PERSON OF INTEREST Recap: Too close for comfort

Person of Interest 2.12: Prisoner’s Dilemma

This episode has to be the one that I’ve anticipated most this season after the season premiere, and I can say that it definitely did not disappoint!

***

It all started out with an awesome voice-over Machine review of what’s happened to get the show to this point.

Finch is alone in the Batcave with Bear and both of them are missing Reese. Fusco calls to get an update – he hasn’t seen Carter and she was supposed to be back. Finch has a new number and he tasks Fusco with it. Fusco’s not too thrilled at the busy work, until he finds out that the PoI is Karolina Korkova, the supermodel (playing herself).

Carter interrogates all four suspects, trying to get one of them to slip up. Of course all four are lying through their teeth, but are pretty skilled at it and have good covers established as well as reasons why they were in the vault. Donnelly and Carter follow up on every little bit of info that they gather.

The shadowy Washington guy that keeps popping up is sitting at his desk when an aide brings him a memo from the Justice Department. The letter is addressed to General Burton, and basically says that the FBI is detaining several suspects as potential terrorists in connection with the “Man in the Suit” case. The man picks up his cell phone and calls his asset, asking him about the rogue operative he’s been tracking and telling him to find the operative and shut it down. He has a lead that the operative is being detained by the FBI at Riker’s.

The asset then walks into a crowded city square near two police officers and empties the magazine of his handgun into the sky. He is immediately subdued by the officers without any resistance and heads for a little visit to Riker’s Island.

The prison warden tries to reason with Donnelly, but he threatens to report him for various infractions that he says he has seen at the prison. Carter arrives and they discuss the suspects. Donnelly is still hot on Reese and they head to check out his business address. Carter texts Finch who tells her that it’s all good. Finch has managed to make John’s legend pretty comprehensive and as close to the truth as possible, even down to his fancy, personalized office at a Wall Street firm along with a doting assistant who seems genuinely worried about him (how exactly does Finch pull this all off? I guess unlimited funds really do provide unlimited power)

Carter talks to Finch and he warns her to be careful. Carter wants to pin it all on one of the mercenaries, which conveniently is also Finch’s plan, with a plan B of staging a jail break.

Fusco protects his reluctant POI

Elsewhere in the city and totally unrelated, Fusco’s model is less than enthusiastic about his presence and he has to admit that he’s a police officer trying to protect her from a bunch of trigger happy Armenians. They squabble as he manages to keep her out of the hail of bullets.

2007, Prague – An American man is selling military secrets to two Asian men in a hotel room. Before they can finish the deal, Kara and Reese bust in pretending that they were given the wrong room key. Taking advantage of the men’s surprise, Reese shoots two and Kara kills the third. Kara is in a celebratory mood, but Reese is uncomfortable with the carnage, even if the men were enemy combatants.

Carter continues to interrogate Reese while Donnelly watches and prompts her via an earpiece. She asks him if he’s every killed anyone and he confides in her that he has, and describes an incident while he was in the army, which may or may not be true. They “bond” over their shared military experience. They talk about his parents, with Donnelly fact checking as they go along. Carter also interrogate the other suspects and finally catches one of the mercenaries in a lie about his military background. They are able to determine his true identity.

Carter is relieved, but Donnelly informs her that the man was deployed during the time that some of the crimes he’s attributing to the Man in the Suit occurred. The warden interrupts to tell them that it’s time for the 3 remaining men to get food and exercise.

Reese is let out into the yard with the general population and runs into into a motley crew of people from his past, including the Aryan he stole Bear from, who still holds a major grudge.  He tries to start something with Reese, but another inmate intercedes and tells Reese that someone wants to see him – Elias.

Elias knows about Donnelly, but he’s not going to turn Reese in because he would lose Finch as a chess partner and he considers Reese a friend. Reese tells him not to protect him as it will make Donnelly even more suspicious, but asks him to get a picture of the government asset guy (now in the yard as well) that he has recognized as not being a normal inmate. He wants to get it to Finch for ID as he wants to know what angle he’s working.

Finch sends the picture to Fusco, who immediately IDs the man as a government asset who was hanging around when Alicia Corwin was killed. Korkova has started to change her tune and become a bit attached to Fusco like he’s a big teddy bear as he keeps saving her life.

2009, Paris – Kara and Reese are at a bar, watching a seemingly loving couple, who they have been sent to assassinate. Reese wonders if they are the right people, but Kara assures him that they are – they are just better at their cover than Reese is. Later, the two of them clean up after the deed is done and Kara confronts Reese with her gun to his face – is he a boy scout or a killer? He shoves her against the wall and tells her that he loves his work. They then both start kissing passionately.

Carter continues to interrogate Reese and this time Finch has managed to hack into both Donnelly’s computer and Carter’s earpiece and is racing to backfill the legend as Reese answers her questions. Reese tells her the story of his life, complete with the name of his boss, Howard French, sticking pretty close to the actual story. Their interrogation is interrupted as one of the other suspects is ready to talk.

Bear’s former owner is happy for the chance to get a piece of Reese

One of the mercenaries wants to make a deal – he’ll talk if he gets immunity. Donnelly offers immunity in exchange for turning in the “Man in the Suit” but before the suspect can respond, the fire alarms go off. Finch instructs Carter to drop her phone in the suspect’s pocket. He is escorted out to the yard where the phone rings. Finch knows everything about the man and blackmails/buys his cooperation.

Back in the prison after the fire alarm, the government asset kills one of the other mercenaries, leaving just the guy requesting immunity, one other, and Reese. The immunity-seeking man fingers the third man and Donnelly loses his cool. He’s sure that someone is tampering with his investigation and more sure that Reese  is the “Man in the Suit”.

Reese tells Carter about his ex-girlfriend (using an alias) and how they watched 9-11 unfold from a hotel room together. Everything he says can be backed up, so Donnelly has a new test – he throws Reese back out into the yard hoping that a riot will start and Reese will show his combat skills. He pulls the guards from the yard and sure enough, the Aryan takes his chance. Reese doesn’t fight back and and the government asset is approaching him with a box cutter to finish him off when Elias calls everyone off and the guards return and help Reese.

Carter questions Donnelly’s methods

Carter loses it and chews Donnelly out for crossing the line. She demands that one of the mercenaries be put back in the interrogation room and tells him that his buddies have already made deals. He offers his real name and she pushes him until he attacks her.  She leaves the room, telling Donnelly that he’s the Man.

Reese is released from the prison and leaves in his suit, the marks from the fight visible on his face. Finch, meanwhile, is ready to break John out with the help of a rather large gun and other tactical equipment that he certainly doesn’t know how to use. Luckily, Carter tells him that John has been released before he can proceed any further with his plan.

Carter is standing by the water after dark, staring at the city, when Reese approaches. They walk and talk and he thanks her. She asks him if anything he told her was true, but before he can answer, Donnelly shows up with his gun drawn. He has Carter handcuff Reese and then he cuffs her. He puts them both in a car and is driving them to a safe house. He’s so paranoid (probably for good reason), that when Carter asks where his backup is, he admits that he doesn’t trust anyone.

Donnelly tells Carter that he knew there was an inside person and was suspicious of her but didn’t confirm it until when she got upset when Reese was attacked in the prison yard. He asks her what her price was, and she tells him nothing, that she’s just helping a friend and that Reese is a good man and they help people. She tries to explain, but Donnelly insists that Reese is nothing but a killer and a monster.

Fusco has apparently managed to thwart the Armenians and Korkova kisses him in thanks and tells him to call her. He stares at her retreating figure and his phone rings. It’s Finch – he’s realized something is wrong and asks Fusco to meet him by the water, Carter’s last known whereabouts.

As Finch walks down the street, a payphone rings. He ignores it, but one phone after another rings until he finally answers. It’s another number and on a hunch, he runs back to the library to decipher it. It’s Donnelly’s social security number! Finch calls him, tells him that he’s Reese’s boss and that he is in danger. Just then, a fast-moving dump truck collides with Donnelly’s car and the car rolls multiple times before coming to rest on its roof.

2010, China – It’s the mission where Kara and Reese were tasked by Agent Snow and Alicia Corwin with recovering a laptop that contains secrets at a deserted Chinese town. They were both given orders to kill each other and Kara shoots Reese and then the air strike begins.

Reese, Carter, and Donnelly are dazed and floating in and out of consciousness, but alive. A woman approaches and shoots Donnelly twice in the head with a suppressed gun. Reese is trapped in the car, but looks up and recognizes Kara. She greets him and then injects him in the neck with something and we see him lose consciousness (Carter appears to already be unconscious).

My Thoughts:

Wow!!! What an exciting, intense episode! It’s been almost 24 hours and I still can’t stop thinking about it. The interrogation scenes between Carter and Reese were very well written and acted. Although the audience knows (or thinks they know) that Reese had to be released, somehow, it always seemed in doubt as Finch raced to backfill the legend before Donnelly could confirm anything. Some of the bits of Reese’s cover were a bit hard to believe – like the office – but it didn’t bother me too much because even that doesn’t seem too much out beyond Finch’s power.

I never saw Carter getting caught coming, but maybe I should have with all Donnelly’s “you’re the only one I can trust” rhetoric. Having the Machine predict Donnelly’s death and Finch trying to save him, even though it risked both Carter and Reese, really contrasted what Reese, Finch, and Carter do, compared with what Donnelly thinks they do. Alas, it was too late for Donnelly but his death was rather convenient for Reese and Carter.

The “makings of John Reese” flashbacks were also very welcome as we got more of his backstory and they showed once again that he’s not the cold, hardened man that one might expect from his resume. I hadn’t remembered that Alicia Corwin was one of John and Kara’s handlers. This makes her one of the oldest links we’ve seen between Reese and Finch and suggests that Finch may have had his eyes on Reese well before he was declared dead in China. Kara’s killing of Donnelly and presumed kidnapping of Reese +/- Carter sets the stage for another exciting episode to come. Seriously, this show just keeps getting more and more entertaining!

The only part of the episode that fell flat for me was the whole model and Fusco subplot. I guess it wouldn’t be POI without a POI, but the story wasn’t at all fleshed out (why were the Armenians after her and why did they give up?) and seemed an example of the phrase “gratuitous guest star”.

Memorable Quotes:

Are we going to bust John out of there, or what? – Fusco
It sounds like such a bad idea when you say it – Finch

This is a hell of a pep talk, Finch – Carter

To catch this guy, I’d dig all the way to China – Donnelly (love the irony!)

I can just Gitmo your ass – Carter

Catch Person of Interest on Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS!