Aletheia – first thoughts

Yeah, I know. It’s been forever since I posted. But I just finished watching the latest episode of Person of Interest – Aletheia. Wow. Talk about a powerful episode. Beginning where the last episode left off – which was also quite extraordinary – the realization that there was more than one project to create an AI, Finch and Shaw captured along with the creator of this other AI, Finch’s friend Arthur. The secretive government agency behind all of the shenanigans now has a name – Control. Throw in Vigilance and Decima Technologies in this episode. Are you missing HR yet? Not hardly! We’re missing Mr. Reese, perhaps, although Shaw filled in quite adequately this episode. I know some have complained that she’s not as likable but I think she’s really coming into her own with the last few episodes. And then there’s Supergirl (Root) although she certainly seems just as wacky as ever. Curious to see where this story is going with Vigilance and Decima Technologies.

One wonders though if Harold isn’t feeling some regrets at creating the Machine. He certainly seemed to express some in this episode. Both he and John mentioned the cost of their quest and neither seemed to think it was worth it.

I’m going to try and keep this blog better over the next year. I’ll try and post a full review of “Aletheia” in the next couple of days.

Is the NSA watching?

The NSA promises they’re not reading our emails or our web searches. And then this happens: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/01/new-york-police-terrorism-pressure-cooker

Then again, they said they weren’t tracking our phone calls either and we know that’s a lie now, don’t we?

Root joins the cast as a regular

Interesting news that Amy Acker – the actress who plays Root in Person of Interest – will become a series regular. http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/07/20/amy-acker-person-of-interest-regular/ 

What this means for the direction of the show, I don’t know. Does this mean she’ll be a regular like Elias, or more like Fusco? I like Root as a force of chaos but I’d rather it be small doses. Too much might not be as interesting.

I also saw this tidbit from Comic Con via i09
http://io9.com/what-makes-the-machine-on-person-of-interest-a-science-902752290

Seems the ‘theme’ for season three will be freedom. Which makes sense given the ‘liberation’ of the Machine that ended season 2 and the title of the season 3 premiere, “Liberty”. I hope this doesn’t mean that we’ll have less of the procedural elements in the show and the guesswork about who’s the victim and who’s the perpetrator. I rather enjoyed that part of the show and I would hate to lose it, although I would like to see  how they handle all the various threads running through the show (HR, the Machine, Decima Technologies, Grace and Reese’s “old friends”).

NSA snooping on U.S. citizens

The story that continues to unfold about the NSA’s snooping on U.S citizens sounds like POI come to life, doesn’t it? Even if ‘all’ they are keeping is the metadata (and really, do you believe them? I don’t.) that means they know who you’re calling and how often.

Person of Interest available on iTunes & Amazon Instant Video

Saw this press release that Person of Interest is now available on iTunes and Amazon Instant Video for watching: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/06/20/person-of-interest-available-via-digital-download-for-first-time/188283/

It appears, at least on Amazon, that both season 1 and 2 are available. It’s not free with Amazon Prime though :^(

Season 3 season premiere news

A few tidbits have leaked out about the season 3 premiere of Person of Interest. First, that the show will premiere will be broadcast September 24. The title of the premiere will be “Liberty”. No clue what the title refers to although I think it’s likely that it refers to the Machine’s recent ‘liberation’ at the end of season 2.

It’s not clear when Amy Acker (the actress that plays ‘Root’) will return, although its virtually a lock that she will. Who else is so close to a true nemesis for Finch?

In a piece of bad news, CBS in their infinite wisdom has decided to move the show to Tuesday nights. POI was the fifth most-watched show on TV last year. Here’s hoping that moving the show doesn’t change that.

http://www.enstarz.com/articles/20632/20130628/person-of-interest-season-3-spoilers-premiere-episode-title-revealed-details-root-possible-return-video.htm

Season Finale

The season finale was pretty wild, wasn’t it? Root thought she’d won, only to find out that Finch was several steps ahead of her. He clearly had decided that it was wrong to make the machine wipe it’s memory every day as a way of preventing it from become truly conscious.

And while giving us a few answers, it definitely gave us more questions. Where is the machine now? Is it truly ‘free’? And what is really going on with Decima Technologies? Compared to all of that, the HR and Elias stories that dominated so much of season 1 and 2 seem distant.

Person of Interest

This blog is about Person of Interest, the hit show on CBS that wraps up its second season this week. News, rumors, episode reviews, etc., that’s what you can expect to find here. As time permits I’ll post commentary about issues and concepts raised by the show, particularly concerns about surveillance, ‘predicting’ crime, and artificial intelligence.

Are you pumped for the season finale tomorrow night? I am. I’m very curious how they wrap up the story about the attack on the Machine. The concepts introduced this season regarding the Machine’s artificial intelligence and how Finch has tried to suppress it fascinating.