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MiddleOne
Feb 17, 2011

Wouldn't killing the internet effectively neuter the AI's? They'd basically lose their omniscience and be de-limited to the cellular networks as the only method of direct manipulation that doesn't rely on human agents acting on their behalf.

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Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

I don't think hrs going to kill the internet just infect and purge Samaritan which just doing that would cause harm.

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

The way Harold talked about collateral damage suggests, at the very least, that it won't exactly be a surgical strike.

Toplowtech
Aug 31, 2004

docbeard posted:

The way Harold talked about collateral damage suggests, at the very least, that it won't exactly be a surgical strike.
Considering that Samaritan put himself in tons of hardware, it's probably going to require damaging most electronic, so medical equipment and really important things too.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





Toplowtech posted:

Considering that Samaritan put himself in tons of hardware, it's probably going to require damaging most electronic, so medical equipment and really important things too.

"If I don't get on that elevator alone, your daughter will be dead in five weeks... If I do get on that elevator, she'll also be dead in five weeks when I crash civilization."

Chasiubao
Apr 2, 2010


Final scene is a Mad Max-style wasteland, Bear and Reese peering off into the distance.

less laughter
May 7, 2012

Accelerock & Roll
I'm confused, can someone explain how POTUS can be an irrelevant number? Shaw mentioned it very briefly but it still didn't explain much.

monster on a stick
Apr 29, 2013

Toplowtech posted:

Considering that Samaritan put himself in tons of hardware, it's probably going to require damaging most electronic, so medical equipment and really important things too.

So EMP (remember the missile?) Though presumably Samaritan would be smart enough to have a backup in a Faraday Cage.

Fhqwhgads
Jul 18, 2003

I AM THE ONLY ONE IN THIS GAME WHO GETS LAID

less laughter posted:

I'm confused, can someone explain how POTUS can be an irrelevant number? Shaw mentioned it very briefly but it still didn't explain much.

"But to it, you are all irrelevant"

SpookyLizard
Feb 17, 2009
If the name is representative of the virus at all, it could end up causing serious damage to every networked device on the planet. Killing the machine and Samaritan and potentially setting humanity back a few years in repairs alone. The more developed nations could be blacked out for days if not weeks by the damage to infrastructure. Even if stuff could be restored afterwards it probably wouldn't be worth the risk of restoring Samaritan or Ice-9.


That poo poo is terrifying and i wonder what finch is going to do with it cause his rear end is scary.


Chasiubao posted:

Final scene is a Mad Max-style wasteland, Bear and Reese peering off into the distance.

Fade out. Then, a phone rings.

less laughter
May 7, 2012

Accelerock & Roll

Fhqwhgads posted:

"But to it, you are all irrelevant"

Still leaves a lot of holes.

SpookyLizard
Feb 17, 2009
Sacrificing the president is a small cost if it helps Samaritan root out the Machine. It knows the Machine wouldn't let Relevant One die. If it ignores the privacy terrorists (hell, it may have even helped them, Decima has set up terrorist groups before), and a president dies, the only risk is Samaritan loses the support of the government, but frankly they don't really need that anymore. It really only poses a short term disruption to Samaritan. The Machine is the only thing Samaritan is really worried about.

THF13
Sep 26, 2007

Keep an adversary in the dark about what you're capable of, and he has to assume the worst.

less laughter posted:

I'm confused, can someone explain how POTUS can be an irrelevant number? Shaw mentioned it very briefly but it still didn't explain much.

It's not a irrelevant number, but the Machine no longer has a team to handle relevant threats. Samaritan has been dealing with the relevant numbers but didn't in this case for reasons we don't know.

Echophonic
Sep 16, 2005

ha;lp
Gun Saliva
It's just like the Vigilance bombing. If someone blows up the President, you can ram through whatever surveillance legislation you want. Turns out privacy terrorists are stupid.

pik_d
Feb 24, 2006

follow the white dove





TRP Post of the Month October 2021

Echophonic posted:

It's just like the Vigilance bombing. If someone blows up the President, you can ram through whatever surveillance legislation you want. Turns out privacy terrorists are stupid.

That's (probably) why these guys did it with a drone though.

Echophonic
Sep 16, 2005

ha;lp
Gun Saliva

pik_d posted:

That's (probably) why these guys did it with a drone though.

Well, yeah, the symbolism is obvious, but all that does is get more money for the drone program to 'harden' it against hackers.

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

I didn't get the impression that this was actively a Samaritan plot rather than just Samaritan not giving a poo poo if the President is killed. (Though I guess there's not enough information to know either way.) Which suggests that Samaritan has so thoroughly seized control of at least American society that it doesn't really matter any more who's in charge, because Samaritan is really in charge.

The blue box for the President is interesting, because we've last seen that used for Machine assets on the relevant side.

pik_d posted:

That's (probably) why these guys did it with a drone though.

That was certainly their stated rationale; staging an attack using a drone to make it clear that the Surveillance State was to blame for all of this. Though of course it still would have backfired; can you imagine the uproar if a drone got hacked and used in a terrorist plot for real?

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

The irrelevant number this week was John, Team Machine 2 saved him.

Also the president's box is unique in that the outline is blue but the corners are white.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

They're really just using irrelevant as shorthand for "Samaritan doesn't care if this person dies".

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

Aphrodite posted:

They're really just using irrelevant as shorthand for "Samaritan doesn't care if this person dies".

Yeah, and in this case, "why isn't a threat against the President of the United States considered to be a relevant threat". And the answer appears to be "those distinctions don't actually matter any more".

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

Wasn't there a Senator that was a asset of Samaritan. Maybe it didn't protect the president because it was maneuvering that Senator in place for control of the country?

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

Hollismason posted:

Wasn't there a Senator that was a asset of Samaritan. Maybe it didn't protect the president because it was maneuvering that Senator in place for control of the country?

I can't recall his name, but yeah. He was the Senator who had oversight over the ISA (so Control effectively worked for him),. There was also that Congressman that the Machine (possibly) wanted killed, who made the deal with Greer to give Samaritan the NSA feeds. The kid avatar also demanded to meet the President at one point.

I think it is absolutely safe to say that Samaritan is running things at the highest levels of Washington now.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Hollismason posted:

Wasn't there a Senator that was a asset of Samaritan. Maybe it didn't protect the president because it was maneuvering that Senator in place for control of the country?

Garrison, yea, he's completely unaware and uninterested in the bigger picture though.

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

Yeah but it'd make sense if that's Samaritan's "end game". Also, the story is soley focused in the USA ,but Samaritan obviously has assets all over the world.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

Hollismason posted:

Wasn't there a Senator that was a asset of Samaritan. Maybe it didn't protect the president because it was maneuvering that Senator in place for control of the country?

Samaritan would have taken an active role if that was the goal.

I think with 2 episodes left we just take it at face value. The president doesn't matter in Samaritan's plans.

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

Aphrodite posted:

Samaritan would have taken an active role if that was the goal.

I think with 2 episodes left we just take it at face value. The president doesn't matter in Samaritan's plans.

What I'm hoping they'll have time to address is just what could happen if Samaritan *is* abruptly destroyed. Never mind the disruption of the internet and various electronic systems, if Samaritan's really running things to any degree, then a bunch of civic institutions are suddenly hosed.

quantumfoam
Dec 25, 2003

Samaritan got full access to the government feeds because of Vigilance blowing up a building filled with civilians/reporters.
Now episode 5-11 has a Vigilance-inspired group trying to take out Relevant-1, and Samaritan reported zero point zero about them to the US govt
before the chaos happened.

It would be interesting to see how Samaritan/Greer justify the zero point zero reporting to the US govt, maybe backdating fake reports/records
a la what Finch did with Shaw's Team Relevant partner. Or some other thing, which we probably won't see due to the streamlined final season.

Please Eat A Vegetable
Jun 26, 2002
Lord of Primate Booty
Aside from a mid-season cancellation, I've never seen a series openly shat upon by their network like this. If I don't get a satisfactory conclusion due to CBS' fuckery and shortened season, then I will refuse to watch any of the lovely CBS shows that I already don't watch anyway. I'll probably tune in for March Madness and go right back to forgetting that the network exists.

Tortolia
Dec 29, 2005

Hindustan Electronics Employee of the Month, July 2008
Grimey Drawer
Yeah, Finch procuring a virus called Ice-9 from a secured military installation is really worrisome. :ohdear:

Fun episode and a nice little answer to the "Why doesn't the Machine have other assets" question. I wonder if they started up after the Machine was rebuilt.

JossiRossi
Jul 28, 2008

A little EQ, a touch of reverb, slap on some compression and there. That'll get your dickbutt jiggling.

Tortolia posted:

Yeah, Finch procuring a virus called Ice-9 from a secured military installation is really worrisome. :ohdear:

Finch was installing the virus. The Machine mentioned it being Harold's tweaking of the Ice9 virus. The military base he was in was likely one of those hubs through which tons of traffic in the internet passes.

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

Tortolia posted:

Fun episode and a nice little answer to the "Why doesn't the Machine have other assets" question. I wonder if they started up after the Machine was rebuilt.

Harper, at least, was getting jobs from "Thornhill" since, I think, her second appearance in season 4. My guess is that it all started up once the Machine moved/freed itself at the end of the second season, since that's also when it recruited Root.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

The machine had been "Tracking" Logan Pierce since the end of his episode, so around the time it freed itself at the end of s2 sounds right since that's the same time she recruited root.

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

Wait was Harold getting the Virus or was he installing it because it seemed like it was the former.

pik_d
Feb 24, 2006

follow the white dove





TRP Post of the Month October 2021

Hollismason posted:

Wait was Harold getting the Virus or was he installing it because it seemed like it was the former.

I'm pretty sure he was retrieving it. Like there was some place in Texas that had all the computer viruses and he had to break in and get the baddest one.

xeria
Jul 26, 2004

Ruh roh...

less laughter posted:

Still leaves a lot of holes.

Except there are no 'holes' in this particular aspect of the plot, not really. We don't know WHY that Samaritan decided an assassination attempt on the POTUS is "irrelevant" but I don't think we necessarily need to know to understand the meaning behind it. If nothing else, it shows that Samaritan has 100% evolved beyond its original purpose of sorting out 'relevant' attacks on US interests/society and is working toward an entirely different purpose. Control got bounced at the end of last season so Samaritan's in full control of whatever the gently caress ISA does now, which is apparently no longer going after previously believed 'relevant' numbers.

JossiRossi
Jul 28, 2008

A little EQ, a touch of reverb, slap on some compression and there. That'll get your dickbutt jiggling.

pik_d posted:

I'm pretty sure he was retrieving it. Like there was some place in Texas that had all the computer viruses and he had to break in and get the baddest one.

Just re-watched, I was totally wrong. misheard what the Machine said. It said, "The virus you are appropriating etc etc" So, Finch was stealing the virus from the military.

SpookyLizard
Feb 17, 2009

Zaggitz posted:

The irrelevant number this week was John, Team Machine 2 saved him.

Also the president's box is unique in that the outline is blue but the corners are white.

Relevant-One is a great code-name for The Machine to use for the President.

Also I'm hoping that having a bunch of Team-Machines in the different cities across America are part of how the Machine fights Samaritan. Samaritan is so focused on Team-Machine NYC that it's overlooking the Vigilante groups in different cities across the country. Which does kinda work. Focusing on the main group and finding the Machine itself would effectively shut the other cells down. So it's just condensing it's resources on the key structure of the group. But maybe it's over-focusing is going to be it's downfall.

LentThem
Aug 31, 2004

90% Retractible

Party Plane Jones posted:

Episode ended on a note that was a little too 'cute' for lack of a better word. Hopefully the next one has more Harold to it.

This episode had a lot of moments where it felt like the writing was doing too much WINK WINK GET IT?? at the audience; stuff like the new Irrelevants quoting Finch's opening credits monologue and Reese explaining why he didn't want to be Secret Service.

The only other time I remember it getting this heavy was in the last season with the insurance salesman who was pretending to be a cop and working with Reese; there were a ton show-aware references ("How do you do that thing with your voice?!?!?!") and it just felt so much like that character was supposed to be some kind of audience insert. Like, if someone was daydreaming about being a character on the show, but somehow had previously watched the show and therefore had way too much knowledge about the other characters and plot.

Edit: oh it looks like other people thought the same thing - http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/person-interest-pretenders-211121

LentThem fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Jun 9, 2016

sbaldrick
Jul 19, 2006
Driven by Hate
I seemed to have seen this episode different then a lot of you.

I don't think the Machine views John, Shaw, Finch and to a lesser extent Fusco as no longer Team Irrevlent but Team War for lack of a better term. I don't think the Machine sees a future where they live and is working on keeping it's mission going.

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berzerkmonkey
Jul 23, 2003

LentThem posted:

This episode had a lot of moments where it felt like the writing was doing too much WINK WINK GET IT?? at the audience; stuff like the new Irrelevants quoting Finch's opening credits monologue and Reese explaining why he didn't want to be Secret Service.
There's been a lot of that and too much exposition this season. One thing I've really noticed is too much "overheard" radio chatter that telegraphs information to the audience. Normally I'd say it's a result of lazy writing, but its likely because the writers are trying to compress not only an entire season, but an entire story arc into a handful of episodes. It really sucks, because while the concept of what the show is doing is great, the execution is pretty sloppy - this is going to wind up being the worst season of the show, unfortunately.


SirMonkeyButt posted:

Aside from a mid-season cancellation, I've never seen a series openly shat upon by their network like this. If I don't get a satisfactory conclusion due to CBS' fuckery and shortened season, then I will refuse to watch any of the lovely CBS shows that I already don't watch anyway. I'll probably tune in for March Madness and go right back to forgetting that the network exists.

This happens quite often. Networks air shows that aren't made by them, and if they don't hit some arbitrary ratings level, they get dumped with no ceremony. It would have been nice for them to give it a summer slot for a full wrapup, but we got really lucky CBS allowed this half-season to air at all.

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