A lot of shows, dramas in particular, love promoting the fact that everything changes or nothing will ever be the same again at either multiple points or the end of a season to create tension. Oftentimes the show doesnt follow through on its promise and places it back within its status quo, making it nothing more than a lame marketing ploy. Last season Person of Interest shook its format up a bit by having The Machine gain independence from the government and Season 3 not only ran with that promise, but completely blew it out of the water with its own changes. The death of Detective Carter was a bold move for the show as she was one of the main characters audiences rooted for. It had a drastic impact on the dynamic between the POI team as they all reeled from her death in different ways for several episodes. The real shake-up, though, was the season ender as Greer essentially won after playing everybody into his hand, putting Samaritan online and forcing the POI team to scatter and go on the run. It was also pleasing to see in the finale that Reese and Shaws decision not to kill the senator in Decima's pocket in Death Benefit held dire consequences for the team instead of being a cheap moment of audience-shock based around The Machine ordering them to kill someone. Hopefully the POI team will prevail next season, but it is absolutely gratifying to see the people behind Person of Interest are unafraid to take huge risks and mean it when they say nothing will be the same again.
Richard Church has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in Television Writing and Producing. He is an aspiring writer for short stories, novels and screenplays. He is also an avid fan of comic books and graphic novels.
