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Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - davemchine - 04-17-2014
This show started with a very simple theme and I really liked it. Now the show is extremely convoluted and I can't figure out what's going on. So here is my list of questions:
1. Is the machine Root talks to the same as the machine Harold talks to?
2. If so why does the machine talk to Root differently than it talks to Harold?
3. What is the goal of the machine that works with Root?
4. Is the Northern Lights machine totally out of the picture at this point?
5. Does the machine run by the evil corporation (can't remember who that is) have a name?
6. Why do they want Harold?
7. Did they fire the original writers/producers? The show has a very disjointed and confusing format this year.
I could probably come up with a lot more questions. I'm very confused at this point.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - ka jowct - 04-17-2014
It has gotten out of hand. It seems to be tanking somewhat in the way that Burn Notice did: getting away from its early foundation and becoming way too dark/complicated.
I can't answer your questions, although I think the Finch and Root are talking to the same machine. I can't figure out how it was "set free" by Finch. I can't figure out how Root is even communicating with her Machine. One is almost tempted to believe that The Machine, despite its name, doesn't need much in the way of hardware to do its thing.
Also, I get sick of unbelievably powerful, implacable enemies.
And another thing: in the intro, they really need to add: If your number is up, we'll find you as long as you are in New York City.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - Sam3 - 04-17-2014
The few questions I have answers for may be spoilers...
[spoiler]
The machine that both Root and Finch talk to is the same, that was the new twist at the end of last season and the beginning of this season. The machine was built by Finch, and he had ultimate control over it, but last season's story arc was how and why Finch set the machine "free".
[/spoiler]
The rest of the questions I can't answer as I have not followed this season, I may buy it from iTunes or I may wait until it comes out on DVD, depending on if I'll have time to watch it.
I have a problem with shows where the season-long story arc becomes more important than the weekly episodic stories, if I miss a show, or a few shows, then I'm lost and I really start to wonder if it's worth investing the time to get back into the show. That's what happened to me and Lost, I lost interest in it after missing a few episodes. I think that NCIS strikes a good balance, they will emphasize the seasonal story arc only periodically throughout the season (usually during ratings periods), their main emphasis is the weekly episode.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - saintyohann - 04-17-2014
1) Yes
2) Root is the 'Analogue' Interface
3) The goal of the machine is to protect people. Root gets the 'Relevant' numbers (SSNs of terrorists) and Harold get 'Irrelevant' numbers (regular people that are in danger or endangering others). The machine protects itself also, but it's hinted that it does so to remain available to protect others. I would guess it will eventually sacrifice itself to save Harold (but may only do so after it 'creates' a replacement.
4) The machine is still giving out numbers, but the government is just no longer 'listening.'
5) Samaritan
6) They want access to all information to sell/control, Harold is actively trying to stop them.
7) It's JJ Abrams... Please see Lost, Fringe, etc...
davemchine wrote:
This show started with a very simple theme and I really liked it. Now the show is extremely convoluted and I can't figure out what's going on. So here is my list of questions:
1. Is the machine Root talks to the same as the machine Harold talks to?
2. If so why does the machine talk to Root differently than it talks to Harold?
3. What is the goal of the machine that works with Root?
4. Is the Northern Lights machine totally out of the picture at this point?
5. Does the machine run by the evil corporation (can't remember who that is) have a name?
6. Why do they want Harold?
7. Did they fire the original writers/producers? The show has a very disjointed and confusing format this year.
I could probably come up with a lot more questions. I'm very confused at this point.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - davemchine - 04-17-2014
saintyohann, thanks for all the answers. I never watched Lost but I do remember Fringe went off the deep end at the end of the series. I went back and watched the first season of Person of Interest and they had such a good format it is a shame they are ruining it. The new characters are good but the story is so convoluted nobody but you seems to even understand what is happening. At least I'm not alone in my confusion.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - Blankity Blank - 04-17-2014
Actually, a lot of what's going on now had the foundation laid from the very first season. There has been in show build up to this as well as hidden clues for uber fans to spend their time deciphering. All kinds of things like the color coding of the recticles placed over characters, single frame flashes of code inserted with greater and greater frequency as the show progressed, and various text boxes from the machine with snippets of important information.
Elaborating on some of your questions.
1./2. The same machine, but not the same machine as at the start of the show. The Machine has 'evolved' and continues to evolve.
The Machine's biggest leap probably came when it figured out Harold had programmed it to purge its memory every night, to try and avoid it evolving too far, and figuring out how to runaround those instructions. Happy birthday Ernest Thornhill.
The Machine's relations with Finch, Control and everyone else is... complicated. According to producer Jonathan Nolan, thinking of The Machine as a single mind is thinking too small.
""...we imagine the machine would be different. What that means is that it [can be] authentically itself while also entertaining different relationships with everyone. It has a different relationship with Finch than it does Root, and it honors the terms of the relationship that Finch wanted."
The Machine as Nolan sees it is a kind of massively parallel mind..."
4. Far from out of the picture, "Northern Lights"/The Machine, is at the epicenter of it all. The quasi off the books government program (that thought it was) controlling The Machine was shut down after Vigilance leaked documents regarding Northern Lights. The Machine itself however, is as active as it ever was.
Gorge on Machine knowledge at The Machine wiki page.
davemchine wrote:
This show started with a very simple theme and I really liked it. Now the show is extremely convoluted and I can't figure out what's going on. So here is my list of questions:
1. Is the machine Root talks to the same as the machine Harold talks to?
2. If so why does the machine talk to Root differently than it talks to Harold?
3. What is the goal of the machine that works with Root?
4. Is the Northern Lights machine totally out of the picture at this point?
5. Does the machine run by the evil corporation (can't remember who that is) have a name?
6. Why do they want Harold?
7. Did they fire the original writers/producers? The show has a very disjointed and confusing format this year.
I could probably come up with a lot more questions. I'm very confused at this point.
And as for POI's "DNA"? Well the pilot itself contains easter eggs referring to both Lost and Fringe.
A character's in box includes messages from Peter Bishop, Philip Broyles and Charlie Francis.
And those damned numbers.
And if you thought I was kidding about clues for uber fans, here's some of that hidden code.
An oblique clue in the form of an excerpt from Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Of course you first have to take the text, convert it into ASCII hexadecimal, with A-F replaced with Greek letters, and then mapped from Latin letters to Greek letters. Or something close to that. I got kind of lost somewhere around "A=Omega".
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - Mr645 - 04-17-2014
I really enjoyed the show back when it was John, Harold and the machine.
After falling behind a few episodes I lost interest and last week deleted 6 episodes from the DVR and stopped recording it. I tried watching it again but I could not figure out what was going on now
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - Sam3 - 04-17-2014
Mr645 wrote:
I really enjoyed the show back when it was John, Harold and the machine.
After falling behind a few episodes I lost interest and last week deleted 6 episodes from the DVR and stopped recording it. I tried watching it again but I could not figure out what was going on now
That's exactly what happened to me and Lost.
If you want to make the seasonal/series story arc the primary one, then break the series up into half-year miniseries, like what Once Upon a Time has done. At least then if you miss a portion of the season, then the next half of the season you can get back into the game.
It seems that Jonathan Nolan is letting J. J. Abrams dictate the series flow, which is a shame.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - ka jowct - 04-17-2014
An oblique clue in the form of an excerpt from Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Of course you first have to take the text, convert it into ASCII hexadecimal, with A-F replaced with Greek letters, and then mapped from Latin letters to Greek letters. Or something close to that. I got kind of lost somewhere around "A=Omega".
The target audience for this scares me.
Re: Person of Interest, spoilers I'm sure - Blankity Blank - 04-17-2014
ka jowct wrote:Puzzle/riddle/code people can be a bit... unique, but they're mostly harmless. Got a bit of it in me, truth be told.
An oblique clue in the form of an excerpt from Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Of course you first have to take the text, convert it into ASCII hexadecimal, with A-F replaced with Greek letters, and then mapped from Latin letters to Greek letters. Or something close to that. I got kind of lost somewhere around "A=Omega".
The target audience for this scares me.