SNAFU 

Root and Finch work on bringing Northern Lights back online. They are successful and thus they start receiving numbers from the irrelevant list. However, the Machine is not as productive as before.

Director:

Chris Fisher

Writers:

Jonathan Nolan (created by), Lucas O'Connor

Stars:

Jim Caviezel, Kevin Chapman, Amy Acker

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jim Caviezel	...	John Reese
Kevin Chapman	...	Lionel Fusco
Amy Acker	...	Root
Michael Emerson	...	Harold Finch
Joshua Close	...	Jeff Blackwell (as Josh Close)
LaChanze	...	Mona
Paige Patterson	...	Laurie Granger
Anthony Robert Grasso	...	Gerald Mancini (as Anthony Grasso)
Nurit Monacelli	...	Rachel Mancini
Deandre Leatherbury	...	Wally
Joe Lanza	...	Mikey
Jasson Finney	...	Andrius
Brian McCarthy	...	Edgar
Nick Doolan	...	Reg

Storyline

The Machine experiences a glitch during rebooting, supplying Reese and Fusco with the numbers of dozens of people not actually involved in crimes, while also locking Finch and Root out after identifying them as threats based on past violent behavior.

---

Plot Keywords:

glitch | machine | gambling | tourist | subway | 

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 2016 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Silvercup Studios - 4222 22nd Street, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kilter Films, Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a flashback along the timeline, but since the Machine is, for the moment, unable to differentiate the past from the present, the moment is designated as "Day R", with the letter 'R' displayed in "Blackboard bold" (a.k.a. "double struck") typeface style, because that is the convention used in Mathematics to denote the set of Real numbers. Real numbers can, of course, be thought of as points on an infinitely long number line. And the Machine is unable to pinpoint the flashback moment's place on the timeline.

---

Goofs

While Reese is pinned down by the hit woman he has a phone conversation with Finch. In the conversation Reese tells Finch he is out of ammo and the scene clearly shows his handgun with the breech fully open indicating the weapon is empty. In the next sentence of the same conversation we see the handgun again with the breech closed.

---

Quotes

[to Harold]
Root: You're Harold Finch. You'll find a way into the system.

---

Crazy Credits

The title sequence starts with the usual Harold voice-over, but then the audio and video "glitch" and "crash", symbolizing the malfunctions the Machine is experiencing.

---

Connections

References The Terminator (1984)

User Reviews

Transcends the Series

Everyone including reviewers should be able to admit it when they encounter things in Life they never expected.

I never expected that TV would not only evolve as it has in the last decade but that, in so doing, it would surpass theatrical film in terms of quality, acting, writing, production, directing.

I never expected that, having set the bar so high, TV -- led by auteurs like JJ Abrams and his team -- would then end up competing WITH ITSELF since there is no longer any other form of entertainment left on the playing field that can offer it a fair fight.

In the process of competing with itself, I never imagined that TV would toss the traditional "short arc" construct under the bus, and not only play the "long arc" like it's never been done before, but actually go one step further and periodically, within the context of a series, completely break itself down and then, with the full participation of the audience, rebuild itself.

Many shows are doing this now. Blacklist comes to mind. Banshee does this every few episodes. But at the end of the day, the "Grandmaster" of deconstruction and reconstruction, the man who possibly invented it, is still Abrams.

This single episode is not only remarkable for the way it deliberately messes with your head (only if you are a regular viewer of course) but for how it, almost effortlessly, delivers a treatise and Good and Evil as good as or better than anything Hollwood has ever done, even with a budget ten times what this show cost.

Best episode in the series. Actually transcends the series. Amazing TV.