Panopticon

The fourth season begins with the team in hiding, assuming the new identities they were given at the end of the third season. We do not know how much time has lapsed since Samaritan went live. How long has the team been living alias lives? I would guess it's been at least four months.

Team Machine has disbanded. There is a feeling of sadness and loss, and a lack of purpose. Finch, John, and Shaw go about their new jobs, looking much like whipped puppies. Even Bear looks morose.

Slowly, in stealthy moves, the machine shows them they still have a purpose. The "irrelevant" world still needs them, and the machine will help them get back on their feet.

Root is a voice of hope. Finch, of despair. He seems to feel he gave the world his best when he first created the machine, and then created Team Machine, and has nothing left to offer. Yet Finch, born in about 1963, has forgotten more about old technology than most people ever knew. He remembers a world before the digital age.

Hats off to the writers and actors for creating a credible plot that progresses from hopeless limbo to the promise of reactivation.

The team still has a way to go before they are equipped to possibly confront Samaritan, but in this episode, they make a good start.

Excellent musical support: I'd Love to Change the World (but I don't know what to do. So I leave it up to you). Written by Alvin Lee. Performed by Jetta

After watching this episode full of action once again it looks like the new season will be as good as the rest.

First, this cranky old reviewer will share a secret.

When you are dealing with a show as sophisticated as POI -- perhaps one of the most sophisticated in the history of the medium, with such extraordinary talent in the production pen -- you need to change your reviewing rules.

This episode is the first of a brand new season, and is especially noteworthy because, moreso than other series, POI has shown a willingness, a zeal, a "penchant" for completely changing the ground rules as they move forward, EVEN THOUGH THE OLD FORMULA WAS WORKING JUST FINE.

So, reviewing this 'sode as a "season opener," and not a mere week to week entry, it is wonderful.

I loved it. I loved the snarky dialog about how big their team was compared to the opposition, "even if you count the dog." I love the casting, especially the "dream team" of Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi. I loved the return cameo by Colantoni as Elias. I loved the segue from the last season where they spent an entire episode moving servers just to able to confound Samaritan and "blend in" (brilliant).

But what strikes me as most interesting about this show is that, although the theme is AI, the "real" AI is clearly behind the camera where, almost unique in the world of episodic TV, you have a production team with the willingness and the resources and the drive to constantly reinvent themselves season to season.

That's impressive.

So John is now a detective, because the plot says so. No one questions this, the police department just keep keeping on but with John as a homicide detective.

At this point I am just hate watching this show to see how much worse it can get. So far it keeps surprising me, just when I think this surely must be rock bottom it spews out an episode like this one.

I've been waiting for the fourth season to premiere ever since I saw the season 3 finale. Despite being the creation of famous writers, POI has always been underrated until it started to revel from the very start of the third season. The larger story came into the view as opposed to isolated incidents of every week. This episode thickens the plot and explores how the machine and its aides try to fight back against a seemingly sovereign archenemy. I would call this a really good start to the much-awaited fourth season. I can hardly imagine anything that they could have added which could have further kindled the audience's anticipation.