Person of Interest: 5.10 The Day The World Went Away & 5:11 Synecdoche

[st_aurafina]

I want to talk about Person of Interest, but I think netgirl_y2k covered it really well: here. (Spoilers for 5.10)


No, actually I do have more to say.

I feel shitty for liking some of the plot decisions after Root's death. Because damn it, I want the lesbian character (and I pretty much see Root as lesbian) to live, ffs. (I said to lilacsigil on the night we watched that one, "Do we ever get to be happy?") And it feels shitty to say that in an equal world, it would have been good writing that Root died, because this is very far from an equal world. But I can see it, I can see the narrative decision, and I can see the compressed plot and I can how it would look to someone who isn't part of that marginalised group. It feels stupid and indulgent to expect writers to say, "Hey, let's give the gay characters a free ride, just this once" but at the same time, not saying that feels like a foot on my head while I'm trying to swim.

But in a fair and equal world, though I hate it, I do think Root's death fits the plot, and it fits the character. I wish it didn't come with so much baggage, but that's the world we live in. And maybe some writer somewhere will be thinking about this, and writing something where the lesbians get to live, because you can't have that fair and equal world until change happens.

So, I do like that the Machine chose Root's voice. That was a gut-punching, bittersweet thing to have after Root's death. And props to Amy Acker for getting subtle differences in intonation, enough that I think I'd be able to pick the differences between her as Root and her as the Machine.

I also love the way that Harold talks to her - it's sharp and a bit cynical, and I don't think it's just because he's supposedly dark!Harold now. I think some of it is a student-mentor relationship, if you can have that with a student who knows much more than you ever could. Anyway, it's not a tone he uses with anyone else, and I find that fascinating. I think that's going to keep me rewatching these episodes, to take that dynamic apart.

I can't talk about Shaw mourning. Or the Machine running simulations while Root died. Yes, good that it was mentioned. But terrible and hard to process and I don't want to think of that dead connection to the bionic implant or how hearing is the last sense to go.

Okay, moving on, so, I love that the Machine has been recruiting her own teams in other places. After all the wracking stuff, it was gloriously heartening to have someone swoop in and rescue the team. Logan Pierce is a cocky little shit, and I hope Joey has knocked some sense into him. And Harper, yay!! She was a very wobbly fake agent! I hope that we get to see more numbers from the past. And Zoe. And Control.

I have a post-series fic rec by netgirl_y2k: You Are Part Of A Machine (you are not a human being) which has Shaw and Fusco carrying on.

But for me, I'm planning to write all the fixit fic. And denial fic. Because with fanfic, I don't ever have to face up to that stuff, yay.


To that end, I've signed up for heroinebigbang, which has another round starting now.

ETA: While I type this, I am listening to lilacsigil school our software company on not having a no-gender option in our dispensing software. ("No, it's Federal law. You have to have it.") She is the awesome.

Comments

[jb_slasher]

But for me, I'm planning to write all the fixit fic. And denial fic. Because with fanfic, I don't ever have to face up to that stuff, yay.

Thank goodness for fanfic and fandom. I don't care about all the shit that is going down in fandom, I still love it to bits. And fic, fic saves my fucking soul over and over again. Thank goodness for fic, is all I'm saying. <3<3<3<3<3


ETA: While I type this, I am listening to [personal profile] lilacsigil school our software company on not having a no-gender option in our dispensing software. ("No, it's Federal law. You have to have it.") She is the awesome.

She is, she totally is. :) <3

[st_aurafina]

Fanfic will get us through! *clings*

For a while, I wasn't ever going to watch this damn show ever again, but I got over myself. Thank goodness.

She is, she totally is. :) <3

Yep. Totes! <3

[netgirl_y2k]

Yeah, I'm still stuck between thinking that all things being equal putting a pin in my issues with the pacing that was really good writing, and knowing that all things aren't equal, and we shouldn't have to pretend that they are. A bit of a rock and a hard place.

And I'm really liking Root as the voice of the Machine too; although I couldn't take that scene with Harold in the car as seriously as perhaps I was meant to because I knew Amy Acker was lying down in the back reading TM's lines.

But for me, I'm planning to write all the fixit fic. And denial fic. Because with fanfic, I don't ever have to face up to that stuff, yay.

I look forward to it! My first instinct was to write through my feelings with post-series fic, but all I want to read are fixits and what are you talking about, she's fine AUs.

[st_aurafina]

I knew Amy Acker was lying down in the back reading TM's lines.

OMG, cannot unsee!

The pacing issues are really standing out now - you can see there should have been episodes between Root saying the Machine could choose a voice, and her actually doing it. Ditto for the other team - that was so meant to be a slow build. It kind of helps, actually? I think, because I can see behind the curtain a bit.

Ugh, I hate endings! Even though I think they're going all out with this one, it's hard work.

[vass]

But for me, I'm planning to write all the fixit fic. And denial fic. Because with fanfic, I don't ever have to face up to that stuff, yay.

Yes, good, looking forward to reading what you do with that.

TA: While I type this, I am listening to [personal profile] lilacsigil school our software company on not having a no-gender option in our dispensing software. ("No, it's Federal law. You have to have it.") She is the awesome.

THANK YOU lilacsigil, THANK YOU. It feels so good to know someone's fighting that fight.

[st_aurafina]

THANK YOU. It feels so good to know someone's fighting that fight.

She followed up by posting a formal support request through our web portal. Shots fired, man. (She said they were open to the idea, they just hadn't really thought about it before. Which, ugh, you know. That thing.)

[kindkit]

I wish there was more room in fandom to say, "Narratively, this makes sense and it works for the character, but on a meta level, it participates in and contributes to a huge problem of representation." You can have a well-written, meaningful character death that is still Kill Your Gays or some other awful trope as well. But what I keep seeing is fannish polarization, with people either absolutely defending the creators' choice and saying it makes no difference that the character was queer/a woman/a person of color (suuuuuuuure it doesn't) or else shouting "THE SHOWRUNNERS HATE LESBIANS/GAYS/WOMEN/PEOPLE OF COLOR AND ANYONE WHO DISAGREES IS A BAD PERSON" at the top of their voices.

Sometimes the outrage is fully justified--everything I hear about The 100 and the lesbian being killed by a stray bullet as soon as she starts a relationship makes me furious--but sometimes things are mixed. And I think it would be helpful to be able to have a conversation about good narratives that are bad representation, and what we can do, and how we can critize them effectively.

(ETA: I haven't seen season 5 of POI or The 100, so I'm judging based on people's descriptions of what happened.)

[st_aurafina]

"Narratively, this makes sense and it works for the character, but on a meta level, it participates in and contributes to a huge problem of representation."

Basically, that's what I'm feeling. It fits with the plot, but the place where it fits is really tender, if you know what I mean. And the compressed story telling doesn't help - if I'd had a full season to see Root and Shaw having time to heal and build a relationship, it might feel different, but it all came in one episode.

I still love the show, and I still love the universe of the show, and I still want to write fic for it and rewatch it. I don't know. I just want to say "Maybe don't kill the gay characters?" Like, would it be a bad thing to just make sure the gay characters are safe, just for a while, just until it's not a trope anymore? IDK - that sounds stupid but at the same time, it would be such a relief.

[kindkit]

it all came in one episode

Yeah, that's a classic Kill Your Gays move, and unworthy of POI.

I'm reminded of how I felt about Carter's death (which, if it makes any difference, I was spoiled for and didn't actually see until much later than the rest of the fandom). Dying in the pursuit of justice was an absolutely appropriate end for her character, but the way it was handled in the narrative wasn't right (I hated how her last episode romanticized her friendship with John and became all about John's pain, although subsequent episodes shifted her death back to being about her, which I appreciated). And on a meta level, it's really suspect to kill the only character of color, and the only woman character with (at that time) a central role, all in one fell swoop. I found myself disagreeing with both the folks who hated the show for killing her and swore they'd never watch again, and the folks who said it was fine because it was a good arc for her.

I just want to say "Maybe don't kill the gay characters?"

So much yes. It doesn't sound stupid at all. It's such a problem, such a known problem, and showrunners need to stop jumping into this pit just because they think they're found a new, unique, character-respectful way to land in the mud. Even queer showrunners do it: witness (or better yet, don't) the disaster that was London Spy.