Person of Interest has pretty much always had a through line that connected its episodes by its larger stories, so I was curious as to what this “trilogy” (as it’s marketed in the promos) would change for the viewing experience.

If anything, part one, or Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 10, was that gearing up, the setting of the pieces in the showdown of Samaritan and its agents versus the Machine and the POI team.

There was no Elias and the Brotherhood. There were no numbers in the more specific sense that we as viewers get to know more about them. This was primarily focused on the war of the artificial intelligences heading to what seems to be a game changing turn.

Samaritan has always appeared to be a threat, but I think we really got to see just how powerful and dangerous it really can be.

Its ability to essentially control the city “for good” by causing traffic and all technology to run smoothly, to prevent murder and crime was an interesting twist, as was its reveal to flip that towards the “bad” and cause chaos with things like leaked information (couldn’t help but think of the Sony hack).

Information is power, and it is quite thought provoking to think about lines being erased and how battles are forged and enemies face off. It’s not just two countries fighting each other in the black and white sense.

I liked getting to see Greer comment on that back as a young MI-6 operative in the 1970s. He was in an era that, while it did have spies, agents and information, seemed much more black and white, while slowly revealing its movement away from that.

There was an old-school spy feeling watching the clean-cut agent essentially betrayed and have his view on the world changed. I liked the actor who played young Greer, as I also really like the actor who plays the present version. Though, it was a bit different to not have Greer as the avatar for Samaritan during the AI sit-down.

It was a clever choice to use a child and, for the most part, I was engaged in the conversation. To hear Samaritan speak about using humans and preparing to destroy the Machine was creepy, especially coming from a child. Even Root seemed unsettled.

But the conversation, while pointing towards a major outcome, does have me wondering where the next direction of the series is headed. How can the POI team even hope to beat Samaritan, which is seemingly stronger than the Machine? Or at least, the Machine hasn’t played all its cards yet.

Still, even with all the calculations and ability to control the technology that is around us, the machines aren’t human. They won’t necessarily make the same decisions, especially ones surrounding human emotion. They won’t sacrifice themselves, right?

With Shaw running off to help, I'm getting this nagging feeling that her time might be up. That, or Root might just choose to make a sacrifice she never thought she might make…

Really, this episode was engrossing, but it definitely felt like a beggining that was building up towards something. It did give us that closer interaction between the warring parties, but we’ve been seeing that struggle much more since Person of Interest Season 4 began.

I think, especially since it's being played as a trilogy story comprised of several episodes, this story will be better watched as the whole trilogy rather than in parts.

This hour certainly got the ball rolling, and I am eager to see the next parts. I'm sure, as this show has been able to do time and again, well get a satisfying payoff spinning the series in a new and inventive direction.

What did you think? Will someone die soon? Can Samaritan be stopped? Sound off below and watch Person of Interest online to see part one of the trilogy again.

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