PoI 3x09 - The Crossing
So, I haven't even seen Person of Interest 3x09 - or indeed any episode in S3 except for the first one, which so underwhelmed me that I've been putting off watching any more.
And yet, the explosion of reactions on my friendslist immediately made me suspect that the show did exactly what it did indeed do... mostly because it was the most stupid thing that I could imagine the creators might think would be a good idea.
Person of Interest always struck me as a show that had gotten lucky. I was never confident the creators of the show were fully aware of where the qualities that made the show special (to me, and I think to many other fans) lay. It wasn't the action or the cases or even the premise of total surveillance - which was a treasure drove of narrative potential the show never actually did anything with. In fact, the creators' evident lack of awareness that the mere existence of The Machine is enormously problematic, and not just the question of who controls it, was one of the factors that made me suspect the drivers were not fully in control of the vehicle.
Instead, what made PoI unique and interesting in my eyes was the character development of the leads, the deepening relationship between John and Finch, and also the creation and development of strong supporting characters and *their* relationship to the leads.
The reason the S3 pilot made me shy back was that the new set-up appeared to signal the creators were indeed working with a different show than the one I had been watching. They appeared to be heading in a new direction that they felt was fresh and exciting and would bring many new plot opportunities - but that threatened to destroy what I had liked about the show. Of course, any show can have a clunker of an ep now and then, especially in a tricky transitional period.
Unfortunately, however, it now looks like the show has finally run out of luck and taken a turn away from the things it never truly realized were special about it.
I'm very glad I decided to read some of the reaction posts to the latest ep. Now, I don't think I'll bother with Season 3 at all.
And yet, the explosion of reactions on my friendslist immediately made me suspect that the show did exactly what it did indeed do... mostly because it was the most stupid thing that I could imagine the creators might think would be a good idea.
Person of Interest always struck me as a show that had gotten lucky. I was never confident the creators of the show were fully aware of where the qualities that made the show special (to me, and I think to many other fans) lay. It wasn't the action or the cases or even the premise of total surveillance - which was a treasure drove of narrative potential the show never actually did anything with. In fact, the creators' evident lack of awareness that the mere existence of The Machine is enormously problematic, and not just the question of who controls it, was one of the factors that made me suspect the drivers were not fully in control of the vehicle.
Instead, what made PoI unique and interesting in my eyes was the character development of the leads, the deepening relationship between John and Finch, and also the creation and development of strong supporting characters and *their* relationship to the leads.
The reason the S3 pilot made me shy back was that the new set-up appeared to signal the creators were indeed working with a different show than the one I had been watching. They appeared to be heading in a new direction that they felt was fresh and exciting and would bring many new plot opportunities - but that threatened to destroy what I had liked about the show. Of course, any show can have a clunker of an ep now and then, especially in a tricky transitional period.
Unfortunately, however, it now looks like the show has finally run out of luck and taken a turn away from the things it never truly realized were special about it.
I'm very glad I decided to read some of the reaction posts to the latest ep. Now, I don't think I'll bother with Season 3 at all.