There's a theory I like--in season 3 after escaping from Control, Root calls Finch and tells him she's touched that Shaw came to look for her, but we didn't see that happen.

Yes! That line was SO confusing! But it totally falls in line with this S03-depiction of Shaw always talking about hunting her down Root but ultimately saving her ass instead.

If a man and a woman look at each other once, you'll find tons of folks who will immediately pronounce them in love.

Well, the lesson is: Not every act of intimacy is an act of romance. But there are way too many people out there who will immediately read it as a romantic move.

And you can do that for the sake of fanfiction, I guess.

Most f/f couples find themselves stuck in a love triangle with a dude at some point, because apparently writers can't imagine writing female characters who don't need a man in their life. Many lesbian movies are about a woman coming out and leaving her husband, who is often portrayed as an asshole

Romance-wise that is boring storytelling regardless of the gender. I mean, even the heterosexual version would be tiresome: "Oh, this girl had a bad husband - but now she has met the man of her dreams. Hooray! Except... her ex is a REAL asshole about it!". For the homosexual version, they just add stupid stuff like "Hey, I never knew I was into girls until I met you!" and "How dare you being homosexual?!". What's frustrating is when homosexual stories seem to force themselves to add a homophobic character (cause that makes it "more real", I guess...) or when being homosexual seems to be more important than being into a certain person (it's all about why she's in love with a woman - and not about why she's in love with this specific woman).

But here, Root and Shaw are just into each other and the series provides a character-driven reason for why they are. It isn't until later in the series that this relationship actually gets dramatized.

Now that I think about it (and after reading a rude fic), would Shaw still manage to somehow escape or would they have 'converted' her with the chips and stuff? Cause they dropped it and didn't mention it in the last season as far as I know. Which made me wonder if there was going to be a Samaritan!Shaw if the show wasn't cancelled? Say, they didn't get cancelled and the whole story wrapped up in season 7/8? How much of that would be Shaw working as a Samaritan agent because she was brainwashed. Cause all of the last part of season 4, that's what they hinted at.

Which made me wonder if there was going to be a Samaritan!Shaw if the show wasn't cancelled?

Well, that one episode which was all about simulation Shaw had to endure... I imagined this was kinda the cliff-notes-version of what the writers had originally had wanted to do. Shaw gets out, blacks out occasionally and during those "black-outs" she's essentially a Samaritan-agent. Also, there would've been a secret effort by Samaritan to convert Shaw to their cause.

My personal idea for an episode would be: Maybe she has a black-out-episode - and wakes up being congratulated by Team Machine that she has saved the day for a particularly difficult mission. But actually she had been controlled by Samaritan during that time. And the entire episode is about her figuring out what she had done while she was controlled by Samaritan and maybe realizing that Samaritan had ulterior motives.

And continuing from that, what if Shaw is starting to influence Samaritan in the same way Root influenced the Machine? What if at some point Shaw is manipulating Samaritan instead of the other way around? Instead of destroying Samaritan, the objective becomes rescuing Samaritan from the clutches of Greer. I mean, the series decided to turn the Machine into a good guy, so why not give Samaritan a redemption-arc where it learns from Shaw how to be a "good guy" (and Shaw being the tutor is a good basis for a lot of humour, I would say :) ). And Greer turns out to be just another person who wants to tell an AI what to do (even if his motivation is different from the government).

Well, that one episode which was all about simulation Shaw had to endure... I imagined this was kinda the cliff-notes-version of what the writers had originally had wanted to do. Shaw gets out, blacks out occasionally and during those "black-outs" she's essentially a Samaritan-agent. Also, there would've been a secret effort by Samaritan to convert Shaw to their cause.

If that was so, I imagine it would've been a short series either way xD Cause she would kill her teammates quickly.

My personal idea for an episode would be: Maybe she has a black-out-episode - and wakes up being congratulated by Team Machine that she has saved the day for a particularly difficult mission. But actually she had been controlled by Samaritan during that time. And the entire episode is about her figuring out what she had done while she was controlled by Samaritan and maybe realizing that Samaritan had ulterior motives.

And continuing from that, what if Shaw is starting to influence Samaritan in the same way Root influenced the Machine? What if at some point Shaw is manipulating Samaritan instead of the other way around? Instead of destroying Samaritan, the objective becomes rescuing Samaritan from the clutches of Greer. I mean, the series decided to turn the Machine into a good guy, so why not give Samaritan a redemption-arc where it learns from Shaw how to be a "good guy" (and Shaw being the tutor is a good basis for a lot of humour, I would say :) ). And Greer turns out to be just another person who wants to tell an AI what to do (even if his motivation is different from the government).

While that could be good, it's too much of a stretch to consider. It becomes too convenient and there was absolutely no indication of Samaritan being 'good'. Though to be fair, I have a dislike for redemption arcs when they're for someone who is clearly evil and the writers have to make them good because the good guys can't win. That's just lazy.

Would make for a good crack fic though. Samaritan absorbing Shaw's personality more or less and then The Machine and Samaritan flirting in the background while Root flirts with Shaw. Essentially two sets of the same couple xD

Cause she would kill her teammates quickly.

Well, everyone except Root, of course ;) .

Cause she would kill her teammates quickly.

Well, everyone except Root, of course ;) .

True, if it went like in the simulations, Root would be all alone and she alone wouldn't be able to take down Samaritan.

All in all I guess it would be kind of a Winter Soldier!Shaw if the series wasn't cut I guess.

Those are some interesting news/rumors: http://www.movienewsguide.com/person-interest-season-6-renewal-cancellation-update-jonathan-nolan-hints-different-storylines-season-5-finale/270230

This is also an interesting read: http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1526300/did-person-of-interests-series-finale-hint-at-a-spinoff-heres-what-the-creator-says

So, according to Jonathan Nolan Shaw and Root do continue their relationship in this new form.

They've mentioned how the ending was closed off enough that the story is complete, but that they left it open enough that there's every chance for a sequel/spin-off. And they've said that way before the finale, so it's not that surprising to see rumors about that.

I kind of want for Shaw not to be a main character, a cameo here and there with 'Root'. That's just because I'm a paranoid idiot and I'm afraid they'll pair her off with someone else. The ending with the phone, I'm glad that she smiled because she heard Root's voice. It was always my headcanon that Root said 'Hey sweetie' and Shaw smiled and was happy. Guess it's more or less like that, so I'm pretty happy xD I also don't want them to bring in Finch. His story is over and they should leave it will off alone, but again, the cameo here and there is fine.

I would absolutely love a new season/spin-off though. I love the world of PoI so.

last edited at Sep 13, 2016 3:38AM