Person of Interest question

[anelith]

 It's easy to wander into a new fandom these days, thanks to AO3... so the other day I found myself reading some wonderful Person of Interest fic, and since the show is available on Netflix I thought I would give it a go.  I managed to get halfway through the pilot episode and was so frustrated by what appears to be an enormous plot hole I stopped there.

So if there's anyone out there who can answer this I'd appreciate it.  The pilot shows that Harold and John are given Person X to watch -- they don't know whether Person X is a victim or a perpetrator, they don't know any reason why this person is a nexus.  But I know from the fic that a computer called the Machine is the supplier of Person X's identity.  The Machine must have an algorithm for deciding that Person X is a problem -- why can't Harold access the relevant data/evidence?  He's the programmer, right?

Is this another case where TV screenwriters demonstrate they don't actually understand what a computer is?  Or should I just be patient and tamp down on my frustration? 

Comments

[asakiyume]

The show gets more and more interesting as time goes on--and is also dangerous to plunge into in the middle. (I saw one episode at my dad's house, a late-season episode, and was horrified by what seemed like the amorality of the characters it seemed we were supposed to be cheering for, and decided it was a show I **didn't** want to watch--but then some of my friends started writing interesting things about it, so I went back to the beginning and tried again.) At first it fits the description of show-with-a-gimmick (computer spits out these person X things). And then--this offers you a contrasting opinion to breathedout--you get the gradual development of an overall plot, which if you like it (which I did) is really excellent. (One thing breathedout and I agree on is the awesomeness of Root and Shaw. One thing *I* didn't like was the gangster storyline, which never dies.)

Watching the Machine develop as a character is slow, but fascinating, and backstory on Finch, which comes in dribs and drabs, is great too.

And hi! I jumped over here, a complete stranger to you, because I saw your comment on osprey_archer's entry, and loved your icon from A Little Princess. I was going to leave you a comment there, but curiosity made me come here instead. So anyway: I love your icon!

[anelith]

Hi! Nice to meet you! My icon is from my old LJ account -- I used it for years there so thought I would keep it for continuity's sake. I have to admit that I saw the image and fell in love without knowing where it was from, although I did read the book many years ago.

Thanks to the previous comments I've been watching POI and I'm about halfway through season 1. I agree that it's become more interesting. I'm reluctantly going along with the idea that Howard deliberately obscured the details about the person assigned to him by the Machine, although it's still a pretty absurd setup. I like the slow reveal of the characters' backstories. Like you, I'm not much interested in gangster melodrama, and I have to admit that my attention wanders during some of those scenes. I generally tend to watch TV when I'm doing something else like exercising or even housework, so for me this show is just providing the necessary scaffolding for reading fic. :-)