What if the Machine’s first and most diehard supporter stopped keeping the faith?
This question was raised on Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 1, a premiere that began with Frederick Weller appearing as a journalist who was venting to a gorgeous stranger (portrayed by Cara Buono) at a bar in Budapest.
The reporter told a story of about an “artificial intelligence” that has quietly invaded our society, noting that is sees public’s every move.
Sure, that’s possible, the woman says, adding that “the world has changed.” She then kills the reporter with a gunshot across the table.
From that crazy, seemingly random (though it won’t be, of course) open, we head The Big Apple, as Senator Garrison is saying nice things about Samaritan’s skills to Greer, while also expressing some worry that that Decima Technologies has been dismantled.
He’s left to wonder: can Greer be found if the jig is ever up?
In private with Samaritan, Greer ponders if the politician has outlived his usefulness. Nope, she is told, “NOT YET.”
As for the Person of Interest team? A lot has changed since we saw them last…
- Shaw is now an happy, very bad perfume sprayer at Bloomingdale’s. But she at least perks up when Root comes by for some “beauty tips.” Shaw complains about her new identity, but Root emphasizes the vital nature of laying low, nudging her to check out some “Romeo” guy on her dating app.
- Reese is working as Detective Riley, a member of NYPD’s narcotics squad. After concluding a drug bust, he’s beckoned to a crime scene tended to by Fusco; it’s of a gang banger found dead on a rooftop.
- Just call Harold Finch ”Professor Harold Whistler.” He’s resigned to his new destiny in the collegiate universe.
The Machine then summons Reese and Shaw to a self-help workshop. Outside of it, a pay phone rings with the first new number in a very long time.
Reese meets up with Finch, saying it’s time to return to work… but the professor isn’t anxious to do so. As he notes, they’d been operating “at a loss” when it came to lives saved versus those lost, making it appear as if Finch has lost faith.
But Reese pursues the lead anyway, while Root pays this Harold guy a visit.
She’s learned that “the Mayhem Twins” are back to chasing numbers. When it comes his indifference, she gets on her pedestal and says:
“You don’t get to sit this one out….You have to pick a side because this is war…. You have a god in this fight, and she’s fighting for her life… all of this matters. We all matter.”
Finch, properly motivated, enters the fray once again.
He helps clean up a gang-related mess and we later see Shaw meet “Romeo,” who needs a good wheel man, while Fusco is assigned a new partner: yup, Detective Riley.
As the premiere wraps up, Finch jots down the “errant” letters in his thesis – which was penned by the Machine – and uses them to fetch an old book at the library. It leads him to an abandoned IRT subway station.
Oh yes, folks, it looks as if Team Machine found its new lair.
What did everyone else think of this busy premiere? Go watch Person of Interest online via TV Fanatic if you missed it and sound off below.