The Man in a Suit

I’ve waited to do this. I’ve waited a couple of hours after having watched the episode, not because of spoilers, but because I had to cope. I still haven’t, and it’ll be long, but, for now, I am able to write this.

IN MEMORY OF JOHN REESE

I’ve always been biased, can’t deny it, I’ve loved all characters on the show, but, well, if I had to pick, I’d always pick John. Then Joss. My favorite characters not just in Person of Interest, but of any other show or book or movie, simply, two of my favorites of all times.

When Carter died, I was lost, it took me a while to cope and, honestly, I still can’t make myself watch that specific episode, well, I guess it’ll be the same for Return 0. In truth, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, even though, apparently (because I haven’t watched it) the trailer for the finale had been wrapped up in a way that it seemed that it would be Finch to sacrifice (and here I could say they tricked us again, just like they did with Carter), I kinda knew, since long, that it would be John instead. I’ve always had the feeling he would be the one to go because they let it slip through half words, till Nolan openly admitted that, hadn’t it been for Sarah Shahi’s pregnancy, they would have had to have a “complicated talk with Jim”, meaning that, yes, they were going to kill off John Reese. Jokingly, Nolan also said it at the SDCC (or was it Paley? Can’t quite remember), when asked what would happen in the 100^th episode of the series, and honestly, to some extents, her fans will forgive me, but I was almost relieved it was Root to go instead. Relieved just for a moment, then I realized there were still 3 episodes left and, because war requires sacrifice, and the sacrifice of the queen is the most valuable one, it couldn’t have been anybody else but John. I think that, looking back, he was destined to end like this, it was almost written that he would sacrifice to save others, and for a hero, there’s certainly no other way to go.

You know that the stages of grief are five, and after shock and denial, there’s anger, therefore yes, I kinda feel angry as well, because they could have given him a more proper death: sure, it was poetic, to end in such a heroic way, and the flashbacks about him as a child, it was great, but still. I know that the season was short and they had very little time to wrap it all up, but that he dies, and no one even grieves, we just go directly to the peace part, it doesn’t feel right, but then, Root had the same fate, probably worse, considering she died all alone, while, to the very least, John had The Machine beside him and could say goodbye to Harold, so I guess it makes sense. Therefore we’re back to depression, skipping bargaining and delaying acceptance.

It’s like mourning a friend you just lost, and I know it’s irrational, but pretty impossible to avoid, I bet you guys can understand me, well, Irrelevants can, after all, we’ve already felt it in season 3, for Carter, and in season 5 for Root. Though it’s also a problem of mine, I just can’t bear the deaths of fictional characters, I get too invested in shows and books and such, therefore it’s traumatic. Yes, if I had a penny  for the time I’ve felt more for a fictional character than for a real person I’d have the money to pay the psychiatric help I obviously need, but that’s not the point.

This is in memory of John Reese, The Man in a Suit, our hero, our Dark Angel.

I cried. I have to admit it. I’ve never once, not one single time, cried, truly cried over a fictional death, yes, I was emotional for Carter, yes, I shared a tear when Sirius Black died in Harry Potter, same goes for Dumbledore, Fred Weasley, and the others Rowling sacrificed, but never once did I truthfully cry like an infant. This time I did. Although, truth be told, I cried throughout half of the episode. It was that much strong, be it because it was the end of such a marvelous show or because it was really heartbreaking.

We always knew John was on borrowed time, as The Machine said, and that might be true, but I kinda feel they just got rid of him, maybe because he would have been the most painful death. Way to teach fairy tales don’t exist. (Sorry, the stages of grief keep swapping places)

The biggest regret is that, aside from Jessica and CIA, we didn’t really get to know everything of him, barely now we know his real last name, which makes me want to sit down a write a fanfiction fully based on John Reese’s old life, and wasn’t I so busy with real life, I might.

What we do know is, that he lost his family, his dad died a hero (we had no doubt), and John molded his life to be the same, although we could have had some more insight into his relationship with his dad, and maybe we would have had it, hadn’t time been so little. John strayed a little, but in the end he got back on track, and I’m sure his father is proud. We also know he joined the Army because of a fight he got involved in, and that he joined CIA because of 9/11, that he left Jessica because of that, and that, hadn’t Finch found him, he would have let himself die because of her loss. John Reese in a nutshell, you could say. Better said, his life.

If I had to describe John Reese, I’d say not all heroes wear capes, some wear a suit. A good man, despite all his mistakes, and I think that’s the best part of him, he’s been on both sides, darkness and light, and he chose light, he got on a path to redemption willingly, and he stayed there, despite his demons. I think that’s the essence of humanity. There are no good or bad people, we all have good and evil inside, what we are, it’s up to what we choose, and John Reese kinda mirrors us, with his struggles to be a good man after all that darkness, actually, we’ve seen that he’s made a lot of progress since season 1, thanks to Finch and Carter, thanks to friendship, which is one of the best things in the world, if you ask me, because when it’s real, true, actual, it fulfills you in a way that you could never imagine. It’s a pure love, without the hormones part.

John Reese is one of the most perfect characters ever written, and I’m not biased when I say that Jim couldn’t have portrayed him better than that, I couldn’t picture anybody else in that role, same goes for the others, but specifically Jim.

This death is still very bitter to me, and part of me tells me it could have been done better, but in the end, it made sense, after all, we can’t always have a happy ending, well, technically Finch had it, though I bet that, had they had a full season, the writers would have done even better than this, even if this is enough to send us to a shrink. The bitterness remains, but I force myself to recall they had too little time, though that doesn’t mean I won’t be mourning for a while longer, because, just the same as I had lost a good friend, I try not to think of it, because thinking of it makes me kinda depressed.

Well, all that remains is to say THANK YOU to this amazing cast and crew.

5X01 BSOD - REVIEW

Guess who’s back?

No, not Voldemort...well,it depends,you might see the similaritie with Samaritan...anyways, not Voldemort.

The best, best, best show ever is back! Finally! After a whole year! 365 days without Person of Interest, and now we’ve finally been put out of our misery! And with what premiere! Let’s comment it together. 

This episode was a mix, a huge flashback to remind us what happened, and everything that happened. Now, the intro, we’d already seen it, I think it was at San Diego Comic Con that they showed it, but really, it presumes nothing good.

If you can hear this, you alone, the only thing left to fuss is the sound of my voice. I don't knwo if any of su made it. Did we win? Did we lose? I don't know. I'm not even sure I know what victory would mean anymore. And either way,it's over. So let me tell you who we were. Let me tell you who you are. And how we fought back.

This is evidently a flash forward, a trick that Jonah certainly is well accustomed with, given how much his brother Christopher uses it (you might have seen the mind-blowing Memento). My guess is,she's talking to Samaritan: let me tell you who you are.

I don’t know how many of us are left, Root says. Frightening, to say the least. Then again, we’ve already been warned that not all of our heroes make it out alive, Michael has implied it more than once, tweets give us an inkling … in a word, we’re pretty sure not everybody will live. 

But … we’re talking about a cast that shot Carter’s death twice with a different character just not to spoil anything, they told us that in season 4 finale at least 6 people would die, we fussed, yet it was only some recurring characters (I actually felt bad about Grice, it would have been cool to know his history with Shaw). So … not all is lost. Do remember that they like to have us suffer, though. 

This season is, sadly, the last one (unless Netflix becomes deus ex machina and picks up this unprecedented show, fingers crossed), and they said they were gonna drop the mic, leave with a boom … we’re not gonna make it out intact, know it. Anyways, we were left to our Team being chased by Samaritan’s goons all over New York, and the first scene we see, is John holding the case with what remains of the Machine. So they split, a few things are left to our intuition, but I think it’s reasonable that it was the same night and the few days after that. So let me resume it: 

• John is on the run with the case.
  
• Finch is on the run.
• Root has the worst of it, the sole fact that it was Zachary, Greer’s number one minion after Martine and Jeremy, says it all, she’s the one whose head they want the most, because she’s in contact with the Machine, she’s the interface.
• Fusco is undergoing an investigation from IA and FBI about Elias and Dominic’s deaths. 

Finch and John finally find each other again, and coolly, Harold saves his bro’s ass (I’m itching to see him handle a gun, seriously). But our Harry has bad memories of ferries … we all remember how Nathan left this world, don’t we? Our heroes finally step on and try their luck, while Fusco has to deal with Detective Soriano and the guy from FBI. 
In the beginning I thought it was Samaritan to have arranged the whole thing about him getting arrested for murdering the two kingpins, yet then I realized that those two investigating were actually ruining the evil AI’s plans. That’s why Soriano conveniently had problems with his peacemaker, and the FBI guy … he changed his mind out of the blue, how comes? So from suspect, Fusco became hero. 

However … our dear detective is too clever to just let everything slide, and, sounding like a perfect conspiracy nut, he goes on and on about some higher plot to kill Dominic and Elias. It’s only gonna get messier and messier from here, no doubt, we’ve seen in the extended preview that he gets shot, but I wonder, will he finally get to know about the Machine and Samaritan? 

I know his friends are protecting him by not telling him, but wouldn’t it be fair if Lionel knew what is he up against? The less people know, the better, yes, yes, but still, Fusco has been fighting side by side with Team Machine since the beginning more or less, why not just let him in? After all, he’s faced Samaritan’s goons either way. Just tell him already. What do you think? 
My guess is, what gets him shot is this search for truth he’s started, Samaritan’s gonna be on his tail, and we know how fast the evil thing is growing. 

Speaking of that … I find it alarmingly creepy that Samaritan can just switch humans on and off like it wants, incite civilians against our Team, like it did in the subway scene, just use human beings like pawns in a chess game, in fact. Finch said that about The Machine, but it’s Samaritan to be actually enacting that. I feel like this war is like the ones Greek gods fought amongst them, using human beings the same as a child would use those plastic soldiers to play. 

I mean, in the Greek myth, gods sided with this or that hero, helping them, but always indirectly, same as The Machine and Samaritan have been doing, though those gods didn’t just help, they had their games to win, and the assets, the plastic soldiers, were humans. It’s a huge metaphor that creepily applies to our world in real life as well, if you think about it. Then again, PoI is well known for the cultural references. 

The talk between Harold and The Machine was very sweet, it felt like a cute little kid asking countless questions to her dad. And when he rethinks his decision of erasing her memories every night? Touching, to the very least. The analogy with Harold’s father only made it more heartbreaking, I honestly had tears in my eyes. It was refreshing to see how Finch has changed his opinion about The Machine, we’ve seen that ever since he started the project, he thought of it as a possible enemy, never a friend, yet now, their relationship is becoming more and more the father-daughter type. He gave her the she pronoun for the first time, even, and that actually counts more than you might think, because it means that, officially, The Machine is indeed the same as a human being for him now, not an asset, not a simple artificial thing, but a real person indeed. 

Nathan and Grace giving him advice was sweet, it really felt like a true parent talking to his friends about his teenage daughter giving him a hard time. I’m sure those of you that have children might be able to relate to his issues, broadly speaking. 

Now the subway scene. 

Do you see any references here? On a funny note, why is it always the subway? It’s like a theme that keeps coming back, since the pilot, and I wonder if it’s involuntary or it was prepared since the beginning.

I love how Reese and Root’s relationship has been changing since their beginnings. They were mortal enemies, he didn’t trust her one bit, she was bitchy, annoying, let’s not forget she kidnapped Harold … yet, they’ve grown fond of each other, now it’s like they’re those siblings that keep bickering but will always have each other’s back. 

I love the way he thinks of her, fusses over protecting her, like a real big brother. I love how he’s practically that for both her and Shaw. Then again, we know our Team Machine is like a real family, where Finch is the cautious dad, Reese is the navigated big brother that keeps his unruly little sisters under his protective wing, and Fusco is the crazy uncle that makes you laugh with his hilarious stories. Although, I guess given the progress we’ll see with Shoot, I shouldn’t say Shaw and Root are sisters, but whatever (don’t hold it against me, I love them together, but really, this ship is fan service). 

Where are we going next? The end of the episode left us with hope: The Machine has restarted living, more or less, things might get better. Fusco is inquiring on Elias and Dominic’s deaths. He found a bullet the sniper left (which already stinks for me, because I don’t think Samaritan agents would be that sloppy), and he’s gonna look into it. 

Things are gonna get chaotic, no doubt. Until the next time, my fellow Irrelevants! This is gonna be a very hellish month, I was antsy even before watching the episode, and because we’re gonna get two episodes a week not, I need to remind you to book your sessions with the best shrink you can find, because we’re not gonna come out of this intact, you know it. You guys think I can resurrect Freud for the purpose?

me before watching every episode

Comment here or on the page,if you like,let me know what you think about this season premiere!

- All about Person of Interest admin aka Gio

Only 20 days left. PoI premiere!

Alright,take a deep,deep breath. We're close.

We've waited and waited and waited...and it's finally here! Well...almost.

There are 20 days left to PoI!!

Remember where we left?

Right here. 

The  genie is in the bottle. The Machine,barely alive,is locked in a case that served to save her. Our heroes are on the run,facing unnumebered Samaritan agents. The situation is pretty much desperate. Oh, Shaw is still alive but in the hands of Samaritan (they kinda brainwashed her).

Now, here's a little synopsis of what's gonna happen:
Reese and Finch attempt to rescue the Machine’s source code before it deteriorates beyond repair. Also, Root fights for her life against an onslaught of Samaritan’s agents and Fusco is faced with hard questions following the deaths of Dominic and Elias.

Big returns:

Nathan Ingram. Obviously in a flashback (sadly). Last time we saw him,it was 2x22 Zero Day (yes,two whole seasons without a single Nathy moment,I'm as outraged as you are).

We found out how he died: ferry bombing,the government kinda killed him because he was being a little too nosy,which sounds like pretty much almost all of the CIA based movies,now that I think about it,hmmm...

Either way,my guess is,we're gonna review how The Machine was first created.

Grace Hendricks. I'm actually very curious. I mean,last time,we left her that she was moving to Italy,to be safe from Samaritan and its agents. What could happen now?

Maybe we'll see her in a flashback,too,something about Finch living his love story with his Grace while building the Machine? Mmh...doesn't sound too realistic. Maybe she'll come back?

What do you think? Why is Grace back (if she is at all)?

Other recurring characters are Zachary,Greer's muscle,and it's very easy to imagine why is he there,I mean,with the whole fight and such.

Then there's Detective Soriano. We've seen him only once,in 2x20 In Extremis. He was investiganting on Stills' death,and of course,the suspect was Fusco.

Because the press release says Fusco will be interrogated about Elias and Dominic's deaths, it's obvious why is Soriano here.

Fingers crossed,we're also gonna find out something more about our Lionel,because,let's face it,he's only had one episode about him,and it's been four seasons.

Now,the title of the episode. B.S.O.D.
Blue Screen of Death. It's an expression used to describe the display on a PC that has experienced a fatal system error. Windows-based systems show a blue screen when facing such situation,from there the acronym.

Sadly,it's out poor Machy.

But,fear not! Team Machine is already on the move! They're gonna save her....hopefully without casualties. 

The episode supposedly (bts seem to imply that) starts from a few months from that last fight we saw in the season 4 finale,which figures,after all,it's been a whole year. They started shooting by July if I remember right,so I guess it's gonna be at least two months from that battle.


There are still 20 days left,though. Keep counting!