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Person of Interest: Lady Killer

“Are you as excited about this as I am?”

From the promos, I was expecting a rip-roaring good time. (Apparently I’m in the mood for old timey slang. And parentheses. You are warned.) What we got was fun, but not the episode I was expecting.

Let’s skip over the darker implications of two men dressing up three attractive women in super sexy clothing and serving them up on a plate for a possible serial killer, shall we? I don’t think anyone will like heading down that particular rabbithole. Instead, let’s talk about the adorableness of three of our leading ladies all dolled up with a killer to catch. Both Zoe and Carter brought their A game, whereas Shaw looked uncomfortable (but hot). All totally in character. I had been expecting more girls night out hijinks. There was a decided lack of hijinks. And why in holy hell were we deprived of seeing Zoe and Carter try to de-angerize Shaw on the car ride over?

The weekly person of interest story was (yet again) sadly lame. I was excited when we were on the hunt for a serial killer, but when he turned out to be a mild mannered guy with computer research skills and commitment issues, I got bored. His justification of stalking as research was weak. ‘Women really like it when I know their credit ratings?’ What? And our team just accepts this? Plus, I’m sorry, but you cannot be that well organized without being a serial killer. It’s impossible.

This episode was just...uneven. Parts of it (our ladies at the club, Root’s escape) put a big smile on my face, but most of the episode left me unenthused. This show really needs to start at least attempting to fix their person of interest stories. A few have been good (the rapist and his mysterious end from season one come to mind) but most are predictable and bland. I’ve never really had a huge problem with this because everything else about the show is so amazing. But season three seems to be relying on these stories more without putting any extra effort into them. Person of Interest, you’re better than this and you know it.

Pennsylvania Two’s henchman Hersh attempted to kill Root (foolish henchman). She spares his life just like Reese did in “Booked Solid”. He was on the phone with a woman, possibly the same “ma’am” mentioned in “God Mode.” Hersh was on a quest to find Northern Lights (the government’s name for the Machine). I guess they haven’t picked up on the self-aware, completely at liberty thing yet. By the way, if you don’t know where something is and you want to find it, it’s probably a bad idea to shoot at the only person you think knows where it is.

Root made her escape with remarkably little carnage. The Machine seems to have a policy against unnecessary killing (inherited from its creator, perhaps?). I’ve been thinking of the Root/Machine alliance as a bad thing, but couldn’t it also be good? The Machine has helped Root calm down (or maybe that’s the Thorazine) and it kept her from killing both her doctor and Hersh. I had hopes that the pervy Dr. Carmichael might’ve been injured in Root’s flight, but he survived. I wonder if he’ll be back.

Reese and Carter: it is a Thing. I have given much thought to the Thing. Last season, I flipped out at the suggestion of a relationship between the two. Now I’m realizing my problem with it is less than Reese and Carter being together and more with a change in tone for the show. If a Ross and Rachel, Sam and Diane thing had started last season, it would’ve taken over control of the show. But now that we have more of an ensemble cast, I think there’s less danger of that. So, basically, the PoI writers have my blessing to do what they will with these two (I know it’s what they’ve been waiting for). Just please, don’t let this show turn into Castle or Bones.

I loved the scene where our lovely ladies compared weaponry. It was funny, yes, but I think this was done to communicate something about Carter. She’s sort of halfway between Zoe and Shaw. Like Shaw, she’s tough as nails and perfectly able to take care of herself (Shaw and Carter had guns, whereas Zoe only had a taser, given to her by Reese). Like Zoe, she’s charming and comfortable in evening wear. Is Carter the perfect woman for Reese? Was this somehow signaled by Ian going after her and bypassing Zoe and Shaw?

The conversation between Shaw and Reese about her sex life was random, awkward, and a little pointless. What are they doing with Shaw? This episode made a point of her increasingly close relationship to Bear. I understand why she would love Bear (who wouldn’t?) but why make it such a large part of the episode?

Bits and Pieces:

Shaw did not eat this week, sadly. She did down a shot of vodka.

Ian had a flier for a missing woman in his apartment. This was never explained.

Why did Finch put Carter’s real name and profession on her fake dating profile? She’s a cop; wouldn’t that be a turn off for a potential serial killer?

Synchronized knee cap shooting...new olympic sport?

I loved Reese waiting for Zoe outside the bar like a faithful dog, while the literal dog was in the bar with Shaw.

I loved the Root shootout. That backwards shot reminds me of River in Serenity. Actually, now that I think about it, Root and River have a lot in common.

Quotes:

Shaw: “Our guy just went from blue blood to hipster faster than you can say ironic facial hair.”
Finch: “I don’t understand anything you just said.”

Shaw: “Guy’s a chameleon. Organized, efficient, sociopathic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that...”

Root: “God doesn’t need AT&T.”
If God had a cell phone, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have AT&T.

Dr. Carmichael: “You know, Robin, we’re all fallible.”
Root: “Oh, not all of us.”
Does anyone else keep waiting for them to play with the fact that Root thinks the Machine is God and Jim Caviezel played Jesus?

Shaw: “Really? A yoga instructor?”
Reese: “You’d prefer trained killer?”

Reese: “You look fine Shaw. You just look...angry...all the time.”

Fusco: “You know this place is a rip off. Club soda cost me five dollars. Nice view, though.”
Oh, Fusco.

Shaw: “What’s he doing? Should I shoot him?”
Carter: “Not yet.”
Love the nonchalance.

two and a half out of four stolen prescriptions
---
sunbunny, Person of Interest and Bear the Dog fangirl

13 comments:

  1. Let’s skip over the darker implications of two men dressing up three attractive women in super sexy clothing and serving them up on a plate for a possible serial killer, shall we? I don’t think anyone will like heading down that particular rabbithole.


    Yeah, that was weird, especially since it would have been in character for either Carter or Shaw to have made a joke about that. The way the scene was shot, too, with the camera taking the perspective of Reese and Finch staring at all three women at once, was just tacky.

    Last week, I felt like PoI was phoning it in, or in the hands of an new writer. I felt the same way this week: everything a bit off, including some of the dialogue.

    Except for the Amy Acker parts, of course, which were spectacular.

    I thought this episode was suggesting the Reese and Zoe were a couple.

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  2. Josie - Yeah I thought it was pretty clear they'd been seeing each other occasionally (or more than), but I do think they might be setting up Carter to be a love interest.

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  3. Wouldn't it be wacky if this show had a love-triangle plot? :-)

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  4. I reckon Shaw and Bear hanging out is just to humanize Shaw a bit. From what she's said about herself, and her actions, she doesn't connect easily with people and in fact prefers to stay away from it. She enjoys the company of Bear because dogs are simple, also awesome. Actually I think all the little beats with Shaw were just to flesh her out. And I think her and Reese's segue into her dating life was fair enough, considering that she just asked Reese if he was dating the other two ladies. He asked her if she was dating and she said no, she's more of a one night stand person. Simple.

    I guess they just ignored Ian's behavior because there were "bigger fish to fry" so to speak. Granted, it was super creepy, but Finch's Birds of Prey (Batman reference, bam!) have let more dangerous folk walk away after they've handled a situation. Case and point being Hersh. Who knows? Maybe Ian will make a reappearance and his stalker-tendencies will breed a more unpleasant situation.

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  5. Dana died at age 29 not 39 as you state in your review.

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  6. That flier for the missing woman really bugged me. Why did they bother to introduce it if they were going to do nothing with it? It almost makes me think this episode was victim of last minute rewrites.

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  7. Haha, yeah Mark, I can't get that flyer out of my head. I suppose we could think of it as a cheap red herring to make us more suspicious.

    It does feel like this particular case left quite few loose ends to tie up though. It didn't even have a moment where the gang kinda reflects on the case, even though the ending bar scene could've been used as that moment. I suppose it was either that or have the scene where poor Hersh gets punked by yet another target.

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  8. Mark and Freeman - Right? All they needed was one throwaway line about how someone on the street had handed him that flier.

    Anon - Thank you for your correction. The line has been removed.

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  9. I actually really enjoyed this episode! I thought the discussion about dating between Reese and Shaw was hilarious. I guess I didn't really notice if they were really setting up a Reese + Carter relationship. A close bond, yes, but love? I guess we'll see.

    Actually the only thing that bother me (besides the flyer thing) was a detail. What did Ian do with the limo driver after he punched him? Did he push him out of the car, right there in front of the school? Was he still on the front seat of the car, unconscious? But then, the kid could have seen him? Also, how did the driver not logde a complaint against Ian? I guess that's another loose end on this story.

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  10. I was also trying to figure that out. I eventually concluded that Ian shoved the dude onto the floor space on the passenger side. It's the only possible option I can think of. Still don't know how he would've did that without drawing any attention though.

    I did like that his little baby hand was hurt by punching out the driver. That's a detail that's often glossed over in...anything really.

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  11. Man, this episode could have been great. At the start I was pretty intrigued - a chameleon-like serial killer stalking women, bringing them home and killing them? Not that that storyline hasn't been done before, but it'd be new for PoI and they could write a hell of a story. Instead they just decided to make him... an ordinary guy. And the real baddie had such a bland reason to go after him too. It's like they brought in a new writer after half the script was done, and he absolutely missed all the setup and just wrote a standard second half.

    Which is a shame because there was a fair bit of humour and some cool scenes. Having Zoe back was great. This is the third so-so episode in a row so I'm starting to get a little worried :/ the CBS formula's starting to creep in.

    It seems like they're relegating the main team to doing weekly PoI stories, while using the Root subplot to drive the larger story arc. Which isn't necessarily bad, but it shortchanges them a little - but given the end of this episode, I'm hopeful it might change.

    Also, is anybody else really sad that they seem to have shelved Fusco? They did a lot of great things with his story and made him this wonderful three-dimensional character, and... nothing. They just dropped it. No more internal struggle, no more fighting HR, not even that much screen time! Pretty disappointing to see my favourite character get draw the short straw :(

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  12. This was definitely a flawed episode, especially the person of interest plot. But the three women together were great, reminding me of when the cast of this show was mostly the two guys. Personally, I loved Shaw with the dog. And I love how the Machine is taking care of Root while making certain she doesn't kill anyone.

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  13. I'm afraid I went down the rabbit hole and, for the first time ever, was pissed off by an episode of PoI. The writers have been relatively good in the past about having good, strong women, but this story (dress them up and then have them compete to win the attention of a man) sent me over the edge.

    I did like the Root story and I like the way she listens to The Machine. This is going to be fun to watch.

    Oh yeah, I think they more than implied it. I think they came right out with the fact that Zoe and Reese are a couple now.

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