Person of Interest, series finale
We’ve come to the end, watched the final episode, closed the book on this absolutely fantastic show. And just like the rest of it, this last episode was absolutely brilliant.
Honestly, I don’t think this show has ever disappointed me. There were moments of joy, moments of terrible heartbreak, moments that made me laugh and other that made me think, question and contemplate. It’s funny how it started - a seemingly trivial premise like countless other procedural shows; and then it went on, broke all the rules and became so much more. I fell in love with all those characters and their relationships, with the storyline, the brilliant storytelling, the shocking twists, the way the show didn’t pull its punches and yet told a moving, gorgeous, very human story about friendships, love and redemption. I honestly think this is one of the shows that only got better with each new season (CBS I hate you.)
The finale stayed loyal to all of that; probably the best conclusion to a TV series I’ve ever seen.
Not much to say here really. The last few months I’ve mentally been preparing myself for worst case scenarios - the whole team dead and Samaritan ruling the world (there was even a terrifying moment during the finale when it crossed my mind “what if Samaritan nukes Earth and then “lives” in the wreckage of the planet?” Yeah, that’s how optimistic my brain got when there was talks of missiles and nuclear bombs and please don’t kill everyone, pretty please…)
Instead, what we got felt very genuine and counted 100% as a happy ending in POI world.
I melted at the friendship between all the characters. They’re not very expressive because that’s not who they are, but you know how deeply they care for each other. Lionel and John’s scene as they were about to get killed by the corrupt cops was amazing, and John’s “Don’t get yourself killed” to Fusco before they leave the subway is all that more ironic and heartbreaking now that we know that John died. The moments between John and Harold were outstanding, and a true testament to their friendship as they both sacrificed themselves for the other (though only John’s sacrifice turned out to be real at the end). Then there was Shaw and the Machine telling her how Root saw her (how she loved her), and Shaw tearing up a bit about it. Finally, the whole conversation between Harold and the Machine/Root and finally the Machine staying with Reese as he died was heartbreaking, breathtaking and perfect.
One of the things that resonate so strongly through the whole series and also this episode is how important their humanity is. Sure, Team Machine are a bunch of goddamn heroes, but their beauty and strength is not in making epic speeches or shooting guns. It’s in how they care for each other, and for all those random irrelevant people, and how they so often change the world by just saving that one life. And it’s thanks to those little steps and thanks to their friendship that they have the power to take on an enemy as terrifying as Samaritan. Because every life matters, and if anyone remembers you or loves you when you die, then you’re not really gone and live on in your legacy and in their hearts.
It’s gorgeous.
I also loved how even after all that time, these characters remained so essentially themselves - they’re still the same people, and yet they changed for the better through their friendship. Yep, Fusco still kills the FBI agent who tried to murder him and hid his body somewhere; Shaw murdered the man who murdered Root; Reese is still a soldier at heart; Finch is still skeptical, selfless, caring for the world and quietly terrified at the prospect of using a gun in self-defense. But they’re also so much better, so much more, so much complete.
I’m still amazed at how well this show did with creating a character in the Machine. I’m probably not the only one who cried at the end of Season 4 when the Machine was dying and talking to Finch, who finally acknowledged her as his child. I’m curious how other fans will feel about it, but for me it was very satisfying to actually see the Machine as Root while she thought of the past (of all the things she learned) and when she was with Finch and finally Reese on the rooftop - a figment of imagination, a hallucination caused by pain or simply a metaphor that once again showed us the Machine as a full person, with all her qualities and flaws, and finally with her love and compassion as she remained there with Reese until his death (before “going” to the satellite to battle Samaritan).
In the end, John died a true hero knowing he saved his friend and probably saved humanity. Harold got a chance at a new, happy life with Grace; Fusco (who has redeemed himself about fifty times over during the set of the series) also lived and has a chance at a future (I think? I wonder how things with the police got resolved…). Shaw gets Bear, her friends, knowing they saved the world and Root/Machine as her companion if she wants. And the Machine wins; her humanity survives, and she is reborn again, the old version teaching the new one with the story on that tape.
I loved that show. I loved the finale. There may have been a couple tears too.
And now I maybe need some tissues.
Honestly, I don’t think this show has ever disappointed me. There were moments of joy, moments of terrible heartbreak, moments that made me laugh and other that made me think, question and contemplate. It’s funny how it started - a seemingly trivial premise like countless other procedural shows; and then it went on, broke all the rules and became so much more. I fell in love with all those characters and their relationships, with the storyline, the brilliant storytelling, the shocking twists, the way the show didn’t pull its punches and yet told a moving, gorgeous, very human story about friendships, love and redemption. I honestly think this is one of the shows that only got better with each new season (CBS I hate you.)
The finale stayed loyal to all of that; probably the best conclusion to a TV series I’ve ever seen.
Not much to say here really. The last few months I’ve mentally been preparing myself for worst case scenarios - the whole team dead and Samaritan ruling the world (there was even a terrifying moment during the finale when it crossed my mind “what if Samaritan nukes Earth and then “lives” in the wreckage of the planet?” Yeah, that’s how optimistic my brain got when there was talks of missiles and nuclear bombs and please don’t kill everyone, pretty please…)
Instead, what we got felt very genuine and counted 100% as a happy ending in POI world.
I melted at the friendship between all the characters. They’re not very expressive because that’s not who they are, but you know how deeply they care for each other. Lionel and John’s scene as they were about to get killed by the corrupt cops was amazing, and John’s “Don’t get yourself killed” to Fusco before they leave the subway is all that more ironic and heartbreaking now that we know that John died. The moments between John and Harold were outstanding, and a true testament to their friendship as they both sacrificed themselves for the other (though only John’s sacrifice turned out to be real at the end). Then there was Shaw and the Machine telling her how Root saw her (how she loved her), and Shaw tearing up a bit about it. Finally, the whole conversation between Harold and the Machine/Root and finally the Machine staying with Reese as he died was heartbreaking, breathtaking and perfect.
One of the things that resonate so strongly through the whole series and also this episode is how important their humanity is. Sure, Team Machine are a bunch of goddamn heroes, but their beauty and strength is not in making epic speeches or shooting guns. It’s in how they care for each other, and for all those random irrelevant people, and how they so often change the world by just saving that one life. And it’s thanks to those little steps and thanks to their friendship that they have the power to take on an enemy as terrifying as Samaritan. Because every life matters, and if anyone remembers you or loves you when you die, then you’re not really gone and live on in your legacy and in their hearts.
It’s gorgeous.
I also loved how even after all that time, these characters remained so essentially themselves - they’re still the same people, and yet they changed for the better through their friendship. Yep, Fusco still kills the FBI agent who tried to murder him and hid his body somewhere; Shaw murdered the man who murdered Root; Reese is still a soldier at heart; Finch is still skeptical, selfless, caring for the world and quietly terrified at the prospect of using a gun in self-defense. But they’re also so much better, so much more, so much complete.
I’m still amazed at how well this show did with creating a character in the Machine. I’m probably not the only one who cried at the end of Season 4 when the Machine was dying and talking to Finch, who finally acknowledged her as his child. I’m curious how other fans will feel about it, but for me it was very satisfying to actually see the Machine as Root while she thought of the past (of all the things she learned) and when she was with Finch and finally Reese on the rooftop - a figment of imagination, a hallucination caused by pain or simply a metaphor that once again showed us the Machine as a full person, with all her qualities and flaws, and finally with her love and compassion as she remained there with Reese until his death (before “going” to the satellite to battle Samaritan).
In the end, John died a true hero knowing he saved his friend and probably saved humanity. Harold got a chance at a new, happy life with Grace; Fusco (who has redeemed himself about fifty times over during the set of the series) also lived and has a chance at a future (I think? I wonder how things with the police got resolved…). Shaw gets Bear, her friends, knowing they saved the world and Root/Machine as her companion if she wants. And the Machine wins; her humanity survives, and she is reborn again, the old version teaching the new one with the story on that tape.
I loved that show. I loved the finale. There may have been a couple tears too.
And now I maybe need some tissues.