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kindkitI finally got around to watching the final season of Person of Interest.
It was better than I'd feared after how much I hated S4, but less good than I'd hoped. The show seemed to lose track of what it was trying to do with the Samaritan plotline (for instance, there are better arguments against Samaritan's plans to save humanity from itself than "free will," but they were never explicitly made). And considering Samaritan is supposed to be the next best/worst thing to a god, couldn't it figure out a better way to remove pesky obstacles than endlessly throwing bullets at them?
I do think the Root-Shaw relationship was handled well in terms of characterization, though I have to note that not for the first time on television, two women getting together was instantly followed by one of them dying. And POI essentially did this twice, first with Shaw's capture right after her and Root's first kiss, and then with Root's death.
Despite all that, I think fans of Root/Shaw got a better, more consistent story than fans of Finch/Reese, or even of Finch & Reese friendship. For most of S4 and S5 it was impossible to tell that they had ever been friends, and then suddenly we had Reese choosing to die to save Finch. Which was a heartbreaking scene and I cried a lot, but it would have been even more powerful if, you know, we'd been seeing their closeness all along. Instead, the showrunners forcibly redirected all their emotions towards compulsory heterosexual, and not even well done compulsory heterosexuality. Finch spent a lot of time moping about Grace; unfortunately, Grace's personality was mostly defined throughout by her beinga doormat the least demanding person in the world, and therefore very convenient appealing to someone as secretive and emotionally awkward as Harold. As for John's new girlfriend Iris, the show kept saying how important she was to John without showing it (except creepily, in the sense that she was his therapist, damn it), and then dropped the character like a hot brick.
I'd have given a lot to see John and Harold go to the movies again, or argue about opera, or wash the dog, or anything like the lovely moments they had in the first three series. Also, I want the fic where after Harold suddenly shows up in Italy, Grace responds either by telling him she's delighted he's alive but she's moved on and would he like to meet her husband, or telling him exactly what she thinks of his pretending to be dead for the last six years. And the fic where John dies but is permanently disabled and he and Harold try to cope with that together. And the fic where John is dead and Harold actually grieves instead of running off to Grace.
I was prepared for John and Harold to die together. I wasn't prepared for John to die in order to clear a space for Harold's heterosexuality to be pasted on.
So, I'm glad I watched the end, but I'm also glad that I waited until my love for S1-S3 and my disappointment at S4 had time to cool, because the ending would have bothered me even more otherwise.
After POI I was in the mood for something a bit lighter, so I've been watching Leverage and enjoying it quite a lot. Sometimes the caper plots wear a bit thin (and I love capers and heists), but I adore the characters and the team dynamics. I even, to my surprise, really like the Hardison/Parker relationship, which seems to be growing organically rather than being forced on us, and which anyway isn't at all like a typical male/female screen romance. In contrast I deeply don't like Sophie/Nate, which is much more conventional and which does feel forced.
I must, however, note with disapproval that I'm now halfway through S4 and there hasn't been a single queer character. Really, show? Really, show that is mostly quite progressive about everything else? Really?
It was better than I'd feared after how much I hated S4, but less good than I'd hoped. The show seemed to lose track of what it was trying to do with the Samaritan plotline (for instance, there are better arguments against Samaritan's plans to save humanity from itself than "free will," but they were never explicitly made). And considering Samaritan is supposed to be the next best/worst thing to a god, couldn't it figure out a better way to remove pesky obstacles than endlessly throwing bullets at them?
I do think the Root-Shaw relationship was handled well in terms of characterization, though I have to note that not for the first time on television, two women getting together was instantly followed by one of them dying. And POI essentially did this twice, first with Shaw's capture right after her and Root's first kiss, and then with Root's death.
Despite all that, I think fans of Root/Shaw got a better, more consistent story than fans of Finch/Reese, or even of Finch & Reese friendship. For most of S4 and S5 it was impossible to tell that they had ever been friends, and then suddenly we had Reese choosing to die to save Finch. Which was a heartbreaking scene and I cried a lot, but it would have been even more powerful if, you know, we'd been seeing their closeness all along. Instead, the showrunners forcibly redirected all their emotions towards compulsory heterosexual, and not even well done compulsory heterosexuality. Finch spent a lot of time moping about Grace; unfortunately, Grace's personality was mostly defined throughout by her being
I'd have given a lot to see John and Harold go to the movies again, or argue about opera, or wash the dog, or anything like the lovely moments they had in the first three series. Also, I want the fic where after Harold suddenly shows up in Italy, Grace responds either by telling him she's delighted he's alive but she's moved on and would he like to meet her husband, or telling him exactly what she thinks of his pretending to be dead for the last six years. And the fic where John dies but is permanently disabled and he and Harold try to cope with that together. And the fic where John is dead and Harold actually grieves instead of running off to Grace.
I was prepared for John and Harold to die together. I wasn't prepared for John to die in order to clear a space for Harold's heterosexuality to be pasted on.
So, I'm glad I watched the end, but I'm also glad that I waited until my love for S1-S3 and my disappointment at S4 had time to cool, because the ending would have bothered me even more otherwise.
After POI I was in the mood for something a bit lighter, so I've been watching Leverage and enjoying it quite a lot. Sometimes the caper plots wear a bit thin (and I love capers and heists), but I adore the characters and the team dynamics. I even, to my surprise, really like the Hardison/Parker relationship, which seems to be growing organically rather than being forced on us, and which anyway isn't at all like a typical male/female screen romance. In contrast I deeply don't like Sophie/Nate, which is much more conventional and which does feel forced.
I must, however, note with disapproval that I'm now halfway through S4 and there hasn't been a single queer character. Really, show? Really, show that is mostly quite progressive about everything else? Really?
