PERSON OF INTEREST Recap: Child’s Play

Person of Interest 3.05 Razgovor

HR is planning something and Carter is surveilling them. She tries to sneak away and is startled by Reese. He and Finch know all about Carter’s extracurricular activities. She tells Reese that she is determined to ID the head of HR.

This week’s POI doesn’t have a social security number, just a green card number. Shaw goes to her address undercover as an INS agent and finds out that the number  belongs to a 10-year-old (going on 20) Russian orphan  named Jen who is rather sassy and wants to be a spy when she grows up. Reese and Shaw follow her as she heads to school and help thwart a kidnapping attempt.

While hiding from the kidnappers, Jen shows Shaw her surveillance station in the basement of her building. She taped criminals in her building to try to get the drug dealers arrested and out of the building using techniques her grandfather, a former KGB agent, taught her. Her little spy games have put her on a hit list. Reese is unable to ward off the kidnappers and Shaw and Jen soon find themselves trapped in the ventilation shafts in the building with a gunman on either side.

In a flashback to 1993, a young girl and her father are involved in a fiery car wreck and the father is killed. The girl tells the fireman that her father is in the military and they move around a lot. The fireman cuts her out of the car. She asks about her dad and he is forced to tell her that her father is dead. She ponders this for a second, and then asks for a sandwich.

Shaw wakes up the trunk of a limo. She manages to get herself out despite a gunshot wound and a lot of blood loss. Finch orders her to a doctor, but as usual she ignores him as she is determined to find Jen. She finds drugs on her kidnapper which look a lot like the ones that Jen’s guardian had when Shaw went to the apartment. She confronts him and finds out that he told others about Jen’s surveillance because he was worried they would lead back to him.

While Carter is keeping tabs on HR, HR is using Laskey to keep tabs on her. After ditching Laskey, Carter follows some HR guys including and ends up running into Reese, who is following the cell phone of Jen’s kidnapper. They are both going after the same guy. Turns out that HR is working with the Russians making and dealing “bath salts” and Jen’s tapes prove their involvement.

Reese and Carter interrogate a “cooker” that they capture to get the site of the drug lab. HR wants the tapes and Carter agrees to trade the tapes for Jen, even if it means losing the evidence on them as leverage against HR. Shaw is determined to save Jen on her own.

Meanwhile, Shaw robs an ambulance for some supplies and then takes one of the HR guys hostage to find out where Jen is, and to use him to give herself a blood transfusion (!). She then uses his phone to call Simmons, who is with Jen. She makes a deal with him to exchange the tapes and goes to the library to retrieve them from Finch.

Laskey tells Simmons that Carter and the “man in the suit” is on to the meet between him and Shaw and he plans to take Reese out once and for all. Laskey uses a ruse to keep Carter out of the way. Simmons shows up at the meet but Shaw isn’t there but his backup is dead. Reese arrives and disarms Simmons, and then puts away his gun so they can have a fist fight (?). A cop car arrives, and Reese leaves.

At a deserted bar, Laskey confronts Carter about her secretiveness and she tells him that she knows he’s HR and shows him a picture of him meeting with Simmons and explains that her and Reese used him to plant misinformation within HR. He threatens to kill her and calls over the bartender, who is also a crooked cop. Carter kills the bartender with a gun that she had taken from Laskey earlier (because he hadn’t registered it in NY) and then uses it to blackmail him into being a double agent.

With HR distracted, Shaw is able to rescue Jen who is being held at HR’s lab. She blows up the place on her way out for good measure.

Finch sets Jen up with a trust fund and enrolls her at a prestigious boarding school. Shaw takes her to drop her off and Jen gives her her grandfather’s Order of Lenin medal. Shaw agrees to take it and hugs the girl goodbye.

Later, in her apartment, Shaw is asleep when she gets a visitor – Root – who tasers her.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed the parallels of a sharp kid who pretends to be a spy  being saved by real spies and the interaction of the Machine with the HR plotline was unexpected and well done. I could have done without so much Shaw in this episode as I just really don’t care about the character, unlike the rest of the team. I have to admit, though, that wrapping a bullet wound in duct tape and then giving herself a blood transfusion was pretty bada–, even if it was rather medically implausible.

I loved Carter turning the tables on Laskey. I spent the whole episode worrying about her only to find out that she had the situation well in hand.  Her shooting of the bartender and turning Laskey was such a typical Reese move – I doubt the Carter of season 1 would have rescued Elias or killed anyone purposely, even a crooked cop.

Not only was I surprised by Carter, but Root suddenly showing up again really caught me off guard. I figured she’d show up again eventually, but didn’t expect to see her with 30 seconds left in the episode. I’m intrigued to see her and Shaw together next week – one of the only times I really liked Shaw last season was when she was when she was interacting with Root.

Memorable Quotes:

While your combat skills are impressive, your bedside manner still leaves something to be desired – Finch

You’re not going to believe this Finch, but Shaw just got made by a 10-year-old! – Reese

I thought you might be a robot – Jen

Not every kid gets to be the ward of a reclusive billionaire – Shaw

Watch Person of Interest at 10/9c on CBS!