‘Person of Interest’ series finale reaction: Everyone dies alone

For the series finale of “Person of Interest” on CBS, we saw a series of moments. Some of them were in the past, some were in the present, and some were in the imagination of the characters.

No matter where these moments were, they all added up to a culmination, the end of the Machine, and also the end of Samaritan once and for all. We also saw heroes, with John Reese and Harold Finch leading the way. Reese died in order to ensure Samaritan was infected, while Shaw had to drag Fusco to safety after it appeared that he was going to die during the waning hours. This was a huge hour in general for Sarah Shahi’s character, who mourned the loss of those she loved, and then worked to secure her revenge.

So was the saga really over? In the closing minutes there was a new sort of Machine, which we presume in a way would have been the show’s effort to continue in the event that it was renewed. Shaw still was feeling the lingering effects of what happened, and she did pick up the fun. Also, who else cheered when Carrie Preston turned up in the closing minutes? Harold and Grace have their ending … or at least that’s how we will we will interpret it. So much of finales comes down in the end to what you want to believe. For us, maybe there’s a part of us that thinks that the crusade will go on forever for Shaw, Finch, and Fusco, even if it is a milder version of the war they were once in. All the while, they’d never let Reese’s memory fade into the background. They’d hold it close; while everyone may die alone, their memory can be a shared experience through time. Amy Acker’s voice made many of the words all the more poignant.

If you loved this series, we really hope that you enjoyed what we feel personally was a culmination of five excellent seasons on the air. This was perfectly in line with what may have been the message here all along.