PERSON OF INTEREST PREMIERE RECAP: The Contingency

Person of Interest 2.01 – The Contingency

2000 – Finch is talking to the Machine and it recognizes him as it’s creator – he looks just like a proud papa, staring at his artificial wunderkind.

Back in 2012, Reese is where we left him last season – walking up to a ringing payphone. He picks it up and hears a recorded list of words. After hanging up, he breaks into Carter’s house and waits for her to get home. Needless to say, she isn’t expecting to see him in her house and after she holsters her gun, he tells her about Finch. Carter wants to file a missing persons report, but of course they can’t do that. Reese has a lead, but he needs her help in other areas, namely the death of Alicia Corwin.

Back at the batcave/library, Reese tries to decipher the coded words. Luckily, he’s is as smart as he is handsome and he soon figures out that the machine communicates the numbers using the Dewy Decimal system. This revelation certainly seems appropriate for a loner like Finch who make a super hero base in an old library.

That loner, meanwhile, is at a diner with Root. She’s in a chatty mood and acting like they are good friends or on a date, other than threatening to shoot someone if he tries to catch the attention of the cop sitting at the counter. She’s pretty jealous that she hasn’t been in on the secret from the beginning. When she tried to exercise her god-given talents of murdering and thieving, someone got in the way and that led her to Finch and the Machine. “The question, Harold, is why didn’t it protect you?”, she asks him. Which is a very good question that I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I never thought to ask. My first thought was that it probably did but Finch didn’t listen, but we get more details later in the episode.

Fusco runs the number Reese deciphered, identifies Leon Sung and activates his luxury car’s theft trace system to locate him. Reese finds him a dive bar, badges him with his fake police badge, and shows him pictures of Finch and Root. Leon denies knowing either of them and looking around the bar, Reese realizes that this number is not a path to Finch, it’s just like all the other numbers – a person in trouble.  He realizes belatedly that Finch’s “contingency” was for him to just fly solo.

Just then the other guys in the bar play their hand. Apparently Leon stole a lot of money from them, enough to be worth killing a cop over. It’s unfortunate for the guys that Reese isn’t actually a cop. Typical Reese badassery ensues and once all the men are down for the count, Reese and Leon leave.

2002 – Finch and the Machine again, but this time they are playing hide and seek in the streets with the Machine using Finch’s cell phone ringer to communicate with him. He’s very pleased with how quickly it is learning.

Leon isn’t interested in helping Reese find Finch and when Reese starts talking to another camera, he asks Reese to take him back to his car. Too late, as it goes by on the street attached to a tow truck. Leon admits that he stole $8 million from the Aryan Brotherhood. He lost his job, then got a new one at a start up and didn’t realize that it was fronted by the Aryan Nation laundering meth prophets. He couldn’t resist the temptation to steal the ill-gotten gains.  They pass a police cruiser and Reese breaks the window and handcuffs Leon to the steering wheel. As he walks away, he calls Fusco to make sure that Leon stays safe. Fusco is annoyed that Carter gets a murder case when he gets to babysit Leon.

In an official looking federal office, two men are also talking about Corwin. They can’t let anyone find out or they are headed to Guantanamo  A third man arrives and is given the job of stopping Carter’s investigation and killing Reese, who previously protected an NSA agent that they were trying to censor.

Reese has a copy of Root’s drivers license and thinks that it’s real. He calls Carter and asks her to look into the person at the DMV who might have sold it to her on the side. Fusco overhears and is annoyed that Carter is on a first-name basis with Reese. Fusco remembers that he’s supposed to check on Leon and when he calls, he finds out that Leon faked a heart attack and escaped from the station. He calls Reese who tells him where he can find Leon – at the impound lot. Sure enough, he’s there and Fusco tries to arrest him but before they can leave, a bunch of the Aryan Brotherhood thugs arrive and ask Leon for their money. Leon gets money from his car, but it’s only about $1 million and the boys are NOT happy. Fusco pulls his gun and tries to leave with Leon but another goon hits him from behind with the butt of an automatic weapon.

2003 – Finch and the Machine go to a casino. Finch is playing poker and although he loses the first hand, by later in the night he’s up $250,000, following the Machine’s advice. At the end of the night, he bets it all, ignores the Machine’s advice to stay, and loses it all.

Root and Finch are at a drug store so Root can pick up a few items for their “trip”.  After reminding him that he’d better not try anything, Root slashes Finch’s palm with a razor blade. The pharmacist notices his bleeding hand and comes out to help him dress the wound. While he’s occupied, Root steals meds from the pharmacy.

Fusco calls Carter when he can’t find Fusco. She hasn’t seen him and the guy who sold the ID to Root hasn’t returned to his apartment, either.

Fusco and Leon are tied back to back in a warehouse. Leon is being interrogated by the Aryan Brotherhood. They threaten him all manners of bodily harm involving a Belgian malinois working dog and a large pair of pruning sheers. Before they can act on their threats, however, the door opens and two more thugs enter, with Reese in tow. They take his handgun and aren’t impressed that he came to play with the big boys with only a small handgun (oh, how little they know!). Reese suggests that they allow him to take Leon and Fusco and of course this idea isn’t very popular, so they hit him and threaten him with the malinois.

Reese tells them they are fools because they can’t control their own dog and demonstrates by giving the dog multiple commands in Dutch, which it eagerly obeys. A few minutes and a few gunshots later, Reese, Fusco and Leon leave the warehouse alone (except for the guy they threw through a window). Fusco is ticked at Reese and stomps off. Reese turns to leave but stops and whistles for the dog, who rushes out to greet him.

2003- Finch leaves the casino. As he walks down the street, his phone texts him “Stay”. He ignores it and keeps walking. Right before he goes to cross the street, the phone buzzes again “Stay”. He shakes his head and goes to step out into the street and barely misses getting hit by a speeding car headed through the intersection with the driver collapsed at the wheel. The car races past and then crashes hard into some parked cars. Back at his headquarters, Finch chastises the Machine for protecting him – “I guess we’re going to have to discuss ground rules.”.

Root and Finch are at a restaurant and Root calls his attention to the woman behind them. She drops her lipstick next to the woman and when she bends to pick it up, Root drugs her drink. Finch tells her that all he made is a machine, but she’s not buying it. She knows he created an intelligence. Just then the woman at the neighboring table collapses and starts having a seizure. In the commotion, Root grabs the woman’s purse and uses her phone to text her significant other that she needs to see him immediately. Then she directs Finch towards the door.

Reese, Leon, and the dog are driving in Leon’s car. Finch is going to drop him off at the airport, but then Carter calls. She searched the apartment of the DMV employee who provided Root’s driver’s license and found a receipt for a storage unit. Reese and Leon (reluctantly) head for the address. When they arrive, the person they are looking for is dead but his computer is still on. Leon has a bit of a knack for hiding money electronically and finds Root’s hack – she paid the guy with his own money, then killed him.

Meanwhile, both the Aryan thugs and the Men in Black are looking for Reese. An MIB shows up at the police station as Carter is telling Reese that all of Corwin’s records have disappeared or been corrupted. While they talk on their cell phones, two thugs on motorcycles start shooting at Reese and Leon. Reese returns fire and they escape. Reese finds a security camera on a corner near a phone and tells the Machine that he’s done unless he gets something in return. Reese continues to talk to the Machine without explanation (although what could you honestly exxplain?) , which freaks Leon out. Reese tells the Machine that it has to “do the math and change the rules” because Finch is his friend. “He saved my life.” The red light blinks on and off on the camera and then the nearby payphone rings. It’s another number. Reese has just enough time to take down the number before the gunman on motorcycles come back and they have to run for it.

Reese and Leon end up back at the garage where his car is parked. Leon runs for the car and gets flattened by a giant man on a motorcycle. Reese comes to his rescue and begins fighting the guy, but soon appears to be overmatched (the guy is a good 6 inches taller than Reese and built like a grizzly). He’s about to do Reese some serious damage when suddenly he just falls over – Carter has shot him from behind using a weapon Reese lent her a while back. Reese lets the dog out of the car and Leon looks in to see that the dog has shredded all of his bearer bonds. Reese decides to name the dog Bear. He unlocks Leon’s handcuffs and tells him to stay out of trouble (and buy a one way ticket out of town).

Back at the bat cave, Reese has been working on the new number. He finds a newspaper clipping of a missing 14 year old.

The next morning, Carter walks out of her bedroom to find Bear reclining on her sofa. Reese enters the room, startles her, and then tells her he has a lead on Finch. He thinks he has found out where Root is from – Texas.

Root and Finch are chilling in the woman from the restaurant’s place. Root is casually painting her nails. The woman’s husband comes home and Root stabs him in the neck. Finch tells her that he can’t access the machine but she’s sure she can figure it out. He tells her that he sealed the Machine to protect it from people “like us”. He’ll never help her get control, but he won’t have to. She doesn’t want to control the machine, she just wants to set it free.

My thoughts:

Wow, have I mentioned how much I love this show? Although the show definitely had a sci-fi element last season, it was still at its heart a crime show. With one episode aired, this season has definitely brought the sci-fi element to the front and center. The scenes with Finch teaching the Machine were both poignant – he was like a proud father – and creepy. The contrast of Reese and Fusco getting their hands dirty while Root and Finch acted out a bizarre friendly charade was interesting. Root is flip, at ease, and almost flirty with Finch, even as she threatens him and others around them. Put another way, she’s dangerous as all hell and unstable to boot.

Reese has come a long way since the pilot last fall. His desperate”I have to find my friend” search shows us his emotional vulnerability, which was rarely on display last season except for flashes, usually brought out by women or kids. I love the introduction of the dog, I hope it stays around for at least a while because if anyone needs “man’s best friend”, it’s Reese. Bonus that the dog is every bit as baddass as he is.

It’s nice to see Carter, Fusco and Reese being able to work together openly, although I worry that some resentment may be festering in Fusco now that he doesn’t have the threat of HR hanging over him and he knows that Carter is on the Scooby team as well. Reese’s sudden propensity to break into Carter’s apartment makes me wonder if there are plans for then to develop any more than a professional relationship, which I really hope not. I’m all for Reese having a romantic entanglement, but not with Carter as I’d hate to mess with the great dynamic the show has right now.

I’m so excited for next week!

Favorite Quotes:

You’re a murder and a thief! – Finch
My Mom told me to follow my talents, and I’m good at what I do! – Root

Frankly, I’m not sure I want to find out what you’re like without his direction – Fusco to Reese

The guy whose badge this is would probably take that deal – Reese
So who are you? – Aryan thug
The guy who shot him and stole his badge. – Reese

Look, you seem crazy…but highly capable – Leon

See, I don’t have any friends, just the one, in fact <grunting from gagged Fusco>, okay, maybe 2 – Reese

Not.A.Word. I’m going to go back to my cruiser in total silence – Fusco
Sure thing, Lionel, like a gag order – Reese

You’re going to try very hard not to get killed while I look for my friend – Reese

Yeah, I wasn’t losing, I was just resting – Reese

What did you think of the episode? Tell me in the comments.

Watch new episodes of Person Of Interest at 9/8c on CBS.