Definitely think you hit the nail on the head with that. There's some technical challenges - it still needs to be able to acquire the NSA feeds, it draws enough power to feed a town of 50K, it needs to be able access storage to correlate its analytics, and it needs massive processing power. All of which the Machine…

Root is a friend to the Machine - as it evolves, it makes sense for the Machine to ally itself.

@avclub-b944505fecb12eeb3d3a515109931c74:disqus Always a solid choice - you never suspect them. Got to pay for all those wheat and ethanol subsidies some how.

That makes the most sense, and explains why Nathan ended up on the irrelevant list. The Machine detects government chatter about the assassination attempt on Nathan (i.e. chatter that goes "We got to get rid of him"), but it's not a large-scale attack (i.e. didn't pick up something that said "…and we're going to blow…

The Machine does work in mysterious ways.

Thanks! This episode was definitely a rarity, managing to be a satisfying conclusion to a two-parter. Given how Reese and Root handled the threats at the library, the title "God Mode" was surprisingly apt.

EDIT: Whoops, missed @Conatoc's comment. That was my guess too.

Absolutely - I don't mean "preposterous" in a bad way - it's what makes the show a lot of fun. Like action flicks with over-the-top sequences. But the fact that they can weave strong character moments along side gives PoI that edge.

I totally agree that both characters have been quite consistent in their actions, and this idea of enemies having to forge temporary alliances is truly a fantastic element of the show. I can definitely empathize with both Elias and Root. The retconning would only be worrisome if they tried to cast them in a different…

If only every irrelevant number was that easy, they could turn this into a YouTube web series.

They actually do a really good job of moving plot lines forward, even in the middle of the season. They've gone through so many this year that it's surprising that the show still feels so fresh.

One key point I was very happy about - Nathan and Finch "parted" as friends. That smile between them before the bomb went off was a nice moment.

I'm not sure comparing Finch as an "alcoholic father" would be apt. I think that Finch's introverted nature along with some social awkwardness and highly logical thinking informs everything which he does. He programmed the Machine to save the many - anything which compromised that objective is something which he had…

She's more fun when Shahi gets to play her looser, almost trying to out-Reese Caviezel's stoic and dry one-liners.

HR - doing it wrong since 1981. That's why I'm voting for Elias in 2013!

Thanks - glad you enjoyed it. Phil has the more difficult job of giving it the rating and doing all of those references, I just like discussing it with everyone here.

These are the same people who employed the liked of Stanton and Reese, who committed numerous acts of atrocities for national security, both on foreign and domestic soils. Their brutality follows a cold logic in the "do whatever it takes no matter the cost". The justification, however, is more sound - it is doing…

It's also still running Northern Lights. It may decide some day that it's no longer in its interest to protect people from violent acts - maybe Root and the Machine form a bond and affect each other's view. I think this was the best thing we could have hoped for - not exactly where we started off, but not completely…

@avclub-9cd818ea56273170b63f339aa6f34bca:disqus I would say that no one has really been a pawn as they've acted on intelligence would prevents violent acts - that's what it was built for originally. With the virus and the Machine's evolution, it can start feeding intelligence to serve its own needs (i.e. an act which…

Grace finding that book and the looks on both of their faces really did the moment justice, given all the speculation of what had happened between them.