Warning: Spoilers Ahead

If you thought everything was going to be peachy now that Finch (Michael Emerson) was able to successfully decompress the Machine at the end of last week’s premiere, you’re in for a big surprise. The Machine is far from being back to normal, and it’s one bug right after another that Finch and Root (Amy Acker) have to contend with in tomorrow’s episode.

The first issue is facial recognition, as is depicted in the absolutely hilarious sneak peek below (which also happens to be the episode’s opening scene). I sure hope they will have some BTS footage after the episode airs, because I can’t imagine it being easy for any of the actors to keep a straight face filming that scene. Anyways, back to the episode, Finch is able to solve this problem by getting some better-suited hardware, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. They do start getting numbers again — in fact, **alot** of them, 30 in total actually — but unfortunately, most of them are false alarms. Actors who kill someone but only in the context of a play. People who had committed crimes years ago or who were already dead. It seems the Machine has some big issues with context and also with time.

However, the most notable bug is that after evaluating the backgrounds of Finch, Root, and Reese, she decides they are all threats and locks them out of the Machine. And, in fact, she takes it a step further by taking countermeasures and going on the defense. Hurting Root by overloading her Cochlear implant, and even worse, sending a hitman to take out Reese (YES, you read that one right!). So, with Root and Reese being temporarily out of commission, it’s up to Finch to remind the Machine of who he is and to get her to trust him again.

Very, very intense episode (and also quite comical and entertaining!), and one that ends with a major “Oh, crap!” moment, which has become quite typical of this series. After all is said and done, Finch does keep his promise to the Machine and allows it to remain an open system. I really don’t want to spoil this final scene for you, but let’s just say it offers a glimpse at what may prove to be one of the pitfalls of this decision.

Episode 5.02 of Person of Interest  is titled “SNAFU” and airs tomorrow night at 10/9c on CBS.

VIDEO

Promo:

Sneak Peek: