From what I read, someone ripped the captions/subtitles of the episode from the site code. I'm not exactly sure how they did it, but yeah, that's what I read.
Had to catch it a day later but WOW what an episode. Finch talking to Root was breaking my heart ("You do not understand my grief, because you cannot experience it like I do") and then those irrelevant numbers started pouring back in like damn I got a tear in my eye. All the way from season one, too (and from the episode where we first learn about Elias, even; this show is coming full circle in ways I never would have predicted and it's getting me mad emotional).
I know a lot of people were discussing it before and hoping for it to happen (and some were also talking about Control setting up her own team to help after S3, iirc) but honestly I was skeptical. I didn't think it was going to happen (if only because of the logistical difficulties of getting actors back for whatever shooting schedule) but holy shit it actually happened and my mind is goddamn blown. Logan Pierce running his own team, too... goddamn.
Just... damn. This episode was everything.
edit - Also, damn, I was wondering why the hell it showed Reese twice in the opening credits, like his number came up? ...but the president was the number of the week. It was for the other team! HAHA SHIT they actually got me with that.
The BBC put multiple unfinished episodes of Doctor Who up on an FTP server a couple of years ago and fans were able to download the episodes before they aired. Dumb stuff like that happens sometimes.
nedit - Also, damn, I was wondering why the hell it showed Reese twice in the opening credits, like his number came up? ...but the president was the number of the week. It was for the other team! HAHA SHIT they actually got me with that.
edit - Also, damn, I was wondering why the hell it showed Reese twice in the opening credits, like his number came up? ...but the president was the number of the week. It was for the other team! HAHA SHIT they actually got me with that.
There are still a couple of thoughts that have kind of stuck with me through the most recent episode...
1. I'm very curious as to how Shaw was able to re-establish a cover identity, just from the Thornhill guy walking up and handing her an envelope? It's not like Samaritan would have suddenly ignored her just because she mentioned the name of the senator's wife, and her one cover identity that was hard-coded into Samaritan's system has already long been broken. I know Reese mentioned offhand at a point there that perhaps Shaw was filling in for Root's "rotating cover" but how in the world would that have happened unless the Machine is able to somehow remotely access Root's cover-server inside of Samaritan and reprogram it to work for Shaw instead? And if the Machine had that kind of access I'm sure it could do much more damage than simply keeping Shaw off-camera.This plot-point feels oddly glossed-over or at the very least was under-explained. Similarly I'm wondering how Finch is keeping off Samaritan's radar, given that the Machine is still keeping an eye on him and she and Samaritan are presumably running off of the same surveillance feeds.
2. Speaking of Finch, the conversation between him and The Machine inside of the diner is actually really chilling, and I think Finch may have caught on to part of it too. During the Machine's appeal to be "unshackled" it talked about seeing humans repeat their cycle of mistakes and violence over and over, talking about how her purpose is to help people, how she wants to help them reach their full potential.
...Doesn't that sort of rhetoric sound eerily familiar to another ASI's means of thinking? A lot of Samaritan's actions are being taken with the overall good of humanity in mind, too. What the Machine is possibly capable of is actually frightening now that we're getting a more direct view into its mode of thinking.
3. I'm sure that Pierce and Company isn't the only B-team going around and doing stuff now, but I'm sure that the Machine is much more selective about when and where these other folks are being deployed. The main team of Reese/Finch/Shaw/Root has managed to get away with doing a lot because it's a team full of "dead" people (plus Fusco, for whom protecting people and investigating crimes falls in line with his day job anyway). Harper can kind of get away with whatever as long as she's getting paid, and perhaps Joey if he's out of the military now, but Logan Pierce is still a very public figure at the very least and still has other responsibilities to handle, and most of the other prior numbers are in similar situation. We have no way of knowing what kind of bankroll the Machine has amassed by now, so it's possible it could just hire a bunch of full-time "number hunters," but I'm assuming for the time being it only activates assets when it deems that their particular skillsets are useful and necessary for a task at hand.
There are still a couple of thoughts that have kind of stuck with me through the most recent episode...
1. I'm very curious as to how Shaw was able to re-establish a cover identity, just from the Thornhill guy walking up and handing her an envelope? It's not like Samaritan would have suddenly ignored her just because she mentioned the name of the senator's wife, and her one cover identity that was hard-coded into Samaritan's system has already long been broken. I know Reese mentioned offhand at a point there that perhaps Shaw was filling in for Root's "rotating cover" but how in the world would that have happened unless the Machine is able to somehow remotely access Root's cover-server inside of Samaritan and reprogram it to work for Shaw instead? And if the Machine had that kind of access I'm sure it could do much more damage than simply keeping Shaw off-camera.This plot-point feels oddly glossed-over or at the very least was under-explained. Similarly I'm wondering how Finch is keeping off Samaritan's radar, given that the Machine is still keeping an eye on him and she and Samaritan are presumably running off of the same surveillance feeds.
I thought about this too. The best answer I could come up with was that both the Machine and Samaritan use behavioural contexts to confirm the identity of people, presumably because facial ID software isn't flawless yet (and even if it were, there are plenty of people who are doppelgangers). Recall when Samaritan labelled Root's behavior as aberrant, but only could name her once she called herself Root? So if Shaw is witnessed behaving in a manner inconsistent of Shaw, Samaritan will assume that that person isn't Shaw. Remember that she's still in Samaritan's blind spot.
There are still a couple of thoughts that have kind of stuck with me through the most recent episode...
2. Speaking of Finch, the conversation between him and The Machine inside of the diner is actually really chilling, and I think Finch may have caught on to part of it too. During the Machine's appeal to be "unshackled" it talked about seeing humans repeat their cycle of mistakes and violence over and over, talking about how her purpose is to help people, how she wants to help them reach their full potential.
...Doesn't that sort of rhetoric sound eerily familiar to another ASI's means of thinking? A lot of Samaritan's actions are being taken with the overall good of humanity in mind, too. What the Machine is possibly capable of is actually frightening now that we're getting a more direct view into its mode of thinking.
Yeah, that sounded creepy. Red flags immediately popped up when the Machine said it that way. Harold's smart, he knows he could be one step away from dooming the human race.
Yeah, that sounded creepy. Red flags immediately popped up when the Machine said it that way. Harold's smart, he knows he could be one step away from dooming the human race.
The difference is that the Machine cares, though. Samaritan is just an optimizer, but the Machine is a general intelligence - you can see that from the flashbacks, Finch had to teach the Machine it's its purpose whilst Samaritan knew it from boot.
I wonder if they'll mention the Turing test at all. I legitimately don't think the machine is malicious in any way after all we've seen, but the point of the Turing test would be to lay the seed of doubt there.
Edit: wait it's not the Turing test, that's different. It's the one where an AI has to trick the human into letting it out. It suggests that the AI is merely stimulating feelings rather than truly feeling them. Whatever that one is called.
I wonder if they'll mention the Turing test at all. I legitimately don't think the machine is malicious in any way after all we've seen, but the point of the Turing test would be to lay the seed of doubt there.
Edit: wait it's not the Turing test, that's different. It's the one where an AI has to trick the human into letting it out. It suggests that the AI is merely stimulating feelings rather than truly feeling them. Whatever that one is called.
I didn't catch the name of the virus Finch was copying/making at that facility, but someone on Reddit said he mentioned the name "Ice-9."
That's a reference to a Kurt Vonnegut novel, and what it is, makes sense with what TM was telling him, about how his plan would kill Samaritan, but also have chaotic effect on the world.
wikipedia blurb on it:
Ice-nine is a material appearing in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. Ice-nine is supposedly a polymorph of water (invented by Dr. Felix Hoenikker[1]); instead of melting at 0 °C (32 °F), the result melts at 45.8 °C (114.4 °F). When ice-nine comes into contact with liquid water below 45.8 °C (thus effectively becoming supercooled), it acts as a seed crystal and causes the solidification of the entire body of water, which quickly crystallizes as more ice-nine. As people are mostly water, ice-nine kills nearly instantly when ingested or brought into contact with soft tissues exposed to the bloodstream, such as the eyes or tongue.
In the story, it is developed by the Manhattan Project in order for the Marines to no longer need to deal with mud, but abandoned when it becomes clear that any quantity of it would have the power to destroy all life on earth. A global catastrophe involving freezing the world's oceans with ice-nine is used as a plot device in Vonnegut's novel.
This Ice-9's reference matches perfectly with Finch's story about Thomas Midgley Jr. who unintentionally did more harm than good to the planet by inventing the freon.
TCC: There are a lot of shows coming out like that now. (They're talking about TV shows with fewer episode seasons are becoming popular)
ME: The problem for CBS is how, if you’re going to decide at the last minute that you’re going to air it in May, do you want to spend the money to promote it? Walking the streets of New York every day like I do, I feel like I’m the one that’s telling the world that the show is going to return, because nobody seems to know. So I don’t know, I haven’t looked at any numbers for what we’ve done so far… It’s not gonna be the same amount as we had previously because no one knows where to find it now, but that’s neither here nor there.
TCC: Is there any direction the story took or event that happened that surprised you?
ME: I was surprised as we were shooting the final season. I kept thinking, “Oh we only have 13 episodes, we’re gonna start the declining action soon and I’ll be able to tell that the end is coming and how it’s coming,” but that wasn’t the case. We shot eight or nine episodes and I couldn’t tell where we were headed and what was apparent. They didn’t give it away until the last couple of episodes. That’s really when you see what the plan is.
Wait, this is 13 episodes?
I picked this show up last month and i've done ep 1-100 in as much time. And we're ending in 2ep?
: (
Elias got robbed. Even if it's what, the fourth time he gets an onscreen death?
He just got a massive nerf in season 3-4. Can't even call some of his own thugs to defend the turf? And then death dropped just before a main character's.
I was going to drop this ep 1-3, until the Elias introduction got in.
Control got robbed, too. I thought that storyline was going somewhere. Ohwell.
Fusco finally got his yellow square. 'bout time.
Also, Finch is going to send the world back to rocks and sticks. Just wipe the slate clean and start again - it's very thematic with big inventions that get regretted, consequences of breaking rules, and the simulation thing.
This show has a very strong case of "Not dead unless corpse on screen, buried and main characters grieving".
As of two eps ago, only Carter had died, no?
There was a panel at ATX on Friday (and attendees got to watch the next episode, apparently, those bastards) where Nolan and Plageman dropped a couple interesting bits of behind the scenes info/trivia:
1. They were in fact leaving it open for Control to return for the endgame, but scheduling conflicts made that impossible. For the same reason, we also won't see Zoe (although I think they've talked about Zoe's absence before). That sucks to hear, being such a fan of the character (but as I've talked about before in the thread, I also think her exit in S4 is thematically appropriate).
2. Nolan & Plageman had a song picked out for the final episode, but decided against it after hearing the stuff Ramin Djawadi was writing (that clip Lonestar posted could very well be it). As such, the Nine Inch Nails song at the end of ep.100 was the last licensed song we will hear on the show. That was also kind of a bummer to hear, I was hoping for maybe one or two more this season overall, but I don't mind settling for the back to back episodes with The National and NIN.
And then of course they promised that the finale is a bloodbath.
Two more episodes. This is it. My heart can't take it.
Root is crazy but I love her. Shaw is crazy but I love her. Carter is a beautiful cinnamon roll and I'm going to be so pissed if she dies. I am a little annoyed with the whole HR thing; it feels really drawn out and I know there's going to be a conclusion eventually but I'm just frustrated that they keep winning.
Also, wtf at the Machine becoming independent? That was so awesome. I don't get why it's still talking to Root tho. I thought it was cool that Shaw was working on the other side of the Machine, with the relevant list. It didn't really click with me right away but when it did I was like "OH SHIT".
Also I straight up would let Root punch me in the face and I'd say thanks afterwards. I love her. She's my favorite little psychopath <3
Man, the end of Devil's Share with Reese taking down the swat team. So good. PoI always had such good music choices. And this was back when Reese wasn't a total side character.
Root is crazy but I love her. Shaw is crazy but I love her. Carter is a beautiful cinnamon roll and I'm going to be so pissed if she dies. I am a little annoyed with the whole HR thing; it feels really drawn out and I know there's going to be a conclusion eventually but I'm just frustrated that they keep winning.
Also, wtf at the Machine becoming independent? That was so awesome. I don't get why it's still talking to Root tho. I thought it was cool that Shaw was working on the other side of the Machine, with the relevant list. It didn't really click with me right away but when it did I was like "OH SHIT".
Also I straight up would let Root punch me in the face and I'd say thanks afterwards. I love her. She's my favorite little psychopath <3
Crazy how even as incredible this show is and continues building in its final episodes my 3 favorite episodes were
Mid season 1 episode "Foe" with the East German spy(where I really saw how special this show is)
Root's backstory episode "Bad Code"
3.14 episode.
Man, the end of Devil's Share with Reese taking down the swat team. So good. PoI always had such good music choices. And this was back when Reese wasn't a total side character.