Person of Interest: Shadow Box
December 9, 2024 11:32 AM - Season 2, Episode 10 - Subscribe
While the FBI refocuses their efforts to catch "The Man in the Suit," Reese's latest POI becomes a personal quest after he learns that she's the sister of a soldier who was killed in action.
At the Library, Reese and Finch wash Bear while Finch explains that their newest number is Abby Monroe, who worked for a military charity until recently. He speculates that she did so because her younger brother died in Afghanistan 18 months ago. Abby is now working as a temp at the city planning office. Finch notes that Abby discarded her phone five days ago and moved out of her apartment and Reese figures that she's hiding from someone.
At the precinct house, Cal Beecher approaches Carter and suggests that they have dinner again. She begs off, saying that she's looking into Davidson's disappearance and explains that she got an anonymous tip that a cop killed Davidson. Fusco comes in and listens as Cal suggest that someone in HR may have had Davidson killed.
Special Agent Nicholas Donnelly calls Carter over and tells her that, with their HR bust wrapped up, they're going back to the search for the Man in the Suit. They now believe that he's working for the Chinese, as is Mark Snow, who Donnelly thinks Reese persuaded to join him. Due to the classified status of his case, Donnelly offers Carter a temporary position with the FBI and adds that it will likely become permanent. Once the agent leaves, Carter calls Finch and warns him that they have a big problem.
Carter warns Reese that Donnelly is after him again. Reese says that he already knows about it because they were listening in at the office.
At the charity, Finch talks to the manager, Philip Chapple. He explains that Abby was stealing petty cash and embezzling funds and admits that they had no choice but to let her go since they approve loans to veterans and their donations would stop if rumors of a scandal at the charity began.
Chapple tells Finch that Abby started stealing after she met a former Marine, believing he somehow made a bad impression on her. Chapple refuses to tell Finch why the man came there, but finally gives him the name: Shayn Coleman. Carter confirms that Shayn was a bomb disposal expert who lost his right arm disarming an IED in Afghanistan. His parents haven't seen him in over two months after his home was foreclosed on and his fiancée dumped him.
Cal comes by and she tells him about Donnelly's offer. He admits that it could be a good move and suggests that she do it for the money, but Carter says it would probably mean leaving New York. Cal gets a call on his cell phone and a suspicious Fusco performs a forced pairing on Beecher's cell phone using the program Reese gave him previously.
The Machine checks Cal and confirms that he received a call from Quinn, the head of HR, requesting a meeting in the park, but is unable to determine whether or not Cal is part of HR himself.
Donnelly arranges a meeting with Carter and removes her phone's battery and SIM card. He explains that the Chinese organization may have wire-tapped her phone and says that Reese was involved in a robbery at the charity Chapple runs. Before Donnelly explains further, he asks for Carter's decision on the temp job offer. She accepts and Donnelly explains that they've been chasing Reese for ten months but he's always evaded them because of inside help. He then realized that Reese is in contact with his superiors over the phone. Carter said that she thought of that too, but the IMEI logs at cell towers near Reese's sightings came up empty. Donnelly then tells Carter that after reexamining the logs from the last time Reese escaped, the experts found short bursts of a cloned IMEI with a unique signature under the normal phone traffic. They then began to search for that signature, and discovered the same type of activity at the exact time and location of the charity robbery. Donnelly has SWAT teams standing by to move in as soon as Reese uses the phone again.
As Shayn prepares to blow open the vault, Reese arrives and disarms him. He asks what they're going to do with Chapple's money after stealing it and Shayn says that they plan to give it back to the people he stole it from, but haven't yet thought about how to do so. Reese questions why they didn't go to the authorities. Shayn explains that Abby went to the D.A, but Chapple discredited her with the fake robbery accusations beforehand. When Abby returned home, one of Chapple's mercenaries beat her and promised to come back and kill her if she said anything further.
He tells Abby and Shayn to wait until a subway train passes before detonating the explosives. They do so and go inside, using the blueprints to locate the bank vault. Reese realizes that they plan to blow the vault's floor from below.
Chapple's mercenaries arrive outside and find signs of a forced entrance.
Finch calls Reese and warns him that he's seeing interference on their phone link. He figures it's the FBI and tells Reese to stay off the line and get out. Reese refuses to leave them and tells Finch that they'll be out in five minutes.
The mercenaries enter the bank just as Shayn and Abby trigger the floor charge and drop the safe deposit boxes down. They find Chapple's safe deposit box, open it, and find records showing over $30 million hidden in a bank in South America. As they prepare to leave, the mercenaries arrive and open fire. Reese returns fire but quickly realizes that they're pinned down with only thirty minutes before the bank opens.
Donnelly informs Carter that they got a 911 call about the underground explosions, and IMEI bursts are coming from the same location. Carter says she needs to make a call and fakes a call to her mother. She actually calls Fusco and tells him to have Finch warn Reese that Donnelly is on the way and tracking the phones before heading off with Donnelly. Fusco then calls Finch, who asks the detective to run interference for them at the bank as he leaves.
Finch arrives outside the bank and checks in with Reese, who is still stuck below the bank with Abby and Shayn. Finch tells them to get up to the foyer where he can provide them with IDs and passes. As the bank opens, Reese goes through the lockers for clothes and tells Shayn and Abby that they're going to dress like bankers, climb up through the hole, and merge with the crowd.
As another SWAT team files in through the breached basement wall, the mercenaries attempt to ditch their weapons and leave. Meanwhile, Reese realizes that he's pinned down and there's no way out. He thanks Harold and admits that it's been fun, takes out his earbud and smashes his phone. A SWAT team member reaches Finch, who gives the man his cover story. Once the agent moves on, Abby gives Finch the records and he assures her that he can empty them and deposit every cent into reputable military charities watched by a seething but helpless Chapple. After that, he'll get them out of the state and Shayn says that's fine as long as they're together. Fusco comes in and whispers to Finch that he has them covered. However, Abby wonders what's become of Reese.
Donnelly, Carter, and the SWAT team go into the basement only to discover that he has four prisoners... Reese and the three mercenaries, and they're all men in suits. Donnelly asks Carter if she recognizes any of them. When she says that she doesn't, Donnelly has his men take all four of them away.
Points of Interest
The loans made by Homes For Our Returning Heroes are similar to those made by companies such as Countrywide, which offered attractive low-cost sub-prime adjustable mortgages to consumers, then rapidly reset the interest rates, increasing payments substantially. When homeowners could not make the dramatically increased payments, they foreclosed, leaving the homeowners homeless and often broke.
This is the first episode where we see the actions of the POI eliminated as possibly terrorist by the Machine. Although Carter suspects terrorism, Finch realizes that if Abby and Shayn's actions were terrorist, the Machine would have treated Abby's number as relevant.
This episode establishes a link between Alonzo Quinn, head of HR, and Cal Beecher, his godson, who has been spending time with Carter.
In real life, before opening the bank, someone would have entered the vault to perform a security check. If they had done so in this episode, they would have discovered a hole in the floor and wouldn't likely have opened the bank on time.
This episode is the first time that Carter used her knowledge that Fusco was also working for Reese and Finch to her advantage.
At the Library, Reese and Finch wash Bear while Finch explains that their newest number is Abby Monroe, who worked for a military charity until recently. He speculates that she did so because her younger brother died in Afghanistan 18 months ago. Abby is now working as a temp at the city planning office. Finch notes that Abby discarded her phone five days ago and moved out of her apartment and Reese figures that she's hiding from someone.
At the precinct house, Cal Beecher approaches Carter and suggests that they have dinner again. She begs off, saying that she's looking into Davidson's disappearance and explains that she got an anonymous tip that a cop killed Davidson. Fusco comes in and listens as Cal suggest that someone in HR may have had Davidson killed.
Special Agent Nicholas Donnelly calls Carter over and tells her that, with their HR bust wrapped up, they're going back to the search for the Man in the Suit. They now believe that he's working for the Chinese, as is Mark Snow, who Donnelly thinks Reese persuaded to join him. Due to the classified status of his case, Donnelly offers Carter a temporary position with the FBI and adds that it will likely become permanent. Once the agent leaves, Carter calls Finch and warns him that they have a big problem.
Carter warns Reese that Donnelly is after him again. Reese says that he already knows about it because they were listening in at the office.
At the charity, Finch talks to the manager, Philip Chapple. He explains that Abby was stealing petty cash and embezzling funds and admits that they had no choice but to let her go since they approve loans to veterans and their donations would stop if rumors of a scandal at the charity began.
Chapple tells Finch that Abby started stealing after she met a former Marine, believing he somehow made a bad impression on her. Chapple refuses to tell Finch why the man came there, but finally gives him the name: Shayn Coleman. Carter confirms that Shayn was a bomb disposal expert who lost his right arm disarming an IED in Afghanistan. His parents haven't seen him in over two months after his home was foreclosed on and his fiancée dumped him.
Cal comes by and she tells him about Donnelly's offer. He admits that it could be a good move and suggests that she do it for the money, but Carter says it would probably mean leaving New York. Cal gets a call on his cell phone and a suspicious Fusco performs a forced pairing on Beecher's cell phone using the program Reese gave him previously.
The Machine checks Cal and confirms that he received a call from Quinn, the head of HR, requesting a meeting in the park, but is unable to determine whether or not Cal is part of HR himself.
Donnelly arranges a meeting with Carter and removes her phone's battery and SIM card. He explains that the Chinese organization may have wire-tapped her phone and says that Reese was involved in a robbery at the charity Chapple runs. Before Donnelly explains further, he asks for Carter's decision on the temp job offer. She accepts and Donnelly explains that they've been chasing Reese for ten months but he's always evaded them because of inside help. He then realized that Reese is in contact with his superiors over the phone. Carter said that she thought of that too, but the IMEI logs at cell towers near Reese's sightings came up empty. Donnelly then tells Carter that after reexamining the logs from the last time Reese escaped, the experts found short bursts of a cloned IMEI with a unique signature under the normal phone traffic. They then began to search for that signature, and discovered the same type of activity at the exact time and location of the charity robbery. Donnelly has SWAT teams standing by to move in as soon as Reese uses the phone again.
As Shayn prepares to blow open the vault, Reese arrives and disarms him. He asks what they're going to do with Chapple's money after stealing it and Shayn says that they plan to give it back to the people he stole it from, but haven't yet thought about how to do so. Reese questions why they didn't go to the authorities. Shayn explains that Abby went to the D.A, but Chapple discredited her with the fake robbery accusations beforehand. When Abby returned home, one of Chapple's mercenaries beat her and promised to come back and kill her if she said anything further.
He tells Abby and Shayn to wait until a subway train passes before detonating the explosives. They do so and go inside, using the blueprints to locate the bank vault. Reese realizes that they plan to blow the vault's floor from below.
Chapple's mercenaries arrive outside and find signs of a forced entrance.
Finch calls Reese and warns him that he's seeing interference on their phone link. He figures it's the FBI and tells Reese to stay off the line and get out. Reese refuses to leave them and tells Finch that they'll be out in five minutes.
The mercenaries enter the bank just as Shayn and Abby trigger the floor charge and drop the safe deposit boxes down. They find Chapple's safe deposit box, open it, and find records showing over $30 million hidden in a bank in South America. As they prepare to leave, the mercenaries arrive and open fire. Reese returns fire but quickly realizes that they're pinned down with only thirty minutes before the bank opens.
Donnelly informs Carter that they got a 911 call about the underground explosions, and IMEI bursts are coming from the same location. Carter says she needs to make a call and fakes a call to her mother. She actually calls Fusco and tells him to have Finch warn Reese that Donnelly is on the way and tracking the phones before heading off with Donnelly. Fusco then calls Finch, who asks the detective to run interference for them at the bank as he leaves.
Finch arrives outside the bank and checks in with Reese, who is still stuck below the bank with Abby and Shayn. Finch tells them to get up to the foyer where he can provide them with IDs and passes. As the bank opens, Reese goes through the lockers for clothes and tells Shayn and Abby that they're going to dress like bankers, climb up through the hole, and merge with the crowd.
As another SWAT team files in through the breached basement wall, the mercenaries attempt to ditch their weapons and leave. Meanwhile, Reese realizes that he's pinned down and there's no way out. He thanks Harold and admits that it's been fun, takes out his earbud and smashes his phone. A SWAT team member reaches Finch, who gives the man his cover story. Once the agent moves on, Abby gives Finch the records and he assures her that he can empty them and deposit every cent into reputable military charities watched by a seething but helpless Chapple. After that, he'll get them out of the state and Shayn says that's fine as long as they're together. Fusco comes in and whispers to Finch that he has them covered. However, Abby wonders what's become of Reese.
Donnelly, Carter, and the SWAT team go into the basement only to discover that he has four prisoners... Reese and the three mercenaries, and they're all men in suits. Donnelly asks Carter if she recognizes any of them. When she says that she doesn't, Donnelly has his men take all four of them away.
Points of Interest
The loans made by Homes For Our Returning Heroes are similar to those made by companies such as Countrywide, which offered attractive low-cost sub-prime adjustable mortgages to consumers, then rapidly reset the interest rates, increasing payments substantially. When homeowners could not make the dramatically increased payments, they foreclosed, leaving the homeowners homeless and often broke.
This is the first episode where we see the actions of the POI eliminated as possibly terrorist by the Machine. Although Carter suspects terrorism, Finch realizes that if Abby and Shayn's actions were terrorist, the Machine would have treated Abby's number as relevant.
This episode establishes a link between Alonzo Quinn, head of HR, and Cal Beecher, his godson, who has been spending time with Carter.
In real life, before opening the bank, someone would have entered the vault to perform a security check. If they had done so in this episode, they would have discovered a hole in the floor and wouldn't likely have opened the bank on time.
This episode is the first time that Carter used her knowledge that Fusco was also working for Reese and Finch to her advantage.
Good time in the season to ratchet up the stakes, again.
posted by porpoise at 1:34 PM on December 9 [1 favorite]
Sorry. I'm stressed out from a bunch of things including moving early next month, and my brains are a bit scrambled hence me jumping episodes. I'll go back and post COD later tonight or tomorrow.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:09 PM on December 9 [3 favorites]
posted by miss-lapin at 3:09 PM on December 9 [3 favorites]
This is the first episode where we see the actions of the POI eliminated as possibly terrorist by the Machine. Although Carter suspects terrorism, Finch realizes that if Abby and Shayn's actions were terrorist, the Machine would have treated Abby's number as relevant.
Yes. And that line where Finch says, "If Abby were involved with domestic terrorism, which would be a relevant crime, the machine would have given her number to-- to whoever now runs that end of things at the government, not to us," is, in a very low-key way, a setup for S02E16, "Relevance" -- in my book, one of the very best episodes of the entire series.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 6:02 PM on December 9 [2 favorites]
Yes. And that line where Finch says, "If Abby were involved with domestic terrorism, which would be a relevant crime, the machine would have given her number to-- to whoever now runs that end of things at the government, not to us," is, in a very low-key way, a setup for S02E16, "Relevance" -- in my book, one of the very best episodes of the entire series.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 6:02 PM on December 9 [2 favorites]
Sorry. I'm stressed out from a bunch of things including moving early next month, and my brains are a bit scrambled hence me jumping episodes. I'll go back and post COD later tonight or tomorrow.
Theme for doing these posts! I'm really enjoying them.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 6:04 PM on December 9 [1 favorite]
Theme for doing these posts! I'm really enjoying them.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 6:04 PM on December 9 [1 favorite]
Me too, and no rush! it's kinda fun to have caught up with the watch for once.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:10 PM on December 9 [1 favorite]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:10 PM on December 9 [1 favorite]
Thanks for doing these miss-lapin, I don't have time for a rewatch ATM so this has been an enjoyable way to remember the series.
posted by sarble at 11:51 PM on December 9 [2 favorites]
posted by sarble at 11:51 PM on December 9 [2 favorites]
Thank. I'm glad you're all enjoying them as much as I am.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:15 AM on December 10 [1 favorite]
posted by miss-lapin at 12:15 AM on December 10 [1 favorite]
I loved that they ended up with four Men in Suits, I didn't see it coming even on the rewatch.
posted by mmoncur at 10:58 PM on December 11 [2 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 10:58 PM on December 11 [2 favorites]
"I hate to say this, Finch, but we're in a bit of a pickle here."
Yeah, that's a great ending: oh no Reese is done for / oooooh maybe he's not.
The cloned IMEI bursts: the show is quite good at delivering just-plausible-enough technobabble. A lot of Finch's -- and the Machine's -- technology is at the Clarkeian "indistinguishable from magic" level, but the show usually manages to ground it in just enough recognizable terms that we believe it. Mostly the IMEI babble here is to suggest: Finch is good, very good, but maybe not quite good enough to permanently elude the FBI.
Carter steadily getting deeper and deeper into the protecting-Finch-and-Reese subterfuge. Also, this:
Finch on the motorbike: "which was exhilarating, by the way."
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:44 PM on December 12 [2 favorites]
Yeah, that's a great ending: oh no Reese is done for / oooooh maybe he's not.
The cloned IMEI bursts: the show is quite good at delivering just-plausible-enough technobabble. A lot of Finch's -- and the Machine's -- technology is at the Clarkeian "indistinguishable from magic" level, but the show usually manages to ground it in just enough recognizable terms that we believe it. Mostly the IMEI babble here is to suggest: Finch is good, very good, but maybe not quite good enough to permanently elude the FBI.
Carter steadily getting deeper and deeper into the protecting-Finch-and-Reese subterfuge. Also, this:
"Do you listen to all of my conversations?"I'm with Carter here: not cool. There's a similar "were you listening in?" conversation between Reese and Finch a couple of episodes later from here; Reese is basically doing the same thing the Machine does, just at a smaller/more personal scale.
"More or less. You're looking nice, Carter. Maybe this Cal Beecher would be good for you too. Long as he treats you right. He messes with you, he'll be hearing from me."
"Okay. All right, look. We're gonna have to set some boundaries here."
Finch on the motorbike: "which was exhilarating, by the way."
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:44 PM on December 12 [2 favorites]
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posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:04 PM on December 9