S05.E06: A More Perfect Union

[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 sends Reese and Finch to a wedding to protect a pair of POIs before their nuptials. Fusco becomes angry at being kept in the dark by the team and takes it upon himself to investigate a string of missing person reports.

[Cranberry]

Looks like these next three are going to be fun:

...Yes, that was Root riding in on a horse.

[TigerLynx]

Aw, poor Reese, it's rough having to be eye and arm candy.

Finch singing, Fusco and Bear teaming up again, I love this episode.

I liked Reese as Finch's plus one better than Root.

Fusco and Bear better be okay.

Edited May 24, 2016 by TigerLynx

[whatsatool]

Who are you? The caterer. This show is so funny.

[AimingforYoko]

Good lord, the fan service was strong with this one. Root on the horse was my personal favorite. Although Emerson's 'singing' was a close second.

I know Shaw's important to finding the Machine, but Samaritan is expending a lot of time and manpower to her defection. You'd think she'd be written off after a while.

I know we're in the final season but I'm not too worried about Fusco.

[Bort]

Twisted Sister? That was the first song that popped into Finch's head?

[shura]

This was terrible. A bunch of rich-people cliches substituting for the case of the week, topped by Finch's belief that "it's reasonable to speculate" that the rich guy wants to kill Will to keep him away from the family fortune. 'Cause there are no other ways to not give him the money, apparently. And who was that Becky that threw herself at Will, and why did she do that? Never mind, don't care.

And then there's Samaritan trying to recruit Shaw by - wait for it - threatening to unleash World War III. By way of not stopping some people who believe that Russia and the US have become too cozy. All righty then.

Edited May 24, 2016 by shura

[stealinghome]

This was an enjoyable but slightly weird episode. Not least because I'm like...who orders a hit IN THE MIDDLE OF A WEDDING??? Come on, that's got to be the worst time to try to take someone out EVER, jfc. Wait till the next damn day! I knew Bianca 2.0 had to be involved with the evil somehow, though, she was the only recognizable guest actress and her conversation with the bride was so forced. Hated how they did her hair. I actually really liked the photographer, but felt she was underdeveloped--I wouldn't have minded spending more time with her. She and John had a really nice moment there at the end.

Overall, though, tonight felt very fragmented. It did some valuable work in a lot of different ways, and it was FUN, but it just didn't flow together smoothly. Root basically convincing Finch to cut The Machine more loose is wicked important; Team Samaritan trying to turn Shaw is wicked important (and the return of Creepy Kid! He's always delightfully punchable. And hee, he's grown a lot since the last time we saw him); the mass grave Fusco found is surely hugely important. But maybe because we had three separate plotlines going on, it felt like most of them were underserved; none were developed, including the number of the week A-plot. That one felt like it was underwater or in slow motion or something.

I kind of wanted Root and Fusco to have to work the number together, because their interaction is always aces.

Also, Finch singing and Root on the horse were so RANDOM. Can you say fanservice (I'll include Reese in a black-tie tux on that list, braining some assassins with a big pastel present and cracking terrible puns)? It's like the writers asked the cast for something they wanted to do in the last season, and threw all the answers together into this episode! Finch as Drunk Uncle is A+ though, hee.

I have to say, I love Shoot, but damn if Root and Finch didn't have some inappropriate chemistry when they were dancing. And I loved that last scene with Reese/Root/Finch at the table watching everyone at the wedding. It was really bittersweet, and lovely because of it.

Overall, a disjointed but really FUN episode that I think did a solid job of setting up stuff for the stretch run. I can't believe that after tomorrow, there's only 5 more episodes. Damn.

[beadgirl]

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Twisted Sister? That was the first song that popped into Finch's head?

At least the family came to appreciate his, uh, singing.  I normally hate this sort of cringing, second-hand embarrassment on tv (and in real life!), but I liked that the guests were tickled by it.

Root saving the day on horseback? Oh show, never change.

I kept wanting Shaw to argue with Greer, but she doesn't have the moral/philosophical background to do so effectively.  So I'll settle for her kicking everyone's asses when (soon I hope) she escapes.

Edited May 24, 2016 by beadgirl

[StarBrand]

So what kind of point is Samaritan trying to make with Sameen? That working with it would be much more effective than Team Machine? And now it's addressing her directly. More than a tad creepy.

[benteen]

The wedding plot was by the numbers and I agree, who the hell thinks it's a good idea to carry out a hit at a wedding where there are likely to be hundreds of potential witnesses.

That being said, there was a lot to like here.

-They spoiled John heading to a bachelor party but knowing that made the scene with the stripper and John acting "in character" as a cop all the more funnier.

-The Shaw/Greer stuff was really good.  Those two actors work off of each other very well.

-The last 15 minutes was strong, with Root and Finch dancing.  John, Root and Finch making the most depressed wedding guests ever, Lionel's investigation and the stuff with Shaw/Greer.

-I'm not excusing the team for what happened.  Their keeping Lionel in the dark, despite the fact they knew he was only getting himself into deeper and deeper in trouble, is the reason he was caught in that explosion.

[thuganomics85]

I kept trying to find out who was playing the sister because she looked familiar, but it turns out that I didn't, but she is apparently Turn: Washington Spies' Heather Lind's real-life sister, so that totally explains it.

Agree the POI of the week wasn't all that interesting, although I was cracking up over Michael Emerson's Irish accent.  And the dance scene with Root was nice, although I was briefly wondering if they were going there with him.  I don't think they are, but Emerson and Amy Acker have some strange chemistry at times.

Fusco!  And Bear!  Fusco and Bear!  Now, that's a duo that I can get behind.  And he even used his awesome skills to find all the bodies (including Bruce.  Oh, Bruce.)  Of course, that means he is probably trapped under all that rubble now.  Hopefully Bear will get his Lassie on and lead the rest to them.  And then they can finally sit him down and actually explain what is going on, so Fusco wouldn't put himself in danger all these times, and not have all the information.

The Shaw/Greer scenes were well acted, but if the plan is to have Shaw buy into Greer's "Samaritan is better!" pitch, I'm not quite sure I'm going to buy that. 

[Gigi43]

This better not be how Fusco goes. I can't help but worry until tomorrow night. I love getting to see him be a competent detective on his own.  

 

I kinda had a feeling Shaw's scenes was a simulation. I wasn't expecting Samaritan, though. That must be weird for the little boy that was cast "yup, you've got what we're looking for for our creepy computer God! Nice work!"

 

The  beginning stripper scene was fine/cute. But the wedding story continuing on with such a "light" tone was just odd. I'm assuming Finch's song choice at least could represent he is leaning towards a drastic move?  I liked the three of them having the drink at the end. 

[StarBrand]

So Root showed up because she felt left out and out of sorts all by herself. I liked how she was mildly annoyed how people could NOT see her being at a wedding, and reminded everybody she left someone at the alter last year...

So I guess Samaritan's point with Sameen was that since it is much more brutallly efficient, to keep working with Team Machine would be tantamount to letting bad things happen to a lot of people-like not stopping a terrorist attack that essentially starts WW3. I was wondering when Creepy Avatar Boy was going to show up again.

I wasn't much into the whole wedding thing. It was kind of funny that Finch was singing "we're not gonna take it" over scenes of Reese and Root kicking ass.  I'm guessing Finch had the simulation ass-kicking on his mind, which is why he probably first thought of the song...

The three of them sitting together was nice, although it was somewhat sad. The sad look on Root's face in particular.

Edited May 24, 2016 by StarBrand

[elle]

36 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Twisted Sister? That was the first song that popped into Finch's head?

Maybe he has it as an earworm from that annoying cable commercial?  And the guests could just figure that the liquid courage the groom gave him accounted for the song choice.

I was hoping that  Michael Emerson would surprise us with a great voice.  It wasn't bad, maybe he's better without the fake accent.  I wonder if the writers gave him a choice of what to sing?

Who was the actor playing "Bruce" the man Fusco was talking to in the park. (Not the POI)

[stealinghome]

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I was hoping that  Michael Emerson would surprise us with a great voice.  It wasn't bad, maybe he's better without the fake accent.  I wonder if the writers gave him a choice of what to sing?

I don't know, I think the lyrics are pretty apropos for the team these days.

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Who was the actor playing "Bruce" the man Fusco was talking to in the park. (Not the POI)

James Le Gros!

[Saint TV]

This maybe somewhat OT but since this is the thread everyone reads, I think it's appropriate.

There will be 2 episodes tomorrow starting at 9pm EDT.

I just want to make sure no one misses the first one.

 

Back on topic - Root on a horse saving the day will never not be awesome.

[bros402]

I think this is probably the last number of the week we get that isn't directly related to the plot - and it was a great final Number if so. It was very enjoyable - I am guessing in one of tomorrow's episodes, Fusco is going to be read in (Or he'll be dead/recruited by Samaritan).

[DeepRunner]

As a case of the week, it wasn't necessarily top shelf, but the stuff in the background was good. Bonus points for Finch singing "We're Not Gonna Take It." Would have been better if there were a rock band and Finch had been thrashing. But it WAS funny. Also, John Reese as "Stripper Security." Root convincing Finch to give The Machine more offensive tools was a needed if much-delayed progression. The bourbon at the table scene had a very strong feel "We who are about to die salute you" feel.

The field trip between Greer and Shaw was an interesting extension of the simulation. It was a good demonstration of the lengths Greer will go to to get Shaw (or anyone, really, but particularly Shaw) to become more than a "potential" asset. Samaritan being presented as a benevolent overlord instead of a predetermining slaughter king is a good exploration of using logarithms to predict criminal or outlier behavior as a means to "save" society from future unhappiness. Samaritan Kid being used as a prop was a good callback to "Cold War." I was expecting the reveal to be Control instead of Son of Samaritan. I look forward to Shaw's real escape.

Bruce Moran, we hardly knew ye. The Creepy Corpse Corridor that Fusco found, with Krupa and Bruce and Contractor Guy and All Those Missing Persons, was a good reveal. Fusco and his bulletin board of pictures was like Finch with his bulletin board of pictures. Fusco and Bear...good team.

All in all, a decent episode, but as the season makes the turn, I am getting eager for the end game.

Edited May 24, 2016 by DeepRunner
word correction.

[fastiller]

During the Shaw/Greer scenes I was very distracted by how much I really want to find John Nolan and get him to moisturize.

5 hours ago, bros402 said:

I think this is probably the last number of the week we get that isn't directly related to the plot - and it was a great final Number if so. It was very enjoyable - I am guessing in one of tomorrow's episodes, Fusco is going to be read in (Or he'll be dead/recruited by Samaritan).

Better be 'read in' and not dead.  Don't kill Fusco, show, please don't kill Fusco.

You're probably right that the rest of the series is likely going to be completion of the arcs / threads started over the past 4 seasons.

Can't wait for the proper Shaw/TeamMachine reunion (& it had better be them all on the same team, not opposing sides!!)

[Good Queen Jane]

I'm not worried about Fusco. If Bear can run for a fire extinguisher, he can pull Fusco out of the rubble. But the bodies appeared very well preserved considering some have been missing for several weeks.

I guess I'm not up on my music. I though Finch was singing an authentic Irish protest song. It was only after I Googled it that I discovered Finch was into Twisted Sister. I do love Michael Emerson's "singing." His rendition of "Happy" on the short-lived Arsenio Hall show is still one of my favorite videos.

[janeta]

Yeah, Fusco definitely had the more interesting case last night; the rest, as noted, was mostly fanservice.  Some of these eps are starting to read like fanfic prompts.

But i like these characters and actors enough that i'm willing to let it slide. :-)

[ppl]

Why does Greer keep referring to Sameen as 'my dear Sameen'? Is he her long lost relative from another time period?

[janeta]

I think it's just a condescending, belittling way of treating her; he's the eminence grise, wiser, more experienced, he just knows better.  She's being the petulant little girl. (--whom, he would do well to remember, can kill him with one hand and her little toe, if he doesn't keep her drugged.)

[StarBrand]

I think this is the last "normal" POI case, as it seems things are coming to a head.

And it seems

Spoiler

Root is getting rather impatient, according to this sneak peek...

 

[kwnyc]

On reflection, WHY are all the missing people helpfully stashed in a tunnel that the city knows about and which is scheduled for demolition? Sure, Samaritan is the "new company" that got the contract, but wouldn't it have been easier to dispose of the bodies one by one? Why do/did they need to keep them (other than for Lionel to be truly creeped out by the discovery?)

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So what kind of point is Samaritan trying to make with Sameen? 

I kept waiting for her to say: if Samaritan knows this shit, why does it need ME to solve it? And the ultimate creepy kid blow up thing trying to push her to the other side...Sameen has always been the one for violent intervention (killing the Senator) though Greer doesn't know that. I think HIS endgame is (still) to get her to lead him to The Machine. And I just don't think she will.

Edited May 24, 2016 by kwnyc
Additional thoughts

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Bear and Fusco! I love whenever Bear gets to go outside and help with cases but I loved that he got to team up with Fusco this time. 

On a related note, I was hoping to see Leon one more time before the series ends. 

I couldn't take the hit men seriously. At first I thought they were Samaritan operatives trying to draw John outside so they could shoot him. But what kind of hitman strolls into a wedding holding his gun casually? Did these two think that they could shoot the photographer while the bride and groom said their vows and then nonchalantly stroll out?

[Sakura12]

I'm guessing sister hired cheap assassins. Even Root said what kind of assassin passes out at the sight of blood. 

Bear teaming up with Fusco was fun. Samaritan doesn't seem that smart putting all those bodies in the same spot and blowing them up. There are better ways to get rid of bodies, you'd think an AI would know that. 

I also don't see what Samaritan wants with Shaw. They have plenty of assassins. I guess they are still trying to get her to tell them where the machine is. 

[basiltherat]

I think Samaritan is wasting a whole lot of time and resources on Sameen (not that she isn't worth it, and we HATED her on first sight, remember?).  If Samaritan is so omniscient and omnipotent, what do they need little ol' Sameen for?  It seems like if the are going to blow up a certain tunnel, they must think that that tunnel is the batcave!  Creepy Damien is really superfluous.

This was a very funny episode, starting when Lionel called Bear "Marmaduke" and continuing with Harry singing Twisted Sister!  And Root on a horse!

Is it just me or did photographer Maggie look an awful lot like Stanton?

[Gigi43]

3 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

 

I guess I'm not up on my music. I though Finch was singing an authentic Irish protest song. It was only after I Googled it that I discovered Finch was into Twisted Sister. I do love Michael Emerson's "singing." His rendition of "Happy" on the short-lived Arsenio Hall show is still one of my favorite videos.

 

Oh that was so great, the "for the love of God I'm Happy!" part kills me. 

[Cranberry]

Shaw is the only person who can lead Samaritan to The Machine's hideout and the only one who can get close enough to Reese, Finch, and especially Root to take them by surprise and kill them. I mean, how many times has Samaritan tried and failed to kill these people? I can understand why devoting a few people and a tiny amount of its computing resources to working on Shaw makes sense to it.

This one was pretty fun. I agree that Root riding in on a horse was unnecessary, but I loved it anyway. Also loved Reese smashing a present over someone's head with a dry, "Oops."

[elle]

I was confused by the POI for the wedding.  They were focused on the bride and groom.  Did the Machine give them their numbers first and then give up the real POI to Root later on?  Why wouldn't the Machine know it was the photographer all along?

 

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I do love Michael Emerson's "singing." His rendition of "Happy" on the short-lived Arsenio Hall show is still one of my favorite videos.

This better be on youtube!

[stealinghome]

The number the Machine gave the team was the number of the marriage license, not anyone's SSN.

[Gigi43]

43 minutes ago, elle said:

I was confused by the POI for the wedding.  They were focused on the bride and groom.  Did the Machine give them their numbers first and then give up the real POI to Root later on?  Why wouldn't the Machine know it was the photographer all along?

 

This better be on youtube!

 

You're welcome ;)

[StarBrand]

I think Samaritan was trying to appeal to Sameen's sense of duty-does she want to stop bad things from happening to people, kill terrorists? Samaritan can do that, much better than Team Machine. And quite frankly, right now that's true. Even Shaw had to be impressed with the swiftness of foiling the terrorist plot. Greer made a nice point when Sameen insisted bringing her to the dark side would not work, and he asked "so why haven't you tried to escape?."

And if Samaritan had stopped after showing the terrorist takedown, Shaw might have given some thought to all this. But then she met the little boy avatar and saw the spiel about WW3, and that more than freaked her out a little. Acting on behalf of a machine that basically says it alone can save humanity is something I don't believe she signed up for.

If Finch allows the machine complete atonomy, it would be very interesting to she what The Machine can and would do with that ability. Harold has to know now there is no other choice...

Edited May 24, 2016 by StarBrand

[Bobbin]

Since the wedding was at a horse farm, how could there not be a scene with a horse? And a shoot-em-up. Heigh-o, Root!

I think it's funny that Fusco still thinks of Root as "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs." So soon we forget that she began the series as a homicidal maniac.

I also thought of "We're Not Gonna Take It" as an Irish protest song, appropriate for an alcoholic Irish uncle. And for Team Machine? That may have been the intention.

For late-comers, Samaritan can't simply trick or drug Shaw into revealing the Machine's whereabouts because she doesn't know -- she has to be turned so that she'll get the Team to take her to it and then tell Greer.

Fans may be misinterpreting Samaritan's nature. Watch "Colossus: the Forbin Project" for another example of a good idea gone awry -- and the consequences of allowing an AI to become more intelligent (not necessarily smarter) than its maker, sans specific moral constraints.

These characters all feel like family, don't they? We've all been through so much "together" over 4 seasons. And we know more about their pasts than about many of our real-life friends.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Bobbin
Fixed missing punctuation.

[Cranberry]

2 minutes ago, Bobbin said:

For late-comers, Samaritan can't simply trick or drug Shaw into revealing the Machine's whereabouts because she doesn't know -- she has to be turned so that she'll get the Team to take her to it and then tell Greer.

I suppose she doesn't know whether or not The Machine is in the subway base, but she does know the location of that base; they moved there when she was still an active member of the team.

[Sakura12]

9 minutes ago, Bobbin said:

I think it's funny that Fusco still thinks of Root as "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs." So soon we forget that she began the series as a homicidal maniac.

 

Does Fusco just accept Reese and Shaw's brand of crazy because they used to be government assassins? 

[shura]

1 hour ago, StarBrand said:

I think Samaritan was trying to appeal to Sameen's sense of duty-does she want to stop bad things from happening to people, kill terrorists? Samaritan can do that, much better than Team Machine. And quite frankly, right now that's true.

Was it just an appeal to her sense of duty? I am ready to swear I heard Greer say something to the effect that Team Machine are actually villains and he is going to demonstrate it to Shaw. Did I imagine this?

[StarBrand]

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Was it just an appeal to her sense of duty? I am ready to swear I heard Greer say something to the effect that Team Machine are actually villains and he is going to demonstrate it to Shaw. Did I imagine this?

No, you didn't-Samaritan didn't get around to specifying why her friends were the enemy. At least not yet.

[MYOS]

Also, Sameen said *within the simulation* (I think) "this is simulation 7,xxx", which would add to 2 weeks after episode 4 in "real time" (within the show and for us) but also indicates she is aware of the simulations, which means she may be able to control parts of them.

Root is Harry's Twisted Sister :) so, obvious idea. And he was singing to Team Machine, to the Machine, and to Samaritan. It made sense to hear these words within the story's context.

Fusco knows something about the cameras: he wouldn't randomly use a "no cam zone" that Samaritan can't see to stash his board of missing persons.

Right now, the Machine has forgotten to play chess, and can't think ahead/plan, but can only be on defense?

[elle]

4 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

You're welcome ;)

Thank you! :0D

 

2 hours ago, Bobbin said:

also thought of "We're Not Gonna Take It" as an Irish protest song, appropriate for an alcoholic Irish uncle. And for Team Machine? That may have been the intention.

It did sound like one, didn't it?  More than meets the eye..

5 hours ago, stealinghome said:

The number the Machine gave the team was the number of the marriage license, not anyone's SSN.

Has it done that before?  It seemed as if the Machine wanted to get them all, or the trio, to a wedding.

 

2 hours ago, Cranberry said:

I suppose she doesn't know whether or not The Machine is in the subway base, but she does know the location of that base; they moved there when she was still an active member of the team.

I wonder if the permit guy was sent by Samaritan to blow up the subway base.  Glad that didn't happen.  What Fusco found though, extremely creepy, something out of a horror movie!

[Netfoot]

All this talk of demolition of an underground tunnel made me worry.  Did it refer to The Hideout?  With The machine installed on a train now, maybe it could be moved to safety at the last moment?  

 

But the big question is:  Why didn't Shaw throw little-Samaritan off the top of the building?

[stealinghome]

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Has it done that before?  It seemed as if the Machine wanted to get them all, or the trio, to a wedding.

I don't think it's done that before, no. But The Machine 2.0 seems to have a fey sense of humor, so it's par for the course. Also, I think the marriage licsense number thing was in part writers' shenanigans--if The Machine had spit out the number of either the victim or perp, it would have taken the team all of 0.5 seconds to figure out what was going on. The marriage license was a misdirect to get the audience to focus on the wrong characters at the start.

Quote

All this talk of demolition of an underground tunnel made me worry.  Did it refer to The Hideout?  With The machine installed on a train now, maybe it could be moved to safety at the last moment?  

Oh, I DEFINITELY think the subway car is going to make an escape from the station/base. It wasn't in Root's ominous voiceover to start the season and if memory serves there was also a big hole in the wall...I think Team Machine is going to need to make a quick escape on the subway car towards the end of the season.

[Trillium]

I didn't really like this one until the last 10 min. None of the wedding stuff made sense and logic was thrown out the window in favor of fan service, which was ok but not with less than 10 episodes left. (And if they felt the need to go the fan service route, at least put Zoe in!) Perhaps if there was a season 6 I would have liked it more but the A plot was very meh.  

Edited May 25, 2016 by Trillium

[shura]

3 hours ago, StarBrand said:

No, you didn't-Samaritan didn't get around to specifying why her friends were the enemy. At least not yet.

I see. I was starting to wonder if I'd heard things that were not there since Greer didn't really show Shaw why she should be against her old team. He kept pointing out to her people like those business types whose actions (legal, as far as I could tell) caused some air conditioning company and a cheap vaccine producer to be liquidated, which, he argues, would be responsible for some deaths. I figured that was the closest thing to his promised illustration, possibly showing her that The Machine wouldn't catch cases like that while Samaritan would. Personally, I thought that was a hell of a stretch.

Btw, what was Greer/Samaritan suggesting to do with those business people? Even the guy who found ways to reduce airplane costs by cutting corners (let's trust Samaritan on that one) didn't really have to be eliminated. Samaritan could simply uncover the problem and send in government regulators to force the guy's company to abandon the idea. Same with the corporate raiders - just shut down their takeover if you are concerned it will lead to deaths. Why bring cases like this to the attention of an assassin like Shaw?

[stealinghome]

I thought the idea was that those men deserved to die but would never be punished by a court. Greer was hitting the "they're MURDERERS!!!" thing really hard. Shaw has a strong sense of justice so I think it's reasonable for Samaritan (who doesn't really know her) to think that she would make the leap to "these men need to be put down for the greater good and gee, that used to be my job description with the ISA...."

[Bobbin]

The difference between the Machine and Samaritan is that the Machine tries to prevent individual deaths and Samaritan uses them, even orchestrates them, in the interest of "efficiency" in achieving its goals.

[Rumsy4]

I really enjoyed this episode. Loved Root being all "Princess Charming to the rescue". I almost started shipping Root and Finch in that dance scene. I think they understand each other best in all of Team Machine. 

I hope Fusco and Bear didn't get killed. It's likely not too soon before members of Team Machine start dropping off, though. I can't see all them making it in the end. 

Greer trying to recruit Shaw felt very unconvincing to me. He bores me. Enough with the simulations already! Creepy kid was awesome though.

[Camera One]

One simulation was enough... didn't really need this episode's one, though it wasn't horrible.  I'm not looking forward to the inevitable "Did Shaw turn?" episode.  Sheesh, just let her go back and fight with everyone else for the last few episodes.

I liked seeing The Team together in one place and in a new setting, though the case wasn't too engaging.  There were too many characters so difficult to get invested, and the threat was too vague.

Lionel's find in the building slated for demotion was gruesome.  They better let him in on the secret after this, so we can enjoy a few episodes of them on the same page before the show ends.  Bruce's tenure sure didn't last long.