For months now, going all the way back to San Diego Comic-Con 2015 last July, Sarah Shahi’s return to Person of Interest has been teased virtually non-stop. Sameen Shaw definitely was not dead and instead, was being held captive by Greer and his minions at an unknown location. Yay. Fans couldn’t be more thrilled. Then, just a few weeks ago, this was all confirmed with Shaw’s big re-introduction set for episode 4 of the series’ final season. The fans were ready, they were pumped, and they were excited about seeing the fan-favorite give Samaritan and its mouthpiece, Greer (John Nolan), the finger and finally escape the prison she had been held in since that shocking season 4 episode “If-Then-Else.” This, along with the synopsis of tonight’s episode and the sneak peek clips, provided the fans (myself include!) a preconceived notion of what to expect — a courageous escape, psychological trauma resulting from the torture she endured, and a very angry woman hell-bent on revenge. However, in a brilliant twist and a slide of hand by the writers in the final moments of tonight’s episode, we learn that things aren’t really as they seem.

SHAW MAKES A BRAVE ESCAPE AND UNITES WITH TEAM FINCH

The episode opens with what fans have been waiting for — confirmation that Shaw is very much alive but being held at some medical facility, obviously operated by Greer and Samaritan. It appears that a chip has been implanted in her very close to the brain stem, which makes me believe it’s being used for controlling as opposed to tracking her. However, when tested by asking her a series of questions and showing her pictures of people from her past, no response. Nada. Perhaps the procedure rendered her brain-dead? Nope, Shaw is just being Shaw because at the first chance, she utters “Did you come up with this game all by yourself, or did they tell you to bore me to death?” That’s my girl! We can’t tell if this is done purposely, but they wheel her out to install a new implant, and that’s Shaw’s cue to make a run for it. After taking out Greer’s sidekick and the nurse, before we know it, Shaw is in New York City, and things are back to as they were. Well, almost. There’s this little problem of having to find Finch (Michael Emerson)  and the rest of the team.

But, no worries because a sure-fire way of getting the attention of the Machine is to plot a murder. So, what is Shaw’s plan? Walk into a drug store, approach the geeky clerk “Bobby Jackson,” grab his phone and call 911 to report you’re about to kill the poor, clueless schmuck. That will certainly do it, but it also has the unfortunate side effect of attracting the attention of Samaritan too. No big deal, though, because behind the 3 Samaritan operatives who walk through the door is Team Machine and a very familiar voice. And, in less than 5 seconds, we have 3 guys dead on the floor and Root (Amy Acker)  looking at the face she thought she might never see again. Ah, what a Hallmark moment!

However, it’s not quite the family reunion we had hoped for. Finch and Reese (Jim Caviezel)  are convinced that Samaritan is tracking her, and it doesn’t help that Shaw keeps having these mini-seizures — or “brain splinters” as I call them. They can’t risk taking her back to the Machine (I assume she doesn’t know the Machine is still where she left it at the subway on The Third Rail?), and so, Root gets her wet dream when it is decided to have Shaw crash at her place. After Root removes the chip from Shaw’s neck for Finch to analyze later, we then get the scene lots of fans have been anticipating — the wild girl Root/Shaw sex scene complete with breaking vases, breaking china and pretty much breaking everything in the room. Safe to say, these 2 girls really missed each other.

But, not everything is roses and violins between the lovebirds because when Shaw follows Root the following morning, she discovers her secretly meeting Reese and saying she’s not convinced Shaw hasn’t been turned by Samaritan either. Oops, busted! Obviously Shaw is pissed especially at Root because she thought she could trust her. But no big deal because the quickest way to settle this is to walk right up and knock on Samaritan’s front door. It’s time to “take the fight to Samaritan,” as Shaw puts it, and so, she grabs the cell phone of the first stranger she sees, dials a random number and announces that she’s Sameen Shaw. Oh, Shaw, and her genius use of phones. I love it! Well, the scheme works because within minutes, Samaritan’s thugs show up but are promptly knocked on their asses by Reese and Root. But, that’s OK too as Shaw got exactly what she wanted — their phones which she uses to track Greer right to his headquarters. Check and mate, right? Hmmmm… not quite.

THINGS GET WEIRDER…AND WEIRDER… AND WEIRDER

By the time Greer has been found and is in the picture, things really start to get strange. Just an inconsistency here and there, a particular character not acting like himself but nothing that really set off any alarm bells. But, stay tuned, because that will eventually change and very quickly. Of course, as expected, Shaw is very angry and is ready to do just about anything to get intel on Samaritan out of Greer. But, as we know, Greer has had the same military training as Shaw and doesn’t budge with everything she throws at him. However, with a stroke of luck (well, maybe), Shaw notices a large scar on Greer’s arm and suspects maybe he is hiding something inside. Then, without hesitating (and even against the advice of Finch!), she grabs a knife and performs a back-room surgery to dig whatever it is out. Ouch. Well, it turns out that Shaw is right because hidden deep inside Greer’s arm is a USB drive. Score!

Anxious to see if anything pertaining to Samaritan is on the drive, Finch takes it back to the subway batcave to analyze. What he finds is computer source code that he knows very well — that of his old associate, Clay Poole, Samaritan’s forefather. Although he has no evidence to support it, Finch believes the code may be a kill switch for Samaritan and would be activated as soon as the drive is plugged into a networked device. However, before they can move forward and confirm this, Finch still has to crack the code’s encryption, and so, Finch is left to tackle that while Shaw remains with Greer.

Here is where everything starts to unravel, and the truth begins to emerge (at least part of it). If Shaw really had found the code that could shut down Greer’s “God,” it stands to reason that Greer would be visibly upset or at least appear defeated. But does he? Nope, and in fact, the contrary.

Thanks to you, you’ve almost completed your mission. Everything is proceeding as planned — Greer to Shaw

Greer is very arrogant, very confident, and acting like he’s the one who’s won the game of chess — and the reality is he **has**. He goes on to say that it was her  idea to plant the USB drive in his arm, and while it is a kill switch, it’s not the kind Shaw’s friends are expecting. With Shaw’s amused face turning to one of shock, Greer informs her that they broke her months ago and that she didn’t escape — they **let** her. Oops! Of course, then it dawns on her what the USB is likely for — it has a kill switch alright, but it’s a Trojan Horse designed to pinpoint the location of Finch as soon as it’s activated. Just like Shaw’s comrades had feared, they had turned her, made her Samaritan’s bitch, and now, she just walked the enemy through the front door. By now, Reese shows back up, and it’s a race against the clock to get the message to Finch to not plug in that USB drive. But not before Shaw puts a bullet in Greer’s brain. We all should have seen that one coming!

I had mentioned earlier that as the episode progresses, certain outrageous things begin to happen and characters start to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Let’s take Finch for example. Reese does finally get hold of his boss, but unfortunately, he has already plugged the USB into a device. First, and foremost, Finch would have NEVER done that — at least not that quickly and without taking a huge number of precautions. Remember in last week’s episode when he almost had a stroke when he found out Root had executed the Samaritan malware on a closed laptop? Nope, something is definitely up, and it was the first sign that I should probably sit up and start paying closer attention.

Then, after this, the unthinkable happens. After Reese gets off the phone with Finch, Shaw has another one of her “brain splinters,” and then, out of the clear blue sky and with no warning whatsoever, she turns around and shoots Reese in the back. Oh. My. God!! I just HAD to be on Twitter tonight as all of this went down because there was no way I was going to miss the fans’ reaction. I swear I could almost hear all of the fangirls’ screams seep through my computer screen as Reese laid on the ground, bleeding out. Of course, initially I was just as shocked — but only for about 5 seconds. I quickly began to utter “No f*cking way!” and to think about possible alternate explanations. I mean, come on, folks. While I wouldn’t be surprised if neither Reese nor Finch survives the series finale (it was hinted they both would likely end up dead way back in the Pilot), we’re not there yet. This is only episode 4, and we still have 9 episodes to go. No damn way Reese is going to check out this early.

SIMULATION 6,741 — THE GROUNDHOG DAY FROM HELL

Reese lying dead on the street was a fairly strong indication that what we’re seeing somehow, someway isn’t real, but the confirmation of this actually comes with what happens next. Shaw is being followed by 3 Samaritan operatives, but Root manages to snatch her up and take her to safety. But, Shaw is inconsolable and in a complete panic:

I shot Reese, and now, I’m going to kill you — Shaw

So, why haven’t you? Because somewhere in your sociopathic heart, you knew we belonged together. We’ll work through this, but first I need to get you to safety — Root to Shaw

When things got to be too bad, there was one place I would go to in my mind — you. It was you. You were my safe place. But, not anymore. I can’t control myself. So, the only thing I can control is this — Shaw to Root

And, then Shaw shoots herself in the head. At this point, I stood up, uttered a whole slew of curse words and was about to throw everything I could get my hands on at the screen. I mean, why bring Shaw back only to kill her in the f*ckin’ first episode!

Well, wait no more because we finally get our explanation. Before we know it, the scene switches back to Shaw in the same room as in the opening sequence, and it’s as if the entire episode never happened.

Good news is she waited an extra hour before shooting you — doctor to Greer

How uplifting. Start the simulation again. Simulation 6,742 — Greer

OMG, holy bat balls! Shaw is still captive, she never escaped, and the whole damn thing was just a giant virtual reality experience with the hope of Shaw leading them to the location of the Machine. The big advantage of this approach is they’re working to get the intel but without having to take the risk of releasing Shaw. Hot damn, talking about the twist of the century! Mind. Completely. Blown.

All in all, a fantastic, superbly-written episode, and without a doubt, THE best of the series. Seriously, everyone, how many of you honestly had a clue you were watching a computer simulation? Be honest! As I mentioned, the alarm didn’t sound for me until Reese had been shot, and there wasn’t as much as a hint in the first half of an episode. Person of Interest fans are pretty damn smart and have become remarkably observant over the past 5 seasons due to the nature of the show. So, pulling the wool over the fandom’s eyes like this isn’t an easy feat, but even so, the writers managed to do it without a hitch. Kudos and plaudits to the entire writing team for achieving what I would have thought was impossible. No, kudos and plaudits isn’t actually enough — what about a standing ovation.

Person of Interest  airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

Critic Grade — A+

 

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