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For all the folks out there that are as sad/upset as I am about POI and Shoot right now, I recommend reading the “Swan” chapter of the lovely fic 12 Days by nerdgirlwalking. (I like all her shoot stuff very much & I’m thankful there’s a deep bench of Shoot fanfic writing talent out there. Thank you all.) It’s lighthearted and funny and won’t take long and might cheer you up a little. Cheers.
Where You End Up
Root’s death is starting to remind me of another poor storytelling example of How I Met Your Mother’s series finale, so I want to make this a teachable moments for showrunners. You will never be able to decide exactly where you want your character to end up when you begin your story because the tricky thing is your character will grow and change in ways you may not have originally planned for and over time a character’s proper ending may be different than the one you originally intended. It’s kind of this unique thing about shows and series that the longer they go on, the more time that passes, they begin to take on a life of their own and most writers, or at least good writers, will ride with it. It’s almost like allowing the story to tell itself.
So yeah, sure, maybe the POI writers decided from the start to “make” Root The Machine—albeit in a really ridiculous sense since Root isn’t really apart of the Machine at all, just her voice is—and that would have been all fine and dandy had Root never truly developed as a character to being less about her God and being apart of her, as she became about the humans The Machine protects and not to mention Root’s love for Shaw and the rest of Team Machine.
So I’ll quote their own writing to remind them: “It’s not where you begin it’s where you end up” and where Root ended up was not true to her character at all. It did not do her or her story any justice. Instead they managed to completely regress her character and leave a complete void of significance to her, her family, and ultimately to the world they spent years creating.
I don’t know why people are sending hate to Amy and Michael, I don’t understand it at all. They were doing their jobs. So stop sending hate to them, its childish and ignorant. Act like a damn adult.
the jahan au (pt. 5)
part one | part two | part three | part four
it’s career day at jahan’s school
shaw goes in her marine uniform
everyone SWOONS
including root
ESPECIALLY root
they have to leave ajax with the boys after school so root can jump her bones
okay but ajax has to give a little speech and talk about his family
he comes home one day.
“mommy, momma? career day is on friday.”
they side eye each other.
what are they gonna say. one’s a former marine turned doctor turned ISA operative turned freelance badass vigilante, and the other a former assassin hacker turned vigilante hacker?
shaw smirks
she says she’s a marine and that root is her stay-at-home wife
root is torn between heart eyes and anger
“wife?”
“i have to keep those other moms off of you somehow.”
ajax drags his moms up to the front of the class
root does her chirpy little wave
shaw glares
“these are my moms. their names are sameen and root. they got married after the stock market crash in 2014.”
shaw freezes. that wasn’t part of the script.
she knew she shouldn’t have let root tuck him in last night.
“my mommy was a marine but then she got hurt so now she goes to all of my soccer games and yells at my uncle john”
he waves to john in the back
“HI UNCLE JOHN”
john’s trying not to laugh
“my momma has done a lot of things. but now she mostly colors with me and takes me to the park and mcdonald’s sometimes”
he grabs root’s hand. “momma, can I tell them the other thing?”
he’s really bad at whispering
root has a giant shit eating grin. “of course you can, ajax”
“momma says she’s had a lot of jobs but the most important one was taking care of mommy after she got hurt so she doesn’t need another one anymore.” he pauses to remember to breathe
“and also she’s really good with computers”
root’s getting her ass kicked when they get home
cue awkward clapping
shaw sends jahan to his room when they get home
“give us a few minutes, bud. i need to talk to your momma real quick”
root bites her lip. “if you wanted private time all you had to do was ask”
“cut the shit, root. did you really tell our kid all that stuff? about finding me with samaritan?”
“well, not everything. the kid-friendly version. you were hurt after a very long mission, you found us, i stayed with you until you were better. that’s all he knows”
shaw pulls her into a tight hug
in a low, gruff voice: “thanks. again. i know i don’t say it enough”
root sniffs a little. “thanks for coming home”
“you can’t get rid of me that easily”
jahan peeks his little head out
“group hug, mommy? momma?”
they scoop him up
“yeah, baby boy, group hug”
then they all take bear to the park to play fetch and work on jahan’s soccer juggling skills
Root is my favourite character of all time. I have read so many books and fallen for so many shows, related to so many characters, hoped for them, struggled with them, smiled with them and hurt when they were hurt. but Root is my favourite character of all time. my tag for Root is #love of my TV life.
today, for the first time in my life, I cried watching a TV show. I cried because Root died and Root means the world to me.
I don’t want to make her death political but it will be made political, and in a way, rightfully so. I also don’t wanna discuss the narrative choice, one I do understand. I don’t want to do it right now because this is my memorial to Root.
this is the space that I’m choosing to share how much I love Root.
this is my love letter to Root.
I have loved Root since before I knew I was watching Person of Interest. one of those lazy days at home, nothing else was on TV and I saw this flashback-looking cinematography. I was curious and I stayed. now I know that the episode that made me stay, two years before I became a fan, was 2x02, Bad Code.
I loved Root because she was pretty and a little on the crazy side. I loved Root because of how passionate she felt about humans being bad code. I loved Root because she became ruthless and misanthropic but she became that way because her best friend (her first love?) died at the hands of a paedophile. one she dealt with because Root, for the five seasons we’ve seen her, has always fought for what she believes in.
I love Root because she’s one of the most intelligent characters I have ever met. she knows so much about so many things, she adapts to all types of environments and people. I love Root because the show set her up in the role of the Prophet - the voice of reason, that people refuse to listen to with grave consequences. the Prophet, such a mythical, central figure, who until now had always been played by a man, usually a white man.
the Prophet always dies, so I should have known. but love makes you hope. Root made me hope.
I was raised in a Catholic school and, despite not identifying at all with the Catholic church anymore, I am a spiritual person, I am a person of faith. I see Root believing and I understand. maybe I don’t believe in an all-seeing AI with good intentions and admiring morals, but I do believe in something greater than myself. I also believe in Nature. unlike Root, I believe in people.
but what we believe in doesn’t matter so much as the fact that we are both believers. that we walk this earth with the skip on our step brought upon by faith.
I love Root because she had every reason not to, but she opened her heart to the Machine and to the team. I love Root because she’s so self-aware, she is so in tune with who she is and what she’s done, that she respected the space needed by every single member of the team to accept her. it was an acceptance that came at a different pace for Harold, Shaw, John, Fusco, but one she earned with the power of her perseverance, and of her respect for their needs.
Root is so so funny and she is funny in a witty way. her jokes, her comments, her interventions are fucking smart. but Root also has a darkness within her, one born entirely out of pain. we’ve seen it here and there. in Root Path when she’s faced with a number that is now a janitor because she killed everyone he loved in her time as a killer for hire. in Prophets when she shows she understands that she’s lived a more than questionable life, that a good death would be a privilege. in MIA and Sotto Voce when it was made clear that there’s no point for Root to live without Shaw.
you see, Root understands herself so well, but she doesn’t quite love herself all that much.
so I’ll love her for all the love she didn’t give herself.
I’ll love her for that time she was locked in a mental hospital and she doubted herself.
I’ll love her for that time she could have chosen to flee Harold’s prison, but she stayed because it was the right thing to do.
I’ll love her for that time she was tortured and lost her hearing, all for her Machine.
I’ll love her for all the philosophical and theological debates she had with Harold, debates that had me on the edge of my seat, debates that made my brain light up with challenge and awe at conversations on a show that were finally, finally up to my intellectual needs and abilities.
I’ll love her for how she despised John so, but grew to rely on him and trust him and consider him a part of the family.
I’ll love her for how Bear couldn’t care less about her for the longest time, but even the dog she took the time to conquer and love.
I’ll love her for being a queer woman who didn’t have an arc about “omg I’m gay what do I do??”, who didn’t have an arc about how it hurts and/or sucks to be queer. or how it sucks and hurts to be neurodivergent. I’ll love her for being a queer woman who could be literally anything else, but who is a queer woman. the one I never thought I’d get to have.
I’ll love her for falling in love with Shaw for all Shaw is. for falling in love with competent, neurodivergent, ruthless, loyal Shaw. I’ll love her for teasing and flirting with Shaw but never once disrespecting Shaw’s boundaries, never once crossing the line of what Shaw is willing to accept. oh, she played with the line a lot, of course she did. she pushed the line farther and farther back, but she did it with Shaw’s consent.
I’ll love her because Root and Shaw, despite all odds, have showed me what a healthy relationship looks like between two women. one that grew with time, patience, respect, playfulness.
I’ll love her because she’s so fucking extra, with her two guns, and her awkwardly-timed flirting, and her recklessness with her own life.
I’ll love her because she tilts her head when she smiles in a condescending way. I’ll love her because her voice goes ridiculously high-pitched when she’s scared for the people she loves. I’ll love her because she can’t wink and I’ll love her because she doesn’t roll her eyes, even when she’s annoyed.
I’ll love her for her black-painted nails and her love of purple and black. I’ll love her for her beautiful hair and her infinite wigs. I’ll love her for how hot she looks in glasses. I’ll love her for Mr Berenstain and Barbie Nanny and Alien Fangirl and Wedding Crasher.
I’ll love her for her relentless defence of the Machine, of her own beliefs, regardless of Harold’s preferences and morals, and for her unshakable respect for Harold’s decision and point of view.
I’ll love her for the absurd heart eyes she throws at the Machine (every now and then) and at Shaw (all the time).
I’ll love her because she’s grown so much and evolved so much and she did it in front of my own two eyes, with me rooting for her the whole time (yes, even when she was a villain).
I’ll love her for that smile, you know the one, the teary-eyed one. I’ll love her for going from calling Shaw Shaw to calling her Sameen and sweetie and, maybe someday, beautiful girl. I’ll love her for defying Harold’s Ms Groves with her good-spirited Harry. I’ll love her for how big lug and helper monkey went from insults to pet names.
I’ll love her for how unique and remarkable she is as a character. one I’ve never seen, one who’ve made me fall hopelessly in love.
I’ll love her for giving me so much joy and so much hope and so much love. I’ll love her because I don’t know what else to do.
Root is my person. and Root will always be my person.
I’ve been having a bit of a back and forth with someone about watching (or not watching, in my case) the last three episodes. It’s been pointed out that “at least it was a good death” and “maybe she isn’t dead at all” and “you should give it a chance to play out, because we know Root still has scenes.”
First, if any POI fan out there was happy (or at least satisfied) with last night’s episode, congratulations. I would much rather be feeling what you’re feeling than feeling what I’m feeling. If you are willing to watch the last three episodes, if you feel you “owe” it to the show, etc, that’s fine. I have no interest in seeing either Root-bot or Ghost!Root. And that antipathy outweighs my interest in the characters that are left. I will find out what happens to them, I just won’t be watching the show. That’s my right, you know, it’s a form of free will.
Second, say that Root is not, in fact, dead, and she makes a spectacular return. To me, that makes 5.10 an utterly cruel and horrific episode -- even more so than I already find it -- and I do not feel that the writers should be trusted after the episode in any case. Basically, in my opinion, they had a chance to do the right thing, and they did not. I would further say that, as much as I respect how good this show was -- through 100 episodes there have been very few clunkers and a solid, impressive mythology arc the likes of which most writing staffs can only dream of concocting (usually mythology-heavy shows falter under the burden of their own invention, it’s extremely rare for that not to happen) -- this last season has felt uneven, scattered and rushed. It’s still a lot better than almost any show out there, but I do think the writing has been uneven to the point where it’s fairly noticeable, even when I’m not wearing my Root or Shoot goggles.
I’ve been saying all along I expected Root to die and could have accepted a better death, maybe, but after thinking about it a lot, I no longer feel that Root should have died at all. She was a fascinating and unique character and I will miss her. I wish the showrunners had been wise enough to put her into the admin slot for Machine 2.0. I think that could have been truly extraordinary, most particularly if Shaw was by her side. With specific respect to this season, we have been treated such things as Root thumbing through a bridal magazine, talking about fairy tale endings, etc. Root and Shaw were only reunited in 5.09. In hindsight, these things can certainly be perceived as contrivances serving to lower our guard, to believe that maybe our favorites would make it through after all. (I didn’t realize that was a factor for me, but I now know it was.)
Third, regardless of context, this is another dead queer woman character. Full stop. That’s she’s an incredible character doesn’t make it better, it makes it worse. Do you realize that the DSM didn’t remove homosexuality from their list of mental illnesses until 1973? Prior to that, it was a moral imperative for any “abnormal” character to be killed off or at least shunned or shamed. But here’s the thing, that was 43 years ago and we’re still seeing queer characters killed, shunned, shamed. And it happens with such regularity -- especially recently -- that we are at risk of having a whole generation of young queer women feel that they are invalidated as human beings because they are not heterosexual, that, on some level based on what they’ve seen on TV, they do not deserve happiness or even life. That is reprehensible.
Ordinary my ass.
I think it really goes back to what we were just talking about; the large arc of Root. I mean, she came into this show before she even met Shaw, and the Machine was always kind of her first love, really. So the fact that she got… I think the relationship that she and Shaw shared kind of makes it all worth it, because before that she didn’t really see humanity as having much purpose and it was really all about the Machine. Shaw really opened her eyes to the struggle of what is more important and can you have one without the other.
Amy Acker
again. I am thankful for this actress and her on-point interpretation of her character and her character’s relationships. And very very little, if anything else about the show.
(via graciew1125)
Please Root and Shaw fanfics writers continue to write about this couple!!!
@ poi
root being an avatar to TM makes sense, but just... no. I can't deal with it. i'll go rewatch the happy moments.
k here’s the thing tho, it made sense for her character as root had been but only back in season one???? like from there looking ahead to her growth etc etc and then bringing it back full circle by having her end this entire quest for the machine by becoming One with it, fine, whatever, so poetic and cool and batman-y
but like… her character has totally changed since then. there’s been GROWTH. there’s been RELATIONSHIPS. there’s been complexity and a shift in focus to people, that now may basically all come undone, erased and discarded and cast aside, in favour of machine existence trumping human life. and like that’s ??? ?? ? ???? not what this show had actually evolved to become about ?? ? ? ????
Reason POI fans aren’t super angry about the death of Root is becuase the show runners didn’t use an LGBTQ+ character to get views and ratings. They treated the fans with extreme respect and didn’t kill Root off for “shock value”.
The POI cast and crew are wonderful people who never, for a single moment, used the fans or the characters for there own benefit.
mayhap im just a bit too jaded but like, this is tv. This is business. they did use the fans and characters for their own benefit, if they didn’t the show straight up wouldn’t exist. i just find it ludicrous to claim that the cast and crew of POI weren’t in it for personal benefit. and tbh, i see plenty of angry poi wlw. I think the anger is justified, full stop – and even if root died in a respectful way, it’s still the trope. Even if she died a beautiful, meaningful, plot-related death, she is still another dead wlw. her death is still traumatizing to many, and is still immensely upsetting.
POI is not the 100, i dont think anyone could really argue with that, but it’s absolutely ridiculous to say they didn’t use the fandom and characters for their own benefit.
Yes, also “poi fans aren’t angry”, really? Bc I’m pissed and half of my mutuals are too. Not only bc Root died but also bc of how she died and how Root and Shaw were both treated this season (torture porn basically especially on Shaw’s part). So yeah people have every right to be mad and I’d appreciate it if the part of the fandom who has no problem with how Root died stopped policing our reactions (I’ve seen plenty of it going around).
root’s death (that hurt just to type) was only there to further harold’s character. they killed the lesbian the episode after she’d finally reunited with the love of her life to further the storyline of the cishet white male.
i had so much faith in poi not to take this route but they did and now i don’t know what to do with myself
Where was the uproar:
When Joss Carter died? Shes a black woman,and ya’ll ain’t start no trends,or put up billboards,or raise hell. The shit I keep seeing is only when a white lesbian dies. Miss me with ‘they killed a white woman’ bullshit. Its getting old to the people of color.
I wasn’t in the online fandom at the time, but I stopped watched for ages after Carter died. I was very very upset about her death. Good characters, characters with more to say and do, they’re rare and all deserve better. That said, queer women characters are apparently always considered expendable, and worse, expendable in what may be perceived as cheap ways. Women of all ages need strong women characters out there, especially one as freaking unique and smart as Root was. And finally, I hate the fact we’ve lost a disabled character. I’m deaf, and though it wasn’t referenced often (or particularly well), it was GREAT to have a partially deaf character that I could follow and admire.
Neil Gaiman.
*Fucking Spoiler Alert*
Okay, yes
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We lost Root. Our amazing beautiful Root, who could do anything and become anyone and believed in the Machine with a manic and blinding devotion. Shaw lost Root, Finch lost Root, John lost Root, Fusco lost Root. The World lost an Amazing character.
HOWEVER
If you watch the damn show, and listen to what people are saying and what the plotlines suggest, we all knew this was coming. I don’t believe that Nolan killed Root just so another Lesbian can bite the dust to empower a cis!white man.
Don’t degrade her sacrifice for the easy call. Root believed in Finch and the Machine. And they in the end loved and believed in her too. The Machine took her voice for a reason, she is part of the Machine now. She was ready and willing to die in order to win the war they were fighting.
I don’t think that any of them will be alive by the end of this, and if they are they may wish they were dead.
Everything we’ve seen points to this moment. Elias said that Finch was the most dangerous of them all. Hell Yeah. There’s a reason for that, and we will see it next week. Stay on the ride a bit longer okay?
Everyone lives on in the Machine. Root isn’t gone, she’s ascended.
I respect your right to your opinion, but please don’t disrespect mine in the process. I feel that killing off Root was a cheap and easy call on the part of the writers. She was not just a lesbian, remember, she was also partially deaf. She was someone who struggled with anything like normal reactions to people. And we watched her grow to a pretty damn amazing character, watched her discover that there was something more important to her life than her god, only to have her be an easy sacrifice, someone who died alone. Also, as much as I love Harold, I feel like his story is played out whereas Root’s was not. Also, at the end of the day, regardless of whether you think it was a “good end,” the end result is another queer woman who is dead. Harold ... Harold is the root cause behind Team Machine being so hamstrung, and in the end, Root did die, in large part, so that Harold could finally get into the game. I did expect Root to die (but wanted to be wrong about that), but what I didn’t expect was her to die as a plot device for another character.
#soproud
