2.02: Bad Code

[J-Sun]

Spoilers, obviously.

I didn't enjoy last week's as much as last season's finale or this one. (Didn't hate it - just didn't like it as much.) This one picked it back up. Root is a fascinating character - so fascinating that we have to do some fairly bad writing to let her escape and recur. (Finch was obviously not at his peak but was fine so Reese could have gone after her, but walked Finch out of the station.) It looks like we are stuck with the dog - I like the dog just fine as a dog but it doesn't feel right for the show. (But how about the geek cred of the bad dog eating a 1st edition Asimov and the centrality of Keyes to the story and partly to Root's character?) Also, while it couldn't go on forever, I kind of liked it when Fusco and Carter thought they were on opposite sides (or at least not the same side) - I got a little "Kirk, Bones, and Spock share a laugh" - yes, even Spock - at the end of the episode. I also liked it when The Machine was a bit more mysterious. The more details they bring out the more logical problems they have. This let the details of The Machine retreat a little. This felt very cinematic and was generally gripping. I liked it.

 

[ctg]

I have a question: How come the machine was able to find the footage of the kidnapping?

I also have comments, but I'll just say for now that I absolutely loved the "He seems to have extremely expensive taste," line Harold spoke when he saw the doggie bringing the book to his masters.

This week episode is worth to watch. Promise.

 

[ctg]

Who is more evil? Hackers or the NSA? Person of Interest has the answer. http://io9.com/5949479/who-is-more-evil-hackers-or-the-nsa-person-of-interest-has-the-answer

 

[Lenny]

If you go back and look at the command line text when we're first shown the footage of Hannah leaving the library, you can see that the machine is searching through the archives of the security cameras from inside and around the library.

This was a good episode, and I liked the look at Root's history and her methods, even when she was younger and set up the librarians husband.

Slightly disappointed that the "Root has Finch!!" arc only lasted for a couple of episodes.

 

[ctg]

Lenny it still doesn't explain how The Machine was able to check it out. Thing is that The Machine by its specification looks through present and recent history data (it might have stored somewhere). And for the love of my life, I would not have believed that they would have digitised library sensory feed and stored it online somewhere. More likely scenario involves a VHS that has been lost in some dusty old corner.

What makes this all so much more interesting is that The Machine is intelligent being, and it has an unrepresented access to human data. And like it's fictional predecessors (HAL and SkyNet), that chances are that at some point it will wake up and start doing things on its own, don't you think?

 

[FireDragon-16]

What makes this all so much more interesting is that The Machine is intelligent being, and it has an unrepresented access to human data. And like it's fictional predecessors (HAL and SkyNet), that chances are that at some point it will wake up and start doing things on its own, don't you think?

Isn't it kind of doing that already? It tried to save Finch that night at the casino, and when Reese said that unless it led him to Finch, he was done being the contingency, it gave him Root's #. All that even after Finch pointed out that he's not important. Am I way off or is that some sign of The Machine doing what it wants?

 

[ctg]

You're missing the point. The AI is still sitting in the predefined prison even though it still has access to the outside world through the remote sensor. But it hasn't done what HAL and SkyNet did and gained 'total' freedom, has it?

 

[Dave]

You make good points here. The kidnapping was years ago, so even if the police had made and kept a recording it isn't likely to have been digitised because this was a cold case.

As for the machine thinking for itself, yes it is. I think this is a spoiler at this point in the series, but it did set Finch up with a girlfriend. I just haven't found out what happened to her yet.

And Root will return, but you already know that too..