POI 4x01, "Panopticon"
I'm not sure what I think of this episode--it's all going to depend on what comes next. Most of the ep was about reminding us of what's happened and setting up the new situation. I'm disappointed that the show didn't, after all, do anything with the opportunity to shake up its formula and try to tell new kinds of stories. All the characters are still inexplicably in New York, still tenuously in contact with each other, and not living radically different lives from before--especially John, who has somehow managed to get onto the police force without anyone recognizing him.
(John has literally taken Carter's place, which is . . . kind of creepy.)
Also, John has a hell of an unexplained sunburn. What's Caviezel been up to?
I didn't find Harold's crisis of faith entirely believable, mostly because it needed more setup than the last episodes of S3 gave it. But it did allow for lovely scenes between Harold and John as they patch up their marriage friendship. I especially liked them transferring Bear back and forth, and the way Ali's conversation with Ben, to the effect that nothing matters as long as they're together, clearly makes Harold think of John and long for John and the others to be "home" again.
Harold as professor was entertaining, although nitpickily I can't help wondering how the hell he landed an academic job in the space of a summer, because the U.S. academic hiring cycle takes almost a year, beginning in October of the year before you'd start teaching. Must be the machine intervening somehow. Equally nitpickily, all Harold would've had to do to keep Bear with him is say Bear is a service dog. By US law service animals aren't required to wear a distinctive harness, nor is it legal to ask someone exactly why they need one.
Moving on, retail!Shaw was funny, of course, and she and Root still have excellent UST. I hope this Romeo dude isn't the introduction of a straight romantic interest for Shaw, though.
So Elias is back. The later episodes of S3 seemed to have forgotten about him entirely. Since about the middle of S2 he's been set up as the least of several evils, but I still think John's new working relationship with him is going to backfire spectacularly.
Did I miss something in the final scene? I don't understand what Harold was supposed to be seeing, and I'm not sure if I didn't parse the scene correctly (this happens, because just like I'm not great with faces, I'm not always good at visual narrative) or if it was a tease for something to be revealed later.
Looking forward to the upcoming episodes, though if S4 goes the way previous seasons typically have, the early eps will range from mediocre to terrible and then things will pick up dramatically around episode 9.
Crossposted at Dreamwidth (
comments); you can comment here or there.
(John has literally taken Carter's place, which is . . . kind of creepy.)
Also, John has a hell of an unexplained sunburn. What's Caviezel been up to?
I didn't find Harold's crisis of faith entirely believable, mostly because it needed more setup than the last episodes of S3 gave it. But it did allow for lovely scenes between Harold and John as they patch up their marriage friendship. I especially liked them transferring Bear back and forth, and the way Ali's conversation with Ben, to the effect that nothing matters as long as they're together, clearly makes Harold think of John and long for John and the others to be "home" again.
Harold as professor was entertaining, although nitpickily I can't help wondering how the hell he landed an academic job in the space of a summer, because the U.S. academic hiring cycle takes almost a year, beginning in October of the year before you'd start teaching. Must be the machine intervening somehow. Equally nitpickily, all Harold would've had to do to keep Bear with him is say Bear is a service dog. By US law service animals aren't required to wear a distinctive harness, nor is it legal to ask someone exactly why they need one.
Moving on, retail!Shaw was funny, of course, and she and Root still have excellent UST. I hope this Romeo dude isn't the introduction of a straight romantic interest for Shaw, though.
So Elias is back. The later episodes of S3 seemed to have forgotten about him entirely. Since about the middle of S2 he's been set up as the least of several evils, but I still think John's new working relationship with him is going to backfire spectacularly.
Did I miss something in the final scene? I don't understand what Harold was supposed to be seeing, and I'm not sure if I didn't parse the scene correctly (this happens, because just like I'm not great with faces, I'm not always good at visual narrative) or if it was a tease for something to be revealed later.
Looking forward to the upcoming episodes, though if S4 goes the way previous seasons typically have, the early eps will range from mediocre to terrible and then things will pick up dramatically around episode 9.
Crossposted at Dreamwidth (
comments); you can comment here or there.