Person of Interest - Wingman - Review: "Funnier than the Fall comedies"

What a great episode. ‘Wingman’ cleverly combined the great elements of Person of Interest – comedy, number-of-the-week and the serialised element – to create the third great episode of the fourth season.

It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen a lot of Fusco in an episode. His character is a lot of fun, and he always takes the stress away from scenes. Kevin Chapman plays the character so well, making him very enjoyable to watch. Even back when Fusco wasn’t a good guy, he was fun to watch.

The writers used this to good effect. After two heavily packed episodes (that followed four at the end of last season), the majority of this episode aimed to relax viewers, and it did so very well.

I loved Fusco’s interactions with Andre throughout the whole episode. The first scene with the pair was fantastic, with two particular quotes standing out. The first was the discussion about “yesterday’s suit”, before Shaw then says “Holy crap. That is yesterday's suit.” The second was Fusco saying that he would be the one to kill Andre.

It took most of the episode, but by the end (after Fusco helped save Andre’s life), they both warmed up to each other. Andre is definitely one of my favourite number-of-the-week characters thus far. Ryan O’Nan was great in the role, and I’d be quite happy to see him back in the near future.

Reese’s storyline was also very funny. The opening scene where he shot a perp from a bus was superb. I also loved his shrug of the shoulder when Fusco was looking at him, and his almost humble brag that it’s the fourth guy he’d kneecapped this month. Jim Caviezel is such a great actor, and Reese’s character is so good, especially when he taps into his ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mode.

His interactions with the new Captain were interesting. I found it slightly strange how quickly it went from her disliking him to her actually liking him, though I guess that’s what happens when you close three cases in a day.

There’s been a lot of discussion as to whether her and Reese are going to get together, which I hope doesn’t happen, simply because the show doesn’t need it. She will be a useful character to have in the background during the course of this season. I also can’t yet figure out what the purpose of her smoking addiction is, though I’m sure we’ll find out in due course.

I’ve saved the best bit of the episode for last, however. At what point did this show become a crossover with LOST? The scenes with Mr. Egret (notice yet another bird name for Finch) were almost as if Michael Emerson was once again playing Benjamin Linus. When he said “It’s because I have only two modes, Jerry… calm and furious. It’s a rare person that sees the latter and lives to talk about it” – how great was that?

I felt it was made even better by the fact that it came so soon after his concerned “Are you feeling a little exposed having an anti-tank missile in our possession in the middle of Manhattan, or is it just me?” Michael Emerson is such a superb actor, and he has been given so many great opportunities to showcase his skills on Person of Interest.

As for Finch’s storyline, I liked the covert buying and selling of the missile. It’s nice to see Finch and Root working together. I enjoyed the fact that the survival from Samaritan storyline took a backseat in this episode, but it was good that it still continued. Now Team Machine have a lot more resources to try and fight Samaritan, and it’s a superb prospect.

Odds and ends:

• This episode was easily funnier than any of the new Fall comedies to date.
• I’m sure Reese and Shaw will find a use for that missile.
• “This is more like a… like a five-day situation. Maybe seven.”
• “I was just about to close my third case of the day. Wanted to make sure you didn’t die before I had a chance to brag about it.”
• Some great scenes for Bear in this episode, finally!
• I loved Reese’s takedown of the guy at the docks.

In all, this was another really strong episode of the show. What were your thoughts on the episode? Be sure to leave a comment below, as well as checking out the promo for the next episode, 'Brotherhood' below.

Bradley Adams

16 year old in England. I'm a big TV fan, with my range of shows almost exclusively dramas. Some of my all-time favourite shows include 24, LOST, Breaking Bad and Friends. Some of my current favourites include Person of Interest, Arrow and The Walking Dead. I review Person of Interest, Stalker and Scorpion for Spoiler TV. I also run an Arrow blog, ArrowFansUK, as well as my own tv blog. Aside from TV, I'm a keen cricketer. Get in touch with me via the links below or via email bradley@spoilertv.com

Recent Articles by Bradley Adams (All Articles)