Person of Interest has always been a mix between high-concept episodes and numbers of the week. Generally speaking, I’ve never minded those NOTW episodes as much as a lot of people do, but let’s be honest: some of them are better than others, and “Truth Be Told” is Not Good.
There are some decent ideas at the episode’s core. The writers wanted to remind us that-as Harold said last week-John’s heart is the heaviest, and he’s trying the hardest, by revisiting him before Harold and Joss (RIP) reformed him. The episode introduced a new C.I.A. character, Beale (Keith David!). It introduced the idea that Samaritan’s malware isn’t just static spyware but something that grows and changes and has an evolving long-term goal. It had the Machine communicating by channeling Emily Dickinson and Root in yet another totally incongruous but very cute outfit.
Via CBS
All of these are worthy purposes! The problem is the execution this time. Every once in a while this show hits its head and wakes up in a bad dream in which it’s exactly the bland, silly procedural everyone expected it to be when it debuted. I was sort of hoping that with the shortened season, the NOTW episodes-which I often find very engaging, even if they don’t move me to poetic heights like the first two episodes of this season-would be better handled than this. Even the title is generic.
I’ll deal with some of the problems in specific, but since I have no weighty ideas for you this week, let’s jump straight to Root and Shaw. Shaw remains Root’s priority: last week her to do list was stated in order of Samaritan, then Shaw, then numbers, but this week it was Shaw, then Samaritan. Root’s a lot more cheerful now that she has the Machine back in her ear and ever-changing assignments to keep her occupied, but the return to normalcy may have made Shaw’s absence feel even more urgent to her. (Judging by the promo and scuttlebutt, next week is going to be all about this and it is going to be A LOT TO HANDLE. I can’t wait.)
Via itberice
Root’s cover this week is fun, not least because it gave rise to the immortal line, “Sadly, all my identities can’t be bears or brides.” It also let her knock out a harasser more than once (I’m assuming “one too many safety violations” kept happening to her trainer). It sets up a charming quickie hacking sequence for her and Harold and puts her in a baseball cap. (I used to work in delivery service, and let me tell you, nobody looks that good in the uniform.) It’s perfectly fine, and Acker sells it as always.
Certainly Root’s plotline is the most intriguing part of the episode. Between the conclusions she’s drawn about Samaritan’s malware and the Machine’s cryptic way of hinting at it, I’m very curious: the Machine is an open system now. It can just say whatever it wants straight out. Why go via poetry?
Cocoon above! Cocoon below!
Stealthy Cocoon, why hide you so
What all the world suspect?
An hour, and gay on every tree
Your secret, perched in ecstasy
Defies imprisonment!
An hour in Chrysalis to pass,
Then gay above receding grass
A Butterfly to go!
A moment to interrogate,
Then wiser than a “Surrogate,”
The Universe to know!
Emily Dickinson’s “Cocoon above! Cocoon below!” is a very interesting choice. It’s only onscreen briefly-not long enough to read it properly-but I did manage to catch “Stealthy Cocoon, why hide you so/What all the world suspect?” and thought: hoo boy. And sure enough: a secret perched in ecstasy defies imprisonment. A moment to interrogate. Wiser than a surrogate the Universe to know. Part of me thinks this is some kind of foreshadowing for Shaw, but interestingly, my first thought on hearing Root describe how the malware was evolving-before I’d read the whole poem-was that it was like Samaritan had laid parasitic eggs in laptops across the country. (Enjoy that image.) I wonder if Samaritan is building not only spy programs but surrogates for itself in these devices? Backups? Bits of programming that will one day come together to strengthen Samaritan? Is this its Thornhill or its networked backup, akin to what the Machine was doing in Season 4? Does Greer know about it? Are the surrogates poised for some kind of digital “Correction” a la the criminal one that closed out last season? This could go a lot of places, and the more I think about it, the more interested I am.
(I know “gay” here just means cheerful, lighthearted, etc. in the anachronistic sense, but: what if it is about Shaw.)
THIS #PersonOfInterest @AmyAcker @PersonInterest pic.twitter.com/b9fI9hLmlj
– Ms. Groves (@BADCODE15) May 11, 2016
Bless this show’s PR department, honestly
Keith David was entertaining as John’s old boss, Terence Beale. At this point, I tend to start worrying the second Person of Interest introduces an intriguing, vaguely villainous black character, because we’ve had Cal Beecher, Alonzo Quinn, Dominic, Dominic’s various lieutenants, Zachary (Greer’s lackey), and whoever the woman was who recruited the overlooked number to Samaritan last week. At a certain point, you have to start to wonder about the proportion of black innocents to black criminals and masterminds in New York. (I suppose Carter’s ex-husband and son are still out there somewhere, so there’s that.)
But for now, Beale is interesting because he’s a shadowy figure who would have had some dealings with Northern Lights, but doesn’t seem to know anything about Samaritan, and his relationship with John is one we haven’t quite seen before. He likes and respects John, though he bears him no real love or loyalty, and he’s content to let him keep being a “ghost”-until, I assume, the next time John gets in his way. He comes off as a relic of the Cold War in some ways (the way he dresses, the way he carries himself). Perhaps he’s a less-altruistic twist on Justin Jackson. I can’t imagine the writers would spend an episode introducing Beale if they don’t intend to make further use of him, so it’ll be interesting to see what his role will turn into.
A quick rundown of the problems before I get out of here: The basic plot was already done lightyears better in “Root Path,” and the comparison doesn’t help. Clunky dialogue, which the actors usually smooth over very well, abounds in this episode. Yet somehow the clunk never transcends into hilarity, as often does happen on Person of Interest, especially when John or Shaw is talking. We’re stuck in the uncanny valley of clunk.
John’s attempt at “a normal life,” followed by a confrontation with the person he used to be, followed by rejection of said normalcy, might have been moving in theory. He says it’s the demands of the job, but obviously, it’s also that he feels he doesn’t deserve affection and peace. The problem is that Iris has never been established as a character we have any reason to care about or particularly respect, and their bond has never felt believable or desirable. They’re attractive people going through the motions, and when they broke up, I was simply relieved that John’s chance to retire to his proper position as Zoe Morgan’s eye candy/bang-maid is restored.
Final notes:
- Between the Times Square CGI and Keith David’s presence, I’m calling this episode a Mr. Robot crossover, which can only improve it.
- Last week the Machine’s rundown on John during the surveillance test showed he had a deceased sister. This week we find out he was adopted. I’m not exactly thrilled with Kara calling his adoptive family not “real,” but between these data points and John’s saying he has no siblings-which doesn’t mean he never had any before-it seems like his family background is going to be important.
- The Machine is lower-case “it” this week since it was kind of just chilling. No special events in the realm of pronouns.
- I always love when they mess with the opening credits. If I’m not mistaken, this was the first time we’ve heard Greer’s version of Harold’s usual monologue. The differences reflect their differences perfectly, of course.
- Root this week was the living embodiment of “do no harm, take no shit, beg no man pardon,” and I loved it.
- Again I say: #real
