Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 22 Review: YHWH
Sean McKenna
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Oh, how the mighty Machine has fallen.
Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 22 wasn’t the rise up of the POI team to take down Samaritan once and for all. Instead, Samaritan continued its power plays, making moves no one would expect, and it pushed Reese and the gang even closer to their extinction.
Samaritan is a force to be reckoned with.
The finale was certainly a busy one, and I was curious just how the Elias and Dominic storyline would conclude considering the bigger battle between the warring artificial intelligences was taking place.
And after some badass God Mode for Reese and then Fusco cleaning up by bringing in the full backup, both crime bosses were arrested and hauled away. While I assumed they’d be back again, at least Fusco was going along to make sure they did indeed make it to their destination behind bars.
But I wasn’t prepared at all for their real fates.
Brilliantly, the hour kept a solid pace and the mystery surrounding what was going to happen kept building up the tension.
I loved the Root and Finch team-up (Finch got some fun one-liners), but it was great to see their dedication to helping the Machine out knowing it was on its last legs with Samaritan chomping at the bit.
After choosing to save Root and Finch in Person of Interest Season 4 Episode 21, I assumed the Machine had a clever trick up its sleeve and would make its epic move against Samaritan.
In a way, the Machine did have one last move to play, but it wasn’t uplifting.
Turns out the Machine had allowed itself to be in the wires, to be everywhere, but it was on the brink of defeat and the only way to save itself was to compress itself down.
The most emotional scene of the night was shockingly between the Machine and Finch. Who knew a computer silently revealing its words and “thoughts” would have such a dramatic effect?
To see the Machine call out to its father, to say how sorry it was and that it failed was heartbreaking. It even questioned staying alive.
I love how Finch, who had grown very skeptical of his own creation, saw exactly what his creation was able to do in putting people first. And he couldn’t let the Machine die.
Plus, having all those big final moments set to the song, "Welcome to the Machine"? Fantastic and so fitting.
Even with their backs against the wall, Reese, Root and Finch were fighting back. It was certainly a desperate battle, but they weren’t giving up on the Machine.
Though, I had expected Control to swoop in and save the day. Again, a curve ball was thrown in as Greer revealed to her Samaritan’s “correction.” It wasn’t an attack. It was a test.
And she fell into its trap.
It was such a chilling reveal as Greer explained what Samaritan, focused on order and rules, was going to do in eliminating certain people for the betterment of the world. The disrupters, the outliers and the disloyal were in its path.
That meant it was focused on taking out Elias, Dominic, Control, and even some of Control’s recruits. This was a major bloodbath as Samaritan continued its rise.
I was certainly worried one of the POI team members would meet their end in the hour, but for now, even with them having to go into hiding again, the POI team will live to fight another day (right? We hope!).
It will definitely be interesting now that the Machine has been pretty much incapacitated. Does that mean no more “numbers” next season?
I love that Person of Interest Season 4 went for a dark conclusion without a bow to tie all things up so neatly. The twists were clever, and the stakes were high.
There’s definitely a new world order taking place, and I can only hope the POI team can come together to truly take down Samaritan against all the odds. There really is nothing like Person of Interest on television, so let’s hope that it gets that season five pick up to keep the exciting saga going.
What did you think of the finale? Were you shocked by Samaritan's "correction"? Sound off below, and be sure to see the hour again when you watch Person of Interest online now!
Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.
