What I’m Watching: Person of Interest

Person of Interest: Season 2, Episode 12 “Prisoner’s Dilemma” (B)

This episode was certainly engaging, but I found Donnelly to be overly cartoonish in a distracting way. Feeding questions into Carter’s ear after choosing her to be the interrogator was unnecessary, and he was far too set on certain subjects for all the wrong reasons. Now, he’s finally out of the picture, setting up the confrontation we’ve been waiting for since we first found out that Kara was still alive. The flashbacks throughout the episode indicated that she’d show up sooner than later, and I liked seeing both Alicia and Snow show up to give them their conflicting orders. Reese’s time spent in jail resulted in the same kind of run-ins frequently seen in the insane asylum on “Smallville,” where Clark was responsible for putting most of the inmates inside. The white supremacists whose dog Reese adopted were ready to give Reese plenty of trouble, and it was great to see Elias step in to help, reminding Reese that, above all, he was the man who came out of nowhere and saved his life. I love that Finch was ready with a gun, set to execute his plan to free Reese, when Carter told him that he was being released. It was enthralling to see Finch getting calls from each payphone as the machine tried desperately to contact him, and I imagine that Finch will have to continue working on his own for a bit as Reese will be preoccupied fulfilling whatever it is Kara wants from him. Fusco’s Armenian adventures were peculiar at best, but I suppose he deserves a good romance after all he’s had to endure.

What I’m Watching: White Collar

White Collar: Season 2, Episode 7 “Prisoner’s Dilemma” (B+)

I must say, I am delighted by how Mozzie is being incorporated so much into this season. Having Neal direct Peter and the on-the-run FBI agent to one of his many safehouses is pure genius, and makes for some terrific entertainment. “Me casa as suit casa” is perhaps my favorite line from this show yet. There’s a token devilishness with which Neal accomplishes his many feats, and that excitement at being able to break the law and get away with it is rubbing off on Peter, who goes on the run in this episode despite swearing to Neal that he would never do such a thing only hours earlier. Peter’s desperate call to Neal to help him hotwire a Lamborghini was great, especially because Neal tried to mask his explanation in hypothetical statements and Peter just didn’t have time for that. Elizabeth is now back in the picture, and it’s nice to see just how much she and Mozzie have bonded that he can stop by to explain Peter’s absence and she has no problem receiving him warmly. It seems Mozzie and Neal have also made an important breakthrough in the Kate case, which should hopefully mean that Sara Ellis isn’t far behind in terms of making the same discovery. The revelation that Kate called Fowler shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but he’s certainly a more compelling FBI baddie than this week’s villain, so bringing him back into the show’s vernacular should help, especially since the show only has two episodes left before it goes on hiatus (presumably) until 2011.