Person of Interest episode guide for the (current) non-fan
Okay, while the list of "Tech things for Reese to steal" that y'all made in the poll wasn't very useful, it was nonetheless amusing. So that's good. I still need a MacGuffin for chapter three, however. *sigh* (Hee, raincitygirl totally figured out that I wanted a MacGuffin.) If I can get past chapter three, the next two chapters should get done a lot faster. (Then I'll be weeping and moaning again about chapter six.)
Moving on. If I'm going to procrastinate fic-writing, I should at least do so in a topical fashion, right? The topic being the show Person of Interest, of course. I'm copying emmiere's format for an episode guide--what to watch and what to skip. I liked the show from the beginning, but there are several fans out there who have said that they didn't enjoy the earlier episodes. I'm trying to keep as much of the season-long story arc intact, plus include episodes that I found more interesting for various reasons.
I like Finch and Fusco, but my Carter and Reese bias probably shows in this list.
bolded = episodes I think are necessary to understanding what's going on
strikethrough = you can probably skip
italicized = episodes you should watch anyway, with reasons!
1-01 Pilot sets up the premise, although the weekly intro also explains the basics. (If you watch the pilot and don't like it, you're not the only one who feels that way.)
1-02 Ghosts
1-03 Mission Creep
1-04 Cura Te Ipsum Linda Cardellini (ER) is the guest star, plus the final scene is great.
1-05 Judgement
1-06 The Fix Introduction to Zoe Morgan. She's Catwoman in this universe.
1-07 Witness Introduction to Elias, a recurring villain.
1-08 Foe The main storyline was merely okay, and the fake foreign accents are distracting. But this is our introduction to Stanton, a... well. She's something.
1-09 Get Carter More backstory for Carter (yay!). While there's a valid criticism to be made that the subject of spousal/partner abuse isn't handled well in this episode (which I place squarely on the writers, not the character), that part is brief and the rest of the episode works well. And did I mention that there's more backstory for Carter? ;-)
1-10 Number Crunch Important stuff happens to Reese and we find out a bit more about his former CIA connections
1-11 Super Carter-related stuff, plus it's the funniest episode of the season. (Not a lot of humor in this show most of the time.)
1-12 Legacy Carter-Reese interactions make this a fun episode.
1-13 Root Cause important for the seasonal arc
1-14 Wolf And Cub stunt-casting of teenage actor? meh. Reese interacting with the kid? d'awwww...
1-15 Blue Code The part with Fusco at the end is why Kevin Chapman deserves an Emmy; the CIA stuff is interesting as well. The rest of the episode wasn't as compelling.
1-16 Risk
1-17 Baby Blue what looks like a gratuitous "aww, baby" episode ends up being not so much about the baby. Also, OUCH.
1-18 Identity Crisis enjoyable juggling of two interconnected cases, plus FBI stuff
1-19 Flesh and Blood Elias and kidnapping and subtle inversion of some storytelling clichés
1-20 Matsya Nyaya less-interesting case of the week, but STANTON!
1-21 Many Happy Returns lots of fans loved this episode; I was bothered by the flashback storyline. Definitely not necessary for the seasonal arc or character development.
1-22 No Good Deed more information about the Machine and Corwin
1-23 Firewall awesome season finale with good potential for early season two
Posted at Dreamwidth: http://rose-griffes.dreamwidth.org/251523.html. Comment where you wish.
Moving on. If I'm going to procrastinate fic-writing, I should at least do so in a topical fashion, right? The topic being the show Person of Interest, of course. I'm copying emmiere's format for an episode guide--what to watch and what to skip. I liked the show from the beginning, but there are several fans out there who have said that they didn't enjoy the earlier episodes. I'm trying to keep as much of the season-long story arc intact, plus include episodes that I found more interesting for various reasons.
I like Finch and Fusco, but my Carter and Reese bias probably shows in this list.
bolded = episodes I think are necessary to understanding what's going on
strikethrough = you can probably skip
italicized = episodes you should watch anyway, with reasons!
1-01 Pilot sets up the premise, although the weekly intro also explains the basics. (If you watch the pilot and don't like it, you're not the only one who feels that way.)
1-02 Ghosts
1-03 Mission Creep
1-04 Cura Te Ipsum Linda Cardellini (ER) is the guest star, plus the final scene is great.
1-05 Judgement
1-06 The Fix Introduction to Zoe Morgan. She's Catwoman in this universe.
1-07 Witness Introduction to Elias, a recurring villain.
1-08 Foe The main storyline was merely okay, and the fake foreign accents are distracting. But this is our introduction to Stanton, a... well. She's something.
1-09 Get Carter More backstory for Carter (yay!). While there's a valid criticism to be made that the subject of spousal/partner abuse isn't handled well in this episode (which I place squarely on the writers, not the character), that part is brief and the rest of the episode works well. And did I mention that there's more backstory for Carter? ;-)
1-10 Number Crunch Important stuff happens to Reese and we find out a bit more about his former CIA connections
1-11 Super Carter-related stuff, plus it's the funniest episode of the season. (Not a lot of humor in this show most of the time.)
1-12 Legacy Carter-Reese interactions make this a fun episode.
1-13 Root Cause important for the seasonal arc
1-14 Wolf And Cub stunt-casting of teenage actor? meh. Reese interacting with the kid? d'awwww...
1-15 Blue Code The part with Fusco at the end is why Kevin Chapman deserves an Emmy; the CIA stuff is interesting as well. The rest of the episode wasn't as compelling.
1-16 Risk
1-17 Baby Blue what looks like a gratuitous "aww, baby" episode ends up being not so much about the baby. Also, OUCH.
1-18 Identity Crisis enjoyable juggling of two interconnected cases, plus FBI stuff
1-19 Flesh and Blood Elias and kidnapping and subtle inversion of some storytelling clichés
1-20 Matsya Nyaya less-interesting case of the week, but STANTON!
1-21 Many Happy Returns lots of fans loved this episode; I was bothered by the flashback storyline. Definitely not necessary for the seasonal arc or character development.
1-22 No Good Deed more information about the Machine and Corwin
1-23 Firewall awesome season finale with good potential for early season two
Posted at Dreamwidth: http://rose-griffes.dreamwidth.org/251523.html. Comment where you wish.