When They're Playing (Person of Interest S1E20 Matsya Nyaya)

For those of you without a handy language dork around, Matsya Nyaya translates roughly to "the syllogism of the fish." Semantically, it's law of the jungle, there's always a bigger fish, etc. Sometimes that bigger fish is Team Machine! Sometimes that bigger fish is what chewed on Team Machine before they became the almost-family we know and love today. Sometimes the bigger fish is Elias, lurking in the background of his prison cell until he leaps out to fuck with the game board some more. Just in case you thought we'd forgotten. We hadn't. Speaking of things we hadn't forgotten, YOU FUCKERS YOU CHANGED THE OPENING CREDITS. It's a whole two frames, starting after "hunted by the authorities," with the CIA mook getting the drop on Reese back in the midseason finale, and Reese getting the drop on Fusco back in the pilot. Guns pointed at everyone! Because this is the episode where the number isn't so important except for what it tells us about how we got here, and where it's all going to lead. Well, one of the episodes. This episode also gives us both Team Machine as the bigger fish chewing on petty criminals (though this win is awfully Pyrrhic) and the bigger fishes that chewed on Reese and, to an extent, Finch, thus bringing them to their current positions. Starting with a glimpse of the weekly number in the form of some kind of guard, armored truck, Reese is doing a serious inside job on this one because he can pass as one of them.

That is not, however, the primary focus of this episode. The case is a backdrop for the flashbacks we're going to get, the story of Reese and Stanton's betrayal of each other, by the government, so on and so forth. Tale as old as time. As it were. The Machine is accessing the NSA/CIA/whatthefuckever's clandestine ops archive, the mission is Operation Red Fort, of course its objective is still classified, and wow that's a terrible mug shot of John and an only slightly better one of Kara. Located redacted! Reconstructing... CIA black site in Tetouan, Morocco! Aww, best Machine is best. The focus of this scene so far is not the interrogation that Kara's conducting and Reese is watching on the cameras, though they've got someone in a standard crappy interrogation cell tied to a chair and want to know where some guy is. Yes, yes, they can do this all night. Although "nonverbal communication" is a less-used term for "I'm going to torture you until you talk." Bored now, though. Reese is bored, too; partly because he knows how this goes but partly because he has another phone to check! Swapping SIM cards in... I think that's a Blackberry? Or similar. I have to go giggle over CIA black ops agents using Blackberries now. Anyway. A voicemail! On the number which, presumably, is the sekrit number he only gave to Jessica, yes? Because we have seen exactly zero other ties to his life outside of work at this stage of the game. Though given the way Reese perks right up when he hears her voice, maybe he's given the number out to other people? Or he just never quite believed Jessica would call until he heard her voice, and the way she's quietly freaking out on his voicemail has all his spysassin skills on alert. Also, nobody says "I need to talk" like that for anything good.

We'll Have A Good Time Then (Person of Interest S1E19 Flesh and Blood)

And now we're into the home stretch of season one, where it's all relevant from here on out. This week it looks like we have a council of worthies, all of whom have been tagged with a box. Since Reese's box is white, though, we can't assume their boxes are those of civilians or irrelevants or, well, anything. And we start out at the opening with a voice over from Elias. Because that's always fun and light! Hey, I have this bridge for sale... Elias starts out, even, tacitly admitting that he is ten shades of fucked up by way of wondering aloud what he'd be like if she hadn't died. There being only one significant dead she in his life, we can guess without the oncoming clarification that he means his mother. He hears people change when they lose a parent, especially when that parent is murdered. Following along the mother-son theme, we have Carter and her son outside his school. It's a good chance to see some of her parenting skills, both the ones where she nudges her son into saying what's wrong and the ones where she's overprotective Mom trying to fix everything for her kid even though she can't. Taylor knows this. Carter's having a hard time accepting, but does reasonably well in backing off and just confirming their dinner plans before Taylor heads to class. Not to give her too much time to dwell on her boy's problems, we're launching straight into it with a call to Carter from SID. Who is also Elle Greenaway from Criminal Minds, so there went my brain short circuiting for a second. Anyway, LaBlanca from SID says that Elias has trained a few million from certain accounts they'd been watching on account of, well, Elias being a known criminal mastermind and they were his bank accounts. Why did he drain them only now? Who the hell knows! Carter's coming right in so they can discuss this and figure out where the hell this is going.

Tiny Variations in Complex Systems Haven S1E02 Butterfly

Previously, on Haven. We get the crack in the ground, the dialogue as Audrey and Nathan point guns at each other (which we see repeated at the close of the first season with Audrey, Nathan, and Audrey II), Audrey interrupting Nathan to introduce herself to the Chief which is largely significant only because it allows Audrey to name herself for one of the residents of Haven who know her by other names, Audrey getting smacked around by a secondary effect of the Troubles, Duke, Nathan's inability to feel, Vince and Dave (you bastards), and the mysterious woman who looks like Audrey, followed by the barnvatar making bad inside jokes. Fuck everyone. Because, essentially, all of these previouslies are not just establishing things that are going to be important later in the overall of things, many of them are going to be important later because they hint at the underlying mythology, fragments of scenes that become more and more significant the more we learn. Because Haven is a fucker like that, the more we see of this show, the more we're able to peel back the layers, and the more we're able to see what was there in the first place. Which is exactly why we love it. And swear at it so much.

Who Are You Person of Interest S1E18 Identity Crisis

After last week's clusterfuck, our first glimpse of the case of the week is of an attractive blond woman who might be window-shopping and might be using the windows to check and see if she's being followed. Which she is! By Finch. Just in case we weren't aware that without Carter in the picture, Team Machine will have to go all hands in the field sometimes, we'll have that rubbed in at the outset.

The Machine takes us over city streets and to the library, where Reese is bringing coffee, tea, and... donuts? Oh Reese. This is new enough for Finch to comment on it. In French, and what he pronounces I would transcribe croquiant but I'm pretty sure he means croquant. Which is pastry, yes, and I'd be more surprised if Reese didn't know it or at least know enough of a smattering of French to get by; it's a handy language to have in a fair few Arabic-speaking countries as well, and I have to assume he was sent there at some point for Company work. So, possibly digging on Finch's side, definitely deflection on Reese's, oh boys. You're dorks. And increasingly comfortable in each other's space, I will note. Down to business! They've got a number, they've got a name, but what they don't have is... much of anything else. Frankly, it's about time they pulled one of these; as Finch says, not everyone has a DL or even a state ID card. With damn fine attention to detail both from the writers and from Finch we get the place of birth off the first 3 of the Social (because you can, yes, do that) but I have to say, place of birth doesn't have to be place where the unsub (for so we're dealing with this episode) was raised. Nor, as Reese suggests, would it require an accent even if the unsub was raised there, either due to deliberately leaving it behind or parents who had a different accent. But it would be a bare minimum starting place! Whoever Jordan Hester is, he or she is living off the grid entirely, no social media footprint, well that just blows. And Finch will now let drop that he invented or at least propagated the spread of social networking. Really, you guys? I can't decide if this is Finch building up his reputation with Reese or if this is the writers making Finch the golden hacker who's done everything. And I say this being most of the way caught up on s2 shenanigans. I will say that it's well-timed and perfectly reasonable for Finch to have nudged social networking along, and yes, of course it makes the CIA's job easier. Also any number of more benevolent entities', both groups and individuals. Finch's spiel doesn't actually indicate that he invented any of the big social networking sites (though he might have, or might own one or more of them through shell companies) so much as that he planted the seeds. And that I'm a little more willing to believe. Only a little, because there's a degree of social engineering involved with that that Finch doesn't usually demonstrate; then again, this is social engineering by means of technical engineering, and that is something we know he's good at. It's the face-to-face shit he's bad at.

Episode Index: Grimm

In light of Grimm having two full seasons, and in light of the fact that our recaps are somewhat scattershot and Renard-focused particularly for the first season, and further in light of the fact that Grimm has a season 3 and we'd like to be able to find things ever again and assume you would too, I figure it makes sense to have all of the recaplyses in one place so y'all can find them. This post will be linked from the Grimm show page and updated whenever we do a new episode. Given the new season and our backlog, assume that we will not be getting around to doing full recaplyses on s1 anytime soon, if ever. Yeah, I know, we're kind of sad about that too. If you have a TARDIS you're willing to let us borrow...

Listed in chronological order of our writing at the time.

O Captain My Captain - S1E01 Pilot  - Renard-centered analysis only.
Master of my Fate, Captain of My Soul - S1E02 Bears Will Be Bears - Renard-centered analysis only.
Analysis S1E03 BeeWare - Renard-centered analysis only.
Stuck In The Middle With You S1E04 Lonelyhearts - Renard-centered analysis only.
Captain Renard and his Merrie Men S1E08 Game Ogre - Renard-centered analysis only.
Not In My Town S1E12 Last Grimm Standing - Renard-centered analysis only.
Captain McLurkypants and the Organ Leggers S1E10 Organ Grinder - Renard-centered analysis only.
Family Matters S2E01 Bad Teeth - Renard-centered analysis only.
JCIRGITC S2E02 The Kiss - Renard-centered analysis only. Also the post that led us to believe we should do a proper blog instead of Kitty just putting them up on Tumblr!
Bounded in a Nutshell S2E03 Bad Moon Rising - Mostly Renard-centered analysis, and the ep that generated "Hank is the best" and made us decide to eventually do full episode recaplyses.
Were It Not That I Have Bad Dreams S2E04 Quill - Renard-centered analysis only. It took us awhile to get there!
Ten for Mortal Men S1E13 Three Coins in a Fuchsbau - Renard-centered analysis only. Playing catch-up, here.
Love Potion No. 9 S1E15, 16 Island of Dreams, The Thing With Feathers - Renard-centered analysis only. Again with the catch-up, conflating a couple of eps with the potion plotline that don't have many scenes with him.
50 Schades of Grimm S1E17 Love Sick - Renard-centered analysis mostly, with the Schades thrown in by association.
War Games S1E18 Cat and Mouse - Renard and metaplot-centered analysis, because Edgar Waltz is a creepy fuck.
Are You My Mummy? S1E22 Woman in Black - Full episode, due to massive metaplot.
Dessine-moi un mouton? S2E05 The Good Shepherd - Full episode, because we finally got around to it after the post-Olympics hiatus.
Trust Issues S2E06 Over My Dead Body - Full episode.
Captain's Log, Supplemental, Part 1 - Finishing the s1 catch-up, this contains only the Renard scenes from the following episodes: S1E05 Danse Macabre, S1E06 Three Bad Wolves, S1E07 Let Your Hair Down, S1E09 Of Mouse and Man, S1E11 Tarentella
Captain's Log, Supplemental, Part 2 - The last of the s1 catch-up. Again, Renard-centered scenes from: S1E14 Plumed Serpent, S1E19 Leave It To Beavers, S1E20 Happily Ever Aftermath, and S1E21 Big Feet
Sending Out An SOS S2E07 The Bottle Imp - Full episode.
Les Liaison Dangereuses S2E08 The Other Side - Full episode.
Flores Para Los Muertos S2E09 La Llorona - Full episode.
Chekhov's Intern is Fired S2E10 The Hour of Death - Full episode.
And A Nice Chianti S2E11 To Protect and Serve Man - Full episode.
Come To Mess Me Up S2E12 Season of the Hexenbiest - Full episode.
A Democratic Drawbridge S2E13 Face Off - Full episode.
There Is A Hole In Your Mind S2E14 Natural Born Wesen - Full episode.
Because It's Dull You Twit S2E15 Mr. Sandman - Full episode.
Where They Know Your Name S2E16 Nameless - Full episode.
Twelve Meddling Kids S2E17 One Angry Fuchsbau - Full episode.
The Devil's Only Friend S2E18 Volcanalis - Full episode.
Blue Man Group S2E19 Endangered - Full episode.
Your Spirit and My Voice S2E20 Kiss of the Muse - Full episode.
Lord Knows I'm A Voodoo Child S2E21 The Waking Dead - Full episode.
Bring Out Your Dead S2E22 Goodnight, Sweet Grimm - Full episode.
Grimm on a Plane S3E01 The Ungrateful Dead - Full episode.
Paragon in Parallax S3E02 PTZD - Full episode.
Dig Two Graves S3E03 A Dish Best Served Cold - Full episode.
Burdened With Glorious Porpoise S3E04 One Night Stand - Full episode.
Y Justicia Para Todos S3E05 El Cucuy - Full episode.
Triumph Over It S3E06 Stories We Tell Our Young - Full episode.
When Life Gives You Gators, Make Gatorade S3E07 Cold Blooded - Full episode.
Page And Monarch Forth They Went S3E08 Twelve Days of Krampus - Full episode.
Доверяй, но провеяй S3E09 Red Menace - Full episode.
Dirty Little Secrets Dirty Little Lies S3E10 - No analysis, but explaining how to fix this phoned-in mess of writing? Yes.
Another Such Victory S3E11 The Good Soldier - Full episode.
All Happy Families Are Alike S3E12 The Wild Hunt - Full episode.
What Rough Biest S3E13 Revelation - Full episode.
A Boy's Best Friend S3E14 Mommy Dearest - Full episode.
Are You My Mummy? S3E15 Once We Were Gods - Full episode.
Celebrate Relentlessness S3E16 The Show Must Go On - Full episode.
My Kingdom For A Therapist S3E17 Synchronicity - Full episode.
What Child Is This S3E18 The Law Of Sacrifice - Full episode.
The Trouble With Troubled S3E19 Nobody Knows The Trubel I've Seen - Full episode.

My Love Is Vengeance (Person of Interest S1E17 Baby Blue)

Today on Person of Interest we have... Reese running around a truck holding a baby? Oh this shit's going to get real interesting. It's clips like this that make me really appreciate the opening credits teaser, because then we get to spend the next however many minutes (usually, I think, 30 to 45) boggling and going "what the shit is this?" and trying to work out how whatever strange image we saw works into the episode. Assuming we're not too busy boggling at the episode itself. Anyway, it starts the surprises early. And Reese is cute with a baby, even if he looks rather scared.

And So It Begins Haven S1E01 Welcome to Haven

Indeed, welcome back! We promised a long time ago that we'd get around to doing recaplyses for the first two seasons, and we intend to fulfill half of that promise over the summer. Doing this is going to be a fascinating exercise in balancing what we know now with what we knew way back when these eps first aired, so you'll have to bear with us as we find our way to something short enough to get posted but long enough to be complete.

Without further ado, then, we begin! Our intro is the end credits music over a panorama shot of Boston, down to street level and into Audrey's bedroom. The bed linens and their woodsy print give us some indication that she's not sticking around the city long and/or she prefers the outdoors to the city but doesn't get much of a chance to indulge. Then again, given that this was all crafted by Agent Fuck You, that might be an implanted desire. Books books everywhere, that's frankly more books than I usually keep by my bed unless I'm hip-deep in research. And even then I try to keep it somewhat less precarious. So AudSarLu, on waking up for the first time in 27 years, has sheets with a forest pattern, a metric fuckton of books, damn near no furniture or paintings hung, and a clock radio that plays Love Will Keep Us Together. Uh. Huh. Well fucking played, writers. Howard. All of you. Also nicely pragmatic pjs, for which I am duly grateful. Our first introduction to Audrey herself is some bitching about how early it is (which, given the slant of the sun, suggests it's a) summer-ish and b) before 7 at least) and some good-natured ribbing about the vacation time she doesn't get. I don't think it counts as vacation time if you don't remember it, and fuck you, Howard, you staged this apartment and gave her her memories to make her into a workaholic. Which I bet is another of those qualities selected for when they go to find a new host personality. Anyway. Oh, speaking of staged, the two books we do get a closeup of, one is titled "Unstake my Heart" which is nicely pointed given how hearts and their wishes fit into the structure of this world, and the other one has a back blurb that begins with, in all capital letters, "To the Tenth Generation." You fuckers. I'm just saying, you sneaky fuckers. I refuse to believe that was an accidental close-up. Again, anyway. She's also snarky without being completely insubordinate, disciplined without being military. It's a nice mix of traits, even if it is largely an implant.