Ricky Church reviews the second episode of Person of Interest season 5…
Given the dire nature the POI team has found themselves in, especially after the events of the season 5 premiere ‘B.S.O.D.’, you’d expect the follow up episode to build off the suspense. Instead, ‘SNAFU’ was perhaps the lightest episode of Person of Interest to date, even though things did get tense later on.
First off, I have to talk about the cold open. Person of Interest has had hilarious, light moments before, but nothing quite on this level. The Machine’s trouble identifying the team members was priceless as Michael Emerson, Jim Caviezel, Amy Acker and Kevin Chapman each did impersonations of each other. Acker was the best of the bunch though as she simply nailed each of her co-stars voices and mannerisms, from Emerson’s drawl to Chapman’s accent.
Things continued to be light as Root asked from some creature comforts while Reese and Fusco were sent on wild goose chases on the Irrelevant list. Some of these interludes were entertaining sides to the story, but of course there had to come a point where things got real for the POI team. It was very interesting to see Finch, Reese and Root’s past actions come back to haunt them slightly as The Machine interpreted everything they’d done as threats to its existence. Given the amount of time we’ve had with the characters as well, it’s easy to forget the type of people Reese and Root were prior to working for The Machine and while we know some of the questionable decisions Finch has made in regards to The Machine, we’ve never seen them from its (or ‘her’ if you’re like Root) perspective before.
Finch’s deeds against The Machine are a stark contrast to the flashbacks in ‘B.S.O.D’ as he regretted stripping away its memory in its infancy. Seeing footage of his work throughout the years has forced Finch to re-examine them through The Machine’s own eyes. He wanted The Machine to learn about context in this episode, but in the end it was actually Finch who got a lesson in context.
Reese’s side quest was a fun one as he had to fight off an assassin that was hired by The Machine. That particular revelation was surprising and put a new light on just how damaged it is, showing the POI team may have more to fear than they previously thought. Fusco’s case was also entertaining and it’s nice to see him earn a good win once in a while, though its also high time Reese and Finch filled him on the true nature of their work, especially since Fusco heard Finch mention the Irrelevant list.
‘SNAFU’ was an enjoyable and often hilarious episode of Person of Interest. While some might consider it a filler episode, it nonetheless deepened Finch’s relationship with his creation while reminding viewers the type of people Reese and Root were before the show, demonstrating just how far they’ve come. It will also be a long time before that great cold open is forgotten. Now that The Machine is slowly getting better, hopefully it won’t be too long before it and the POI team takes the fight to Samaritan head on.
Ricky Church
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published May 11, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
