Person of Interest

[Omega Prime]

Created by Jonathan Nolan (Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar ) and by executive producer JJ Abrams (Lost, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and featuring Jim Caviezel (Frequency), Michael Emerson (Lost), Kevin Chapman (Brotherhood), Amy Acker (Angel), Sarah Shahi (Life).

After 5 seasons and 102 episode the series concludes tonight (6/21/2016) on CBS.

[Knight26]

I never watched this show, is it worth it to mainline it this summer?

[Dobber]

I quit it about halfway through last season...the whole unstoppable simaritan, and then the Shaw/Root shipping crap rather then ever using Fusco really just soured me on the show. It just got to be too much for me, and became tiresome. Last thing I remember was Shaw's "departure"

Chris

Edited June 21, 2016 by Dobber

[Omega Prime]

I never watched this show, is it worth it to mainline it this summer?

Seasons 1-4 are on Netflix. The first episode will you an idea of what to expect. But through it's run it evolves from an Action/Crime Procedural into something more Sci-Fi.

I quit it about halfway through last season...the whole unstoppable simaritan, and then the Shaw/Root shipping crap rather then ever using Fusco really just soured me on the show. It just got to be too much for me, and became tiresome. Last thing I remember was Shaw's "departure"

Chris

Samaritan becomes from episode S5-e12 (last week) very stoppable! And the Shaw/Root shipping ceases, or rather "transcends"!

Edited June 21, 2016 by Omega Prime

[technoblue]

I'm looking forward to tonight's episode. It was fun while it lasted, and one of the best science fiction series that I've seen grace broadcast TV in a long while.

I think it's one of the few shows that did justice to the idea of an Artificial Intelligence that gains sentience. And it did an excellent job showing what could happen if that AI was coded to the detriment of society. Because of that, I don't agree that Samaritan was overpowered. Samaritan was following the rules dictated by the show (and hence, its code). It simply had more advantages than Harold's AI when it went online.

Remember, one of the checks/balances that Harold programmed into his machine early on was deleting what he identified as bad code. His friend, who made the base code for Samaritan, didn't do that. And neither did the group who ultimately took control of it. The idea of whether the machine should be free to make its own decisions was a source of major conflict throughout the entire series.

It's a shame the good stuff gets shipped off early by the networks, but what can you do?

[Omega Prime]

I'm looking forward to tonight's episode. It was fun while it lasted, and one of the best science fiction series that I've seen grace broadcast TV in a long while.

I think it's one of the few shows that did justice to the idea of an Artificial Intelligence that gains sentience. And it did an excellent job showing what could happen if that AI was coded to the detriment of society. Because of that, I don't agree that Samaritan was overpowered. Samaritan was following the rules dictated by the show (and hence, its code). It simply had more advantages than Harold's AI when it went online.

Remember, one of the checks/balances that Harold programmed into his machine early on was deleting what he identified as bad code. His friend, who made the base code for Samaritan, didn't do that. And neither did the group who ultimately took control of it. The idea of whether the machine should be free to make its own decisions was a source of major conflict throughout the entire series.

It's a shame the good stuff gets shipped off early by the networks, but what can you do?

The show also showed how that information gathered by the ASIs can be abused! LIke the S5e11 episode where Finch was in God-Mode and used information about the Soldiers sick daughter and basically blackmailed him into letting him go or she'd be moved down the transplant wait list and potentially die!

There is rumors of a potential spin-off series, but so far all that is is just rumors.

[technoblue]

The show also showed how that information gathered by the ASIs can be abused! LIke the S5e11 episode where Finch was in God-Mode and used information about the Soldiers sick daughter and basically blackmailed him into letting him go or she'd be moved down the transplant wait list and potentially die!

There is rumors of a potential spin-off series, but so far all that is is just rumors.

LoL. I'm already in withdrawal.

Seriously, though, if they can make it work I'd be interested in a spin-off. I wonder where they would take the story next and if we would get a completely new cast?

For tonight's episode, I was somewhat surprised. I was expecting more of a definitive ending after all the build up to it, but I was happy to see that they left a few strings dangling out there (a good thing that seems to support the rumor). I don't want to give away too much, but to me the ending was bitter sweet, even though it did its best to land the up beat instead of the down beat.

[Omega Prime]

LoL. I'm already in withdrawal.

Seriously, though, if they can make it work I'd be interested in a spin-off. I wonder where they would take the story next and if we would get a completely new cast?

For tonight's episode, I was somewhat surprised. I was expecting more of a definitive ending after all the build up to it, but I was happy to see that they left a few strings dangling out there (a good thing that seems to support the rumor). I don't want to give away too much, but to me the ending was bitter sweet, even though it did its best to land the up beat instead of the down beat.

You weren't kidding about it being bitter sweet!

They kind of hinted at what to expect with the other Machine team that was comprised of old numbers during the Washington assassination attempt!

As for tonight's episode I was kind of hoping John would make it out alive, but it was explicitly said by Machine/Root he was on borrowed time for quite awhile now!

I'm kind of sad to see the show go since it was a breath of fresh air. I really do hope there is a spin off in the future, hopefully it won't be on CBS!

[Dangard Ace]

Series is done? Sweet! Binge watching time.

[technoblue]

Series is done? Sweet! Binge watching time.

Indeed. You're in for a fun ride.

You weren't kidding about it being bitter sweet!

They kind of hinted at what to expect with the other Machine team that was comprised of old numbers during the Washington assassination attempt!

As for tonight's episode I was kind of hoping John would make it out alive, but it was explicitly said by Machine/Root he was on borrowed time for quite awhile now!

I'm kind of sad to see the show go since it was a breath of fresh air. I really do hope there is a spin off in the future, hopefully it won't be on CBS!

It was a breath of fresh air, and the characters had good actors with good writers to back them up.

Speaking of Reese (and I did look for him in the crowd at the end) , it's rare to see a network show give characters actions that have everlasting and life changing consequences. One of the excellent marks of this show is that it didn't flinch from that. We got to see it with those minor characters, the ones that seemed to affect only individual stories (but then came back, as you pointed out, in the D.C. episode as a second Machine Team) and we got to see it with the major characters as well. In fact, there was one point during the last episode where I though Shaw was the only member who was going to make it out with her life intact.

The stuff with Carter, Root, Reese, Elias, even with Shaw (when the actress was away from the show) also played out in a realistic way to me. At least, it didn't break any of the rules set by the show's authors, which was comforting.

The final season Blu-ray is due out next month. I'll be picking that up, and then I'll add the whole series to my personal list of summer reruns.

[slaginpit]

Im tired of the whole world is going to end shows. Its always some shadow organization followed by the denouement of some conspiracy gone wrong and the hero saves the day. Boring and tiring.

Shows like

Hells on Wheels do not get enough credit.

Better to bring back Serenity

[technoblue]

Im tired of the whole world is going to end shows. Its always some shadow organization followed by the denouement of some conspiracy gone wrong and the hero saves the day. Boring and tiring.

Shows like

Hells on Wheels do not get enough credit.

Better to bring back Serenity

Cool. So when are you going to watch Person of Interest? I mean, it isn't a show about the end of the world or a hero that saves the day.

Reese may have considered himself a hero for saving Finch and for helping the Machine remove Samaritan, and that may have been what Finch thought as well, but he didn't really save the world. He completed a mission. It was a fixed point. Reese was a tragic character who was on a tragic trajectory: 1) either dying alone and not being able to reach those he cared about or 2) dying helping those he cared about. If you watched the show, then I don't see how you missed that point. It was made multiple times.

Another point that was made multiple times is that stopping Samaritan would not stop the creation of other competing AIs. In that respect, everything that the Machine Team was doing could be viewed as fruitless, especially if you were to look at things from the perspective of the Machine itself (an entity that could see events all at once).

The up side of the final episode wasn't the fall of Samaritan. It was the fact that certain members were allowed to go back to "normal" lives. Finch was able to reconnect with that artist he liked. Fusco was able to go back to working his normal beat as a NY detective. Shaw got the dog, and got space to figure things out.

I would place the sci-fi westerns on your list into separate categories of science fiction. I loved Firefly/Serenity, but it isn't a modern-day sci-fi action thriller like Person of Interest. I don't know much about Hell on Wheels, but it looks like it has an interesting premise that is similar to Firefly with the western motif.

Anyway...to each his or her own as the saying goes.

Edited June 22, 2016 by technoblue

[Omega Prime]

Cool. So when are you going to watch Person of Interest? I mean, it isn't a show about the end of the world or a hero that saves the day.

Reese may have considered himself a hero for saving Finch and for helping the Machine remove Samaritan, and that may have been what Finch thought as well, but he didn't really save the world. He completed a mission. It was a fixed point. Reese was a tragic character who was on a tragic trajectory: 1) either dying alone and not being able to reach those he cared about or 2) dying helping those he cared about. If you watched the show, then I don't see how you missed that point. It was made multiple times.

Another point that was made multiple times is that stopping Samaritan would not stop the creation of other competing AIs. In that respect, everything that the Machine Team was doing could be viewed as fruitless, especially if you were to look at things from the perspective of the Machine itself (an entity that could see events all at once).

The up side of the final episode wasn't the fall of Samaritan. It was the fact that certain members were allowed to go back to "normal" lives. Finch was able to reconnect with that artist he liked. Fusco was able to go back to working his normal beat as a NY detective. Shaw got the dog, and got space to figure things out.

I would place the sci-fi westerns on your list into separate categories of science fiction. I loved Firefly/Serenity, but it isn't a modern-day sci-fi action thriller like Person of Interest. I don't know much about Hell on Wheels, but it looks like it has an interesting premise that is similar to Firefly with the western motif.

Anyway...to each his or her own as the saying goes.

The thing that POI did was make all the villains redeemable Anti Heroes. Root was hacker/murderer for hire, Carl Elias was a mobster willing to cause collateral damage to control the Five Families, and Fusco was a corrupt cop! They were all damaged goods and managed to make themselves better!