Review: Person of Interest “Nautilus” (4×2)

Reese Takes Charge as Samaritan Wins a Round. | Person of Interest

Last week on Person of Interest, our review gushed at the perfection that was the Season 4 premiere. Nautilus however is a bit of a mixed bag. On the bright side, Finch and Reese’s relationship, which is how this thing started, was at the forefront, where it belongs. Also, this episode demonstrated in no uncertain terms the breathtaking power and craftiness of Samaritan. Unfortunately, viewers may have found themselves baffled, annoyed even, by what seemed like an episode long retread of what they may have thought had been resolved last week: Finch’s continued reluctance to chase numbers. But let’s dispense with generalities and get down to specifics.

“How Many Times do I Have to Remind you: Our Covers Come First.”

This is Finch, reacting to Reese assigning him a new number. What us as a viewer love about this scene: Reese is now the one handing out the numbers, gathering preliminary information about the person the Machine pointed out to him, and assigning Finch to the case. Finch even refers to the number as “your number” when talking to Reese. This is a complete 180 from the way this show started. Then, Reese was the one getting assignments from Finch and, often reluctantly, taking on the case. Audience will absolutely love that this show is able and willing to turn things on their head and that it makes perfect sense! What I didn’t love was Finch’s continued reluctance. I could have sworn that this was resolved last week. Finch found a way for them to communicate, was told to pick a side, picked a side, and found a new headquarters. So why is a major thread in this episode basically a retread (and a less effective one) of ground so beautifully handled already? I confess that this REALLY bugs me. And it’s very rare for me to get bugged by this show. That said, I was delighted that Reese turned this around on Finch by arresting him in order to maintain his cover as a detective. That’s right Mr. Finch, any sword worth anything is double edged.

The number points to a young girl named Claire Mahoney who is involved in some kind of urban game, kind of a live action version of Dungeons and Dragons. Only with real and deadly stakes. Reese reels Finch in by pointing out that she was a chess grand master as a kid and that she has faced two advanced chess machines and won. Here I have to pause to say that this is a homage to another great show: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which also told the story of how AI’s rose and eventually tried to destroy mankind, a story that also involved a chess playing AI.

Even with the chess AI twist, Finch is reluctant and remains so. Not only that, he is not really in the loop on the rest of the team. For example, he doesn’t know that Shaw has moved on from selling perfume to the much more “complicated” cover of being the wheel person for a group of thieves. But in the end he just can’t resist a puzzle so he finds himself more and more involved. Unfortunately, Claire doesn’t want any help and seems to have one and only one goal-win the game. Her single mindedness stems from her parents’ death in an automobile accident. This girl has literally given up on life and has latched on to winning this game as the only thing she can do. This is a problem as it turns out that she hacked into the data base of a prominent private military contractor, Silverpool, and stole files detailing atrocities committed overseas. The contractors are understandably upset at the security breach and they spend the episode trying to kill Claire.

“Sometimes you Forget I was an International Spy”

For too long, Reese has been the “muscle” of this team. Root even goes so far as to refer to him as “Big Lug” or “Hulk”. In this episode about deciphering clues and cracking codes it’s really nice to see Reese remind us that he has useful skills that don’t involve cracking skulls and shooting people.Ironically and hilariously, it is Fusco who, later in the episode, who cracks a code Reese is having trouble with (in turn showing HIM that Fusco is made of more than cop). At any rate Reese and Finch start to decipher the codes and clues and begin tracking Claire’s movements, and often saving her from the contractors without her knowing it. In fact, one of the most effective things about the way this episode was directed is how we constantly see Claire doing things like standing in the middle of traffic in order to decipher a clue or walking the streets so driven by her desire to win the game that she is literally oblivious to the fact that she’s being followed by people who want to kill her.

Finch finally gets Shaw involved and together they trace the original game flyer back to a barrista (hilarious given Shaw’s wish last week that Reese had ended up a barrista). Of course, he’s just a patsy but he gives Finch the email that instructed him to post the first flyer.

THIS is when we are treated to just how frightening Samaritan is. First, it turns out that Samaritan designed the game as a recruitment tool (talk about a dungeon master from hell). It is looking for people like Claire, brilliant and driven but broken, ripe for recruitment as soldiers who would follow instructions without question. Not only that, it’s been playing the game all over the world, every 27 days, so it’s not just about the game in New York.

At any rate, just as Finch is realizing that it’s impossible to trace the email sent to the barrista, he realizes his laptop is being attacked by something shredding his defenses as if they were thin paper. Remember this is Harold Finch. He’s a computer genius and he just doesn’t get shredded like that. Unless it’s by Samaritan. But there it is. Shredded. Easily. Effortlessly so.

“Dammit Harold, it is Still my job to Save People”

Harold is SPOOKED when he realizes that this is Samaritan’s game. I can’t blame him for being spooked but I also can’t understand, why, after last week, he thought calling John off, supposedly in the interest of safety, was the right move.

Luckily, John doesn’t listen and decides to keep trying to save Claire. By the way, this is EXACTLY what Carter would have done. In fact it is what she DID do last season. Yes, she died but she died trying to save people. John has very much taken up that mantle and I heartily approve. I mean, I really love all the anti heroes and shades of grey on this show but Carter was always the unambiguous hero of the story and that post has been vacant for too long. Carter would smile to see John now.

Finch tries to tell John not to let his frustration with Finch affect his judgment but John’s mind is made up and he says “I’ll take it from here” and, with Fusco’s help, figures out that Claire is headed the Observation Deck at Top of the Rock. Finch, knowing that John is going after her finally, after another talk with Root, in which Root points out that Claire sounds a lot like her, decides that he can’t let John run around in mortal danger without trying to help him. (Again, why is this even still an issue after last week?)

Meaning is the Only Thing Worth Looking for.

Finch suspects that he is going to lose Claire to Samaritan but makes one last effort to reason with her. Claire is too far gone. Her parents died in a meaningless accident. She notes that the atrocities committed by corporations like Silverpool can’t really be stopped. She has given in to hopelessness and Samaritan has offered her the one thing she is looking for: meaning. Harold tries to talk to her about the dangerous force she’s getting involved with. “You’re trying to make sense of this tragedy. You’re reaching out for meaning but the wrong thing is reaching back.”

In a way this is the flip side of the coin of how Finch recruited Reese. Reese had also given up and Finch did offer him meaning. Only that meaning had to do with helping people. Samaritan’s meaning is about one thing and only one thing: winning. Unfortunately that’s enough for Claire and she leaves Finch and heads to the end of the game. There, she is about to be killed by the contractors when they are mysteriously shot and a hidey hole opens revealing a phone which just says “I will protect you now.” And that’s that. Claire goes to the Dark Side. Samaritan wins this round. But Claire isn’t its only victory. Silverpool was developing a security AI that could have competed with Samaritan. So Samaritan had Claire steal the files so that Silverpool could be discredited and lose all funding for the AI project. So, again, Samaritan is just SCARY powerful.

In the final scene of the episode, Finch leads Shaw and Reese to the new head quarter space in an abandoned subway tunnel, which apparently he has been wiring for electricity using the third rail. Which is GREAT. But, if he was wiring the place all along then what was with him fighting everyone in this episode about fighting Samaritan. It’s baffling I tell you.

Final Verdict: In Case Anyone was Wondering: Samaritan is one BAD ASS AI.

Nautilus was written by Dan Dietz & and supervising producer Melissa Scrivner Love and directed by veteran Chris Fisher. I really thought the episode was very effectively directed. Reese looked and acted like the hero he was always meant to be. As I pointed out, Claire was filmed as almost preternaturally single minded and driven, which is exactly what was needed to show how good a match she was for Samaritan.

The use of the abandoned subway tunnel, complete with old subway car, looked and felt like something from the V from Vendetta movie. Which is appropriate in the circumstances. The new establishment, virtually god-like in its power, has made exiles and subversives of Reese and company. It is fitting that they be forced to operate out of a HQ that is so vividly out of date. I won’t go so far as to call them dinosaurs (as Finch did) but they are certainly outgunned and are being out smarted too.

In terms of the writing, it was a mixed bag for me. Some of the dialogue felt a bit stilted and Finch’s seeming backtracking from his break through of last week was made especially confusing by the fact that he had been preparing the new HQ all along.

But what it got right it got RIGHT. Reese has emerged as the white hat and leader. The scope of Samaritan’s power and ruthlessness has been brutally demonstrated. And the story continues to leave me begging for more. So, all in all, it’s a mostly thumbs up for me. Bring on the next installment!

Comments, Concerns and Questions:

• Where does Northern Lights keep sending Root?
• Why is Shaw now working with these thieves? Is it just to keep her happier than selling perfume did or is there something else at work?
• Samaritan is recruiting. Is Northern Lights doing the same?