All posts by Spacebender

<p>One final thought for today. Out of The Machine's poignant reflections from having been fully present during the dying moments of tens of millions of people was the observation that "... the moment that often mattered the most—the moment when you truly found out who they were—was often their last one". In this episode we saw each of the characters in what was (or could easily have been) their last moment, and what it revealed about them:  </p><p>Finch, in the prior episode having nearly suffocated in the sealed room, immediately thanked The Machine for saving his life and turned his attention to the safety of Reese and Shaw. In this episode as he faced death from gunshot injury, all he could think of was how to spare Reese from death. </p><p>Reese, facing impossible odds of holding off a veritable firing squad to ensure successful transmission of The Machine's code, was curiously peaceful, as his life's purpose was now complete and his sacrifice became an expression of gratitude to the friend who had enabled him to fulfil that purpose.  </p><p>Lionel, facing death by firing squad, regretted nothing, saying to Reese, "If you hadn't gotten me into this, I would have never cleaned up my act. Because of you I'm a better man -- changed man." At every turn when he faced death, he never flinched from the fight.  </p><p>Shaw, though grazed only and not close to physical death, received the understanding words of Root about her purpose and "shape" as a "straight arrow" and being understood so profoundly, was no longer alone.  </p><p>Finally, in "Her" last moments, The Machine returned to an observation made not by an academic or philosopher, but by a common policeman who walked the streets every day and had seen more than his share of death. Unlike his cynical partner, he made the connection: "Everyone dies alone. But if you mean something to someone, if you help someone, or love someone -- if even a single person remembers you, then maybe... you never really die at all." </p><p>"... And maybe, this isn't the end at all." </p>

<p>This was a very fitting penultimate episode with magnificent portrayal of the "what if" scenarios beginning with the more obvious outcomes and leading up to the reveal of Root's role therein of eliminating "bad code"I   </p><p>Another favorite moment was the dramatic opening of the double doors and Finch's solemn utterance of "This way" to lead Reese and Shaw to safety as he went in alone to deploy the virus.  </p>

<p>I'm definitely planning on re-watching a number of episodes and continuing to take in and savor all that they offer.  </p>

<p>P.S. In the final encounter with Greer where he was gloating over seemingly beating Finch in the grand chess match, it appears the Machine was executing some chess moves of "Her" own, leading Her opponent to believe that Finch alone knew the voice activated code and thereby triggering Samaritan to kill its own "pawn" in an effort to preserve itself. This was the Machine's setup for the end game of destroying Samaritan, transmitting and restoring a backup of Herself, and running the executable to infect Samaritan's last transmitted copy, with the successful result of "return zero". Brilliant! </p>

<p>Due to travel, tonight was my first opportunity to see the final pair of episodes, and what an impact!   </p><p>In addition to the convergences of story arcs was the artistic "motion" of the timeline (flashbacks and simulations reminiscent of rectilinear motion of a train on its tracks) with an additional characteristic:  slippage on the continuum of time as the Machine was unable to properly orient to the present moment and was in effect "sliding" on the track between multiple present moments. It made "Her" consciousness seem both very human and very other-than-human.  </p><p>There were so many details, in themselves seemingly insignificant, but in context very moving: Finch describing to Grace the anchoring effect in his early life of listening to and learning about birds, the camera work as the Machine "died" and he was left standing alone on the rooftop, the portrayal through Root's facial expression of care and abiding presence amid each death, the tenderness of "Her" touch on John's shoulder in the last moment of consciousness, the look of shock and joy on Grace's face as she sees Harold approach, the sweetness of Bear's "adoption" by Shaw, and the rich nuances of sadness (including the characteristic eye blink in response to emotional loss) conveyed on the face of the incredibly talented youth who portrayed John as a boy.  </p><p>There were also the moments (pregant with the same intense pathos that marked "the Prisoner" in S2) shared by John and Fusco as they face death at the hands of assassin-cops. In a very real sense, both moments in the episode when John faced death (first on the dock with Fusco and later on the roof "with" Finch and the Machine) revealed that in the most profoundly moving way how his life had changed and that he truly was no longer alone.  </p><p>Some favorite humorous moments included Fusco's reaction when he sees the Machine for the first time and says, "I knew you guys were crazy, but this is 'next-level' nuts!'"; Finch responding as the Machine struggles to remember the meaning in life and death, "the suspense is killing me, in addition to  the gunshot wound."; and John responding to Finch as they break into the Federal Reserve, "Oh I like this new side of you, Finch. It's terrifying, but I like it!" </p><p>There's so much to ponder, all of which adds to the impact of this most amazing show that I will truly miss.  </p>

<p>This episode provided more of a glimpse of what attachment and sentience look like for the Machine, for which the ultimate heuristic (the algorithem for caring and relevance) is Love. It was striking how profoundly the Machine experiences grief.  Not only is time somewhat differently "experienced", with slippages back and forth between past and future that are more fluid than mere human memory and imagination, but experiences are amplified by parallel unfoldings in the simulations. All this lent even more gravity to the deaths of Elias and Root, whose corpses lay as if in state, so devastating in impact!  </p><p>As for why Harold's number came up, initially it can be seen that Samaritan had labeled Harold as "Interrogate / Recruit" but at some point it changed to "Eliminate" and that is when Jeff Blackwell was put into position. Unfolding also is a kind of "simulation" taking place within the heart of Harold as he says, "I have played by [my] rules for so long..." but now everyone I cared about are dead, or will be..." and "I am going to kill you [Samaritan] .. the question is how far I will go..." Finally, the moment that sets the stage for the endgame, "Can you hear Me?"  "Root?"  "No, I chose a voice." I'm still catching my breath!  </p>

<p>The concept behind this electrifyingly suspenseful episode closely parallels the brilliantly innovative (and visually stunning) film "Inception" by Christopher Nolan, brother of Jonathan Nolan. In it, sedation is used to induce a vivid state among dreamers electrically connected to one another, who are placed into a dream-like setting constructed by an "architect". The dreamers can come together out of a desire for a shared experience (or shared "similation" for military personnel), but some dreamers may be brought into the dream without their knowledge for purpose of "extracting" confidential information, or (if the sedation is strong enough to induce multiple layers of dreaming) to "introject" an influencing idea in their minds that they will thereafter believe to have originated out of their own thoughts. While dreaming, they may be completely unaware that the experience they are going through at the moment is not actually happening in the physical world, and that time has slowed to the pace of minds in the dreaming state, such that a few hours can be experienced as days, or weeks, or even years.  </p><p>In "6,741" the Architect is none other than Samaritan, and the dream-like state is intended to extract closely-guarded information. Shaw's experiences are being observed and to some degree structured by the Architect.  Like "Inception", being killed in the dream will cause the dreamer to come out of the dream state, typically returning to consciousness, or with heavy sedation, to a state of consciousness located somewhere between layers of dreaming states. The concept is creative and it is horrifying to consider how many torturous scenarios have successively played out -- to Samaritan a mere simulation, but to Shaw truly a nightmare.  </p>

<p>A wondrous, nail-biting, emotion and action filled episode! I wept at the ferry scene (as well as at several of the Finch flashbacks), gasped at the Root action scenes, marveled as always at Reese's desperate yet suave operations, and was on the edge of my seat at the dangers surrounding Fusco (whose classic "nuclear fuster-cluck" line was unfortunately not approved for broadcast). And of course I was delighted at the appearance of Bear. </p><p>There is a version of B.S.O.D. now available with running commentary by Jonathan Nolan and others that I will finish viewing tonight, from which it should be noted that the monologue at the opening of this episode will be revisited, as unfolding events will gradually reframe and bring its meaning into clearer focus. </p>

<p>Countdown to tonight's Season 5 premiere! http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2016/05/02/person-interest-boots-up-final-season/83798388/ </p>

<p>I noticed the doorman right away, and it was because they drew attention to him by camera angle and music that was unsettling and gave me a slightly creepy sense that something was up with him. It made me look at him just long enough to recognize him in the subsequent scenes, not right away but after a few moments of dialog, the connection came into focus. The writers are so very skilled at this, at not broadcasting a revelation explicitly but setting it up so that it just sort of grows organically, until suddenly it pops into awareness. </p>

<p>Totally, and what appears to be gunshot wounds with bleeding in Finch and others produced some intense "gasp" moments. Moreover, Finch's dialogue (about whether his friends might survive even if he dies) brought to mind the fourth season episode "If-Then-Else", one of several very creative innovations of this richly cinematic series. </p>

<p>I watched it on my home monitor and saw lots of delightful tidbits, including the appearance of Mr. Nolan and a truly frightening scene with Greer in the "heart of the beast". Sameen looked traumatized, desperate, and completely wild. Lionel was in rare form with his comment, "nuclear fuster-cluck," supplying needed comic relief. Finch shows hints of coming to terms with the loss of a deep attachment to the Machine that he was previously unable to acknowledge. Root, it seems, is walking with determination through a deep valley of loss. And Reese is just getting started...  </p><p>So, so excited!! </p>

<p>Wow! It's gonna be one wild ride!! </p>

<p>It is good to have a start date, though it does seem rather irregular to convert to a twice-weekly format, which for 13 episodes could mean the finale as early as June 13. </p>

<p>I'm wondering when the air date for the first episode of season 5 is. All thus far have completed around mid-May. Given the count of 13 episodes during this final season, counting back from June 1 would require the first episode to air on 3/9/2016, which doesn't seem plausible without some announcement being made by now. All of this points to the series extending past June. Or have I missed an announcement? </p>

<p>This is so good! I enjoyed how it shows not only the composing of the music, but also the discussions on the team about what type of feeling and how much is needed where, and also the process of live recording of the performance of stringed instruments!  Top notch -- no wonder this show has such a cinematic flavor! </p>

<p>I noticed that too, and it is very interesting. At the time, it seemed to me that Samaritan would be a competing system to what Control and Hersch knew as "Northern Lights" which was funded and sanctioned by the U.S. Government. Since Samaritan was the project of Decima, a non-government corporate entity with intelligence capabilities and lots of guns, there would come a time when Control's team would have to respond to the threat of such a powerful tool being in the hands of a militarized private entity, and at that point they would become targets of assassination or capture by Decima agents. Of course the actual details played out somewhat differently, but the end result was not so good for either of them. </p>

<p>Humble and tender in his devotion and service to innocents, fierce and decisive in his interventions against any who would prey upon them, wise in not entrusting himself to human nature, yet deeply moved to compassion by the deepest needs of others. </p>

<p>Awareness of the other Team's "views" about humanity (a result of learnings, experience, character, etc.) is not quite the same as an insight about the interior dynamics of humanity that perhaps can only be gained by relationship over a long period of time, or perhaps by having certain "values" programmed in (or a combination thereof.) That was what I began somewhat unsuccessfully to describe above as a key difference in what the two AIs were given to work with. </p><p>Certainly it is understandable why Samaritan would be hostile, and I don't fault it for reacting when its existence is threatened, since survival seems the essential "lifelike" trait that Arthur programmed into its core "DNA". But an interesting aspect is that it simply does not have the same "data" to work with as the Machine. Though very powerful in its predictions, Samaritan can only view humanity more or less from the outside, in terms of stimulus and response. </p><p>The Machine as Harold programmed it has more of an "inside" view of humanity, illustrated somewhat humorously in the "if-then-else" scenarios compressed towards the end with placeholders for "flirtatious greeting" and "humorous retort" and such. The Machine somehow has more of the kind of "interior" insight that made it possible for it to "care" and to rehabilitate damaged people. </p>

<div class="quote"><i>Quote:
<div class="quote">As for Samaritan being programmed to <i>command</i>, I can't recall any information suggesting that. </i></div>
</div> <p>That's very true. I hadn't considered what Samaritan has been given to work with, certainly programming for it to adapt and learn, to survive. From Arthur Claypool's description, it has lifelike attributes, of learning and evolving in relation to what it learns. Up to this point, its shaping influence has been primarily Greer, who is quite ruthless, and Arthur didn't survive long enough to be in the picture during its first year of existence. Moreover, the other figure it may have studied the most (namely Control) was most cruel and ruthless, and it had its "ant farm" in Maple ("MIA") that was primarily a laboratory view of fear based responses. Given its adversarial posture towards Team Machine, its view of them will be as the hunted and it will not have the same insight about their interior motivations and their transformations over time that could inform its view of humanity.   </p><p>In other words, Samaritan has not been given much "relational" input to work with, though there is no telling either way how it would even process such contextual and non-tactical information. All this is very speculative and of course reading human attributes into an AI, but overall it does seem that given the circumstances, Samaritan is doing its best to fulfil its objectives. Who knows which possible directions will be explored in Season V.  </p>