Giovanni Rufino/Warner Bros. Entertainment
Person of Interest is moving into new territory, with the whole “Endgame” arc having reached its conclusion. The death of Taraji P. Henson‘s Joss Carter leaves a big void (the image of Jim Caviezel‘s John Reese cradling her as she passed away after being shot by corrupt cop Patrick Simmons still endures). That means that creator Jonathan Nolan and other showrunners are taking a big risk that fans may leave the show because of her departure. Granted, it would have been a lot worse if Reese or Michael Emerson‘s Harold Finch happened to die, but this is close. On one hand, Henson had pretty much made it known that she wasn’t going to be on the show forever and that there would be an exit strategy.
Even with the HR storyline finished, there’s still plenty of other pieces to push forward. First, there’s the group of privacy zealots who will do anything, including kill, to preserve that. Then there’s the whole “The Machine is Planning Something Big” plot, and I must say that I’m very, very intrigued to see how this plays out, especially with Amy Acker‘s Root, who is being such a huge paradox: she can be a cunning, calculating killer in one moment and an extremely helpful ally the next. It was quite cool, I admit, to see her dual-wielding guns in the last Endgame episode. Let’s also not forget that Boris McGiver’s assassin, the singularly-named Hersh, is going to probably pop up at some point. He will NOT be grateful that his life was spared — twice — by the crew, the first time being in a fight with Reese and the second when Root stood down after the Machine told her not to kill him. He’ll probably want to eliminate one or both of them.
In terms of the ratio of females to males on the show, the groundwork was actually laid out pretty early for Carter to shuffle off this mortal coil. Sarah Shahi‘s Samantha Shaw was brought into the fold last season, and Root was brought first as a villain and now exists as someone who is an uneasy ally. Add the recurring guest role of Paige Turco’s Zoe Morgan, the ubercool fixer, and there’s more than enough to offset the testosterone of Reese and Kevin Chapman’s Lionel Fusco.
The people who stop viewing this show in protest might have had some valid points, especially the way that the shocking death was almost telegraphed with Reese and Carter kissing for the very first and last time in the same episode. It’s true that losing someone who brought extra toughness and yet carried herself with extra grace like Carter did is a bad blow, but then again, things happen in real life that aren’t fair either.
It seems that the roller-coaster ride is far from over. In fact, I’d say that it’s only cresting its second or third hill. Buckle up, folks. It’s going to be intense.
