3.12: Aletheia

[J-Sun]

Wow. I would think this show would bank on about a five year run (at least four at this point) so it should be smack in the middle of its middle season but it sure isn't acting like it as things feel apocalyptic enough for a series finale end stretch.

I don't know what to say. Just, once again, it confirms itself as my favorite show. Amy Acker was especially great. I mean, sure, the computer aspects weren't much better than Wargames and I don't know what kind of computer people think stepping on a hard drive is going to accomplish much (it's incredibly easy to render a hard drive unusable to Joe User and incredibly difficult to render a drive inaccessible to the full range of data recovery techniques) and I sure wouldn't want to be a servant of The Machine if it doesn't take care of Groves any better than it did this time (well, not under any circumstances, but especially not then). Plenty of things to cynically nitpick. But in terms of getting swept up in an action arc with characters and events that are involving, well... pretty cool.

So - I still don't buy that Reese is off the show because that would be kind of crazy (and I haven't stumbled across any such "real world" information on Caviezel) but they sure are making me wonder at this point. And it is going to be weird if we put Lionel back in the cop station and go about with ordinary numbers (though that was sort of the point: the people who fall between the cracks of the epic stuff - and now we've been doing epic stuff for quite awhile - who's been falling through the cracks?). And are we getting set to go "machino a machino"? And how are we going to keep Groves in the storyline if she's finally a free agent (well, in her terms)?[1] And I still don't like the "Vigilance" storyline but setting up the three-way conflict between Finch/Shaw and Vigilance AND Control made them all more interesting.

I dunno - I look forward to seeing how things play out.

BTW, did anyone catch the premiere of Intelligence? Bog standard characterization and plotting but an interesting style and a sort of inverted concept/twist on PoI. And Meghan Ory is not hard to look upon.
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[1] There was one point where Groves said everyone wanted to keep her in cages and I thought, "We all are!" as Reese and Fusco were in jail, Finch and Shaw were trapped in the bank, and Root was in the cage with Control.

 

[Lenny]

I agree - Acker was fantastic.

It's rare that I'm on the money when it comes to plot predictions (permit me a quick, but sad, fist pump), so Reese walking out on Harold actually surprised me. I too haven't seen anything IRL about Caviezel, so if this is a departure, or even just a break, they've done very well to keep it under wraps.

Not that I'm complaining - I've grown to like Shaw, and I've enjoyed her in the Reese role (loved her line, and the total deadpan: "There's a time for a scalpel, and a time for a hammer. It's hammer time."), so the opportunity to see her grow into it and make it her own is not something I want to miss.

Have to say that I'm impressed by how the writers aren't letting up on the various story strands. We're halfway through this series, but they're still going strong, and have reintroduced older strands to replace those that have been lost, rather than let the show continue with fewer. I feel that it adds depth that a lot of other shows are missing, particularly in episodes like this where so many of them weave together.

 

[J-Sun]

I too haven't seen anything IRL about Caviezel, so if this is a departure, or even just a break, they've done very well to keep it under wraps.

Yeah - the problem with my thinking "well, I haven't heard anything" is that I hadn't heard anything about Carter, either, so they are pretty good with that wrap thing. (I mean, I don't seek such stuff out so I might not be the first to hear, but it's usually kind of hard to avoid that kind of stuff.)

Not that I'm complaining - I've grown to like Shaw, and I've enjoyed her in the Reese role (loved her line, and the total deadpan: "There's a time for a scalpel, and a time for a hammer. It's hammer time."), so the opportunity to see her grow into it and make it her own is not something I want to miss.

Actually, for me, it was a "total" deadpan except that she somehow conveyed "Hey, I'm making a joke" without changing anything about her expression or delivery - it didn't come off as an accidental saying on her part, in other words.

Have to say that I'm impressed by how the writers aren't letting up on the various story strands. We're halfway through this series, but they're still going strong, and have reintroduced older strands to replace those that have been lost, rather than let the show continue with fewer. I feel that it adds depth that a lot of other shows are missing, particularly in episodes like this where so many of them weave together.

Yep - I worry that this introduces a barrier to growing your audience but, for those who are already a part of the audience, it's great. They could get carried away with it but, so far, so good.

 

[Dave]

I would be very sorry to see Reese leave, but they had a chance to kill him off and didn't, so I can't see it. If Caviezel wanted to leave that would be different, but the regrets and disillusionments Reese has about his role are all in character with what he has been through.

As for it being difficult for a new viewer to switch on and watch, well I no longer care. Everyone, and I mean everyone illegally downloads now. The studios know this and the tide cannot be turned back. Record numbers of people were still watching the latest Walking Dead episodes illegally when they could have watched them perfectly legally for free! So, my point is that anyone can watch these series from the very beginning should they wish to. What they can't watch is the latest episode. The studios therefore have an even greater incentive to make the latest episode the best. Something this show continues to achieve on a regular basis.

I disagree with Reece about the Machine. I think that the Machine is way too sentimental. He says that it doesn't care about people, but the way it seems to care for Groves, Harold and now Arthur and Control, to me, I don't think it can be making logical decisions when based upon those feelings. Sometimes people get hurt in the process of the better good. Reese then said that it cares too blindly and doesn't care for those that matter. Well it certainly is not blind, it sees everything, so why did it let Carter die? Well, it is still only a machine. Only Groves treats it like a God. It has foresight but that is only an algorithm. I think Reece is giving the machine more credit than it is due. It is clearly not infallible.