Person of Interest: No Good Deed
November 30, 2024 3:17 PM - Season 1, Episode 22 - Subscribe
This week's POI is unwittingly involved in a government conspiracy involving Finch.
Since this another episode with a lot of flashbacks, they will be in bold print for clarity.
Nathan Ingram walks past rows of servers toward Finch, who is tinkering with one of them. They discuss the fact that the Machine is to be turned over to the government the next day. Ingram comments that he is glad to be rid of the Machine and corrects Finch when he comments about the lives saved, stating that countless "relevant" lives have been saved. Nathan says that everyone is relevant to someone and that Finch would know that if he had someone in his life. Nathan informs Harold that he is concerned about the fact that Harold has been working with the Machine and watching other people's lives for so many years, and urges him to invest some time in his own life.
Reese appears disinterested when Finch starts telling him about this week's POI, Henry Peck. Reese informs Finch that he knows that Finch did not get the number while at the library and wants to know more about how the Machine communicates with Finch, commenting that Finch would want their work to continue if something happened to Harold. Harold tells John that he has a contingency but gives Reese no other information.
While Peck initially appears to be a financial analyst Reese realizes that Peck is really a spy working in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF). In order to access the facility Finch hides a camera and transceiver inside a coffee maker, using the building's electrical wiring to transmit the signals.
While Reese is watching Peck that evening, the police show up to arrest him for drugs that were planted in his apartment. Finch realizes that there is someone else listening when the bug has feedback and Reese sees someone leaving the area, but loses him. They now realize that Peck is being set up.
Finch is able to obtain video of someone entering Peck's apartment. Reese, listening on the coffee pot bug, hears that Peck is fired. Peck continues to try to contact the Deputy Director of the NSA.Finch is shocked to discover that Peck has been asking questions about the Machine, although Peck is unaware of this. He informs Reese that Peck is being threatened
Nathan meets Alicia Corwin in a bar to discuss the transfer of the Machine. Nathan inquires about the facility for the Machine and asks about how the information is to be disseminated. Corwin reassures him that the information will not be able to be tracked back to the Machine. Nathan comments that only eight people know about the Machine and Corwin, visibly shocked, corrects him and states that only seven people know about the Machine. Ingram, realizing his mistake, tries to laugh it off.
Reese and Finch continue to follow Peck and overhear a conversation with Alicia Corwin in which she tells him about Sibilance and tells him to run. Peck ditches his phone and the bug and empties his bank accounts and gives away his credit cards to throw off his trackers. Reese tells Finch that Peck is being followed by a 3 man team, probably an Army black ops squad, and that he would look for Peck by targeting his needs. Finch is able to track Peck to a cash-only hotel with internet access and realizes through Peck's internet searches that he is planning to break into the NSA.
Reese and the hit team separately track Peck to the NSA, where he proceeds to copy reports that he had completed. Reese is able to rescue Peck from the assassins but a distrustful Peck deliberately attacks a police car and is arrested.
After the meeting with Corwin, a visibly shaken Ingram meets again with Finch at the IFT building. Nathan informs Harold of his concerns about Corwin's actions during their meeting and asks if Harold has a contingency plan if they ever discover that the government is misusing the Machine. Harold tells him that they need to trust the Machine and states that a back door could compromise it.
Peck is taken to the 8th precinct, where while talking with Fusco he comes to the realization that the only way the government could have the information that they do is to have a Machine. After Fusco leaves the interrogation room, a disguised Reese releases Peck and takes him out of the building.
During the early hours of the day after turning the Machine off, a determined looking Ingram restarts the Machine, is recognized and begins a new additional core program: Contingency.
Peck is able to make contact with a reporter and a meeting is arranged. Peck is surprised when Finch shows up instead and confirms that there is a Machine as Peck suspected. Finch tells Peck to stop asking questions for both of their safety and gives him a passport, plane tickets and a card to a bank account in order to disappear.
Reese is at a coffee cart in a park, where he has tracked the purchase of the cup he had earlier retrieved from Finch's trash. Just as he is about to question the barista, he sees a truck delivering the magazines that he had earlier observed at the library to a nearby brownstone. He approaches the home and knocks on the door which is opened by a woman. Reese introduces himself as Detective Stills and enters the house on the pretext of investigating a disturbance call.
Once inside, he sees a picture of Harold and the woman, Grace, an artist who draws for the magazine. She informs him that Harold was once her fiance, but that she lost him in an accident 2 years ago. A sympathetic Reese tells her that he is sorry for her loss. Upon leaving the house, he sees Finch seated on a bench in the park in the distance. They talk about Grace and a visibly saddened Finch informs Reese that he had to protect Grace by faking his death. Finch tells Reese that he feels that he was lucky, that he "had four years of happiness. Some people only get four days". He limps away, leaving behind a stunned Reese.
The machine's footage returns to the previous day, to the moment in which Finch tells Peck the truth about the Machine. Unknown to the both of them Corwin is at a nearby table, listening in on the conversation with a parabolic microphone. She is visibly frightened when she hears Finch state that he built the Machine.
Points of Interest
In this episode Finch points out that the government went too far In protecting the Machine. The Machine itself learned to value human life above its own interests.
Reese is leafing through Crime and Punishment in his first scene with Reese, a novel where a student avoids formal punishment for a murder, but still suffers for it. After a moral struggle, the student repents their actions, confesses to the police, and goes to Siberia to serve their sentence.
Total Information Awareness (TIA) was a program founded by the Department of Defense in 2002 during the George W. Bush administration. TIA was a massive data mining progam that can "detect, classify and identify foreign terrorists" by analyzing commercial transactions and private communication, which means creating a "risk profile" using any conceivable record imaginable such as financial, educational, travel and medical records, as well as criminal and other governmental records which is subjected to said analysis. It was eventually disbanded due to privacy issues. However, in 2013, Edward Snowden showed "Person of Interest" was topical, was less fiction, and more fact-based, upon the disclosure of the existence of a real government program called PRISM.
Henry Peck's box changes from white to yellow after Finch confirms the presence of the Machine and gives him the passport with his new identity.
Carrie Preston who plays Finch's love interest Grace is Michael Emerson's (Finch) real life wife.
Both the audience and Reese discover that Finch has also left someone he loved behind. Unlike Reese, however, his love is still alive, but thinks Finch is dead.
Since this another episode with a lot of flashbacks, they will be in bold print for clarity.
Nathan Ingram walks past rows of servers toward Finch, who is tinkering with one of them. They discuss the fact that the Machine is to be turned over to the government the next day. Ingram comments that he is glad to be rid of the Machine and corrects Finch when he comments about the lives saved, stating that countless "relevant" lives have been saved. Nathan says that everyone is relevant to someone and that Finch would know that if he had someone in his life. Nathan informs Harold that he is concerned about the fact that Harold has been working with the Machine and watching other people's lives for so many years, and urges him to invest some time in his own life.
Reese appears disinterested when Finch starts telling him about this week's POI, Henry Peck. Reese informs Finch that he knows that Finch did not get the number while at the library and wants to know more about how the Machine communicates with Finch, commenting that Finch would want their work to continue if something happened to Harold. Harold tells John that he has a contingency but gives Reese no other information.
While Peck initially appears to be a financial analyst Reese realizes that Peck is really a spy working in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF). In order to access the facility Finch hides a camera and transceiver inside a coffee maker, using the building's electrical wiring to transmit the signals.
While Reese is watching Peck that evening, the police show up to arrest him for drugs that were planted in his apartment. Finch realizes that there is someone else listening when the bug has feedback and Reese sees someone leaving the area, but loses him. They now realize that Peck is being set up.
Finch is able to obtain video of someone entering Peck's apartment. Reese, listening on the coffee pot bug, hears that Peck is fired. Peck continues to try to contact the Deputy Director of the NSA.Finch is shocked to discover that Peck has been asking questions about the Machine, although Peck is unaware of this. He informs Reese that Peck is being threatened
Nathan meets Alicia Corwin in a bar to discuss the transfer of the Machine. Nathan inquires about the facility for the Machine and asks about how the information is to be disseminated. Corwin reassures him that the information will not be able to be tracked back to the Machine. Nathan comments that only eight people know about the Machine and Corwin, visibly shocked, corrects him and states that only seven people know about the Machine. Ingram, realizing his mistake, tries to laugh it off.
Reese and Finch continue to follow Peck and overhear a conversation with Alicia Corwin in which she tells him about Sibilance and tells him to run. Peck ditches his phone and the bug and empties his bank accounts and gives away his credit cards to throw off his trackers. Reese tells Finch that Peck is being followed by a 3 man team, probably an Army black ops squad, and that he would look for Peck by targeting his needs. Finch is able to track Peck to a cash-only hotel with internet access and realizes through Peck's internet searches that he is planning to break into the NSA.
Reese and the hit team separately track Peck to the NSA, where he proceeds to copy reports that he had completed. Reese is able to rescue Peck from the assassins but a distrustful Peck deliberately attacks a police car and is arrested.
After the meeting with Corwin, a visibly shaken Ingram meets again with Finch at the IFT building. Nathan informs Harold of his concerns about Corwin's actions during their meeting and asks if Harold has a contingency plan if they ever discover that the government is misusing the Machine. Harold tells him that they need to trust the Machine and states that a back door could compromise it.
Peck is taken to the 8th precinct, where while talking with Fusco he comes to the realization that the only way the government could have the information that they do is to have a Machine. After Fusco leaves the interrogation room, a disguised Reese releases Peck and takes him out of the building.
During the early hours of the day after turning the Machine off, a determined looking Ingram restarts the Machine, is recognized and begins a new additional core program: Contingency.
Peck is able to make contact with a reporter and a meeting is arranged. Peck is surprised when Finch shows up instead and confirms that there is a Machine as Peck suspected. Finch tells Peck to stop asking questions for both of their safety and gives him a passport, plane tickets and a card to a bank account in order to disappear.
Reese is at a coffee cart in a park, where he has tracked the purchase of the cup he had earlier retrieved from Finch's trash. Just as he is about to question the barista, he sees a truck delivering the magazines that he had earlier observed at the library to a nearby brownstone. He approaches the home and knocks on the door which is opened by a woman. Reese introduces himself as Detective Stills and enters the house on the pretext of investigating a disturbance call.
Once inside, he sees a picture of Harold and the woman, Grace, an artist who draws for the magazine. She informs him that Harold was once her fiance, but that she lost him in an accident 2 years ago. A sympathetic Reese tells her that he is sorry for her loss. Upon leaving the house, he sees Finch seated on a bench in the park in the distance. They talk about Grace and a visibly saddened Finch informs Reese that he had to protect Grace by faking his death. Finch tells Reese that he feels that he was lucky, that he "had four years of happiness. Some people only get four days". He limps away, leaving behind a stunned Reese.
The machine's footage returns to the previous day, to the moment in which Finch tells Peck the truth about the Machine. Unknown to the both of them Corwin is at a nearby table, listening in on the conversation with a parabolic microphone. She is visibly frightened when she hears Finch state that he built the Machine.
Points of Interest
In this episode Finch points out that the government went too far In protecting the Machine. The Machine itself learned to value human life above its own interests.
Reese is leafing through Crime and Punishment in his first scene with Reese, a novel where a student avoids formal punishment for a murder, but still suffers for it. After a moral struggle, the student repents their actions, confesses to the police, and goes to Siberia to serve their sentence.
Total Information Awareness (TIA) was a program founded by the Department of Defense in 2002 during the George W. Bush administration. TIA was a massive data mining progam that can "detect, classify and identify foreign terrorists" by analyzing commercial transactions and private communication, which means creating a "risk profile" using any conceivable record imaginable such as financial, educational, travel and medical records, as well as criminal and other governmental records which is subjected to said analysis. It was eventually disbanded due to privacy issues. However, in 2013, Edward Snowden showed "Person of Interest" was topical, was less fiction, and more fact-based, upon the disclosure of the existence of a real government program called PRISM.
Henry Peck's box changes from white to yellow after Finch confirms the presence of the Machine and gives him the passport with his new identity.
Carrie Preston who plays Finch's love interest Grace is Michael Emerson's (Finch) real life wife.
Both the audience and Reese discover that Finch has also left someone he loved behind. Unlike Reese, however, his love is still alive, but thinks Finch is dead.
I actually liked how plucky the straight-edge Peck turned out to be.
Great song by Bowie ("I'm afraid of Americans").
I had unconscionably forgotten about Carrie Preston in this!
posted by porpoise at 4:48 PM on December 1, 2024 [3 favorites]
Great song by Bowie ("I'm afraid of Americans").
I had unconscionably forgotten about Carrie Preston in this!
posted by porpoise at 4:48 PM on December 1, 2024 [3 favorites]
Nathan comments that only eight people know about the Machine and Corwin, visibly shocked, corrects him and states that only seven people know about the Machine.
I feel like maybe I haven't been paying enough attention in the flashbacks: is the eighth one Finch? I assume so given how surprised Alicia is to later overhear Finch saying he built it. So Ingram was always the front man and Finch was always hidden from sight?
(This also ties in to Alicia being confused by Will's mention of "uncle Harold" in Wolf and Cub, I guess? "My dad's best friend. Are you sure you two never met?")
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:43 PM on December 3, 2024 [1 favorite]
I feel like maybe I haven't been paying enough attention in the flashbacks: is the eighth one Finch? I assume so given how surprised Alicia is to later overhear Finch saying he built it. So Ingram was always the front man and Finch was always hidden from sight?
(This also ties in to Alicia being confused by Will's mention of "uncle Harold" in Wolf and Cub, I guess? "My dad's best friend. Are you sure you two never met?")
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:43 PM on December 3, 2024 [1 favorite]
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-- Brendan Gill
I love how Peck basically deduces the existence of an artificial intelligence and then turns toward the security camera and looks it in the eye.
Kudos to Carrie Preston and Michael Emerson for making me cry about a relationship that we didn't see on screen at all in about 5 minutes of acting.
posted by mmoncur at 12:53 AM on December 1, 2024 [1 favorite]