If-Then-Else

Person Of Interest 4.11 If-Then-Else shows that some thought can sneak a genre classic into a show where the setup doesn’t really work for it.

It’s a Groundhog Day episode in a series that doesn’t have time travel.

The Machine that watches over the heroes runs simulations and changes variables to get them out of a trap. The viewers go into the first one cold - stopping when one of them dies. The second is subtly different, the third is played for self-referential laughs. (Ever had l’esprit de l’escalier with a moment of cool dialogue and wanted to go back and insert something? This has a simplified time-saving version of the simulation where the heroes’ dialogue drops to things like “Coolly delivered sadistic warning” and “Funny yet insightful retort”.)

It also demonstrates some good ground rules for a Groundhog Day episode - a “save point” which is obvious and where the PCs are already in trouble, some variables beyond them like the Degas on the wall, and what to skip through in each replay.