By: TrixM

In reply to Rooty Poot.

I was just coming down here to mourn PoI!

I think they could have told more of Root and Shaw’s story if the last season hadn’t been so hacked to bits and CBS hadn’t (as we all suspect) insisted on the goddamned procedural episodes that gave nothing to the main story arc. Not to mention that weird romance with Reese and the psychologist – which went absolutely nowhere.

I was kind of OK with Root’s ending (actually, I would have preferred a spin-off where she and Shaw kicked the crap out of everything, but you know, if she *had* to die). Except:

a) I could have done with more lighter scenes with her and Shaw towards the end. Yes, they had a badass last fight together, and the safehouse fight scene was fun, as was Root driving with her boot and shooting with that rifle, but come on. The show was over, who cares if they’d had more girl-on-girl stuff? (Sure, I wouldn’t want it turning into too much fluff myself, but a tiny bit more and some more kickass fights in that last season would have been nice.)

That episode where Shaw escapes is in *everyone’s* top 5 for the show, in all seasons, no matter what their gender or sexuality. The one where she and Root find each other again is in everyone’s top 10 (and one of my top fives) – that scene where Root plays chicken with her gun, out-logics Shaw, is even more dramatic, and – most convincing of all, after all the simulations and lack of confidence with what is real – pisses Shaw *off*, is just masterful for both actors. (sigh)

b) Why the hell was Root alone when she died? I know some people say “the Machine was with her” but we don’t even know if she regained consciousness. I would have actually appreciated a deathbed scene a la Shaw – with her able to (probably silently) say goodbye without the kind of over-the-top schmaltzy crap that most TV death scenes consist of. I think it would have been better for Shaw as well, since she was still struggling with what was “real” and what wasn’t.

c) I would have also been better about Root’s death if there had been more build-up of her relationship with The Machine. Not that there was a 100% probability that she was going to die, but that it was more likely than not that neither she nor Reese nor Harold (!) would survive (Shaw – “nothing kills that cat”). Seeing more of the prep that Root was making, and perhaps, accepting the burden that she would probably not survive and her acceptance of it. Sure, her dialogue indicated that acceptance, but not the process leading to it. Especially since in her earlier, more fanatical days, she would have gladly and unquestionably martyred herself. But after being with Shaw, and having turned her back on The Machine for a while to find Shaw, that acceptance would have been a lot more of a struggle.

d) Most irritatingly to me, Harold getting his HEA. I did not feel like it was “earned” in the slightest. No, his dithering and distrust brought about a lot of the chaos, and yet he gets to run off with Grace. How nice for him.

I felt particularly invested in these characters because they were just awesome, there was no “coming out” drama, Root was a computer geek (me too), they were canonically kinky (how often do you see that played as not completely f*cked up? basically never), they were not stereotypically romantic with each other (but they *cared*), they did great cheesy jokes, and I think it was pretty implied they were not monogamous (me neither).

Honestly, I’ve never seen characters, queer or otherwise, I’ve related to more. Other than the fact Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi are both completely gorgeous, and I am not complaining in the slightest about the high-quality eye-candy lightly glossing their amazing acting and characters.

I’ve been reading a lot of PoI fanfic since I finished watching the show to get over these feels. If anyone wants some recs, I highly recommend anything by Winged_Mammal on AO3. If you have a stomach for lots of kink and explicit sex, AND great story-telling (between the sex), anything by bruisespristine and AliceInKinkland. Including their fix-it and AU fics.

There are lots more great writers in the fandom – there is some stunning stuff there. And of course others who are not so great. I personally don’t like the AUs where they get married and have kids (except maybe fostering Gen a bit), but there are those as well.

Ugh, apologies for all these feels. There are some good shows on at the moment, but those characters and the main story arc of PoI (I’m an SF fan in general, and I work in a branch of IT security) and nearly all the other “team” characters on the show were just so good. I know people feel this passionately about shows like Buffy, but I was a little too old (nearly 30) to relate to American high school students and the more campy plots when it came out. PoI was for grown-ups from the get-go, with plot centring around data and personal privacy and government intervention concerns that are actually real.