This show continues to create new and interesting threads. It takes you in new and interesting directions, slowly increasing the size of this universe organically. Looking back at the beginning of the series, It is amazing to think about where we are now. We have lost Carter, Shaw, an operative of the relevant side of the machine has joined the team and the machine has an analog-human interface in Root. Now there might be another machine or the possibility that Control is working on another one? Awesome.
In “Lethe” we learn more about Finch. We start off with young Harold inquiring about birds and helping his father on his truck. We learn that from a young age Finch is brilliant and fascinated by how things are put together. He says, “If they don’t want you to get inside, they ought to build it better”, that seems to be a driving force in his life. We also learn another one of his motivations is his father’s steadily advancing dementia. As a child he even builds a memory machine and talks about building a machine that could keep memories. I really enjoyed the scenes with Finch and his father. It was really interesting to see that this relationship and how formative it was in his life.
Reese is away sitting in his father’s bar in Colorado. He is in a state of despair after the death of Carter. This is totally understandable but it is really sad to see him mourning. Fusco even travels out to Colorado to try to ease him out of it at first but later turns to trying to beat him out of it. I hope he gets back onto the team soon. He is missed but on the other hand I like that actions have an impact. Everyone is dealing with Carter’s death in their own way.
This week’s Person of Interest was Arthur Claypool, a dying man. He was something so much more special than that. He was the builder of a special machine similar to Finch’s that he had built called Samaritan. He was losing his memories and also sharing them with everyone because of his brain tumor. This set up the revelations that other machines were being built that would do the same thing Finch’s machine did. Vigilance came in and tried to find out information on where it was and also silence him. Control it was later revealed was after him to find Samaritan and take possession of it.
We also finally come face to face with Control for the first time. It was an awesome twist that this episode’s guest star, Camryn Manheim ended up being in this role. She played Claypool’s wife really convincingly but then as if she hit a switch she turned cold and ominous. She has just enough presence to be Control. She is totally believable in this role and I look forward to seeing more of her in this position.
Other notes from the Machine:
- Favorite Moment: I liked the very end of the episode when everything turned and Hersh came in. It was also neat when they did the percentages of danger. We are definitely in for a wild ride coming up.
- Neat moment with Finch as a child and we got to see the beginning of his fascination with birds. I hope there is a little more to it than that.
- This episode confirmed that Finch is definitely a nerd. It also confirmed that there is nothing wrong with that.
- I never thought Harold would be from Iowa. That is an interesting development.
- The transitions between time and space on this show are the best.
- Elizabeth Ross was meant to be Betsy Ross? Oh Vigilance, I love your American Revolutionary sense of humor.
- How did Root get that number from the machine? Did she sneak in a phone from her last field trip? I cannot wait for the day when they truly set her free. I get why Finch is reluctant but it is time.
- “John’s going to be sorry he missed that.” – Shaw about Finch singing an MIT song with Claypool. It was such a funny line.
“Lethe” was a great winter finale. It set up a lot of interesting storylines for Finch and his team to follow up on as well as gave us some more information about Finch. We got to see Vigilance and Hersh again, finally met Control and found out about the government’s other efforts to build a machine. John is on hiatus with Fusco trying to convince him to come back. There are a lot of cool threads for the show to pick back up in the spring and I can’t wait for that.
The Whiteboard 