaritan's orders, it would seem to open the door to some recruits questioning their orders and possibly causing the crack in the organization Team Machine needs.

If you look at the little graphic Samaritan pops up, it notes that his IQ is 153 - I'd say that plays a large part in Samaritan's interest in the guy.  Same reason Claire Mahoney was recruited.

[Netfoot]

14 minutes ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

He may want a purpose and a job, but there is a huge leap between that and thinking killing for a computer is right.

But if someone can be identified as having a propensity for violence, and esp. a touch of sociopathy, then you don't offer them a job killing for a computer.  You offer them a job working for top secret government agency called "Samaritan Has Idiots Everywhere Looking Dumb", which <throw forearm over brow> saves the world from terrists !  (Sorta like Homeland Security.)   And when you tell them that 25 citizens need to be mowed down for the good of the country, it doesn't take much persuading to get them to proceed.  Because they like that sort of work anyway!

[stealinghome]

1 hour ago, Agent Dark said:

If you look at the little graphic Samaritan pops up, it notes that his IQ is 153 - I'd say that plays a large part in Samaritan's interest in the guy.  Same reason Claire Mahoney was recruited.

I think the graphic also said that he showed a tendency toward violence (or something like that) in prison. So maybe it sees him as a murderer-in-training?

[Driad]

I was not able to watch this episode live, and don't have recording capability, so I watched it on the CBS site today.  My connection is sometimes glitchy.  Took me a minute to realize that that was not the problem with the images at the beginning of this episode.  :-}  It's great to see these people (and Bear) again!

[elle]

On 5/9/2016 at 9:23 PM, DNR said:

I got a kick out of this SNAFU sneak peek  - just Harold tweaking the Machine 

 I found this over in the spoilers thread, thought I'd share it here for those who missed the beginning of the episode like I did.

Thanks for posting this, DNR!

[whatsatool]

Wasn't Bear eating the bunny slippers?

[DNR]

Little tidbit - there was a scene where the Machine showed the faces of some previous Irrelevants they helped - the first face was Amy Ackers real life husband James Carpinello ( from s1 e3 mission creep ). Pre - Root ! 

[HawaiiTVGuy]

23 hours ago, Agent Dark said:

If you look at the little graphic Samaritan pops up, it notes that his IQ is 153 - I'd say that plays a large part in Samaritan's interest in the guy.  Same reason Claire Mahoney was recruited.

Thanks, I didn't see the graphic about the IQ, didn't watch it in HD unfortunately.  The high IQ is a good criteria, but I would have to say that Claire was a lot more specifically targeted with a much more specific skill set (hacking and puzzle breaking).

 

23 hours ago, Netfoot said:

But if someone can be identified as having a propensity for violence, and esp. a touch of sociopathy, then you don't offer them a job killing for a computer.  You offer them a job working for top secret government agency called "Samaritan Has Idiots Everywhere Looking Dumb", which <throw forearm over brow> saves the world from terrists !  (Sorta like Homeland Security.)   And when you tell them that 25 citizens need to be mowed down for the good of the country, it doesn't take much persuading to get them to proceed.  Because they like that sort of work anyway!

 

 

22 hours ago, stealinghome said:

I think the graphic also said that he showed a tendency toward violence (or something like that) in prison. So maybe it sees him as a murderer-in-training?

I missed the graphic about violence as well, I was going off of his behavior shown (looking to get honest work, not shirking in manual labor even when his pal wants to blow off) that it was weird that he would seem like a good recruit for Samaritan.  Overall he seemed like a moral, good person who made a bad decision and faced the consequences.

[immortalfrieza]

On 5/10/2016 at 1:09 PM, Netfoot said:

Interesting, that The machine identified a "bad" person (Reese), and sent a competent killer (from Oklahoma?) to eliminate him.  Sorta like Reese's number came up and went to another operator to be dealt with.

I just hope this is hinting that The Machine will now bring in more people through direct or indirect means. One of the most annoying things about this whole Samaritan storyline was that The Machine was more than capable of acquiring and making use of assets to use to fight against Samaritan, but for no real reason just stuck to simply the main cast. If The Machine can hire an assassin to kill someone, it can hire a lot of people for a lot of stuff.

[Netfoot]

1 minute ago, immortalfrieza said:

If The Machine can hire an assassin to kill someone, it can hire a lot of people for a lot of stuff.

I've always thought that there was no reason for The Machine not to have a team in every city.

[immortalfrieza]

Just now, Netfoot said:

I've always thought that there was no reason for The Machine not to have a team in every city.

It doesn't even have to be a team really. Just hiring people to do things like hire a reliable delivery boy to deliver a package to a building that the team is about to assault with some supplies or a timed smoke bomb or something in it, a hacker to a server and implant a virus to shut off security, someone to deliver a getaway car, that sort of stuff. Samaritan has basically the whole planet in it's pocket, it's ridiculous that The Machine never did anything to even the scales even a little bit. Heck, if it had done crap like that Samaritan would never have come into being in the first place.