Review: 'Person of Interest' Meets 'Hitch'

Joe Carter ’18 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

This week’s episode of Person of Interest had everything the movie Hitch has and more (besides Will Smith and Kevin James dancing). Gun fights and Frank Sinatra montages and Bear. Oh my!
The new number that came up was “professional wingman,” Andre Cooper, who is a suave confident man with hair gel. In order to get in close with him while still dodging Samaritan and coping with lack of financing, the team sends in Lionel (Kevin Chapman) to be Andre’s next “project”. Andre helps Lionel learn how to pick-up women and change his wardrobe while Shaw (Sarah Shahi) lurks in the background to provide any help should things get sketchy. Of course as usual, things get sketchy and Lionel and Andre are kidnapped by an organized and well-dressed gang at an art gallery.
Meanwhile, John (Jim Caviezel) bonds with the new police precinct captain, Captain Moreno (Monique Gabriela Curnen), over his suspiciously successful tactics. Moreno lets John do his crime fighting, thinking-outside-the-bullet-casing thing as long as he gets solid evidence to convict. John does his best to make his old talents and new legal job mesh and does a good job staying under Samaritan’s radar while also bringing in criminals. Speaking of Samaritan, Root (Amy Acker) takes Harold (Michael Emerson) on a “wild goose chase” the Machine has orchestrated for the two of them as everyone else runs vigilante errands. Root n’ Harold gallivant around the city running into miscellaneous criminal groups until finally reaching the end of the Machine’s scavenger hunt.

This episode of POI seemed silly at first with the plot arch basically being Hitch with cops, but it ended up being a decent story and the subplots were very entertaining as well. Bear, the animal companion of the show, got a good amount of screen time which automatically makes the episode a must watch event. (The show is actually based on the adventures of the dog. The people don’t matter.) Collectively the adventures advanced the larger Samaritan focused plot, revealed a personal side to an otherwise auxiliary character, and introduced a new character that could be an ally and prospective love interest. It was cleverly built, but could have used more time developing the central plot.
Now for minor spoilers and discussion…
The possible love person of interest, Captain Moreno, could feel forced if not done in the proper way. So far her personality is fun as she stages a scene with John to get two criminals to confess and is willing to let John use his powers of persuasion on leads and suspects. However the fans should be warned that the only thing known about this woman is that she has a smoking addiction. Everything else is up for grabs so she could still be evil or a sleeper agent or something horrible. But for a second, cater the thought of Moreno and John going out, fighting crime, grabbing dinner, fighting more crime (but not too much because it’s good to wait an hour after eating before beating up criminals), and then seeing a movie. That is pure romance. As good as the character may get, she will never replace Agent Carter. (sob) Always remember.

And now let’s talk about what’s wrong with the Machine helping the team with Root n’ Harold’s day out. The show was heading in an interesting direction with the team losing their resources. It presented a new tone of how limited these people really are in their campaign to help the “irrelevant”. But this week’s episode felt like breaking into old habits. Root n’ Harold find a horde of weapons, technology, and money in the storage locker of one of the gangs they come into contact with. All of it is for their personal use since the Machine found a way to get the gang arrested.
The Machine acting as the team’s sugar daddy feels like a cop-out and betrayal based on the independence the show was trying to establish in the premiere. It may be a nit-picky thing, but if the Machine continues to help the team with their issues then the danger Samaritan poses is going to lose its believability. However, the conversation where Harold asks, “What do we do with the missile?” and Root replies, “I’m sure we’ll think of something,” was more than enough to erase some grievances and spark anticipation for the episode when they use the missile. Fingers crossed that Shaw blows something up and makes a witty comment.
Notable Moment:
Shaw, while in a short dress and heels because she’s amazing, kicks the crap out of a gang member. When he keels over moaning in pain, a random woman walks into the hallway. Shaw says, “Wicked stomach cramps,” while patting his back. Fans applaud.