Crazy, right? A show that focuses on a Machine, kicks butt in the season premiere because it focused on the human element and less on the Machine.

I wasn’t certain if Person of Interest would re-capture last year’s magic. I loved Reese and Carter’s intimacy, Finch and Reese’s bromance, as well as the Fusco and Reese’s Abbott and Costello friendship. Unfortunately, the awesome season finale stepped away from the human warmth that drew me by overtly focusing on the Machine’s concept and less on the characters, replicating mechanical coldness.

When the show returned Thursday night, I practically orgasmed it was so good. Everything I liked STAYED while everything I didn’t LEFT the building! It was amazing. The show humanized itself by focusing on friendship and Reese’s search for Finch. What helped humanize the premiere included the return of the Carter and Reese friendship (YES!), Reese admitting his need for friends, Amy Acker’s amazing evil and the show revising its procedural formula.

Reese and Carter

First up, Reese and Carter are back together as friends! FINALLY, the writers let them re-interact. John in Carter’s apartment utterly humanized our man of action. When you put Reese and Carter together can Reese stop himself from smoldering or opening up emotionally? Of course not. Every time he appeared I swooned. It felt like every single fan fic I ever wrote, imagined writing or read. I never thought Reese would go to Carter’s apartment because of his fear of baddies tracing him or tracking her. But, I love it, Love it, LOVE it! I especially enjoyed watching Reese show Carter his vulnerability over Finch and the shot that framed her face within his. Talk about intimate! But, I felt a little sad that Reese didn’t show similar emotions to Fusco.

Henson looks badass with her tear gas grenade launcher and I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley.

Let’s be honest, Carter’s the girl of the show. She’s the one who gets Reese to cry, show his vulnerability and slow the eff down. But, because Carter’s so tough and capable, I don’t see her as the girl. Taraji Henson doesn’t play her as the standard girl. She looks grizzled, acts like she’s been around the block a few times and seems like she’s seen the world’s horrors. I’m so glad they cast Henson in the role. I’m tired of rolling my eyes at female actresses in their 20s who can barely hold a gun. Henson looks badass with her tear gas grenade launcher and I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley. Reese and Carter might never get together, but the way the writers pen it is on the right path.

Although I was wrong when I wrote “we’ll probably never see Reese and Carter holed up in a hotel room” on the season finale, I’m looking forward to next week and implications for CaReese. Although Reese doesn’t need Carter on the trip, she makes him interesting. If Reese went alone, I’d get bored watching him talk to himself. Although I missed when she started permanently calling him John, I like how the writers maintain a difference between the two cop-Reese friendships. Speaking of which …

Reese and Fusco

However, if Finch is Reese’s best friend and Fusco is Reese’s second friend (kinda), then what is Carter?

The continuing Reese and Fusco friendship also humanizes our favorite knee-capper. Reese needs someone to take him down a peg which Fusco does repeatedly with the best snap-worthy lines. They’re the modern-day Abbott and Costello. Although Reese blackmailed Fusco and forced him into a relationship with dirty cops, I loved that Fusco still wanted Reese to call him a friend. However, if Finch is Reese’s best friend and Fusco is Reese’s second friend (kinda), then what is Carter?

Reese’s friendship with Fusco and his growing intimacy with Carter shows a different Reese than last year. Kudos to the writers for allowing more growth. Part of it confuses me, but I like it. Last season, Reese went out of his way to avoid making connections with anyone. But, this season, he has a dog, an apartment, a chess partner and willingly calls Finch AND Fusco his friends. It’s the same Reese, but he seems more comfortable with himself and trusting of others. He’s less of a paranoid vampire-esque dude who’s afraid of the light, and more of a badass who easily walks in the light and the dark, and incorporates more humor.

Finch, The Machine and Root

The show further humanizes itself by revising its formula. This week took everyone out of their comfort zones. Seeing Finch in human places interacting with Root warmed him further and I loved watching a Finch-less Reese in the beginning. It reminded us of his intelligence as he used the board to figure out the code.

Amy Acker remains awesome as pure bat-shit crazy, paranoid evil.

Amy Acker remains awesome as pure bat-shit crazy, paranoid evil. But, I sense a covert need to get away from Root as flesh embodied and from the Machine as cold mechanical wires. Root used less geek speak and seems more like the human id unleashed. Let’s be honest, she’s a Joker character who wants to release insanity upon the world.

Last season, the thing that annoyed me most about the show was the overt emphasis on paranoid government conspiracies. I didn’t understand how long the characters could continue as emotionless drones shunning human contact. It wasn’t interesting or fun. Just hella boring, despite the action. Realizing that, Nolan stopped trying to make his characters like the Machine, now he’s making the Machine more like humans.

Luckily, Nolan no longer bases the show on the Machine’s coolness. Now, Nolan shifts the Machine from bits of code and bytes of data into artificial intelligence with complex voice recognition. Although I dislike the idea of the Machine stepping into iPhone’s Siri-land and becoming something less realistic, I also welcome it. Last year, I kept thinking “Why is a machine that relies on probability and statistics considered cool?” That’s what they teach in Computer Science 101. And, um, computers that scrape public records for illicit activity already exist. Now, the Machine is something complicated that doesn’t quite exist. Nolan isn’t trying to sell me on the coolness of fire anymore, he wants to show what happens when fire gets lose.

Final Thoughts

Overall, everything gelled and felt more cohesive in the season two premiere. The character interactions and plot points clicked from point A to point Z. Last year left a lot of hanging plot strings: Root and Finch, Snow and his crew, the death of Reese’s ex-girlfriend, the FBI, the crooked cops, the mob, Zoe and more. But, Nolan did a pretty good job exploring and wrapping up most of those plot points. While he can always re-visit them, it looks like he has new issues to delve into.

I’ll be honest. I wrote about four pages of notes concerning what I loved about this episode, favorite quotes and questions for this season. But, I’m going to stop now. All I can say is Jonah Nolan, good work. I don’t know what will happen this season or how the characters will play out, but Nolan and crew hit a home run with the premiere, I hope they maintain it.

Check out Carla’s SDCC interviews with Henson and Jim Cavaziel.

Photo Credit: CBS