Saturday, May 24, 2014

'Person of Interest' 3x23 'Deus Ex Machina' Gif-Tweet-Cap: Everything Changes

The following gifs are available on this Tumblr post. "Deus Ex Machina" is the Season 3 finale of Person of Interest, and almost too epic to watch. Almost. It is possible to watch it without falling off your seat as long as you have some sort of seat belt. Otherwise, you may have a few injuries in the morning. I also recommend that, if you have not yet seen the episode, that you watch it in the early evening so you will be able to sleep. Sleep is still not guaranteed, however.
The city is still dark after Vigilance turned out the lights in New York in the previous episode. A few more Decima guys show up at the spot where Finch (Michael Emerson) had been held earlier, but Reese (James Caviezel) and Shaw (Sarah Shahi) take out a few kneecaps. Then, Hersh (Boris McGiver) finishes them off, reminding the others that Decima guys have a bad habit of killing themselves anyway.
Collier (Leslie Odom Jr.) informs his kangaroo court that the "trial" is being televised all over the world. Not sure how that works in New York with the lights out, but whatever. Collier calls one of his five accused to the stand: "Manuel Rivera" (Joseph Melendez). Then he shoots the guy for lying and getting out of line about the validity of the fake proceedings.
Meanwhile, Reese, Shaw and Hersh watch some of the trial on the TV that seems to have been left behind just for them, and they try to find the location by using photos of the courthouse. Shaw is antsy to leave when she realizes that Root (Amy Acker) may be in danger, so Hersh commandeers a bicycle by shooting at the poor rider.
Throughout the episode, we are treated to some new Collier 2010 flashbacks, detailing how Collier became a part of Vigilance. It all began with mysterious texts and an abduction. Once abducted, he was told to call himself Peter Collier, and to fight against government surveillance under the brand name Vigilance. After what happened to his brother, he was happy to do it.
Back in the courthouse, Collier wants to know who is most responsible for Northern Lights, and Control (Camryn Manheim) stands up to protect him. Yeah, she's basically a BAMF, and holds her own as always against foolish people. Next on the stand is Senator Garrison (John Doman).
Root had told everyone, including Fusco (Kevin Chapman), to meet up at a certain spot in town. Reese casually brings up the Machine, and how Vigilance is causing a diversion to take focus away from the courthouse, leaving Fusco baffled. It seems that everyone forgot that Fusco isn't part of the "in the know" part of Team Machine.
Shaw soon arrives to rescue Root at the official headquarters of Team Samaritan (as in, where the actual Samaritan servers are located). Root seems quite appreciative. I'm not a "shipper" of any kind, but I do love their unique "professional" relationship.
Back at Kangaroo Court, the senator gives up Control, as in, "Control started it! Where's my mommy! Waaahhhhh!!!" Control, being the big girl she is, refuses to say a word. She may have an evil side, but at least she knows about loyalty. She would die first, which is exactly what Collier has in store for her. And Greer (John Nolan) seems to be having a blast. Looks as if he's about to pull out his secret stash of popcorn.
#PersonOfInterest @POIWritersRoom is it just me or does Greer look like he's having fun?!
— Lisquirt (Lisquirt) May 14, 2014
Root steals a couple of embedded RFID chips off the men they knock out, and use them to enter the building, where Root will be installing the seven servers she stole. Shaw has a bit of trouble with hers.
Meanwhile Reese and Hersh pull out the easiest trick in the book on one of the Vigilance troublemakers (Ari Butler) by donning their masks and telling him he's supposed to be somewhere else because "the courthouse is over here!" "Smart dude" says, "Nah, it's over here." Hey, would you like a side of brains with your concussion, guy?
Before Collier can kill Control, Finch stands up and confesses to being really good with computers... and to building Northern Lights, aka The Machine. He tells the whole story of the Machine on the promise that nobody else be horribly murdered.
OK, so it's lights out Finch after his story... until Decima arrives, that is. They wipe out everyone they can, allowing Control and the senator to escape. Greer stands and takes his place as their leader, ordering two more killings before they leave.
Meanwhile, Hersh attempts to stop a nearby bomb from going off, taking multiple shots and fighting off Decima guys as if he's invincible. He's not though, as we are made painfully aware when the bomb goes off, killing him.
Before killing Collier, Greer casually informs him that he was behind all those texts years before, and that he created him to be a "devil" so that his version of god (Samaritan) could rise. It's a heartbreaking moment. Why twist the knife before killing the poor guy? Just to be even more evil? Seeing as how Greer is the actual "devil" in this situation, that is likely.
Before killing Finch, Reese shows up to save the day. Unfortunately, Greer still gets away. Of course, he pins the bombing on Vigilance, convincing Control and Garrison to go forward with Samaritan immediately. Samaritan's first job is to kill the rest of Vigilance... which Greer created, meaning that he created them for the purpose of having lots of criminals to kill to make Samaritan look like the Holy Grail. Samaritan's second job? To become Greer's god, by giving him orders!
But what about the seven servers that Root stole, tweaked, then installed back into Samaritan? It turns out that they are not capable of shutting down Samaritan, but merely of allowing Team Machine to survive. Their hopes of stopping the new God Machine died when they failed to kill the senators. Each of the seven servers has one simple job: to cause each of seven people to be assessed as non-threats. Those seven include Root, Shaw, Reese, Finch, and Root's three techie groupies. Unfortunately, the Library is not on the safe list.
The wait for next season is going to be long and arduous!

Friday, May 16, 2014

'Grimm' 3x21 'The Inheritance' Gif-Tweet-Cap: Grimms and Keys and Verrat, Oh My!

The following gifs are available on this Tumblr post. "The Inheritance" continues from the very end of last week's Grimm, where we got a glimpse of some old dying guy holding one of the three precious keys required to open some important and hidden treasure that the royals could use to destroy the world if they ever got their hands on it.

The episode begins with a lovely family dinner, and Monroe-Rosalee wedding talk. Then Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) joins in. And she realllllly likes spaghetti. Nick (David Giuntoli) seems a bit embarrassed.
She also explains how she found out she was a Grimm: someone tried to rape her, he turned into a Wesen, called her a Grimm (which was the first time she had heard the term), and she stabbed him with a screwdriver (without killing him). It's the usual cheery dinner-talk for this show.
The old man, herein known as Grandpa Grimm (Sam Anderson), has a son named Josh (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe). Now, many fans find Josh to be highly annoying, but I personally find him to be one of the most hilarious characters I've ever seen on the show. In fact, my entire family was nearly rolling on the floor with laughter each time he said anything, or merely gave one of his freaked-out facial expressions. I love that guy. I hope he sticks around a little longer, and that when they off him, it's in an appropriate Grimm-ly humorous fashion.

Having said that, Grandpa Grimm wants to pass on all of his possessions to Nick, although they have never met. Josh spies on the dinner, then calls Nick to make sure "he's the guy," but has a really hard time believing in any of this Grimm stuff. His disbelief also makes him careless, and one of former FBI Agent Weston's (C. Thomas Howell) goons follow him, forcing Grandpa Grimm to kill him with a big sword when he attacks them. Here is a classic example of Josh being utterly and hilariously freaked out:
Josh wants to call the cops, believing his dad has just murdered some regular guy who was attacking them for no reason (which is completely irrationally hilarious).
Meanwhile, Adalind continues seducing Renard (Sasha Roiz) in her attempt to take Nick's powers. He even insultingly compliments her by saying he'd be in love with her if he didn't know her so well. He can't be falling for the seduction though, can he? Who cares, he's nekkid:
Weston sees that his goon is dead, and is exceedingly furious about his continued failure as a terrifying villain. Grandpa Grimm and Josh have already taken off, and pull off the road to stay in an old warehouse where they won't be found. Grandpa Grimm refuses to get medical attention until he speaks with Nick, while Josh whines.
He tells his son to show Nick one of his Grimm-diary Wesen drawings to prove that he should come talk to him. Josh is just exasperated with all these things he doesn't understand, but finally agrees to get it over with so that he can finally get some medical attention for his papa.
Over in the perfect world of Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner), Rosalee is freaking out, worried that something horrible will happen at their wedding. Unfortunately, that's probably true. Let's just hope that they get to live happily ever after (minus Grimm-interruptions, uninvited houseguests and saving lives) once their wedding problems are over.
Renard siccs some Wu-surveillance on Adalind until she takes a cab. Then he just has Wu (Reggie Lee) call the cab company to find it's destination, and takes over from there.
While Nick and Hank (Russell Hornsby) speak with Renard about their favorite former-FBI buddy (sarcasm) following around an old man and his son and big trunk of treasure at the hotel (guess who they’re talking about), Josh shows up at Nick's doorstep. Trubel answers, and immediately calls Nick after seeing the drawing. When he doesn't answer, she decides to go with Josh in Nick's place, worried about the fact that Josh seems completely clueless to the danger he's in.
While everyone is out, Adalind breaks into Nick's house, stealing Juliette's (Bitsie Tulloch) scarf and some of her hair. Renard interrupts the break-in as Adalind is about to leave, and she knocks him out with a magical vase-toss:
Needless to say, Renard is pretty pissed when he wakes up:
Trubel introduces herself to Grandpa Grimm as Nick's friend and resident Grimm #2. He wants her to protect his trunk so that his non-believing son won't destroy it. Then, he finally agrees to go to the hospital, where his son almost immediately gives up their location to fake law enforcement over the phone.
Nick finally answers his phone and shows up, and Hank decides to watch the Volvo containing the trunk while Nick goes inside to speak with Grandpa Grimm. Josh basically tells Nick (in his oblivious fashion) that he told the Verrat where they are. They have to act fast, so Grandpa Grimm tells Nick about the key, then asks his son to grab his cane. Then he passes out before telling them where the key is, and Nick fills in Trubel on the short version of the key-story.
Hank calls Nick out when the Verrat shows up, warning that Trubel should stay inside. Luckily, she doesn't follow orders, because she out-fights both of them. When the fight is over, Trubel takes the Volvo home to keep the trunk safe.
Grandpa Grimm is dead, leaving his son with just one question for Nick: "What kind of cop are you?" At least he finally believes his dad, and more so once he meets even more believers: Rosalee and Monroe. They search all through the trunk for the key, unable to find it. Finally, they remember that Grandpa Grimm had asked for his cane (duh), and it takes Hank to crack the puzzle, leaving Juliette in a state of shock and awe:
Inking up the two keys and stamping them on paper makes a pretty map. They only need one more to be able to find the object that will destroy the universe. Sounds like fun!

Renard asks Wu for additional help in searching for Adalind, but it's too late. She grabs a witch-hat-bong, and smokes the green stuff she concocted out of Juliette's hair, skin cells, and probably a couple of toads and lizards or other appropriately disgusting and old decrepit creatures and bodily fluids. Then, she turns into Evil Juliette. Yay, a reason for Juliette to exist!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

'Elementary' 2x23 'Art in the Blood' Gif-Tweet-Cap: Twists Upon Twists and Turns

"Art in the Blood" continues from last week's Elementary, with the revelation that Mycroft (Rhys Ifans) is working for the British government in some capacity. Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) is still in fear of losing Watson (Lucy Liu) to the bad guys.
Sherlock quickly learns that Watson is OK, and that Mycroft is MI6. Sherlock accuses him of lying, but Mycroft quickly shows that he has another side. Watson has had enough and leaves the room.
He suddenly sounds very self-important, waving around a jar of something sitting in the kitchen as he tells Sherlock that his handler (Ralph Brown) wanted Sherlock out of New York so he would not interfere with their investigation, and that it was Sherlock's fault Joan got captured by having her help him... until Sherlock tells him that it's deadly toxic mold he's waving around there. Of course, if Mycroft had told the truth, it would not have happened that way.
All the bad guys from last week's episode are picked up, but now Mycroft's MI6 handler has a job for Sherlock: determining whether there is more to the death of their ex-analyst, Arthur West. They try to convince him by reminding him that they saved Mycroft and Joan, while Mycroft tries to discourage Sherlock from taking the job, for Joan's sake. Sherlock reminds Mycroft that he's not going to be sleeping with Watson while lying to her face, and that she will want to help with the case.
Watson does indeed want to help. Their first stop is the morgue, where they find that someone has stolen the victim's arms. Photos of the arms indicate a dry skin condition, which Sherlock deduces is caused by invisible ink tattoos.
Mycroft tries to talk to Watson, but she says that her answer to anything he asks of her is "no": No apologies, no nothing, when she can't believe a word he says. She says that Sherlock and she both deserve better.
Sherlock reports his findings so far, and indicates that he's "pregnant" with the case now, and wants to continue.

Sherlock tells Watson that he understands what deception is like, after the whole Moriarty debacle. She can talk to him about it, but she only wants to talk about the case. Then Arthur's wife (Emily Bergl), whom Sherlock spoke with earlier, shows up at their doorstep to show them the photos of Arthur in blacklight, revealing his tattoos.
It turns out that Arthur knew Sherlock because he had been asked to spy on him. He liked Sherlock, and wanted his wife to go to Sherlock if anything ever happened to him. He also believed there was an MI6 mole working in New York. The only problem is that the series of numbers from the tattoo have no meaning to Sherlock, other than forming some sort of data set. He just doesn't know to what the data refers.
Later, Watson finally tells Sherlock what she has been trying to tell him for weeks: she's moving out. He refers to the idea as "codswallop," using flailing gestures to indicate his denial, and that she's just upset about the abduction, and everything will be just dandy.
Sherlock asks Mycroft's handler why he never mentioned that Arthur had spied on him, but the handler just shrugs it off, saying that it's because Sherlock is special. Sherlock then reveals the information about the possible mole, and the rest of the info. Then the handler asks whether Sherlock is still prego with the case, and tries to convince him to continue with it... but he says no.
Joan then learns from the wife that Mycroft had left MI6 for awhile, but had to come back for some unknown reason.
Meanwhile, Gregson (Aidan Quinn) shows Sherlock a fingerprint from the gun used to kill Arthur. He suddenly behaves a bit strangely, and leaves the precinct quickly, leaving Gregson wondering what's gotten into him.

Watson goes to Mycroft's place to ask him about why he went back to MI6. It was all for Sherlock. When Sherlock was at the height of drug abuse, he screwed up one of his cases so bad that he almost allowed a terrorist plot to go on right under his nose. Mycroft went back to MI6 to save him and stop the plot. All this truth-telling clearly makes Mycroft irresistible, at least in Joan's eyes.
Then we see why Sherlock seemed so troubled to see the fingerprint. He takes his brother's print from the jar of toxic mold jar and sees that it's a match to the gun that killed Arthur!
Learning that Mycroft is the killer makes the next scene all that more disgusting: Watson is sleeping with the enemy! But things get confusing again when Sherlock barges in on them as they are just beginning to put themselves back together after doing the dirty all night. He believes that Mycroft is being framed for murder and treason, and they have to go into hiding right away!