<p>Naturally everyone's wetting their panties over episode 100, but honestly this was one of the most creepy and gripping episodes of the show we've had in a long time. A large portion of the credit goes to the fact that the mystery element came back to life; ever since Samaritan entered the fold, this show's serialized structure has abandoned any semblance of suspenseful mystery in favor of relentless action and complex thematic commentary on the age of surveillance. I've grown to be extremely receptive and appreciative of it but it doesn't mean I don't miss when this show was primarily a mystery/crime thriller with an omnipresent sci-fi influence underscoring the events rather than entirely taking the reigns on them.
</p><p>The directorial choices for this episode were inspired, brilliant and immensely refreshing; we finally got some dim and gritty lighting drenched in shadows (reminiscent of the earlier seasons), and the music was thankfully subdued or even absent in certain scenes, which definitely offers some breathing room (the constantly-playing musical score gets a bit tiresome in scenes which I feel would be more intimate and captivating backgrounded by silence). The creepiness factor was present throughout but two key scenes come to mind: one is when "Amir" ditched the clueless facade and slowly smirked at Fusco, fucking unnerving. The other was Shaw's more understated, low-key return to the fold; the way the whole scene was framed in the darkness of the woods harkens back to late season 2 when most of the scenes we got of Shaw were in the dead of the night, but what really stood out was when the scene cut away after Shaw explained the simulations to Root. Sarah Shahi's delivery of those lines was downright chilling, and the brief moment of silence followed by that shot of the Machine's squares around two splotches of darkness among the shadowy trees created a remarkable sense of tension. It's the subtle things.
</p><p>"The Voice" admittedly reminded me of a few cringeworthy fanfictions I wrote when I was 14 years old with some mystery guy over the phone being an evil mastermind, except POI's execution of the idea obviously came with a lot more finesse. For a show this dedicated to detail, it only makes sense for them to bring back this enigmatic figure they introduced two seasons back. As some review sites already said, this story was in many ways similar to Root's introduction back in season 1, except "Terry Easton" didn't have any knowledge of the Machine, and that ultimately thwarted his plans. Some of the episode's suspense was certainly diluted by the rather predictable reveal of the clueless frantic witness being the villain, but it's mostly because the show's pulled this on us at least twice, once with Elias and later with Root. And speaking of Elias, it was absolutely riveting watching him return to his sinister roots instead of just exchanging philosophical talk with Finch. In the final standoff with the Voice, what I found more surprising than the fact that Elias blew up the fucker's car was that Finch was only feigning shock at the whole thing, when his face seemed to signal a sense of admiration. Definitely playing into Elias' idea that Finch's dark side is ready to be brought out this season.
</p><p>We wrapped things up nicely with yet another deeply satisfying turn of events: Fusco now gets a yellow box! I particularly liked that it was Reese doing the talking instead of Root and Finch, mostly because Reese is mostly Team Machine's heavyweight who chooses not to get wrapped up in the sentimental and philosophical complexions behind the AI's inner workings, and that allows him to explain his cause in a more brazen and less corny way. It's always interesting seeing him engage in a conversation about the Machine the same way it's interesting seeing Finch get out on the streets doing dirty work, purely out of the role reversal/change of pace. Oh and Shaw's back. For real this time, as it appears.
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