6/28/2021 c2 DraejonSoul
Yay! Steve's back!

I love how you bolster your story with these details without "bloating" it, if that makes sense. Playing out the scene of how these men were scrambling to save John, walking readers through the motions of it, makes it more grounded, and the tension more palpable.

Loving it so far!

12/26/2020 c18 JanelleCoulton
Well done BullDemon, I remember reading this fic a few years back before you had completed it. I am so happy that I re-discovered it and was able to read it all. I loved it. This was so beautifully written and to echo another fan's words who wrote Death and Destruction (which I also loved and was the very first POI fanfic I read), Reese did not die on that rooftop. The writers left it open on purpose. Nolan was probably pretty sure that Person of Interest would be cancelled, but he very cleverly wrapped up the story, leaving enough doubt in my mind that it is that John may have survived.

The biggest clue is the motorbike scene that was cut from the finale, that Michael Emerson was never supposed to talk about, but he did, so in my mind this scene is canon. I've never watched the deleted scenes on the DVD set or Blurays, so I don't know if there are any other clues there. I must do this. The scene with Fusco and Shaw also got me thinking that perhaps they are holding onto hope that both John and Harold survived.

When we last see John, he is still alive and I don't, for one minute believe that he would not have been wearing a Kevlar vest, as he always did. Mark Snow knew this as did Evans, his sniper, given he went for a lower stomach shot and then a leg shot in Number Crunch. And given he said he wasn't aiming to kill, it made sense to me that Snow and Evans felt certain John would be wearing a vest. I could go on and on about how many times John was shot in the back or centre-mass and his vest saved him from certain death.

Another point of confusion for me is this: what was the missile supposed to take out? The building John was on or the satellite dish. And why would taking out the building John was on protect Samaritan from The Machine uploading to the satellite, surely blowing up the dish made more sense? Or was the missile sent to ensure the death of TM's acolytes, should they be trying to infect Samaritan's final copy of core code? The missile had to have struck during the time Samaritan was uploading given that we see the SAM has only uploaded to 22% before we see The Machine go on the attack.

I did not re-watch the finale for some time after Person of Interest ended as seeing what happened to John literally destroyed me the first time. I knew it was a strong possibility that he wouldn't survive and this definitely did fit with the overall narrative of the show, but I also believe he would have done everything possible to try and get out alive given events at the end of season four, namely his talk with Carter in Terra Incognita. As for The Machine, she would have been planning and simulating possibilities long before the events of Return 0. I also believe that if the show were to return as a reboot or continuation, that John Reese would show up and Nolan could pull this off in a believable way.

Season five had it's faults and I don't blame any of this on the showrunners or creator. CBS screwed this wonderful show over and were fools to not see what a gem POI is. It is also possible that Harold died too, or The Machine wanted anyone that could be a danger to them to think they were dead, and this also goes for Root, even though I know Nolan always planned to kill her off at some point. Her death could have been faked and it may have been Root who showed up to rescue John. There is also the line from Harold in regards to Thornhill recruiting in a big way. This was definitely one of those deliberate loose ends just in case CBS did renew the show.

Thank you for such a convincing AU to the final episode of this wonderful show, and as SavCaro says many times, John Reese did not die on that rooftop. I am now going to start reading your other POI fanfic.

Lastly, are these your only two POI fanfics? Or do you have others posted elsewhere?

Happy Holidays,
Jel, Canberra, Australia

5/2/2019 c18 17Agent ERA
Very satisfying read! This applies to your other POI fic as well. I wasn’t happy, but understood, with John’s death either. And I’m glad you decided to write an AU for it. I absolutely loved how in-characters everyone was. I do hope that you plan on writing another POI fic. Not necessarily a sequel to this but another adventure.

4/2/2018 c18 Maryc
This is such a wonderful story! Thank you for writing an giving us an ending we would love with the whole gang

3/21/2018 c17 SavhCaro
Nice...

3/20/2018 c12 SavhCaro
That was a nice change of pace...very nice.

3/19/2018 c10 SavhCaro
OMG...you made me cry. AGAIN! Just thinking about Harold hearing Reese's voice...

You nailed Shaw's way of speaking and also how the conversation between Harold & John would go.

Well done! thank you so much...I am truly enjoying your story!