Person Of Interest S5Ep01 B.S.O.D. Review

Person Of Interest S5Ep01 B.S.O.D. Review

5 years ago when I started SciFiEmpire one of the first articles I wrote was a preview of Person Of Interest. I felt excited and intrigued by the idea of Lost star Michael Emerson teaming up with Jim Caviezel to fight crimes before they occurred. It helped that big names such as Jonathan Noland and Bad Robot Productions were attached. Person Of Interest has managed to make every expectation come true, and then some. To think that we have come to its final season is heartbreaking, but not unexpected. Audiences do grow weary with a series, no matter how good it is. I can only hope this final season of 13 episodes will do justice to the incredible legacy the show has built up. So, below you can read my Person Of Interest S5Ep01 B.S.O.D. Review. The format is familiar. First I will give a recap of the episode and afterwards an in-depth opinion. Enjoy!

B.S.O.D == Blue Screen Of Death

Events during this episode follow the immediate aftermath of those occurred during the previous finale. Samaritan Operatives are tailing and trying to kill Team Machine (Root, Finch and Reese). Reese is protecting the compressed Machine in the suitcase. As the battery is wearing out Reese and Finch try to reach the subway hideout so that Finch can try to keep the machine alive. Finch and Reese reach the subway hideout where Finch tries to open the briefcase so that he can power it. As Reese is no help there, he goes to save Root who is on her own without the machine’s help. Root reaches the undercover hideout of her ex-client Bela who was saved by her from the Russians. In return for her work she requests Bela to give her a new identity. At the NYPD, Fusco is questioned repeatedly by FBI and internal affairs about the death of Dominic and Elias. Fusco tries to convince them that he did not shoot Dominic; that it was a professional sniper who did it. Reese urges Fusco not to speak of the sniper as he could be his next target.

Fusco agrees to this and the FBI claims that in an act of self defense Fusco killed Dominic. The Machine tries to decompress itself, but with not enough memory to hold the decompressed data, Finch’s workstation catches fire. Flashbacks from 2006 show Finch in dual mindset, whether he should erase the machine’s memory every day or not, which he eventually does and finally regrets doing. Bela gives Root her new identity but then states he has already made a deal with Samaritan operatives. As the operatives reach Bela’s hideout (killing Bela), Reese intervenes and saves Root from the Samaritan henchmen. Root and Reese carry next generation gaming consoles to the subway hideout so that they can decompress the machine on them. Root and Finch create a supercomputer with those consoles. As the machine tries to decompresses itself, the tremendous heat blows several of the circuits. Reese finds a source of liquid nitrogen and cools down the computer, and the Machine successfully decompresses.

Conclusion

Alright, lets get one thing straight. If B.S.O.D refers to the notorious Blue Screen Of Death on Windows systems then it is a stupid mistake. No way Finch would use Windows, he would use a Linux or even a UNIX computer to program The Machine. As far I am concerned the title is the only blemish on the episode. B.S.O.D is one hell of a train ride, its 44 minutes were gone before I knew it. The episode reminded me of season 1. It is not afraid to making the main characters hurt, both Root and Reese have some very difficult fights which they only just win. Meanwhile Finch’s struggle in dealing with how he hampered The Machine’s development is captivating. In his interactions with it Finch slowly begins to realize he considers it to be a real person as he discusses it with other people such as the late Nathan Ingram. The decisions to wipe its memories every day at midnight may have been sound, but Finch has realized it puts it at an disadvantage with Samaritan. If The Machine survives the decompression, which it will, Finch will have no choice but to set it free. It is wonderful when you realize how the show will end but that you will also enjoy the road to get there!

Score; 8.8 / 10. An exciting episode of Person Of Interest focusing for the most part on the interaction between Finch and The Machine.

Person of Interest will be back next week with the episode SNAFU. You can view the trailer below…