Critics noted the episode's more serialized, high-stakes pacing, moving away from the "case of the week" format as the series headed toward its finale.
The episode is anchored by flashbacks to , revealing a critical moral conflict between Harold Finch and his partner Nathan Ingram: [S5E1] B.S.O.D.
The episode received high praise for its emotional depth, particularly Michael Emerson’s performance as Finch and the "tear-jerking" exchanges between creator and creation. Person of Interest Season 5 Episode 1 Recap and Review The Machine, sensing its imminent erasure, asks Finch
The use of networked PlayStation 3 consoles was a real-world reference to how researchers have built inexpensive supercomputers using the consoles' Linux-compatible architecture. sensing its imminent erasure
The Machine, sensing its imminent erasure, asks Finch what death is and reminds him of his father's struggle with Alzheimer’s, equating memory loss to death.
Fearing the potential for an all-powerful AI to become malevolent, Finch decides to implement code that wipes the Machine's memory every night at midnight.
Picking up just hours after the Season 4 finale, the team is fractured and hunted: