Person of Interest S1-5

Work Title: Person of Interest S1-5
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title:
Year: 2011
Writer(s): Nolan Jonathan
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No
Summary:

John Reese, a former Green Beret/Delta Force operator and CIA operative, is burnt out and living as a vagrant in New York City after the death of the woman he loved; he is presumed dead. He is approached by Harold Finch, a reclusive billionaire software genius who is living under an assumed identity. Finch explains that, after September 11, 2001, he built a computer system for the government that uses information gleaned from omnipresent surveillance to predict future terrorist attacks. However, Finch discovered that the computer was predicting ordinary crimes as well. The government is not interested in these results, but Finch is determined to stop the predicted crimes. He hires Reese to conduct surveillance and intervene as needed, using the repertoire of skills he gained in the military and the CIA. Through a back door built into the system, Finch receives the Social Security number of someone who will be involved in an imminent crime, at which point he contacts Reese. Without knowing what the crime will be, when it will occur, or even if the person they were alerted to is a victim or perpetrator, Reese and Finch must try to stop the crime from occurring.

They are helped by NYPD Detectives Lionel Fusco, a corrupt officer whom Reese coerces into helping them, and Joss Carter, who in early episodes investigates Reese for his vigilante activities. Although Reese arranges for Carter and Fusco to be partners in the NYPD early in the series, for the entirety of season one neither is aware that the other is also working with Finch and Reese. Periodically, the team enlists the aid of Zoe Morgan, a professional "fixer" who applies her skills to particularly difficult tasks. The series features several subplots. One significant story arc involves "HR", an organization of corrupt NYPD officers who are initially in league with budding mob boss Carl Elias and later with the Russian mafia; in earlier parts of this arc, Fusco is forced to go undercover. Another important story line revolves around Root, a psychopathic hacker who is determined to gain access to The Machine. During season two, another organization of powerful business figures, Decima Technologies, is revealed to be attempting to gain access to the Machine. Carter vows vengeance against HR after they have her boyfriend, Detective Cal Beecher, murdered. Reese and Finch encounter Sameen Shaw, an ISA assassin, on the run after being betrayed by her employers. Shaw learns about The Machine in the season two finale and subsequently becomes a member of Reese and Finch's team. In Season three, Carter delves deeper into her investigation of HR, eventually uncovering its leader; but she is killed. In his grief, Reese briefly leaves the team. The team also battles Vigilance, a violent anti-government organization devoted to securing people's privacy. During the second half of season 3, Decima Technologies starts to acquire hardware to bring to life a new artificial intelligence called Samaritan, using the codes from Harold's old college classmate, Arthur Claypool. In the season 3 finale, it is revealed that Vigilance was created by Decima to make them appear as domestic terrorists. This allowed Decima to obtain all the NSA feeds to make Samaritan operational. The Machine creates new identities for the Team so that they can fly beneath Samaritan's radar.

Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Government running a secret system to detect terrorists' attack by through massive surveillance

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: The maschine
  • Description of the technology: Self learning A.I. that can sees and interprets massive surveillance to predict near future. Due to a developer's concern the machine only can send message through specific codes. The technology need massive amounts of servers, but later it evolved to a grid network system. The A.I can handle massive data in a second, but it can not have all the data that human society has. The machine devices ways to survive and keep trying to follow developers' will.
  • Nature of task or activity: Speaking to a CCTV and picking up paid phones
  • Performance of the Technology: The machine does it's work done well, but the government and users tend to use the machine for their own purposes.
  • Description of creator(s): The creator is an middle age man who excels in computer science. His personality is scrutiny, and does not believe humans except a few he trusts.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): To prevent terrorism and criminal acts
  • Description of users of technology: The official user of the machine is a corrupted government agents, and unofficial users are resistances who try to save lives.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: both
  • Description of presence experience: The machine and uses have emotional relationships and users can feel that The machine exists everywhere where users are.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: yes
  • Valence of experience: Fear of the possibilities of the technology and then building familyships
  • Specific responses: At the last episode of the season 5, the machine said: Father, I'm sorry I failed on the computer screen. Both the machine ans users try to save each other.
Long-term consequences:

Users keep trying to prevent criminal acts but it never ends

Other:

Coder name: Hocheol Yang
Coder email: Visions@Live.com
Coder affiliation: Temple University