Category: Uncategorized

Series Rewatch: Person of Interest
Episodes: S1E1 – S1E4

Summary from Wikipedia

Person of Interest is an American science fiction crime drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2011, to June 21, 2016. Its five seasons comprise 103 episodes. The series was created by Jonathan Nolan; executive producers were Nolan, J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Greg Plageman, Denise Thé, and Chris Fisher.

The series centers on a mysterious reclusive billionaire computer programmer, Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), who has developed a computer program for the federal government known as “The Machine” that is capable of collating all sources of information to predict terrorist acts and to identify people planning them. The Machine also identifies perpetrators and victims of other premeditated deadly crimes; however, because the government considers these “irrelevant”, Finch programs the Machine to delete this information each night. Anticipating abuse of his creation, Finch included a backdoor into the Machine. Tormented by the “irrelevant” deaths that might have been prevented, he eventually decides to use his backdoor to act covertly. To escape detection, he directs the Machine to provide him with only a tiny fragment of its data: the social security number of such a “person of interest”. This may be a victim, a perpetrator, or an innocent bystander caught up in lethal events. The first episode shows how Finch recruited John Reese (Jim Caviezel)—a former Green Beret and CIA agent, now presumed dead—to investigate the person identified by the number the Machine has provided, and to act accordingly. As time passes, others join the team.

From its first episode, the series raises an array of moral issues, from questions of privacy and “the greater good”, the concept of justifiable homicide, and problems caused by working with limited information program. At the end of the program’s first season, Finch discovers that the Machine has achieved sentience, introducing questions, from human oversight and other issues inherent in the use of artificial intelligence, to the complex ethical questions which the series addresses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_Interest_(TV_series)

My Take:

This is a fascinating show. It has tight writing, masterful acting. This show’s pilot is one of the best TV pilots I’ve ever seen. They seemed to have a hold of the overall themes of the show from the jump. They easily introduced the characters and even managed to make the exposition dump scene about the Machine to be engrossing. The ethical questions about such a surveillance device are provocative. And on the rewatch, I am seeing the beginning strands of long story arcs laid down earlier than I remembered.

TL;DR:

Person of Interest is a great show and deserves a watch if you haven’t seen it. I am looking forward to continuing my rewatch of this series.

First off, apologies for anyone expecting anything to come back. I need to get back to writing more regularly. I am going to strive to do better.

I once again feel like I am in the uncomfortable position of defending Pres. Trump. (And yes, I do still use the title out of respect for the office, not the person currently occupying it.)

There have many examples of Pres. Trump seemingly being confused or not present in the moment. Examples of these are him wandering out of a signing ceremony before signing the document; wandering away early from a lectern at a press conference; not noticing the photographers and Chancellor Merkel asking for a handshake in that photo op; wandering away from his motorcade upon disembarking Air Force One (video below); seemingly confused upon finishing his speech in Poland; rambling during speeches, getting facts wrong.

There have been many threads online positing on if Pres. Trump has dementia or not. Unfortunately, it seems like many of those references are trying to play up the humor of the “crazy old man” trope.

The problem is, I don’t really find it funny. Three members of my family (to my knowledge) have already died from dementia and Alzheimer’s. My mother has started her own struggle with dementia. It is heartbreaking to see anyone, no matter how monstrous, to go through this living death.

There any many implications of if Pres. Trump really is going through ordeal. It explains a lot of the odd behavior, such as the admission that he hasn’t read many if not most of the executive orders he signed. He may just be being used by the people around him, doing what they tell him. They may even tell him they’ve already talked to him about what he’s agreeing to. It may also explain why he has so much of his family around. The family members may be required to help him keep focus. I heard what my step-grandfather had to do to keep grandma’s focus, and I’ve seen what my father has to do to keep mom focused on tasks. And I’ve seen her get confused and easily distracted. This also might explain the almost weekly golf trips. Those may be times that he needs to recharge his focus ability, and maybe avail himself of some experimental treatments.

I think the most important thing we have to remember is that Pres. Trump is a human being, after all, with friends and family who at least tolerate him if not love him. As much as we might hate his policies and the way he is enacting them, he’s still a person.

 

<Now I think I need a shower….>

A few hours ago, I saw multiple news stories about the accidental death of Anton Yelchin, most recently known as Chekov in the new Star Trek movies. According to the stories, his car rolled back in his driveway and pinned him against a brick wall.

I’ve seen many people express their condolences to his family on his death. I’ve also seen people talking about how badly they felt when the thought occurred about future Star Trek movies. They thought such concerns were selfish.

Why is it wrong to show concern about things one is interested in? The story says he was on his way to a rehearsal, so his death has disrupted the lives of all the people attached to that production. And it has disrupted the lives of all the people attached to the Star Trek movies. How then is it selfish to be sad about someone’s career being cut short?