The fourth season of our
favourite show wrapped up about a month ago. Ergo, this review is a bit
belated. On the whole, Season 4 was a disappointment. It was supposed to be The
Machine vs Samiritan. Instead, what we got was The Machine playing a defensive
game mostly by hiding. Also, there were way too many filler episodes. It seems
the writers and producers had a good idea but just didn’t know how to execute
it properly. There were a lot of inconsistencies. So I guess trimming the upcoming fifth season to
just thirteen episodes is a welcome development. If it will be the final season
is unknown at this point. Here’s a quick rundown of the major problems with
Season 4.
(i) Shaw’s character has been built-up and portrayed
as a cold and precise killer. I would call her the grown up version of Hit Girl in KickAss. So I found it odd
that she couldn’t successful shoot Martine at the beauty parlour (despite the superior
firepower that she was packing).
(ii) All of a sudden, Root is now an exponent
of hand to hand combat. Where did that come from? Meanwhile, Martine who has
sometimes been portrayed as a kind of black ops agent couldn’t do better than
to engage in a girly fight with Root. The writers even went further to portray
Root as an expert of sorts with the ease with which she snapped Martine’s neck.
This is all very inconsistent.
(iii) The Machine’s dialog at the end came
across as very awkward and completely out of character. A Machine that had hitherto
refused to (or accepted not to) talk with Harold is now calling him father. I’m
not sure what to make of that but certainly, I was neither impressed nor
amused.
(iv) The episode with Carter was in my
opinion, one of the worst. It served no real purpose. It neither added to nor
moved the plot forward in any way. It seems the writers just wanted to cash in
on Taraji P. Henson’s fame on Empire.
(v) Also, I have to wonder why Samaritan didn’t
fix the blindspots / deadzones in the city’s surveillance.
(vi) Fusco has heard a Machine being mentioned
twice now. It’s becoming unrealistic that he hasn’t asked what it is. – First
in the Season finale of Season 3 during the blackout after he steps out of the
anti-riot vehicle. The second time is in If Then Else episode of Season 4.
I shall miss Elias, excellently
played by Enrico Collantoni. He was one of the very good characters, much akin
to Gus Fring of Breaking Bad. Scarface
Anthony also got some well-deserved character development. Even Reese commented
that he never knew his name.
And let’s not forget where
Season 4 ended: Finch, Root, and (a probably wounded) Reese were literally
walking towards and shooting at Samirtan agents. A situation where the trio were
both outnumbered and outgunned. I’m wondering how this will be resolved.
The season definitely had
some great episodes though. I think many people would agree that the best was
If The Else. If Shaw’s character had been killed off here, it would have been a
glorious and befitting exit. Dominic got schooled by Elias. Despite his
knowledge of strategy and big talk, he fell for a cheap ruse. I shall miss both
characters though. I would have preferred their conflict to endure another
season or two. My favourite episodes:
(i)
Episode 1: Panopticon
(ii)
Episode 3: Wingman
(iii)
Episode 4: Brotherhood
(iv)
Episode 6: Pretenders
(v)
Episode 8: Point of Origin
(vi)
Episode 9: The Devil You Know
(vii)
Episode 11: If-Then-Else
(viii) Episode
12: Control-Alt-Delete
And to Jonathan Nolan, CBS,
Varese Sarabande and Ramin Djawadi: PLEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSEEEEEEEE, release the
soundtrack (score) already. Both for Seasons 3 and 4. We need something to tide
us over till the next season debuts. And whilst on the subject of musical
scores, it would be better if the scores/soundtrack compilation for any TV
series is released within a month after the end of each Season.
Peace.
