What I’m Watching: Person of Interest (Season Finale)

Person of Interest: Season 4, Episode 22 “YHWH” (B)

This show has done a fantastic amount of rebooting in its season finales each year, and while this one certainly commands that, it wasn’t as effective in terms of truly overhauling the show and how it works. The machine typing out an apology to its father Finch for failing to survive was a very sentimental moment for a show that rarely has that for its nonhuman elements, and Samaritan summarily taking out its more revolutionary elements and typing out its own report to Greer was an intense way to show who had very clearly won the war for now. Fusco was never going to die but I didn’t think that both Elias and Dominic would get taken out too, as would Control’s only ally, Shaw’s former partner. It’s sad to see Control get caught and imprisoned after she had such a change of heart and was actually trying to do the right thing. Finch and Root appear to have saved the machine in the most minimal way they could, but it’s going to be very difficult for them to stay off the grid while they’re rebuilding it and getting it ready for a revenge match against Samaritan. This season was definitely good, turning Reese into a cop and everyone else into chameleons, but I think that the rest of it didn’t quite live up to the high expectations set by seasons two and three. This is still one of the stronger and more consistent shows on television, and I’m extremely excited for wherever season five may go.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Sarah Shahi as Shaw