Tuesday, October 7, 2014

'Person of Interest' 4x1 'Panopticon,' 4x2 'Nautilus' Gif-Tweet-Cap: That Sneaky Machine!

"Panopticon" is the Season 4 premiere of "Person of Interest," and "Nautilus" is the second episode of the season, both of which are gif-tweet-capped right here on a single page. I've made the following gifs available on this Tumblr post.

I had been wondering how on earth the gang was going to get out of their predicament at the end of Season 3, having lost to Samaritan. The Machine's workaround is very creative. While the premiere involves a plot with Elias and a number who needs to be saved, it's really all about getting the characters into their new roles, and providing them with an easier way to work with the Machine under Samaritan's nose.

First, we learn all the new fake jobs the Machine has given each of our heroes. Shaw's, as a department store makeup lady, is the most entertaining. Below, Shaw misfires her perfume bottle. I thought she had good aim? Perhaps her fake dead-end job has caused her to lose all hope, therefore impeding her skills. But it's probably just for the purpose of having another funny Shaw scene:
Reese does his thing on the bad guys. No other explanation would normally be necessary. In this case, he's doing all this in his new job as a narcotics detective rather than as savior for the Machine.
Later, Reese does his thing again, this time from the side of a moving vehicle.
Finch, meanwhile, is a professor with almost no students wanting to take his class. He and Reese have switched places, in a sense, with Reese wanting to continue taking numbers and working for the Machine, and Finch no longer wanting any part of it.

Root is the only one who appears to have kept her old job as working for the Machine. She is probably, from Samaritan's perspective, someone who job hops every few weeks.

Isn't it weird to see Reese having a good excuse to be looking suspicious, and for the cops to not be dirty, trying to take him out?

By the time we reach the end of the episode, Reese has been promoted to homicide, to work alongside Fusco. Reese clearly reacts to the realization that his new job resides at Carter's old desk.
In addition, Shaw gets promoted to "driver"... for a gang of thieves.
Earlier in the episode, Finch receives a corrected dissertation, clearly written by the Machine, with typos pointed out by someone who has no clue that those typos contain a message. It's probably the most clever thing the Machine has done so far, and leads Finch to a new hideout in a subway tunnel.
Meanwhile, the outcome of the case involving the number from the Machine leads to a hidden phone network. The gang now has everything it needs to continue working for the Machine.


In the second episode of Season 4, "Nautilus," Reese jumps in head first on a case given to him by the Machine, while Finch is still more than hesitant to be involved, despite having all the tools he needs. The number is a woman named Claire, who seems to believe she is playing some sort of game.
Reese tricks Finch into wanting to get involved by sending him to a cafe where she happens to be sitting a few seats over. The details reveal that she is a mega-genius. How can Finch refuse helping a fellow smarty-pants?

Unfortunately, Claire would rather play the "game" on her own, believing Finch is cheating off all her hard work in deciphering all the codes that only a genius could understand. Oh, if only she knew! She shoots out the back window of a car, blaming Finch for the action (as if he were capable of such an act of violence). Luckily, Reese is there to arrest Finch before he gets the crap beat out of him.
Claire continues with her game, this time trailed by Reese. He saves her as she stands in the middle of the road staring at some signs, completely unaware that she's about to be dead.
Later, Finch realizes that Samaritan created Claire's game when it hacks his system, so he throws out his compromised laptop. It knows where they are, so they must quickly "DRIVE!!!"
Even though Reese knows he could be in grave danger with Samaritan involved, he just can't help saving the lost young Woman. She has gained quite a following of people who want to kill her, having been involved with Samaritan's game of secret codes. Reese is OK with that, nonchalantly taking out each stalker, without her even realizing that anyone was following her in the first place. For a genius, she sure is oblivious to what's going on around her. She must live inside her own head.
Finch gets some help from Root, who believes that Samaritan must be recruiting Claire (just as the Machine recruited Root). Oh, and she just happens to be posing as a flight attendant, with a pilot named Larry locked in the trunk.
When Claire reaches the final few clues in Samaritan's game, Finch makes a final attempt to save her from blindly following a bad Samaritan, that will never care about her. She refuses his help, clearly needing some bigger purpose in her life.
At the end, three of the bad guys have followed Claire to the final step in the game. Suddenly, the three men are taken out by a sniper. Presumably, Samaritan sent the sniper a PM about making lots of shady money to do the job. I wonder if Samaritan has ever posed as a Nigerian prince. Anyway, she wins the "game." Her prize is a brand new Samaritan Phone, with a lifetime contract. Yep, Samaritan has recruited its own Root!
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