Hi everyone. How are you? Still pretty moved/excited/freaked/heartbroken after the episode? Cause I sure am. All of these things and more. As you may have noticed, I don’t really write reviews for the show, honestly, time is not my friend here, but I decided to do an exception this week and do a one-off. Especially considering the magnitude of this brilliant hour.
Whenever I’m talking about
Person Of Interest, I’m referring to it by calling it one of the best shows made on TV in years (that I’ve had a chance to watch). And it’s just so wonderfully unique about many, many things. The creators of the show don’t even hesitate to make bold decisions about killing one of its main characters that has been there from the start. Especially someone with a lot of fans and played by a brilliant actress like Taraji P. Henson. Truth be told, it’s not even the call to do something quite risky like this, but it’s the
stunning execution of it that makes this show so special.
Joss and John – The good guys vs. everyone else
Let’s talk about Carter. Since the beginning of this season she’s been on a mission to end HR. And what a wonderful job she did. To make things even more impressive, most of the evidence she managed to collect to put 98% of HR members behind bars she found all on her own. But in this episode she needed some help to get both the evidence and the head of HR (and the Mayor's Chief of Staff) Alonzo Quinn to the FBI, since they were the only ones to be trusted at this point. And it seems like the entire city showed up to stop Joss and John from reaching the federal building. Which has created a number of great moments between the characters. I really enjoyed their conversations and comparing experiences, but I did not expect the kiss to happen. Never thought there was any indication of romantic feelings between the two, so even though it was a generally sweet scene, it felt quite out of place. Also, the second the kiss happened, I just had this awful feeling that Carter is not getting out of this one alive. And as it turned out in the last minute of the episode, it was a good guess. I was glad to see Joss finishing her mission and becoming a Detective again, but a part of me wishes that she went down fighting for her cause and not end up being ambushed in the alley outside of the police precinct. But at least she died with her friend by her side and had a chance to tell him something before dying and not went down without a word, in the middle of the chaos. It was a heartbreaking moment, a quiet, dark scene that made me freeze for a while after it ended.
Finch and Root – Trapped with no good options
The easiest way for Person Of Interest to make a powerful scene is just to put those two together in it. Finch and Root have a way of stealing the show for me, but this time everyone brought their A game and it’s impossible to choose who was the MVP this week. What’s so mesmerizing about the interactions between these two computer geniuses is the fact that both actors are definitely among the best ones on TV and also, their theories/feelings about the Machine end up creating so many possibilities for us to speculate about. I could spend hours just considering all the options… Finch in this episode had an awfully hard choice to make, between doing
everything to save his friends and preventing someone truly dangerous and completely unpredictable to be let free in the world. And truth be told, there’s no way of knowing whether he made a good decision. It’s hard to say if Root, with the Machine’s help could change anything for Carter. Especially knowing just how late the call about Joss’ number being next came. Unless of course the call at the end wasn’t about her. Which would probably be even worse.
An interesting suggestion about Finch’s past was brought up by Root this week. Is is true that he had partners before John, who helped him with everything? I never thought about it, so this came as a surprise to me. If he did, then what happened to them. Are they dead? Or Lost? Or just quit at some point? Here’s to endless possibilities!
Fusco and Shaw – The choices we make
Finally, the last duo I wanted to talk about is Fusco and Shaw, who were probably my favorite part of the entire episode. Ever since I’ve seen the promo for the episode 3.08 “Endgame” I could not stop worrying about Fusco. He was clearly presented as the hero who will fall during this three episode arc and considering the rumors about Kevin Chapman leaving the show, I was preparing myself to say goodbye to the character. And what happened to Det. Fusco in this episode was brutal, very emotional and absolutely heartbreaking. Getting beaten up and even tortured is one thing but to be forced to listen to someone aiming a gun at your child with every intention of pulling the trigger is probably one of the worst things I can imagine that can happen to a person. And to see someone as strong as Fusco breaking down in this moment was the thing that really killed me this week. It also led to my favorite Shaw scene/rescue ever with her showing up just in time to save Lionel’s son, even though it meant not being there for him when he was about to be executed. It was the best choice she could make and I was so happy she did it. Even if Fusco died a minute later it would still be a right thing to do and it’s so good to see Shaw showing some emotions and considering other people’s feelings. But the greatest, honestly the happiest moment of the episode, without a doubt was seeing Lionel getting free. I was so relieved, even though I was pretty sure I knew what it meant. After this episode, I hope to see more interactions between Fusco and Shaw. They really worked together so well. Everyone was so well matched this week.
Final thoughts
I am sad to see Carter go, she was a great character, a strong, smart woman who achieved so much and was a joy to watch fighting next to our guys every week. This episode was for her. And it was a perfect hour to say goodbye.
So, what did you think about the episode? Did you expect Carter to be the one to die? Do you have any favorite moments/episode with her that you would like to share with? Did you cry? How many times have you shed a tear during the episode? Is there anything you would change about it?
Justyna Kubica
21. Student. SpoilerTV Writer. Loves Movies, TV Shows (SPN, Doctor Who, Fringe, Merlin, Sherlock, Once Upon A Time, POI etc) and Books (HP). Fantasy&SciFi geek! Scene Of The Week articles author.
