What could have so easily been a gimmick episode is turned into a masterwork of television. The writers really have a knack for this kind of thing, but it's still amazing how they've managed to keep it up. I won't spoil the twist for anyone who hasn't watched yet, but it is incredible to behold. The format the series began with has been expanded and inverted so many times, and each time to great effect, that one begins to wonder, "How can it possibly be topped?" Well, it's been done again and again, increasingly so with each new season. The first two seasons were great, bordering on stellar, and it was the third season where I could confidently claim that 'Person of Interest' was one of the greatest series of all time. We're only about halfway thru Season 4 with this episode, but if the quality of these first eleven episodes can be maintained, then they will have topped even last season's high standard. 'If-Then-Else' is pretty much* a perfect episode. Its expansion of the beginning plot device gives a lot of room for drama, humour and action, all things the series excels at in general. We also get a flashback, excellent as ever, to provide an ethical perspective which serves as the reason behind this episode's contortion of the usual format. And of course, driving all of these things are the characters. Where would we be without our beloved and intrepid team of protagonists? Still fighting a (mostly) behind-the- scenes war with some of the greatest television villains I've ever witnessed. It all converges into a majestic 44 minutes, a highlight of the season, series and television medium.
*: In the interest of being objective, I will bring up two small items I took issue with. I. In the opening scene, Finch and Root are discussing the current situation aloud amongst a pretty quiet crowd. It's immersion-breaking for me to see these characters talk about how careful they must be, only to speak so loudly about things which are meant to be hidden. II. Similarly, Fusco is the only (human) member of the team that is still unaware of The Machine, designated with a white box. Carter's was changed to a yellow box when she deduced that Finch must be getting his number from some kind of supercomputer. Yet The Machine and Samaritan are directly referenced in open conversation with Fusco, and his white box remains. Again, just some immersion-breaking that I think needs to be addressed in future episodes. But those two little things are literally all my critical eye can come up with as flaws for this episode. Everything else is brilliance.
*: In the interest of being objective, I will bring up two small items I took issue with. I. In the opening scene, Finch and Root are discussing the current situation aloud amongst a pretty quiet crowd. It's immersion-breaking for me to see these characters talk about how careful they must be, only to speak so loudly about things which are meant to be hidden. II. Similarly, Fusco is the only (human) member of the team that is still unaware of The Machine, designated with a white box. Carter's was changed to a yellow box when she deduced that Finch must be getting his number from some kind of supercomputer. Yet The Machine and Samaritan are directly referenced in open conversation with Fusco, and his white box remains. Again, just some immersion-breaking that I think needs to be addressed in future episodes. But those two little things are literally all my critical eye can come up with as flaws for this episode. Everything else is brilliance.