Saturday, January 11, 2014

'Person of Interest' GifTweetCap: Rooting for Root

"Person of Interest" forced viewers to "root for Root" in the episode "Aletheia." I do enjoy when a show grows characters to the point where you have a completely different feeling about them than you had in the beginning. Even Reese, the fan-favorite, had sort of an opposite effect in this episode: he has become a whiny little baby. Understandable, with Carter gone, but we just want him to get over it already for the sake of the show and kick some ass! Am I right? By the way, I wrote about the new show Intelligence, which was on earlier the same night, and you can find that post here.
The last episode ended with Shaw, Finch, and Arthur being held captive by Control. Control orders Shaw to be killed right away, but just before that happens, Root begins popping off bad guys through the wall.
Our good guys are able to escape, but Root is captured. Control ties her to a chair, and threatens her with drug-torture to make her more willing to give up the Machine's location.
As a previous software engineer, I really appreciate this Root joke, and the following one about Control:
Meanwhile, Arthur remembers where the drives for the second machine -- Arthur's Samaritan machine -- are located. They are in a safe deposit box. While in the box vault with the bank manager, Collier shows up and begins shooting as Finch closes the vault. As luck (and stupidity) would have it, the manager gets kneecapped because she decides to stand right in the line of fire. 
Back to Root: she's deep in torture, and Control is just plowing through those dang needles filled with drugs. Control is also asking lots of stupid questions, such as asking for Root's "username and password." Ha!
The drugs don't seem to be working to make Root talk, so Control decides to begin cutting off her connection to the Machine by taking her hearing, sight, and ability to speak. She begins by removing Root's right stapes... without any pain meds! Root is now deaf in her right ear.
Turns out the Machine had been speaking with Root via high-pitched Morse-Code beeping that was outside Control's hearing range, using Control's own phone. Root sacrificed her hearing in the one ear in order to grab Control's scalpel and cut her restraints. Root even speaks as though she is possessed by the Machine, giving Control orders not to mess with Finch and the gang. In return, the Machine will continue to protect Control and the thing she holds most dear (whatever that may be).
Meanwhile, Reese and Fusco are sitting in a jail cell after their fight in the last episode. Reese continues to whine about not making a difference in the world. It's just too soon for him after Carter's death, but he throws in a couple of stinging insults at Fusco, saying Fusco will just go back to being a bad guy one day. Fusco has had enough, and reveals that he is in control of the situation: he was in the cell so he could force Reese to speak with him, but they are both free to go. Before he leaves, he tells Reese that Finch has been out of contact, and may be in trouble.
Finch convinces Arthur to destroy the Samaritan drives, as Shaw hatches a plan to create an escape route from the vault. Unfortunately, Collier and his Vigilance men are able to nab them anyway. Once again, Finch and Shaw have guns to their heads. Just as they are about to be killed, Reese and Fusco, dressed as Vigilance agents, save the day!
The gang isn't as lucky as they think they are, however: Finch learns that the bank manager was an impersonator; the real bank manager is dead! Worse, she switched out the drives! Root leaves the group to go find the impersonator, but the woman is soon killed by her boss: Greer! Taking the revelations a step further, Arthur had revealed that he had been able to fix Samaritan just before it was shut down -- so the drives contain a fully functional machine! All that, plus Reese decides to leave again!
Earlier in the episode, there was a flashback worth noting. When Finch was a teen in 1980, he hacked Arpanet! That means he hacked the beginnings of the Internet before it was the Internet!
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