Person of Interest 3x09 Review
Jun. 30th, 2015 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iaria3x09 'The Crossing'
I enjoyed it. It was really well done episode.
I admit they managed to fool me. I spent the previous episode on the edge of my seat waiting for Joss to die and then I spent all of this episode waiting. But when we entered the wrap up phase at the end I figured that it wasn't going to happen. That along with the new John/Joss turn and I figured she was probably safe until the end of the season. And then the phone rang and it was like 'damn it!' I should have known when the show gave her scenes with both Fusco and Finch.
• I'm going to miss Joss Carter. She was a wonderful character and, like everyone else on this show, someone I really enjoyed watching. I wish she could have been on the show longer, I was hoping she'd be around till the end of the season, but I knew going into the show that she was going to die so I always knew this was coming.
If they had to kill her off I actually like how they did it. She took down HR which was something she had been working so hard for. She got justice for Beecher, all the other victims of HR and for herself. She was vindicated to her co-workers and given back the detective rank that she had earned and deserved. She won. And then she died because sometimes that's what happens when you take on a giant criminal organisation. But she died a hero, and she died shooting.
• I am a bit pissed off with what the show did with Reese/Carter. They have had a very close bond for a long time. They have a trust and understanding and care that goes deep. But contrary to most procedurals their relationship has never been a 'will-they/won't-they' one. There have definitely been times I've wondered about Reese's feelings for her, moments were it seemed ripe for one of them to make a move and yet the show never went there. They were partners, they were friends, and they loved each other (even if they never said) but it wasn't a romance. Until this episode. I've been thinking back over the season and I can't see any build-up to this. Their relationship has proceeded exactly as it always has.
Here's the thing - everything both of them did makes complete sense to me for their characters. John's Number is up and he thinks this is the end so if he did have feelings for Joss then I can see him revealing them exactly as he did. Joss is dying, and knows it, so she gets out the most important thing first [her son] and then she tries to help John ["don't let this..."] because she cares for him and doesn't want this to make him self-destruct. In theory it's fine, it works. In reality it really bugs me that the show handled it this way.
The fact that they chose her death episode to finally bring up the romantic question between them and answer it firmly with yes; that they had John essentially confess his love 20 minutes before she died; that they had her die in his arms with her literal last words being about him - it makes me a little angry. It feels like they threw the romance in only because they were going to kill her off and wanted to make it as angsty as possible for Reese. It's as if their platonic relationship wasn't enough, didn't cause enough pain for Reese. It made it about him instead of her.
• "You changed my mind Joss. You changed me." - Reese. Um. ??? It's been six months or so since I watched season one but that's not how I remember it happening. Reese and Carter barely interacted those first few episode. What changed Reese was meeting Finch and being given "a job and a purpose". A way to atone for his past and to help people. I'm pretty sure he's said exactly that in a previous episode. It's like they realised at the last moment that they hadn't laid enough ground-work for a love confession. I'm really not a fan of this attempted retcon. Really, really not.
• Despite the above I did enjoy the Reese/Carter scenes. I loved them comparing scars. Their final scene was nice too and I loved the bit about his gun.
• I loved that Carter figured out about the Machine on her own.
• Fusco really shone. It was such a good episode for him. I loved pretty much everything with him - snarking with Shaw, helping the ambulance escape the police blockade, remaining defiant in the face of HR torture and threats, the phone call scene, him breaking his thumb in order to escape and taking down Peterson about to kill him. He really impressed me.
• My favouite scene was actually Lionel's 'final' phone call. It was some brilliant acting by Kevin Chapman. Fusco's refrain to Lee that he was there and it was going to be okay was heartbreaking. His breakdown, then uncomprehending confusion when Shaw started talking and relief when he realised. I loved how solemn Shaw was, even for her!, when she was explaining that she had to choose and the fact that she was clearly emotional when she apologized to him. I loved Lionel's "You did good. You did good." The only negative in the scene was Peterson letting Fusco chat on the phone for so long for no understandable reason.
• Fusco/Shaw were delightful. Their snarking at the beginning was really fun. I really liked how honestly worried Shaw was when he was taken and her "Lionel?" That phone call was great. Their final scene of snarking with genuine heartfelt emotion was wonderful. I loved it all.
"You know the dog's the only one who likes you right?" - Fusco. LOL.
"I would have gone for the head myself but of course you have plenty of padding there too." - Shaw. I find their bicker-teasing adorable.
• Finch/Reese didn't interact much again but what we did get was great. I loved Finch saving Reese by getting him arrested (and Reese's wry amusement). Then there were the Root/Finch talks that made it very clear just how important Reese is to Finch and were all about Finch's attachment to Reese - her noting that he was "so upset" at the beginning and his expression when she correctly guessed that Reese was the new Number; her pointing out that "he means a great deal to you"; the fact that she glomped onto Reese and more specifically Reese in danger as Finch's weak spot; her calling John Finch's "creation"; and her final bid for freedom being to promise Finch "I'll return him to you. Unharmed." It was wonderful. I also liked that Finch went to the station to pick up John.
• I loved the Root/Finch scenes. They reminded me just how much I loved the two of them last season. I love how well she can read him. They have such great chemistry. That hand touch! Just how much of that all was real and how much her attempt to play him?
• "You have the relationship with her that you wanted. She respects that." - Root. Between this, Finch essentially referring to her as his child and his jealousy of Root's singular connection to the Machine, dare I hope that the relationship between Finch and the Machine is going to change? That we might get the parent/child relationship I really want?
• I liked that even Finch went out in the field to help.
• Okay, but seriously, why is the Machine sometimes so late in getting a Number to Finch? The inconsistency really bugs me.
I enjoyed it. It was really well done episode.
I admit they managed to fool me. I spent the previous episode on the edge of my seat waiting for Joss to die and then I spent all of this episode waiting. But when we entered the wrap up phase at the end I figured that it wasn't going to happen. That along with the new John/Joss turn and I figured she was probably safe until the end of the season. And then the phone rang and it was like 'damn it!' I should have known when the show gave her scenes with both Fusco and Finch.
• I'm going to miss Joss Carter. She was a wonderful character and, like everyone else on this show, someone I really enjoyed watching. I wish she could have been on the show longer, I was hoping she'd be around till the end of the season, but I knew going into the show that she was going to die so I always knew this was coming.
If they had to kill her off I actually like how they did it. She took down HR which was something she had been working so hard for. She got justice for Beecher, all the other victims of HR and for herself. She was vindicated to her co-workers and given back the detective rank that she had earned and deserved. She won. And then she died because sometimes that's what happens when you take on a giant criminal organisation. But she died a hero, and she died shooting.
• I am a bit pissed off with what the show did with Reese/Carter. They have had a very close bond for a long time. They have a trust and understanding and care that goes deep. But contrary to most procedurals their relationship has never been a 'will-they/won't-they' one. There have definitely been times I've wondered about Reese's feelings for her, moments were it seemed ripe for one of them to make a move and yet the show never went there. They were partners, they were friends, and they loved each other (even if they never said) but it wasn't a romance. Until this episode. I've been thinking back over the season and I can't see any build-up to this. Their relationship has proceeded exactly as it always has.
Here's the thing - everything both of them did makes complete sense to me for their characters. John's Number is up and he thinks this is the end so if he did have feelings for Joss then I can see him revealing them exactly as he did. Joss is dying, and knows it, so she gets out the most important thing first [her son] and then she tries to help John ["don't let this..."] because she cares for him and doesn't want this to make him self-destruct. In theory it's fine, it works. In reality it really bugs me that the show handled it this way.
The fact that they chose her death episode to finally bring up the romantic question between them and answer it firmly with yes; that they had John essentially confess his love 20 minutes before she died; that they had her die in his arms with her literal last words being about him - it makes me a little angry. It feels like they threw the romance in only because they were going to kill her off and wanted to make it as angsty as possible for Reese. It's as if their platonic relationship wasn't enough, didn't cause enough pain for Reese. It made it about him instead of her.
• "You changed my mind Joss. You changed me." - Reese. Um. ??? It's been six months or so since I watched season one but that's not how I remember it happening. Reese and Carter barely interacted those first few episode. What changed Reese was meeting Finch and being given "a job and a purpose". A way to atone for his past and to help people. I'm pretty sure he's said exactly that in a previous episode. It's like they realised at the last moment that they hadn't laid enough ground-work for a love confession. I'm really not a fan of this attempted retcon. Really, really not.
• Despite the above I did enjoy the Reese/Carter scenes. I loved them comparing scars. Their final scene was nice too and I loved the bit about his gun.
• I loved that Carter figured out about the Machine on her own.
• Fusco really shone. It was such a good episode for him. I loved pretty much everything with him - snarking with Shaw, helping the ambulance escape the police blockade, remaining defiant in the face of HR torture and threats, the phone call scene, him breaking his thumb in order to escape and taking down Peterson about to kill him. He really impressed me.
• My favouite scene was actually Lionel's 'final' phone call. It was some brilliant acting by Kevin Chapman. Fusco's refrain to Lee that he was there and it was going to be okay was heartbreaking. His breakdown, then uncomprehending confusion when Shaw started talking and relief when he realised. I loved how solemn Shaw was, even for her!, when she was explaining that she had to choose and the fact that she was clearly emotional when she apologized to him. I loved Lionel's "You did good. You did good." The only negative in the scene was Peterson letting Fusco chat on the phone for so long for no understandable reason.
• Fusco/Shaw were delightful. Their snarking at the beginning was really fun. I really liked how honestly worried Shaw was when he was taken and her "Lionel?" That phone call was great. Their final scene of snarking with genuine heartfelt emotion was wonderful. I loved it all.
"You know the dog's the only one who likes you right?" - Fusco. LOL.
"I would have gone for the head myself but of course you have plenty of padding there too." - Shaw. I find their bicker-teasing adorable.
• Finch/Reese didn't interact much again but what we did get was great. I loved Finch saving Reese by getting him arrested (and Reese's wry amusement). Then there were the Root/Finch talks that made it very clear just how important Reese is to Finch and were all about Finch's attachment to Reese - her noting that he was "so upset" at the beginning and his expression when she correctly guessed that Reese was the new Number; her pointing out that "he means a great deal to you"; the fact that she glomped onto Reese and more specifically Reese in danger as Finch's weak spot; her calling John Finch's "creation"; and her final bid for freedom being to promise Finch "I'll return him to you. Unharmed." It was wonderful. I also liked that Finch went to the station to pick up John.
• I loved the Root/Finch scenes. They reminded me just how much I loved the two of them last season. I love how well she can read him. They have such great chemistry. That hand touch! Just how much of that all was real and how much her attempt to play him?
• "You have the relationship with her that you wanted. She respects that." - Root. Between this, Finch essentially referring to her as his child and his jealousy of Root's singular connection to the Machine, dare I hope that the relationship between Finch and the Machine is going to change? That we might get the parent/child relationship I really want?
• I liked that even Finch went out in the field to help.
• Okay, but seriously, why is the Machine sometimes so late in getting a Number to Finch? The inconsistency really bugs me.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-13 04:24 am (UTC)I mean, it was damn good; I loved practically everything about it, mostly with the notable exception of the out-of-the-blue romance. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who felt that way.
I think what upsets me most about it is that it makes it seem like we wouldn't really get how badly John was going to want revenge for her death unless there were feelings, and not just, you know, someone who's fiercely loyal to his friends wanting to take down the people who killed one of them. *sigh*
Anyway, loved the review; you said far more eloquently than I could what was awesome about the ep and what left something to be desired.
Hi.
Date: 2015-08-14 05:16 pm (UTC)It definitely felt like they were going for Maximum Reese Angst. Reese and Carter couldn’t just be very close friends who trusted and loved each other. They had to pile on everything they could - so Reese had to be in love with her and suddenly she was the one who saved him and gave him purpose. It was irritating on some many different levels that it's kind of amazing. I agree with you that how it ended up ignoring Reese's fierce loyalty to his friends was one of them.
One that I didn’t really touch on in my review was, imo, how it also undermined their actual relationship. For Reese Joss Carter was unequivocally morally good. He trusted in her to make the right choices. [I could believe that in certain grey situations Reese would find himself going WWCD –What Would Carter Do?] I think her switch from pursuing him to being his ally and then friend, the fact that she trusted him and her belief in him had a huge affect on him. Carter was an honest cop surrounded by corrupt people and she never wavered. That is how she inspired Reese. By being her awesome self. So it annoyed me that the show ignored that.
I’ve chosen to ignore those 5 minutes or so in the morgue and suddenly the episode becomes almost perfect.
Re: Hi.
Date: 2015-08-14 11:50 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's definitely what it seemed like, which...I mean, I understand that if you're going to kill a character off, you want to show it really affecting the ones who are left, but it feels like so often it needs to be an angst blowout. And it doesn't need to be that way. I actually tend to prefer when it's more understated but as the show continues on, you see little bits of how their loss is affecting their friends/family/what have you.
And yeah, I've been sort of mainlining the show, so I saw the first episodes only a few weeks ago, and when they tried to make like she gave him a reason to keep going, I was just like 'buh?'. I was actually afraid for a minute that I was remembering it wrong, but no. I was pretty pissed about that, which ended up taking me out of what should have been a really emotional moment. Ugh.
Agreed. Retconing stuff is generally a bad idea (unless it's the type of canon that's best forgotten), but why would you screw with something that had been a pretty awesome relationship up to that point? I was seriously surprised at the romance because I felt they'd been building the two of them as solid friends.
I totally buy Reese using her as a sort of moral compass, because let's face it, there's really nobody else who even comes close to Carter, and I think she had that effect not only Reese, but everyone else as well. She helped make them all better people, and I think in the end, it's a lot more obvious with the others in their more understated reactions to her death.
I'm definitely trying to forget it, too. And now, having watched 3x10, I feel like everything in that episode works perfectly well without the love interest angle.
Re: Hi.
Date: 2015-08-15 04:12 am (UTC)3x10, and every episode I’ve watched since, works perfectly well without the romance angle. I ended up liking 3x10 more than I was expecting because it wasn’t all about Reese’s pain and there was more focus on everyone else dealing with their grief and anger over Carter’s death. I also agree that everyone else’s reactions resonated more. I loved how well it showcased Fusco’s relationship with Carter and the effect being her partner had on him.
The retcon was what I was most angry about. Sometimes retcons can turn out well as long as they work with past events and characterisation which this one most certainly did not. This one stomped all over the central relationship of the series. I had that same moment of ‘wait, what’ and actually paused the episode to think about it for moment. It seemed so wrong but it had been six months since I’d watched the first season so I ended up second guessing myself. This show does so well with characterisation and the interpersonal relationships that having them make such a huge misstep was really strange.