Person of Interest Review: Spy Game

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For a show about a super computer that watches your every move, to the point where you can't really hide any secrets, Person of Interest is steeped in mystery and layers of hidden truth.

Make no mistake, even amongst all the questions surrounding the characters and the created technology, the drama continues to reveal more and more while tying it to the plot and people at hand, rather than simply for the sake of disclosure.

There's a real sense that even with the open and closed case of the episode, the larger stories are connected, the themes overlap and the characters build beyond their most basic instincts. It's a forever unraveling of the world created without giving everything away.

So, where Reese's vulnerable past became exposed last episode, The Machine conspiracy found its way back to the forefront in "No Good Deed." The thriller aspects associated with the dangers surrounding pertinent information were played up heavily. It was spy vs. spy vs. spy in the ultimate round robin that focused in on fists, facts and Finch.

Finch & Reese Are Curious

Clearly every one wants a piece, in some form or another, of Finch/The Machine. Sure, Reese has been ever so slowly trying to wrap his head around the numbers that pop up, NSA agent Henry Peck simply wanted the truth a la A Few Good Men (he handled the truth pretty well, considering), and the shadowy puppeteer of Washington officials are willing to kill for any association with it. Let's not forget the now broken and nervous wreck, Alicia Corwin, who seems to have taken her own downfall because of the Machine, and perhaps wants a way to get her life back.

The Machine is top prize and while its uses are for good, Finch's flashbacks indicate the possibility of it being used for bad. And like the title suggests, Nathan Ingram's "good deed" to provide a fail-safe for the computer either led to his demise and/or the negative factions of government operatives that manipulate its uses.

Talk about conspiracy.

Of course, Person of Interest isn't without its action and it ripped in some great hand to hand combat scenes, some gun play with a two and a half men joke, and exploding cars. Did that bad guy not look like a version of Chuck Norris? The frenetic fight sequences are so entertaining that sometimes its easy to forget that this is a TV show.

But apart from the winding threads of the Machine and its abilities, was the eye opening and heartbreaking discovery that Finch had a fiance. Yes, the man who has trouble with "human interaction" had a four-year loving relationship that he was forced to give up to avoid putting her in danger.

I wasn't expecting that reveal and it was just another example of how the show finds ways to humanize and draw out emotion for its outwardly closed off characters. It's never too much to make you want to roll your eyes while at the same time it establishes the perfect peek inwards before shutting it and returning back to the larger focus on hand.

Because there is truly so much going on that even with one episode left, the possibilities of where the show can go are endless. And that's not to say that the variety of plot directions are left flapping in the breeze and forgotten. With a list that includes Elias, the computer hacker "Root," the corrupt police force "HR," the FBI/CIA war, and the Washington officials, there's so many battles Reese and Finch might have to face. That doesn't even include the wary connection of Carter and Fusco, or the haunted pasts of the main characters in their struggle to do the right thing.

And I love that there are so many outlets to take and that even with its fast paced combination of action and drama, it hasn't rushed its overall story. I'm all for the continuing exploration of the characters and their world if the show keeps up these solidly top notch episodes.

Person of Interest is the show that keeps on giving.

No Good Deed Review

Editor Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (281 Votes)

Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.

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Person of Interest Season 1 Episode 22 Quotes

It's time I know how the machine communicates with you.

Reese

Finch: Are you following this?
Reese: Financial analyst. Riveting.