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Petrichor02 t1_j5twybn wrote

Reply to comment by kugglaw in I want the Nolans to make a show by romanf_267

Despite POI being regularly called a procedural, it's more of a serialized procedural (and only for the first two or three seasons).

In other words, most episodes in the first three seasons have an A plot, a B plot, and a C plot. The B and C plots are highly serialized and continue the ongoing storyline episode to episode. It's just the A plot that is procedural, and if you skip an episode and miss the B and C plots, you'll be lost as to the ongoing storyline. So it's not a procedural where you can duck in and out of episodes and not miss anything, and each episode only focuses on the case of the week. I think there are only two episodes in its entire run that don't have any serialized elements in them.

But regardless of the above, the show is still good good, IMO. If you like Batman, think of the beginning of the show as a realistic take on Batman but with Bruce being split between two characters where one has his looks, fighting and weapons prowess, tragic back story, and vigilante mindset while the other has his genius, charm, social graces, and money. That perspective makes the procedural parts of the episodes much more fun.

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durgertime t1_j5ulhut wrote

What about the show changes that makes the later seasons so compelling, because I only watched the first season and found it incredibly forgettable and just felt like any other procedural cop show.

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Petrichor02 t1_j5v5zzu wrote

If you watched all of the first season and felt like it was just a regular cop procedural then you missed the serialized subplots that were threaded throughout each episode that tied into the overarching narrative.

Eventually the serialized subplots become the full plot instead of subplots though, which is where a lot of people fall in love with the show. I personally liked the mix better than when it went fully serialized, but that's just me.

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durgertime t1_j5vipnc wrote

Oh I saw it, but b-plots threading through a procedural show was already quite common in various detective/legal/cop shows by that time and I didn't really see anything that was exceptionally interesting about it, while all of the crime drama was really bland and uninteresting. Is there something about the subplot that really develops and gets interesting?

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PM-ME-UR-PIZZA t1_j5vokrt wrote

Without spoiling too much, the next couple of seasons goes way deeper in the HR/corruption angles, while building up the angle of the Machine as a character on it's own, as a Super AI. If you want more spoilers I can give it, I am just on my third rewatch of the show so it's pretty fresh

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bros402 t1_j5x66ov wrote

Those B plots become A plots.

and the machine becomes a character

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Vincent_adultman98 t1_j5xbt9a wrote

So around the end of season 2/start of season 3 they close up the crime drama aspect and make it more about the A.I and originations surrounding the A.I.

In terms of plot development it's a lot like Fringe, in that seasons one and two you're not sure if it's going to become more or less serialized and then after that it leans really heavily into the sci-fi aspects.

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SnooDingos316 t1_j63whk2 wrote

That is what I tell people about the Good wife which is also often called procedural.

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