After one of the greatest seasons in television history, Person Of Interest had a lot to live up to. And while Season 4 is definitely a really good season, especially compared to most television, its second half is where the show starts to peter out a bit.
By the time Season 4 starts, pretty much all is lost for Team Machine. They're forced to craft entirely new identities to stay out of Samaritan's detectors, only for the Machine itself to bring them back together to save Persons of Interest but in secret this time. The first half of this season is pretty great, returning to the more episodic structure of early Season 3, but with the added tension of the characters trying to stay out of sight. There's a nice balance between more lighthearted and intense episodes, and it all culminates in another amazing trilogy (though it's actually five episodes this time) in the middle of the season. It's not as good as the HR trilogy, but it's still incredibly great TV, ending on one of the greatest episodes of all time, let alone the series. However, halfway through the season, Shaw is captured by HR and the momentum slowly starts to slow down a bit.
The second half of Season 4 is easily the weakest stretch of episodes in the series since Season 1. Between MIA and Terra Incognita, it really feels like the show started to spin its wheels, even with Shaw kidnapped and Samaritan out there, it's mostly just a selection of the most basic standalone episodes in the series. And with Carter dead, Shaw missing, and Root trying to look for her, going back to just Reese and Finch felt like a step back. This is also the point at which Decima's constant victories started to get really annoying. You can have your villain win often, but when the heroes barely get any victories throughout the course of the last one and a half seasons, it can feel repetitive and frustrating. Season 4 does end on a pretty strong note with its last three episodes but with Shaw still captured and Decima winning again, it served as the point that I was the least invested in the series.
Still, while I probably have the most gripes for this season, at its best, it has some of the show's best episodes:
The Devil You Know: Kickstarting the arc in the middle of the season, The Devil You Know gets to an fast-paced start where Shaw's cover is blown and she's forced to go into hiding after an intense shootout. Despite the opening, though, most of this episode is actually focused on the Elias/Brotherhood conflict, culminating in Elias sacrificing his right-hand man to land a hit on Dominic in spectacular fashion.
The Cold War: While a bit more low-key and slow-paced compared to the episodes before and after it, The Cold War has Samaritan completely crash the economy in one of his most world-destroying moves yet. But the real highlight is the actual conversation between Samaritan and The Machine, using a little kid and Root as their respective mediums. It's easily one of the most sci-fi scenes in the whole show.
If-Then-Else: This episode is just genius and one of the greatest ever made. It has a simple storyline, the team is forced to fight their way out of the Stock Exchange, but the big twist is that The Machine is constantly running scenarios to try and find the best way out. It's a great blend of action and comedy, while also providing insight on how The Machine operates. But obviously the highlight is the excellent ending where Shaw kisses Root and sacrifices herself to save everyone else, even if it's also kinda responsible for the drop in quality in the season's second half.
Control-Alt-Delete: This was a unique episode, focusing entirely on Control, of all characters. It serves as a great denouement to the events of last episode while giving us a bit more insight on what Samaritan is working on outside of the context of New York. It felt a lot like Relevance, with characters like Root appearing with their own things to deal with, but Control and her investigations is the real star of the show here.
Terra Incognita: This episode was a devastating final goodbye to Carter that pretty much entirely focuses on Reese as he finally learns to cope with her death. There's no action, no Samaritan or Machine lore, it's pretty much just a two-actor play with Reese and Carter's ghost that's raw, emotional, and very affecting.
Asylum: This episode was a breath of fresh air after the second half of the season, finally having the characters learn that Shaw is in fact alive. Root and Finch aren't able to save her, granted, but this was still a tense episode that forced The Machine to finally give up its location. It's not all sad, though. We also get the big final confrontation between Elias and the Brotherhood where he finally gets his revenge in a great sequence, and Martine is finally killed off. Asylum is a fast-paced and eventful episode that's actually one of my personal favorites.
YHWH: While not as good of a finale as Deus Ex Machina, YHWH was still pretty great. Given how destructive The Correction is, I was genuinely surprised that the show actually went through with it, and between that and the ending where Team Machine rushes into a group of Decima soldiers, it feels like no one is really safe by the end of this one. However, it wasn't all downer (it's actually a bit more hopeful than Deus Ex Machine, believe it or not). Reese got to use God Mode again which is always fun, and The Machine is nearly entirely destroyed.
Overall, I did really enjoy a lot of Season 4, especially the first half and the last few episodes. At its best, it's still some of the best stuff on TV, but the second half definitely seemed like it was spinning its wheels a bit.
4/5 Stars
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