Also, The Cloth Creatures Are Very Cute.

[rionaleonhart]

I tried out the first episode of Person of Interest years ago, but, for whatever reason, I never watched any more of it. I remembered finding it interesting, though, so I'm giving it another shot. I'm five episodes in!

To be honest, my main recollection of the first episode was 'macho and ridiculous, but entertaining', and that impression stands on a second watch. I like macho action protagonists if I can easily picture them crying nude on the bathroom floor, a test that John McClane of Die Hard absolutely smashes out of the park, and I'm pretty sure John Reese also passes.

Reese seems fucked up and I am, predictably, into that. I loved him waking up cuffed to a bedframe, hearing screams in the next room and fighting wildly to free himself, nothing but animal instinct. I liked him going 'someone probably murdered these people and covered it up like this' and Finch going 'how do you know that?' and Reese going 'that's how I would have done it'. I hope he has multiple horrible breakdowns; it seems like he has good potential for it.

The other recurring characters have yet to really catch my attention, but there's time! In the meantime, this series does a surprisingly good case of the week, so I'm engaged enough to keep watching. I tend to think of the cases themselves as the least interesting aspect of case-of-the-week shows, but I keep getting genuinely invested in the Person of Interest ones, perhaps because it's a show about preventing murders rather than solving them.

At first glance, 'it's basically a detective show but the murders haven't happened yet' sounds less tense than a show with actual murders, but of course the stakes are actually much higher. If Patrick Jane messes up a case, a murderer just doesn't go to prison; if John Reese messes up a case, someone gets killed. It also feels like there's more scope to mess up cases in Person of Interest; in a standard detective show, of course the murders are always going to be solved, because otherwise there's no narrative payoff. I'll be interested to see whether any cases do get fumbled.


On another note, I finally played Journey! I've been putting it off for years because I was so intimidated by the concept of being able to meet other players; I don't like online multiplayer because I worry about humiliating myself in front of strangers.

In the end, I went through a whole character development arc while playing this two-hour game. I started out avoiding other players so I could focus on my journey alone, then got attached to someone I met while slowly freezing on the mountain, and the game ended with me and my friend singing to each other as we walked into the light together. I've heard people talk about Journey's multiplayer being a moving experience, and I wasn't sure whether it would be the same for me, but there really is something striking about the way it lets you form a brief, wordless connection with a stranger.

Comments

[wolfy_writing]

I like macho action protagonists if I can easily picture them crying nude on the bathroom floor

Good standards!

I hope he has multiple horrible breakdowns; it seems like he has good potential for it.

Ooh, that sounds fun!

It also feels like there's more scope to mess up cases in Person of Interest; in a standard detective show, of course the murders are always going to be solved, because otherwise there's no narrative payoff. I'll be interested to see whether any cases do get fumbled.

Yep. Also, I'm wondering in what sense they're investigating murders that haven't happened yet. I'd love it if a pre-crime scenario was about the least damaging intervention that would prevent a murder. (One of the interesting flaws in Minority Report was about the fixation on jailing people for crimes that hadn't happened yet, and I'd like to see more "try to interrupt them before they get into a murder headspace" stories.)

[felis]

I think one of the reasons why the "persons of the week" are so engaging in POI is that the only thing our team ever gets is a social security number. They don't even know if it belongs to a victim or a perpetrator, which not only leaves a lot of room for storytelling (and it's not always murders either!), it also forces them to look at these people, their lives, their stories, pretty closely. They have to actually get to know - and often enough relate to - them and that translates to the audience more often than not.

The other thing I loved about the show, apart from the well-done cases of the week and the characters, was the worldbuilding, which kept running along in the background and occasionally reared its head in a big way. "The Machine" as the literal lens through which the story is told, the flashbacks (except for the one in the pilot, which almost put me off tbh), recurring characters - all of it connects and tells the story in several layers and with quite a lot of patience.

[apiphile]

I hope he has multiple horrible breakdowns

I love you so much. Please never change.

[necrophilia]

Journey is surprisingly lovely! I think a lot of other multiplayer games could really take a lesson by streamlining the methods of communication players can have to the bare minimum. (It would be nice if they didn't have to, but the internet has made people horrid.) The worst thing another player in this game could do is not help a fellow player and that makes for a very safe experience.

My playthrough had someone, or several someones, gently guide me through the whole thing. Every time we got through a level, I'd celebrate by running around them in circles.

[delphi]

The show definitely went in some much more interesting places beyond the pilot, and there's some very good physical and emotional whump ahead. :D

[sideways]

Ohhhh you will definitely enjoy POI, it is so good for the whump. I was also really charmed by Reese's character development from the first phase of unhappy macho man, and the overall development of the show which went some REALLY fun places (though RIP the truncated final season).

Finch was my personal fave but there are so many to love <3

And Journey! Ah! A masterclass in unspoken storytelling.

[owlmoose]

Ooh, I am excited to see your reactions to PoI! It starts off pretty good, then takes some twists and turns to get much much more interesting.

[thawrecka]

There's some really great cases of the week on POI. YMMV on the mytharc in the background, tbh; I find it uneven, and I think a lot of fans are fairly split on whether the first two seasons or seasons 3 and 4 are better, but it does have some cool moments, and one of my favourite characters doesn't show up until the end of season 1.

[i_wish_to_remain_nameless]

I like how you always talk about your favorite male characters like "What a fine-looking man. Would love to see him in a fit of despair." You really know what you like, huh.