I watched POI since day one, I was even waiting for it since the very first announcement. It's my favorite TV show, it'll always have a special place in my heart.
But, the last two seasons weren't as expected, the quality of the show has downgraded in every aspect, there are still some solid episodes here and there, but, overall the level is lower than the first 3 seasons, I prefer the final season of course compared to the fourth.
Here's my rating to the seasons :
Season 1 : 10/10
Season 2 : 10/10
Season 3 : 10/10
Season 4 : 6/10
Season 5 : 7.5/10
Dude, I'm almost totally on the same page. I feel like the show started off with a huge roar, season 1 being really something special. I've seen the pilot for that show about 20 times, and I believe it's one of the best pilots in TV history - I was hooked from Day 1.
Season 1 definitely a 10/10
Season 2. I felt like there were a couple of "filler" episodes but overall the show was very entertaining. 8/10
Season 3. Okay, the show totally peaked with "The Devil's Share" my favorite episode of the entire series. The whole story arc which dealt with Carter's one-woman crusade against HR, climaxing with her death, and then John's revenge and then the fallout afterwards (including the 2 part episode about Finch's old school buddy, and the creation of Samaritan)....sheer brilliance.
Not only did Carter get a great death, but the characters really showed their grief and rage - particularly John. This was a turning point, as for the first time Root took up arms with the good guys. And Fusco really got to shine, first with his psyc-eval story, then the escape from HR's clutches ( the look on his face when he strangled Detective *******, was beyond intense) and then the final smackdown with Simmons .....capped off by an appearance by Elias.
IMO, that has to be the ultimate POI episode, everyone gets a moment of brilliance. Well, that's my opinion.
After that Season 3 still continued to be strong -with the rise of Samaritan, and a fantastic cliff-hanger finale. I give it an 10/10.
Ah, then came season 4...... I feel like the show lost its way, and just dragged things out unnecessarily.
Maybe Jonah Nolan was too busy with Westworld, but I feel like the whole Samaritan thing should have been wrapped up by the end of the season - I mean, season 5 showed how quickly the matter could have been resolved.
IMO Season 4 should have reunited the team by episode 6 and had Samaritan destroyed and Greer dead by the final episode.
There were a couple of great episodes, "Pretenders" being my favorite, but the overall direction of the show was lost. I totally agree with the 6/10.
Season 5 : Well, it had a lot of great moments - but to be honest I took issue with a couple of character deaths.
i) Elias, he was both nemesis and ally, but gets the same sort of death as
a nameless henchman, shot in the head by an unknown assailant - with no pithy final words. Elias deserved better, maybe they were trying to shock us, with how sudden character deaths could be - but I feel like he deserved more.
I mean, he gets shot, they nurse him back to health, sort of joins the team....and then gets shot again.
ii) Root, another nemesis turned ally. I mean, she dies off-screen, WTF. A character with her enormous presence deserved an on-screen death at least.
iii) John: To be honest, I felt cheated by John's death. I completely understand that John's sacrifice was about him redeeming himself for all the lives he had taken - but I felt that it was almost out of place, that Fusco, Shaw and Finch all live, but John dies. I was hoping for a last minute dive off the roof onto a fire stairwell or a miraculous escape of some kind.
I mean, they go through all the effort to develop John's character and then just have him die ? To me it lessened my enjoyment of the finale.
If anyone should have sacrificed themselves, I would have thought it would have been Shaw, who doesn't really have feelings.
I'm very glad Fusco lived, because to me he represents the ordinary man (on a team of government super-assassins, computer hackers and billionaire-geniuses).
Anyway, as a whole, I loved POI. It was a great show and I often re-watch my favorite episodes.
