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So in the hope that I can convince even one more person to risk their sanity by watching "Person of Interest," here is the post where I attempt to explain why I've fallen for the show so hard (and then hopefully shut up for a while). This is the post that got me started, last fall (warning, does contain spoilers); you can see by the comments that it took me a while to warm to the show, but soon enough I started saying "Oh, Mr. Finch" and capslocking a lot, and the rest is silence history.
I'm going to do a (non-spoilery as much as possible) list of what I love under the cut, but first, a quote from last night:
I've lost people before, so when I care about someone, I plant a tracking device on them.
In essence, the show is about how we arrive at and justify that horrifically adorable statement, thank you John Reese.
So: take one reclusive computer genius billionaire with a compulsive need to save people and serious boundary issues, add a damaged ex-CIA-assassin tough guy with a heart of melted chocolate (and peanut butter, I suppose) and a fondness for kneecapping, neither of them using their real names, mix in all-seeing artificial intelligence and an unrelenting caseload of last-minute rescues and painful backstories and a pair of wonderful cops, and... it's a start. But here's what really draws me in:
Moral ambiguity. Actually, I take my moral ambiguity seasoned with high standards; I don't really enjoy universes where I'm expected to sympathize with criminals (especially incompetent criminals), so it's important to say first off that Finch and Reese are smart as hell and nearly always good at what they do, and very much on the side of the angels. That said, the very premise of the show, along with being slightly ridiculous, is troubling: the voiceover at the beginning starts with "You are being watched" and it doesn't just mean "by the Machine in its task of preventing terrorist attacks." Finch and Reese step over so many lines just in their day-to-day surveillance of people (including each other) that their lives resemble a highly dubious Hokey-Pokey, and this is not to even mention Reese as generous benefactor to New York City's knee surgeons, to the Mexican prison system, or to the fertilizer-hungry plants of the Oyster Bay woodlands. (And not to mention Fusco the mostly-reformed bad cop, either. You'll love him, I promise.) It was "Cura Te Ipsum" that convinced me I might like the show, and "Many Happy Returns" that made me say OH YES THIS, so I guess I have no serious problem with ambiguity, but actually one of the best things about the show is that it makes you sit up and argue with the characters (and/or the writers), and say OH NO YOU DIDN'T REALLY on a regular basis, and still keep coming back for more. Because it's not just "they believe what they're doing is right," it's "WE believe what they're doing is right." But "the ends justify the means" and "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" (or, more (ir)relevantly, the reverse) are a continual haunting refrain.
Redemption arcs. I am a sucker for a good redemption arc, and we've got at least three of them going concurrently, informed by lovely blue-tinted flashbacks. These are people who take guilt and self-sacrifice seriously, too. And if any of them even dares to comment on a relative state of happiness, BOOM. (Literally. Almost.)
Flashbacks and slow reveals, by the way - unngh. I just kind of brace now, when the timeline slides back, because you know it's gonna hurt. We get most of Reese's backstory in the first season, but it's taking forever to get Finch's (which fits - he tells Reese up front that "I know exactly everything about you" (it's not entirely true, but close enough) and that he won't be letting Reese know anything about him (also not true), and for the pilot we are in Reese's POV, and lo, the pace of the reveals is established).
Acting. It's a cliche to say you could listen to someone read the phone book, but I could watch Michael Emerson narrate paint-drying with the sound off and still be entranced. And Jim Caviezel has continued to surprise me with his subtlety. There's beautiful unexpected chemistry between the two of them, as well. Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman are both excellent, and there are many many wonderful supporting players and guest stars, and if some of them are playing exactly to form, who cares, if it works? *hugs Amy Acker very very carefully*
Character development. It happens! It happens mostly with the main characters, of course, but there's depth in some of the recurring folks as well (the antagonists in this show! Such a great bunch). But since it's all really about Finch and Reese... the slow build of their relationship from prickly business associates, if you can call them that, to friends who will risk everything for each other, is just done so very very well, with developmental steps and a realistic time frame (which is part of why the show takes a while to get going, because you don't do things like bribing immigrant surgeons or negotiating with sentient computers for someone you've just met. But then you do. And realize how much you care in the process).
Also, the Machine has character development. This is amazingly awesome.
Female characters. Okay, so the show revolves around two men (two white men, in fact) and hence is like most other shows on TV. But if you are looking for a boatload of supporting female characters who are strong, independent, goal-oriented, and not romantically involved with or otherwise dependent on Our Heroes, this is where you find them. I will admit that I find the Jessica Plot repulsive (although I can twist my brain into forgiving John's-fridged-girlfriend when the story ends up being more about how Harold reacts to John's reactions than about us feeling sorry for John) and so far the Grace Plot isn't much better (though I loved someone's comment to the effect that Harold's fridged girlfriend is really Nathan. Except, no, because Nathan has significant plot importance otherwise, and women-in-fridges don't get that). (And I still love Grace anyway.) But otherwise - well, we've got Carter, kickass cop and single mom and veteran; Zoe the fearless fixer (who may be sleeping with John, but is not romantic in the least); Shaw, who is at least as comic-book-competent as Reese; Stanton, who's at least half responsible for the haunted wreck that is Reese in episode one; and Root, who is downright scary in her single-mindedness and intelligence. And a bunch of numbers-of-the-week who are good at what they do and don't always need rescuing (it should be noted that plenty of men do require rescuing, as well). And then there was the lesbian couple in "Critical" whose sexual orientation went wholly unremarked-on, which I thought was a wonderful non-moment. And one of them was beautifully drawn (the other one got rescued, but that was all she had time for).
Humor. Michael Emerson commented in a podcast interview (he was talking about Caviezel being funny, which I gather he really is) that sometimes he thinks the two of them are acting in a comedy, just that nobody else knows it, and... well, if you had Harold Finch's life, you'd have to laugh, wouldn't you? The presence of humor leavening drama is so, so important to me, and it's all over the place here, from some of the scenarios (tropes, really, most of them) the characters find themselves in, to the delicious banter and snarking that all four of the main players engage in with each other (it's a way of saying I trust you, I care about you, and I'm sure as hell not going to say that aloud, but you know). I don't even want to guess at the depths of despair this show will plunge into by the time it ends (years from now, I hope), but if we lose Reese finally, I bet he goes out with a deadpan joke (like Mercutio. Oh God, now I'm going to write that fic and title it "A Grave Man." Help me now).
Also, it should be mentioned that this is a show not just for unrepentant fangirls, but for everyone. It's got high levels of action (guns! cars exploding! Reese fighting, OMG); it's got the FBI, the CIA, and the NYPD; it's got crooked cops and crooked politicians and gangsters and good people trying to make their way through it all; it's got New York City, as a character in its own right; it's got intriguing science-fictiony AI stuff and a deserted library hideout; it's got Big Brother at his biggest; it's got Finch's gorgeous clothes and Reese's gorgeous face. They adopt a DOG (and give him a bath, together, and bicker about which one of them he belongs to, like an old married couple). They kidnap a BABY. They play chess with a mob boss. Many, many people end up in car trunks. There are movie homages and inverted cliches and bomb vests and love stories (I happen to think Finch and Reese's is the greatest of these, but YMMV) and lots of literal and figurative gut-punches (I think I've been figuratively kneecapped quite a few times too). It's just such FUN. (Until you realize you've been sucked in too far and it starts to hurt. I can't honestly say you won't be sorry, but it'll be in a good way.)
One more episode in season two. You've got lots of time to catch up over the summer. Let me invite you to Queensbridge Park on a gloomy morning, and talk you into joining us.
(And if no one listens, I had to write all that anyway. But I hope you do.)
I'm going to do a (non-spoilery as much as possible) list of what I love under the cut, but first, a quote from last night:
I've lost people before, so when I care about someone, I plant a tracking device on them.
In essence, the show is about how we arrive at and justify that horrifically adorable statement, thank you John Reese.
So: take one reclusive computer genius billionaire with a compulsive need to save people and serious boundary issues, add a damaged ex-CIA-assassin tough guy with a heart of melted chocolate (and peanut butter, I suppose) and a fondness for kneecapping, neither of them using their real names, mix in all-seeing artificial intelligence and an unrelenting caseload of last-minute rescues and painful backstories and a pair of wonderful cops, and... it's a start. But here's what really draws me in:
Moral ambiguity. Actually, I take my moral ambiguity seasoned with high standards; I don't really enjoy universes where I'm expected to sympathize with criminals (especially incompetent criminals), so it's important to say first off that Finch and Reese are smart as hell and nearly always good at what they do, and very much on the side of the angels. That said, the very premise of the show, along with being slightly ridiculous, is troubling: the voiceover at the beginning starts with "You are being watched" and it doesn't just mean "by the Machine in its task of preventing terrorist attacks." Finch and Reese step over so many lines just in their day-to-day surveillance of people (including each other) that their lives resemble a highly dubious Hokey-Pokey, and this is not to even mention Reese as generous benefactor to New York City's knee surgeons, to the Mexican prison system, or to the fertilizer-hungry plants of the Oyster Bay woodlands. (And not to mention Fusco the mostly-reformed bad cop, either. You'll love him, I promise.) It was "Cura Te Ipsum" that convinced me I might like the show, and "Many Happy Returns" that made me say OH YES THIS, so I guess I have no serious problem with ambiguity, but actually one of the best things about the show is that it makes you sit up and argue with the characters (and/or the writers), and say OH NO YOU DIDN'T REALLY on a regular basis, and still keep coming back for more. Because it's not just "they believe what they're doing is right," it's "WE believe what they're doing is right." But "the ends justify the means" and "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" (or, more (ir)relevantly, the reverse) are a continual haunting refrain.
Redemption arcs. I am a sucker for a good redemption arc, and we've got at least three of them going concurrently, informed by lovely blue-tinted flashbacks. These are people who take guilt and self-sacrifice seriously, too. And if any of them even dares to comment on a relative state of happiness, BOOM. (Literally. Almost.)
Flashbacks and slow reveals, by the way - unngh. I just kind of brace now, when the timeline slides back, because you know it's gonna hurt. We get most of Reese's backstory in the first season, but it's taking forever to get Finch's (which fits - he tells Reese up front that "I know exactly everything about you" (it's not entirely true, but close enough) and that he won't be letting Reese know anything about him (also not true), and for the pilot we are in Reese's POV, and lo, the pace of the reveals is established).
Acting. It's a cliche to say you could listen to someone read the phone book, but I could watch Michael Emerson narrate paint-drying with the sound off and still be entranced. And Jim Caviezel has continued to surprise me with his subtlety. There's beautiful unexpected chemistry between the two of them, as well. Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman are both excellent, and there are many many wonderful supporting players and guest stars, and if some of them are playing exactly to form, who cares, if it works? *hugs Amy Acker very very carefully*
Character development. It happens! It happens mostly with the main characters, of course, but there's depth in some of the recurring folks as well (the antagonists in this show! Such a great bunch). But since it's all really about Finch and Reese... the slow build of their relationship from prickly business associates, if you can call them that, to friends who will risk everything for each other, is just done so very very well, with developmental steps and a realistic time frame (which is part of why the show takes a while to get going, because you don't do things like bribing immigrant surgeons or negotiating with sentient computers for someone you've just met. But then you do. And realize how much you care in the process).
Also, the Machine has character development. This is amazingly awesome.
Female characters. Okay, so the show revolves around two men (two white men, in fact) and hence is like most other shows on TV. But if you are looking for a boatload of supporting female characters who are strong, independent, goal-oriented, and not romantically involved with or otherwise dependent on Our Heroes, this is where you find them. I will admit that I find the Jessica Plot repulsive (although I can twist my brain into forgiving John's-fridged-girlfriend when the story ends up being more about how Harold reacts to John's reactions than about us feeling sorry for John) and so far the Grace Plot isn't much better (though I loved someone's comment to the effect that Harold's fridged girlfriend is really Nathan. Except, no, because Nathan has significant plot importance otherwise, and women-in-fridges don't get that). (And I still love Grace anyway.) But otherwise - well, we've got Carter, kickass cop and single mom and veteran; Zoe the fearless fixer (who may be sleeping with John, but is not romantic in the least); Shaw, who is at least as comic-book-competent as Reese; Stanton, who's at least half responsible for the haunted wreck that is Reese in episode one; and Root, who is downright scary in her single-mindedness and intelligence. And a bunch of numbers-of-the-week who are good at what they do and don't always need rescuing (it should be noted that plenty of men do require rescuing, as well). And then there was the lesbian couple in "Critical" whose sexual orientation went wholly unremarked-on, which I thought was a wonderful non-moment. And one of them was beautifully drawn (the other one got rescued, but that was all she had time for).
Humor. Michael Emerson commented in a podcast interview (he was talking about Caviezel being funny, which I gather he really is) that sometimes he thinks the two of them are acting in a comedy, just that nobody else knows it, and... well, if you had Harold Finch's life, you'd have to laugh, wouldn't you? The presence of humor leavening drama is so, so important to me, and it's all over the place here, from some of the scenarios (tropes, really, most of them) the characters find themselves in, to the delicious banter and snarking that all four of the main players engage in with each other (it's a way of saying I trust you, I care about you, and I'm sure as hell not going to say that aloud, but you know). I don't even want to guess at the depths of despair this show will plunge into by the time it ends (years from now, I hope), but if we lose Reese finally, I bet he goes out with a deadpan joke (like Mercutio. Oh God, now I'm going to write that fic and title it "A Grave Man." Help me now).
Also, it should be mentioned that this is a show not just for unrepentant fangirls, but for everyone. It's got high levels of action (guns! cars exploding! Reese fighting, OMG); it's got the FBI, the CIA, and the NYPD; it's got crooked cops and crooked politicians and gangsters and good people trying to make their way through it all; it's got New York City, as a character in its own right; it's got intriguing science-fictiony AI stuff and a deserted library hideout; it's got Big Brother at his biggest; it's got Finch's gorgeous clothes and Reese's gorgeous face. They adopt a DOG (and give him a bath, together, and bicker about which one of them he belongs to, like an old married couple). They kidnap a BABY. They play chess with a mob boss. Many, many people end up in car trunks. There are movie homages and inverted cliches and bomb vests and love stories (I happen to think Finch and Reese's is the greatest of these, but YMMV) and lots of literal and figurative gut-punches (I think I've been figuratively kneecapped quite a few times too). It's just such FUN. (Until you realize you've been sucked in too far and it starts to hurt. I can't honestly say you won't be sorry, but it'll be in a good way.)
One more episode in season two. You've got lots of time to catch up over the summer. Let me invite you to Queensbridge Park on a gloomy morning, and talk you into joining us.
(And if no one listens, I had to write all that anyway. But I hope you do.)
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