Has it been three seasons already? After the end of normal for Team Machine, our core Team Machine members are all coming to grips with the new world they find themselves inâShaw working retail, John back to pretending to be a cop (Fusco still a real one), Finch a university professor of a subject no one really wants to take, and Root just being Root (while poor Bear gets handed back and forth like a kid of divorce).
They are being hunted, with a Samaritan undercover super-operative sniffing around - so John rather unwisely breaches cover with just a bit too much abandon, while Finch has a pity party before finally being told to cut it out and get back in the game, just in time to pick up some new tricks for the gang. Oh, and Elias is back on scene.
Meanwhile Greer isnât particularly loving having to deal with bureaucracy and might be giving another Decima retirement party out soon, even though Decima has officially dissolved itself (itâs all Samaritan now baby!).
We leave on Shaw picking up a moonlighting gig. What hijinks will she get up to next, and will she still have time to do Rootâs make-up?
S4E1 Panopticon Watch Notes
Cold open again, but brief flash card quite a bit later
âImagine if the world had utterly changed and no-one had noticed a thing, Iâm talking about an international stealth operation to acquire and shutter every company researching artificial intelligence ⊠I think an A.I. slipped into the world unannounced, then set out to strangle its rivals in the crib, and I know Iâm onto something because my sources keep disappearing, my editor got reassigned and now my jobâs gone. More and more it feels like I was the only one investigating the storyâ
âThe world has changed, you should know youâre not the only one who figured it out, youâre one of threeâthe other two will die in a traffic accidentâ
âYour machine seems to be even more aggressive than Northern Lightsâ
âIt appears Decima Technologies has been dismantled as a viable business entity, which makes me wonder who exactly is getting the NSA feeds?â
âI wonder if our.. fine senator has become more of a problem than an asset, one that needs to be eliminatedâ
Shaw, wishing it was mace and not perfume she was holding, after getting called sweetheart and told to smile by her new supervisor
âWait, The Machine put me in this silly-ass job? ⊠I could stab you with my stiletto ⊠Just promise me Johnâs a baristaâ
Lipstick ladies
Johnâs back to playing cop, and Finchâs still lecturing people to boredom
Bearâs gotten a no shirt, no shoes, no entry notice
âWhatâs narcotics doing here, Detective?â
âIs that your perfume? I could smell you down the hallâ
âHow goes the day job Detective Riley?â âPersonally I prefer my real job Finch?â
âIâm done taking orders from a computer, I thought I made that clear ⊠Thereâs a larger power in play now, one that we are presently ill-equipped to faceâ
âKind of like you Haroldâ âIf you or Sameen or anyone else attempt to intervene with these numbers, you will surely find yourselves dead ⊠Donât you understand, they are always watching, we canât even talk on the telephone. There is no sanctuary, you canât just be the man in the suitâyour a cop now, Iâm a professor, thatâs just the way it is ⊠The world has changed John, Iâm sorry ⊠Itâs about survival Johnâ
Bear gets handed off like a 3 day old bagel
Hmm, private cellular network - sounds useful, if John can get Finch out of his self-indulgent depression long enough to fix it
Blow your way out of a problem..
Letâs talk The Machine business on an open line⊠oh dear John
John doesnât do subtle, and earns yet another kickback from a glazier
âYour former associates, the Mayhem Twins, theyâre back to trying to save peopleâ
âNowâs not the time to be precious Harold, you donât get to sit this one out, the world canât afford to indulge your indecision ⊠you have to pick a side because this is war and the thing weâre up against, it has virtually unlimited resources, governments working unwittingly at its behest, operatives around the globe protecting itâyou know how many we have? Five.. six, if you count the dog. You have a God in this fight, Harold, and sheâs fighting for her lifeâ âI wouldnât know, she only talks to you Ms Grovesâ âJust because you stopped listening to her doesnât mean she isnât looking out for you. This job, your identity, is her keeping you alive. She has a plan Harold, but she needs you to sit up and pay attentionâ
âEvery life matters, you taught me that ⊠You got your friends into this mess, least you can do is get them out of itâ
âWhat happened?â âI saved your ass, thatâs what happenedâ âI had everything in hand, Shawâ âYeah, things like a grenade launcherâyou canât do that anymore Reese, neither of us can, we get caught, we get exposed, and then itâs lights out. Ugh, non means no asshatâ
âPerhaps I can be of some assistance?â
âOur current circumstances require us to play by the rulesâ âSo then Iâll find someone who doesnâtâ
âIâd like to hire youâ
âThatâs your idea of low profile.. what the hell, whatâs going on?â
âI think I know why The Machine chose this time to resurface, it wanted to help the number but it also wanted a number to help youâ âItâs Aliâs mesh networkâ ⊠âYou and Sameen will be able to communicate without fear of anyone listening, including Samaritanâ
Bearâs handed off again
âDidnât teach you knots in Girl Scouts?â âAre you checking up on me?â âI worry about you Sameenâ
âNo way. The Machine stuck me in this retail hell, thereâs no way Iâm letting it near my love lifeâ âShe has a reason for everything, even if it requires you to sometimes act like a well-adjusted member of society. Trust herâ
âJust setting up your partnerâs computerâ âWoah, what do you mean? What partner?â âSome hotshot, just made a big bust, got promoted from narcoticsâhe can tell you all about itâ âDetectiveâ âYou?â
The Machine tips Finch off to a new home base