Person of Interest

[aragarna]

So last week episode was okay, kinda transition between seasons. But OH MY GOD tonight's episode !!! Hilarious, and heartbreaking and scary... ♥♥♥
This last season is gonna be a hell of a ride (on a subway train ahahah)


I might have to rewatch it, but is it because it's now an open system that the Machine suddenly takes initiatives like sending people to kill John ?! The Machine wasn't taking initiatives like that before, was it?
I know they're looking for Sameen, but isn't there a BIG risk here to turn it into another Samaritan ?

Comments

[sheenianni.livejournal.com]

It depends, really.

I think in the end it comes to faith. Harold was the one who programmed the Machine; he made her a person, taught her morals the way he felt them - he really is prettty much her father. So basically, is the Machine a good (super)person? And even good people make mistakes...

I don't think the Machine is likely to turn into another Samaritan - Samaritan never had someone like Harry to "raise" him and teach him compassion, protectiveness, love. But even the best of people can be led astray if bad things happen to them. Is the Machine dangerous, definitely - every human being is, and she is so much more. In the end though, we all just try to do the best we can.

Root is right in treating the Machine as a person. The Machine was understandably panicking and targeting what she perceived as threats - from her POV, it was self-defence (and Reese is all she accused him of being; a killer and someone who used to torture people). Still, she was willing to listen to Harry and let him change her mind.

There definitely is a danger in letting the Machine run free, but she values human life and freedom. Given what they're up against, it's probably the only choice the can make.

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

It was more a question of how powerful the Machine is. It's not that the Machine would spontaneously turn into Samaritan, it's more the danger that it knows *everything* so if it fell into the wrong hands - someone like old wrinkle baddy - the thing they could do...
But you do have a point that the Machine was taught to be good, and it sure proved it could defend itself, so hopefully it will prevent anyone with bad intentions from using it.

But my main surprise was that the Machine actually took the initiative to pay someone to go kill someone else. We've known Samaritan to do that, but I don't recall the Machine manipulating or using people before. All the Machine was doing was sending numbers, or talking to Root, but that's it. It was giving information, not taking actions. The only one I can think of is when it moved itself.

[sheenianni.livejournal.com]

I think we've seen something similar before, when the Machine tried to get the team to murder the Congressman (so that Samaritan wouldn't go online). For the better or worse, Harold stop them then, deciding that the principles he taught the Machine were more important than stopping Samaritan that way. So while the Machine didn't hire someone to kill him then, it "strongly implied" to the team that they should. I think that's the result of Harold and Root giving the Machine less boundaries this time around (it was "crippled" the first time. Now it's not). Clearly, there are interesting times ahead...