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Person of Interest: Baby Blue

“What are you going to do?”
“Whatever I have to.”

When I first realized this episode was about Finch and Reese taking care of a baby, I was so excited to see how awkward Reese would be with an infant. I was sure he would be totally out of his depth. Not so! Sure, Finch had to teach him to change a diaper and he learned the hard way to keep grenades out of the reach of children, but he did reasonably well (it was only tear gas, after all). And seeing him cuddling poor little Leila in the truck? So sweet.

Equally sweet were Finch’s interactions with Leila. He built a playpen for her out of books. He gave her one of his ties to play with. Both stoic, solitary men really warmed up to Leila. She reminded them why they do what they do. They keep the world (or at least New York City) safe for people like her. Because of what they do, she will grow up with her grandparents and not in some scary Eastern European orphanage.

I just can’t warm up to Enrico Colantoni as Elias. He is a really good actor and I usually love him, but I truly don’t find him threatening. Maybe I’ve seen too many Just Shoot Me! reruns. His voice is just so friendly and he looks so (dare I say it) huggable. He does at least keep me guessing. I really had no idea whether he was going to let Leila live or not.

Plus, I have no idea what’s going on between him and Moretti. Of course we’re expecting Elias to kill him brutally, but it would be so like the writers to throw in a twist here. Maybe Elias is willing to let him live for his cooperation or contacts or something. Maybe they’ve been working together all along. Moretti never seemed afraid of Elias. Is that hubris or confidence in his secret partner?

So it looks like Carter’s out of our quartet (now trio) of renegade crime fighters. But she’ll be back, right? I’ve already given my opinion on saintly, always-does-the-right-thing Carter. The constant battle between the “good” version of herself and the version determined to do some tangible good, even if it means coloring outside the lines has just become too much for her. Between the life of an innocent baby and the life of a murderer you’ve promised to protect, which is the one you choose to save? That’s not a choice Carter wants to have to make.

This episode really mixed the extremes of this show. The lighthearted interactions with Leila and that ridiculous sketch of Finch combined with the shooting of Officer Szymanski and Elias almost letting a baby freeze to death in a refrigerated truck really held my interest. Now that the characters and themes of the show have been established, I think (read: hope) the writers are feeling freer to move away from the dark episode / light episode pattern and mix it up more.

Bits and Pieces:

Holy crap, that is one adorable baby.

Hey! Let’s have a loud, indiscreet conversation about our dirty laundry in the front yard of our palatial estate! Gee, yeah! I’m sure no one will be listening in. It’s not like one of us just conspired to commit murder and kidnapping!

The scene with Reese and Leila in the truck really reminded me of Season One of Dexter. I’m not entirely sure why. I think it’s the combination of a refrigerated truck and an adult trying to protect a child in a scary, enclosed space (think Dexter in that shipping container...). Hopefully she’s too young to be scarred for life and forced into the shadowy ways of a serial killer.

Quotes:

“It’s no wonder they never catch anybody with these things!”
I laughed out loud at that sketch of Finch.

“John? John!? You trust him with a baby?”

“Congratulations! Is it your first?”
I always thought those two crazy kids might get together.

“You are one of the pies, Fusco.”
Who would have thought a line with the word “pie” in it would sound so threatening?

“Hacked is such an ugly word.”

“I’m teaching her to go undercover. She’s a natural.”
Leila with the black beanie! Oh so cute!

“Just a tear gas grenade.”
“It’s still a grenade!”

“I told you to move your arsenal.”
I loved Finch and Reese bickering like an old married couple.

Three out of four completely adorable babies
---
sunbunny

7 comments:

  1. I do love this episode. Finch and Reese are adorable with the baby and the baby is just plain adorable. I was even able to suspend disbelief that there wasn't a LINE of potential adoptive parents around the block. Abandoned babies are newsworthy. A cute, white baby with no parent in the picture so they didn't have to pay for expenses during the pregnancy? She would have found a family immediately. But she was so cute with Reese and Finch that it flashed through my mind and then I just enjoyed the adorableness.

    I do find Elias intimidating. His actions are so incongruous with his manner.

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  2. It's always fun when we get to see tough, never let them see you sweat men interact with a baby. There were a lot of times this episode truly made me smile.

    I must admit that Elias scares me. All of the malevolence hidden behind such a benign facade makes me shiver.

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  3. That is an adorable baby. So therefore, the truck scene was hard to watch.

    A powerful mixture of humour and darkness.

    Elias does spook me...

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  4. Holy cow, that has got to be THE cutest baby ever.*

    * Aside from my two daughters, that is. ;-)

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  5. "Baby Blue" sounds like a catastrophe on paper-basically Three, no Two Men and a Baby starring Michael Emerson and Jim Caviezel. In execution though, it's a lot more interesting. It is a deeply silly episode at times, and therefore slighter in construction than Person of Interest's very best, but the humor doesn't feel forced or out of place-partly because Person of Interest has always indulged in 80s action humor which works for me a lot better than boring Marvel humor, and partly because Michael Emerson and Jim Caviezel have such great chemistry together. Tying Elias' story arc from Season 1 into this more lighthearted episode is oddly effective. In general, Person of Interest mixes comedy and tragedy in a way rarely seen outside of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "Baby Blue" exemplifies this particular strength very well.


    3 out of 4.

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  6. Cutest baby ever... just the cutest thing
    Also the 'deformed sketch of suspect' trope is the funniest thing ever I couldn't stop rewatching it and wheezing with silent laughter
    I prolly shouldn't compare the two shows but I like this first season of PoI a lot better than Fringe's first, though without a doubt that's the smarter show. I watched a lot of this show sporadically back when it aired and I had a friend who liked it, but it only properly got on my radar when my dad mentioned watching it but dropping it because it got too weird in season 3 or something, which really sparked my interest. My dad has stupid plebeian baby-lala taste in TV so this struck me as probably a shift for the better and I can't wait to find out what the show did to scare him off.

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  7. What's surprises me is that no one seems to think that the plot with the baby is pretty ludicrous and outlandish. It's just too far-fetched that this wife of a rich man would murder someone and then try to have the baby disappeared because her husband had an affair.

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