Person of Interest - Guilty - Review: "Procedural POI done well"

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Season 4 has been serialised heavy in its first thirteen episodes. In fact, the only other episode this season that hasn’t related to Samaritan or Dominic was ‘Wingman’. What that says about the show is phenomenal, given that it seemed like a reasonably procedural show back in the first season. This is by no means a bad thing, but when you have that long a stretch of intense serialised story, it can be nice to take a breather with a complete standalone episode.

However, since the end of season 2 and the movement into more serialised story, these standalones have been more infrequent, and for the most part, miss the target slightly. ‘Guilty’, on the other hand, was a really strong episode that proved that Person of Interest is still more than capable of taking a step back from things and giving viewers an hour that doesn’t require too much thought to be applied.

After the countless times of late that the show has made something out to be connected to Samaritan in a shocking mid-episode twist, I absolutely suspected that Emma’s puppet master would be someone we’ve seen before – my main suspect was the mystery caller from ‘Last Call’. I felt like there would be more to the story than just a random individual being responsible, but at the same time I didn’t feel that they would once again go the route of uncovering Samaritan as the culprit.

In actuality, the reveal that the fixer was simply another juror and that he was doing it for Phillip Ward, the Senior VP of Caroline’s (the trial’s murder victim) company came as a pleasant surprise. As much as I enjoy the serialised story, something I’ve felt all season is that the show needs to not make a habit out of turning seemingly procedural numbers into serialised ones. Every once in a while is fine, but not on a consistent basis.

‘Guilty’ gave Person of Interest a well-needed chance to lower the stakes that have been so high in recent episodes, and thus a chance to exhibit some of the lighter moments that the show is known for. This included bringing back Paige Turco’s Zoe, who is always fantastic to have, especially considering how scarcely she does appear – making her presence all the more savoured.

The show uses Zoe’s sexuality and her ‘get things done’ attitude to provide some humour and ‘Guilty’ was no exception. I particularly enjoyed her scene towards the end where she told Ward that he shouldn’t call her, but on the whole, Turco was enjoyable to watch. If only she wasn’t so good on The 100, I’d want her to be in the show far more.

Turco wasn’t the only exceptional guest star this week, though. Blair Brown in the role of Emma was superb, conveying both sides of Emma brilliantly, but it was her portrayal as she revealed the events of her ‘recruitment’ that really captured my attention. Brown really made me sympathetic towards Emma as she broke down in front of Finch. She’s definitely someone I’d be happy to see return.

Obviously, the humour wasn’t limited to Zoe and there were some great moments that involved both Reese and Finch. My favourite was the exchange about Chad’s phone records potentially being faked – Emerson’s delivery of “Now that’s just cheating” had me laughing aloud. We were also treated to a much more serious conversation between the original team members at the beginning of the episode. There haven’t been as many scenes between these ‘core two’ recently, and it was good that we had one. I was in total agreement with them – it started with the two of them, and now that things have gotten more dangerous, that’s how it should be for the moment.

Unsurprisingly, Fusco wasn’t taking to being left out and had something to say about it himself. Kevin Chapman has been great in the role so far, and continued to be so in this episode. Hearing Fusco admit that he’s accepted that he might die helping the team was a huge step for him and the team, but at the same time I loathed that he was fine with dying. I don’t want him to die (and surely my biased fan opinion matters more than Fusco’s, right?) Anyway, I loved that scene – any time someone stands up to Reese it’s great, but Chapman was excellent here.

The other story of note was the developments between Reese and Iris. I’m still not entirely sure whether or not I like what’s happening between them. On the one hand, it would be nice for Reese to have some sort of happiness, because he’s far too miserable (though it’s warranted). However, what he said about losing everyone close to him rings true, and so the smart move would be to not get involved with her.

There is, of course, the possibility that she may be a Samaritan agent, which I highly doubt. I think that would be little more than annoying since I’ve had enough of those type of switch-outs over the course of the show. There comes a point where if they’re done too often, it becomes far too predictable and not all that interesting. Regardless of how I feel about the potential relationship there, it was nice to see Reese open up and talk about his past, which is something we do need more of.

Odds and ends:

• Lana (the juror on the phone) was so annoying.
• Reese seeing all of Shaw’s passports was a touching moment.
• “Because we’re all being watched by an intelligent supercomputer that’s slowly but surely taking over the world.”
• “It’s not science, Harold. It’s law. Rational thought doesn’t apply.”
• “We were trying to swing a verdict, Zoe. Not ruin their lives.” “A little leverage never hurts.”
• “Saying no to Ms Morgan was never your strong suit, was it?”
• According to David Slack, this was the only episode so far that didn’t feature a single gun being fired.
• I apologise for not being able to review ‘M.I.A.’ and for the lateness of this review, but I’m aiming to have this week’s episode review up by Wednesday evening.

So, what did you all think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below and make sure you check out the promo for the next episode, ‘Q & A’.

About the Author - Bradley Adams

16 year old based in England, currently Senior Staff at SpoilerTV. Most of his posts are news/spoiler based, though he is currently the reviewer of Person of Interest, as well as being in charge of the yearly 'Favourite Episode Competition'. A big TV fan, his range of shows are almost exclusively dramas, with some of his all-time favourite shows including 24, LOST, Breaking Bad and Friends. Some of his current favourites include Person of Interest, Arrow and The Walking Dead. He also runs an Arrow blog, ArrowFansUK, and aside from TV, is a keen cricketer. Get in touch with him via the links below or via email bradley@spoilertv.com

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