Person of Interest
Nov. 21st, 2013 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendi“You know the dog’s the only one that likes you, right?
(For a show that's decidedly not a comedy, it's amazing how much witty writing there is on this show, and even more amazing how rarely it undercuts the storytelling.)
Not even starting this post without a
I've got two entirely separate chains of thought about this week's episode. But my brain isn't articulating the second one well right now, so let's just go with the first one:
Wow, did they swerve things beautifully. After the trailers made Fusco look like he was going to die, I'd expected them to go in a different direction and kill Shaw, Elias, or even Root (in fact, Root, as the "person most away from the conflict" would have been the classic twist). But then they did every standard trick to make Fusco the victim. From the scene with his son at the beginning (where he even bragged about being so tough), to the "next time" warning he gave Shaw, even to that last minute save of his son combined with his goodbye, he was set up to die, narratively. And what a fucking moment when he didn't. Fusco doesn't get to be the toughie on a show where Shaw, Reese, and Carter all out-tough him. And this never came across as a Stallone/Schwarzenegger moment; this was a desperate man taking one desperate chance. And it worked so beautifully (if horrifyingly, given how violent it was).
And in the meantime, Carter's narrative arc towards death had just started, with that kiss and Reese's admission of love. As soon as Fusco saved himself, of course, she had a big target on her, but because we got her conversation with her son the other week, there wasn't that sense of blinding obviousness. Likewise, who knew that the flashbacks in which we see her ex becoming a capable father were to establish that her son would still have a home?
Of course, in retrospect, it was totally obvious; Carter's storyline, even more than Fusco's, has revolved around fighting HR. They brought it down this week, so it's as much of an arc closure as anything. Of course, it's not tidy; she's the one who saved Elias, after all, and that's a story in need of some closure (of course, with HR out of the picture, the justification of keeping him out of jail is lost). And Fusco and Reese both will have a ton of processing to do..
(For a show that's decidedly not a comedy, it's amazing how much witty writing there is on this show, and even more amazing how rarely it undercuts the storytelling.)
Not even starting this post without a
I've got two entirely separate chains of thought about this week's episode. But my brain isn't articulating the second one well right now, so let's just go with the first one:
Wow, did they swerve things beautifully. After the trailers made Fusco look like he was going to die, I'd expected them to go in a different direction and kill Shaw, Elias, or even Root (in fact, Root, as the "person most away from the conflict" would have been the classic twist). But then they did every standard trick to make Fusco the victim. From the scene with his son at the beginning (where he even bragged about being so tough), to the "next time" warning he gave Shaw, even to that last minute save of his son combined with his goodbye, he was set up to die, narratively. And what a fucking moment when he didn't. Fusco doesn't get to be the toughie on a show where Shaw, Reese, and Carter all out-tough him. And this never came across as a Stallone/Schwarzenegger moment; this was a desperate man taking one desperate chance. And it worked so beautifully (if horrifyingly, given how violent it was).
And in the meantime, Carter's narrative arc towards death had just started, with that kiss and Reese's admission of love. As soon as Fusco saved himself, of course, she had a big target on her, but because we got her conversation with her son the other week, there wasn't that sense of blinding obviousness. Likewise, who knew that the flashbacks in which we see her ex becoming a capable father were to establish that her son would still have a home?
Of course, in retrospect, it was totally obvious; Carter's storyline, even more than Fusco's, has revolved around fighting HR. They brought it down this week, so it's as much of an arc closure as anything. Of course, it's not tidy; she's the one who saved Elias, after all, and that's a story in need of some closure (of course, with HR out of the picture, the justification of keeping him out of jail is lost). And Fusco and Reese both will have a ton of processing to do..