S05.E11: Synecdoche

[bros402]

7 hours ago, VMepicgrl said:

My question is why the other team wasn't assigned to POTUS if they were already working in the area, as opposed to our team in NY? Is it as simple as our team being THE team and original recipe, so they are just more trusted to handle having the POTUS as their number? 

They are primary assets to the machine.

 

It trusts Relevant numbers (or numbers it considers relevant) to NY TM

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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I just want to squee! at the appearance of past numbers.  Such a great way to show our heroes' efforts have not been in vain. Yes, they have made a difference. 

Mr. EB and I are both going to be extremely disappointed if we don't get to see Leon at least briefly in the next two episodes! He can just bring Bear some noodle soup. Mr. EB thought it would be awesome to see the gang cornered and then have Leon roll up in like a private airplane. Imagine him opening the door and saying, "Hey, guys!" Maybe we'll find out that Bear was staying with Leon while the team was in DC.

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I get that Pierce is suppose to be, and I'm happy we saw him again, Finch but I'm still holding out hope Caleb Phipps could be a new Finch. Will Julian Sands' character be their Greer? What kind of dog do they have?

Ha, now I want to know too! But I'm certain their dog can't be as awesome as Bear.

I love the idea that the machine is recruiting others, but how is it communicating with them? And how much do the others know about the machine and Samaritan?

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It's always gooooooooooooood to see Shaw and Reese go Black Ops Martial Arts on people

I totally loved that there were multiple times in this episode when they were surrounded or held at gunpoint and they still managed to get out of it. My favorite was when they were on their knees but casually discussing which one of them would take out each of the guys pointing guns at them.

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Harold routinely calls her Ms. Groves without much of an argument from her.  In fact the only time I can recall her actually getting defensive about her name (and correct me if I'm wrong) is in God Mode, when she and Harold walk into the Nuclear Power Plant only to find The Machine gone.  She's quite upset that she thinks Harold lied to her, she wasn't able to physically be with The Machine (not to mention that she'd run out of admin access too and wasn't hearing The Machine in her ear anymore) and when he calls her Ms. Groves she snaps "My name is ROOT" back at him - its a regression of the partnership they'd established whilst searching for The Machine. 

And the lovely symmetry to that is that he lets her call him Harry.

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Reese and Fusco were really there for her, this show makes go all warm and fuzzy even after the characters experience major tragedies.

What I really appreciated is that other people on other shows get to be supportive by giving hugs and talking about their feelings. Not so with our team, but they still managed to convey their love, support, and concern of Shaw, knowing that she is really hurting but that she would kick their asses if they tried to give her a hug.

Per an interview with Amy Acker, she was on the floor of Finch's car actually speaking the dialog as the machine, due to the intense nature of the conversation.

I know the scene was intense, but that visual now adds a a touch of comedy to it. :0)

My high school was a closed campus but you could leave for lunch if your parents came to the office and signed an off campus permission slip. Some parents (ahem, like mine) refused to do that so there were always people who would sneak off campus by hiding in the back of someone's car. I remember one time my friend just laid down on the floor of the back seat and we laid a jacket over her so that she wasn't visible. Now I'm picturing Amy Acker hiding underneath a yellow satin Lakers jacket.

[StarBrand]

So...the Machine said the virus Harold got could cause massive collateral damage. What kind exactly? It's insinuated that the Machine would suffer as well. If simply letting loose a virus was the key to stopping Samaritan, chances are Harold would have done it by now.  So in addition to taking out both Samaritan and the Machine, what if it destroys the whole world's network? That would cause some trouble. Or maybe Samaritan-sensing that its end is coming, will take things out on the general population before it goes...

[ABay]

Was it a virus he intended toactivate through Beth's laptop? It didn't happen that time because it would've blown his cover as Prof. Whistler. or at least traced back to him as Prof. Whistler, leading to his near-immediate death. The cover's blown now and Samaritan is after him, so that reason for not doing it would no longer exists.

[StarBrand]

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The cover's blown now and Samaritan is after him, so that reason for not doing it would no longer exists.

There's that too...

[Netfoot]

Not in favour of a viral solution to the Samaritan problem.  It's all too easy, and not really believable.  And it's been done repeatedly.  Will Smith/Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, 

(BTW, just watched a lousey movie about aliens attacking earth.  It's called Independents' Day.  Yes, I spelled that right.)

[DarkRaichu]

17 hours ago, VMepicgrl said:

My question is why the other team wasn't assigned to POTUS if they were already working in the area, as opposed to our team in NY? Is it as simple as our team being THE team and original recipe, so they are just more trusted to handle having the POTUS as their number? 

Simply put, original!TM had the most experience in handling this kind of threat so they should have the best chance for success:

1. Reese was primary asset, so he had the most experience handling cases
2. Shaw used to be ISA so she had tons of experience with missions related to relevant numbers
3. I did not know if the Machine knew how good Fusco was going to be with operating those surveillance monitors ;) 

Edited June 10, 2016 by DarkRaichu

[DarkRaichu]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Not in favour of a viral solution to the Samaritan problem.  It's all too easy, and not really believable.  And it's been done repeatedly.  Will Smith/Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, 

(BTW, just watched a lousey movie about aliens attacking earth.  It's called Independents' Day.  Yes, I spelled that right.)

The most efficient way to take down a network of interconnected functions/objects is from the inside.  TM can take down all Samaritan's control rooms one buy one but it will rebuild as fast as TM destroys them

[basiltherat]

Did I hear correctly that the virus that Finch unleashed was called "Ice-Nine" ??!!

[CoderLady]

53 minutes ago, basiltherat said:

Did I hear correctly that the virus that Finch unleashed was called "Ice-Nine" ??!!

Yes! I forgot that. That stuff scared the living shit out of me when I read Cat's Cradle. Oh, hell...

[morriss]

It's no wonder this show is being cancelled.  The previous numbers reappearing because the machine gave them Reese's number.... has got  be the dumbest fucking storyline I have ever seen. 

[SnarkyTart]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2016 at 6:16 AM, benteen said:

Leon!  Haven't thought about Leon in a while but that would be great.  As much as I love the show, sometimes I don't remember who all the numbers are so Joey I couldn't remember at all.  I really need to do a rewatch one of these days.

Yes, to Leon!  He was my favorite POI, and he brought some welcome levity to his episodes.  Also, would LOVE to see Tomas again, the international thief from S4: E07 "Honor Among Thieves".  The actor, Adrian Bellani, lit up a lot of internet posts after that episode.  Smoking hot!

[elle]

44 minutes ago, SnarkyTart said:

Yes, to Leon!  He was my favorite POI, and he brought some welcome levity to his episodes.  Also, would LOVE to see Tomas again, the international thief from S4: E07 "Honor Among Thieves".  The actor, Adrian Bellani, lit up a lot of internet posts after that episode.  Smoking hot!

Another vote for Leon!  

I would like to see what has become of Gen, she'd be 13 now.

[johntfs]

On 6/8/2016 at 10:18 AM, Netfoot said:

The Machine claims to be 99.6% Root.  The missing 0.4% alone is probably sufficient to deny that She is actually Root.  But put that aside (or assume the missing 0.4% can be found) it all boils down to whether you feel the squishy biologicals are a requirement for personality/intellect, or whether functionality is all that counts.

 

That's not really accurate.  The Machine claims to be able to simulate Root with 99.6% accuracy.  The Machine claimed to be able to simulate Harold old math teacher with something like 63% accuracy.  The Machine is far more than Root or the math teacher.  It's just that it knows them well enough to be able to predict how they'd behave in any given situation with a 99.6% or 63% accuracy.

 

On 6/8/2016 at 7:59 PM, DarkRaichu said:

My money is on Samaritan being the brain behind it. It was one thing to have a mole in the SS, but the hardware in the terrorists' control room was way too high tech for these sorry bunch.  Plus, there was no way anyone could put that much surveillance without Samaritan knowing about it

I dunno.  The Senator's wife probably had access and money.  The point to me about the group is that Samaritan neither helped nor harmed them.  It's not that Samaritan wanted POTUS killed, it's that Samaritan didn't give a shit if POTUS was killed, because it's so entrenched that POTUS is now irrelevant to it.

[CoderLady]

The Machine kept identifing the President as RELEVANT ONE with a blue box like Shaw originally had while she was in ISA. I wonder if he's an active asset? That would be interesting, especially since Samaritan just thinks "Pffft" about him. 

Edited June 11, 2016 by CoderLady

[bros402]

17 hours ago, StarBrand said:

So...the Machine said the virus Harold got could cause massive collateral damage. What kind exactly? It's insinuated that the Machine would suffer as well. If simply letting loose a virus was the key to stopping Samaritan, chances are Harold would have done it by now.  So in addition to taking out both Samaritan and the Machine, what if it destroys the whole world's network? That would cause some trouble. Or maybe Samaritan-sensing that its end is coming, will take things out on the general population before it goes...

The virus was called Ice-9, which is from a Kurt Vonnegut story, it is a substance that freezes water when it comes into contact with it and it spreads until there is no more water for it to find. So, it could spread through the internet and destroy all networked devices

16 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Not in favour of a viral solution to the Samaritan problem.  It's all too easy, and not really believable.  And it's been done repeatedly.  Will Smith/Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, 

(BTW, just watched a lousey movie about aliens attacking earth.  It's called Independents' Day.  Yes, I spelled that right.)

Uhhhh.

 

There are computer viruses that can spread very quickly. The SQL Slammer worm spread to 75,000 systems in 10 minutes  That was in 2003. Imagine something like that today, and, well, probably with some fun goodies for Samaritan tucked into it by a rival ASI and the man who created the first ASI.

12 hours ago, basiltherat said:

Did I hear correctly that the virus that Finch unleashed was called "Ice-Nine" ??!!

Yes

[Dowel Jones]

17 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Per an interview with Amy Acker, she was on the floor of Finch's car actually speaking the dialog as the machine, due to the intense nature of the conversation.

Finch hits a speed bump, and Amy squawks out "Goddamit, Harold, who taught you how to drive?"  Finch looks up at a lamp post camera, completely mystified.

[elle]

The season 4 episode "Karma" was just on in the POI rotation.  It is interesting to watch after having seen this episode.  In "Karma" we get the flashback of Harold planning to get revenge for Nathan's death by killing Alicia Corwin.  We see, maybe, the first time the Machine called Harold.  All there is on the line is static, but he figures it out.  He then talks to a camera about how "he didn't give it a voice".  Much better scene than I described, it is both chilling and sad knowing what is to come.

[Oloryn]

The last two episodes, I've found myself echoing a phrase I remember (I think) from the TWoP POI forum: "Oh, show, show, show".

My one regret is that we're not likely to see something I'd hoped for:  TM encounters a doctor specializing in knee surgery, who works for a hospital with ties to the prison system, who has seen his income skyrocket in the last few years.

[Mom x 3]

On June 8, 2016 at 11:24 AM, Trillium said:

Samantha Groves is dead, but Root is still alive as part of the Machine. That's the distinction to me. 

I completely agree here.

Also, while it was fun seeing the new numbers, I have a question then.  If the irrelevant numbers are deleted at midnight, then how did The Machine remember they were the irrelevant numbers?

[Gigi43]

That Harper , Pierce and Joey probably became official yellow box assets before Fusco makes me question  everything about the Machine.  I know his number never came up, but come on, the Machine knew him well enough for the If-Than-Else simulations! 

[wilnil]

IIRC, Fusco was listed as an asset at some point (maybe in If-Then-Else itself), but yellow box simply designates that you know about the Machine.

[bros402]

12 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

That Harper , Pierce and Joey probably became official yellow box assets before Fusco makes me question  everything about the Machine.  I know his number never came up, but come on, the Machine knew him well enough for the If-Than-Else simulations! 

Finch and Reese were the ones to best inform Fusco, not The Machine, The Machine regarded Fusco as an asset since... season 2?

[Dowel Jones]

Well, color me surprised.  A technology called shot spotter actually exists.  I just read about the real life application in Fresno, CA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfire_locator

[jhlipton]

On 6/7/2016 at 9:19 PM, Netfoot said:

It said simply 050313.  A number I will probably remember.  I may even have a T-shirt printed.

On 6/8/2016 at 10:42 AM, Good Queen Jane said:

Glarkware, take note.

050313 in simple block script.  Below that, in a "friendly" font "RIP Cocoa Puffs"

[Syme]

On 06/09/2016 at 10:26 PM, Netfoot said:

But does that mean that Shaw ⇄ Wy Knott???

Thanks for that.  Now I have to go digging in a lot of dusty old boxes...  :-)

Shaw? It was Root who showed up at the subway in a wedding dress!!

[blue otter]

On 6/8/2016 at 1:46 PM, DarkRaichu said:

Per wiki page, the Zero Day episode aired on Thursday May 2, 2013.  However, this was when the show aired on random day of the week so you could be right

Another possible interpretation of "050313" is 2005 March 13.
One topic in the news on that date did seem relevant.

"Did ChoicePoint End Run Backfire?
The data-collecting company has managed to avoid being bogged down by regulations -- until maybe now."
The full article is at: http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/13/business/fi-choicepoint13

[stealinghome]

Zero Day aired on 5/2/13, but Root (and John) received the call from The Machine at midnight, so midnight on 05/03/13. Root's grave is thus marked by the first day (moment) TM spoke to her directly.

[Dagny]

I've been rewatching the past 6 episodes this weekend and when Root was cajoling Harold to let the Machine fight back, she said "We will be the most principled corpses in Potter's field". And she ends up in Potter's field. sniff. Long live Root.