(Major Spoilers!!) Promising indeed, as Team Machine finally scores a few major victories over Samaritan. Someone smug dies! Someone valiant lives! Bear attacks! Exciting stuff. Even the Faraday Cage competition between Baby Mach and Little Sammy offers hope, despite the abysmal score. Perhaps soon the Machine will emerge newly formed, above the world, and wiser than a judge (see Dickinson's poem Cocoon, in Truth Be Told).
But Samaritan scored a win, too, creating a deadly viral outbreak just so people would be willing to give the CDC samples of their DNA, supposedly to counter disease. They've already granted the government access to nearly everything else, right? I think Samaritan plans to "usher in the future" by sorting humans through "the next great filter" of "our own savage history." To filter out everyone with genetic markers for violence, aggression, noncompliance, obstructionism — probably empathy, morality, and wisdom, too.
Engrossing, but I'm even more interested in team morale. Harold Finch's control issues are diminishing team cohesion. He doesn't tell Fusco about Samaritan, for fear he'll be hurt?? He's a cop! Granted, he's also a father, and Finch wants to protect his son.
But Harold's little army is falling apart. Fusco dumped Finch. Dumped the team phone. Then he dumped poor Reese. And dumped his portly police figurine in the garbage (great scene). He's mad. Not gonna take it anymore. Harold should listen to his own song.
Team discord. Root knows that Harold is keeping something from her. Also, she's impatient for Harold to act. She apparently plans to highjack a drone missile (without talking to Reese or Harold about it). In the previous episode, she apologized to La Machine for Harold when he perhaps unjustly accused it of lies of omission and moral attrition. But The Machine was indeed evasive when three times Harold asked about Max's safety.
Harold and Reese think Shaw is dead and disregard most of Root's efforts to find her. That's gotta hurt.
Elias is concerned about Harold's leadership. Sounding much like Seargent Greg Parker in his negotiator role on FLASHPOINT, he offers Harold a copy of "Twelve O'Clock Noon" (classic war book/ film starring Gregory Peck). The plot revolves around a demoralized group of American fighter pilots in World War II. Under the right leadership, they become the stuff of legends.
Elias: "A little advice: A leader enlists all his resources in war, not just his favorites."
Does Elias see Reese as Finch's favorite? Finch replies: "This is a battle best fought alone. John and I can handle it, and I'd appreciate it if in future you'd leave Detective Fusco out of this." (Huh?? Gotta wonder if Finch is going senile early, as his father did.)
Will Shaw return soon? If so, how will her return effect the group dynamics?
Will Finch read the book, even though he turned it down, snubbing Elias?
But Elias did snub him right back. Ouch!! "Underneath all that intellect, you're the darkest of all of us. It's always the quiet ones we need to be afraid of. And I just hope I'm not around the day that pot finally boils over."
Is Finch's heart dark? He did look a bit guilty. And he did look the other way for several years, building a nice life with Grace, while countless irrelevant numbers came and went. Meanwhile, his partner Nathan agonized over those same deaths. He built a car bomb to murder Alicia Corwin (didn't detonate it, but nearly did). And when Grace was kidnapped (s3 Beta) he told Reese to "Kill them all" if anything happened to her.
So yeah. The Grinch might be hiding a dark heart under those splendid plaids. I love him anyway. Except when I don't.
Best part? Remember 6,741? Shaw told Jeremy Lambert: "First thing I'm gonna do when I get out of these straps is make you bleed."
To which Lambert replied, "Promises, promises."
Yes! She's free! And he appears to be bloody well dead.
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