“Invictus maneo.”
The above is a Latin phrase that translates to “I remain unvanquished”, and that certainly applies to the man who walks away unscathed at the end of the episode. In the Person of Interest world, you either survive or you don’t, and the rules of the game dictate that at some point, someone who doesn’t survive has his or her place taken by someone else. As Dominic says, “it’s the natural order of things”.
“If you loved me and our life, you wouldn’t have done it, because it is a DESTRUCTION.”
Well, the cat’s out of the bag. Last week’s episode set the season’s endgame into motion, and this week’s episode propels the story even further. It deals less with the affair itself and more with the ramifications of the affair, the way the summer in Montauk now takes its toll on Noah and Alison. Through them, we gain more insight into their relationships with Helen and Cole, respectively, and as a result, Episode 7 is a compelling and wonderfully acted hour that asks us what happens when the truth rears its ugly head.
“This is not who we are. This is not who you are.”
There’s an inherent contradiction in the War on Terror, a hypocrisy present in the “us vs. them” mentality stressed multiple times by Carrie in “There’s Something Else Going On”. “You think we behave badly?” she asks Dennis Boyd as she’s playing the Sandy video. “Well, this is how the other side behaves.” Later, as she’s pleading with Saul to get up, she spits out a damning “You sound like them!” However, what she doesn’t realize–or chooses not to acknowledge–is the fact that her own government’s actions are oftentimes no better than the actions of the other side. As a result, this is all a never-ending, screwed up mess of a situation, and it is almost impossible to take the moral high ground.
SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK: SNL seems to have a trend going of not really tackling the issue its political cold opens are really about, and that’s the case here with the subject matter of Obama’s immigration executive order. However, the cold open finds laughs with the physical comedy of Thompson and Moynihan, and the idea of bringing Schoolhouse Rock into things is pretty funny. GRADE: B-
MONOLOGUE: This is a pretty generic monologue, but I wasn’t expecting anything better, to be honest. The Shrek question is mildly entertaining. GRADE: C
“I’m not choosing. I’m not choosing Jake. I’m not choosing Fitz. I choose me. I choose Olivia, and right now, Olivia’s dancing.”
If there’s one thing Olivia Pope has always hidden from, it’s her true nature. She has always attempted to take the moral high ground over her father, always donned her white hat, always presented herself as a strong person. However, there is a part of her that does not fit with who she presents herself as, a part of her that is just like her father. In “Where the Sun Don’t Shine”, that realization slaps her right in the face, and it comes from the mouths of the very people who brought her into this world.
“It’s all about relationships.”
One of the best aspects of this show is the development of relationships, relationships that are not so much romantic as they are platonic. We’ve seen our team grow tighter and tighter over the course of the series, and we’ve seen what happens when one of those team members is taken away without warning. Now, we’re seeing what happens when our main characters come into conflict with a group of people who know how to exploit relationships, who don’t care for others as long as they are ahead. Both The Brotherhood and the people behind Samaritan embody these characteristics.
“If you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy the ticket.”
Lou Bloom may come across as an affable, equitable guy at first, but beneath that veneer is an absolutely vile person who will get what he wants without any regard for others. He is a sociopath, plain and simple, and any destruction he may leave behind merely catapults him to the next level. There’s no disputing that this is a successful man living in a twisted world, someone who will get up into the faces of victims, someone who will move bodies for better shots, and someone who will wear a goofy grin as he’s threatening you.
“Sometimes I’m worried you’re just a really great dream.”
This show has dealt quite a bit with the idea of fantasy, something certainly present not just in affairs, but also in life in general. Noah and Alison seem to be living in a bubble of their own, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the bubble won’t hold, that it is inevitable to avoid reality for too long without feeling the ramifications. The first half of the season set up Scotty’s murder through cutting between interrogations and the actual story, and “6” now utilizes solely the latter to knock over the first domino of many.
“Nothing good can happen.”
It’s a cynical worldview, but in this line of work, it’s certainly hard to find much fault with that line of reasoning. Overall, the nation may benefit, but Homeland is oftentimes concerned with the ramifications of this type of work on individuals, on the people carrying out and participating in the fight. In the end, loyalties will be tested, lines will be crossed, and people will be lost, and people like Carrie Mathison will simply have to soldier on.
OBAMA/MCCONNELL DRINK: It’s another political cold open, but there’s a ton of comedy to be mined from Pharoah and Killam getting drunker and drunker. It doesn’t really build to anything, but I like the Hillary Clinton phone call and McConnell’s “You’re black!” GRADE: B-
MONOLOGUE: Hey, it’s Jennifer Lawrence (and Hutcherson and Hemsworth)! I’m not a huge fan of singing monologues, but this one is just full of charm, especially when Lawrence messes up her line and is her usually adorable self. Unpolished, but fun, monologue. GRADE: B+
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