Person of Interest: The Crossing
January 26, 2025 3:21 PM - Season 3, Episode 9 - Subscribe
The battle to bring the crime organization HR to justice reaches new heights. Also, the Machine suddenly gives out Reese’s number.
Following Alonzo Quinn's capture at the hands of Reese and Carter, (“Endgame” s3 e8) Patrick Simmons kills judge Andrew Monahan to cover HR's tracks and orders the recovery of Quinn. Meanwhile, Fusco talks with his young son Lee. After he leaves Lee's room he runs into Shaw. She informs him that Reese & Carter need help getting past HR and bringing Quinn to the Federal building where they can hand him over to the FBI.
Finch receives several numbers from the Machine and realizes that all of them are merely aliases for Reese, whose number has come up. Finch contacts Reese, who is on a train along with Carter and Quinn, and tells him that every criminal hired by HR is now after him. Reese and Carter, along with Quinn, leave the train when it stops (after Reese takes down some men trying to kill him). Reese tries to contact Finch for help but Quinn destroys Reese's cell phone, leaving Carter and Reese with no choice but to continue on alone.
Finch calls Shaw and Fusco telling them that he can't get in touch with Reese and asks them to find Carter and Reese. Shaw asks Finch why he can't just ask the Machine to find Reese, and Finch explains that he cannot communicate freely with the Machine. Shaw, however, tells Finch that Root can talk to the Machine. Finch visits Root, who is still being held in the library, Root deduces that Reese's number has come up and offers her help in finding him if Finch will let her go. Finch refuses citing that bad things happen when Root is involved. Root says that bad things will happen regardless of her involvement in this case and questions Finch on how many people Finch recruited before Reese. Finch doesn't answer and leaves Root in the Library.
Reese and Carter (with Quinn as their captive) steal an ambulance but run into a HR roadblock. Fusco shoots two HR cops to allow Reese and Carter to escape but is knocked out and captured by Simmons. Fusco is taken to a fortune cookie factory where he is tortured by Simmons and another HR cop in an attempt to get the location of the safety deposit box containing the evidence against HR. Fusco refuses to tell Simmons which bank the key belongs to, so Simmons breaks Fusco's fingers.
Meanwhile, Finch, aware that Fusco is missing, asks Shaw to find and rescue him. Shaw threatens an HR cop with activating a hand grenade unless he tells her where Fusco is. The cop pleads with Shaw, telling her that if he crosses Simmons his family will end up being killed, and Shaw relents and leaves the cop handcuffed to his car horn.
Reese, Carter, & Quinn are forced to take refuge inside the city morgue. Quinn says that Reese & Carter will never be able to escape HR's forces, and Reese stabs him in the neck with a sedative. Following Simmons' threatening to kill Lee, Fusco reveals what he claims to be the location of the safety deposit box. Simmons leaves to go to the location while another HR cop remains behind to guard Fusco. Reese and Carter take stock of what weapons they have to fight, and they begin to discuss how close they have come to dying. Carter says that when she was in the Army while on patrol with a Marine, she stepped on a landmine. John reveals that he was considering suicide until he ran into some thugs on the subway and was questioned by Carter. Reese says that he changed his mind because of her, and they kiss.
Simmons discovers that the bank Fusco lied, sending him to the wrong bank, and orders his men to kill Fusco and his son. The HR cop guarding Fusco allows him to speak to Lee one last time, and Fusco tells Lee it will be okay and that he loves him. A gunshot is then heard through the phone, and Fusco assumes Lee is dead and starts to cry. Shaw then tells Fusco that it will be okay, revealing that the gunshot actually came from her when she killed the HR cop who was about to kill Lee. Shaw explains that she thought HR might come after Lee so decided to protect him but realized that she wouldn't be able to save Fusco too. Fusco tells her she did the right thing and thanks her.
Finch brings breakfast for Root (at 4:00 AM). After giving Root her breakfast, he leaves to go find Carter and Reese. Root once again asks Finch to let her help him find Reese but Finch once again refuses. Root says she understands that Finch doesn't trust her and apologizes for Finch's loss.
Reese leaves the morgue through the air vent determined to buy Carter time to deliver Quinn into custody. Finch arrives at the morgue and attacks a guard. He contacts Carter through the morgue's loud speaker, and he tells her that she is now free to leave the morgue with Quinn. After a shootout with HR, Reese runs out of bullets and is arrested by honest cops.
Fusco manages to escape his handcuffs and kill the HR cop guarding him. Carter finally delivers Quinn to the police and is re-instituted as a detective. Carter meets with Finch and Carter reveals that she knows about the Machine, surmising that a computer with access to Government feeds is the only logical way for Reese and Finch to get the information they receive. Fusco watches Lee walking around after his hockey practice from his car. Shaw gets in and Fusco thanks her for saving Lee's life. Shaw brushes it off, telling Fusco to just drive.
Reese is freed from custody by Finch's lawyers as he and Carter talk about Carter's defeating HR (Quinn along with most of HR having been arrested earlier), but they note that they didn't yet catch Simmons. Simmons surprises them and shoots Reese and Carter and then flees. A wounded Reese tries to tend to a severely injured Carter. Carter asks Reese to take care of Taylor, and then she dies in John's arms as Finch watches in horror, and the Machine continues to call a ringing payphone.
Points of Interest
This episode closely mirrors the movie the Gauntlet where a cop has to cross a gauntlet of hundreds of cops to bring his prisoner to City Hall.
The publicity campaign for the episode arc which includes this episode was designed to lead viewers to believe Lionel Fusco was going to die in this episode. To help keep the secret, an alternate ending was filmed in which Fusco catches the bullet. Creator Jonathan Nolan referred to their efforts as "the big lie."
When Carter tells Finch that she has deduced that he is using a computer receiving government feeds to identify the people who need help, he confirms it, and the Machine acknowledges her deduction by assigning her a yellow box.
Root mentions to Finch that John was not his first "helper monkey" suggesting that Reese is not the first person to occupy the position he does now with Finch.
Finch mentions the axiom, "divide and conquer", which is a common interpretation of the Latin "Divida et Impera" which was said by Julius Caesar who began the Roman Empire. It refers to a military strategy where one side attempts to divide the opposing force into smaller units that can then be more easily defeated in battle. In common usage, it has become an expression for the process of breaking up any large problem into smaller, manageable units, or to separate allied people in order to win an argument. In computer programming, divide and conquer is a widely taught method of breaking a programming problem into manageable computing tasks.
At the precinct, Reese and Carter replay some of their dialog from when they first met.
Carter dies at the same spot where Finch's private security picked up Reese in the pilot.
After the shooting we see Reese and Carter on the ground through a camera but neither one has a box. This may be an indication that even the Machine has reacted to Carter's death.
This episode is the second of a three-episode "The Endgame" arc.
Reese and Carter's kiss was unscripted, and intended by the actors to be an expression of the depth of the connection between the two characters, rather than being romantic.
The ambulance (#502) they use to transport Quinn is the same one that Shaw robbed in “Razgovor” s3 e5.
Following Alonzo Quinn's capture at the hands of Reese and Carter, (“Endgame” s3 e8) Patrick Simmons kills judge Andrew Monahan to cover HR's tracks and orders the recovery of Quinn. Meanwhile, Fusco talks with his young son Lee. After he leaves Lee's room he runs into Shaw. She informs him that Reese & Carter need help getting past HR and bringing Quinn to the Federal building where they can hand him over to the FBI.
Finch receives several numbers from the Machine and realizes that all of them are merely aliases for Reese, whose number has come up. Finch contacts Reese, who is on a train along with Carter and Quinn, and tells him that every criminal hired by HR is now after him. Reese and Carter, along with Quinn, leave the train when it stops (after Reese takes down some men trying to kill him). Reese tries to contact Finch for help but Quinn destroys Reese's cell phone, leaving Carter and Reese with no choice but to continue on alone.
Finch calls Shaw and Fusco telling them that he can't get in touch with Reese and asks them to find Carter and Reese. Shaw asks Finch why he can't just ask the Machine to find Reese, and Finch explains that he cannot communicate freely with the Machine. Shaw, however, tells Finch that Root can talk to the Machine. Finch visits Root, who is still being held in the library, Root deduces that Reese's number has come up and offers her help in finding him if Finch will let her go. Finch refuses citing that bad things happen when Root is involved. Root says that bad things will happen regardless of her involvement in this case and questions Finch on how many people Finch recruited before Reese. Finch doesn't answer and leaves Root in the Library.
Reese and Carter (with Quinn as their captive) steal an ambulance but run into a HR roadblock. Fusco shoots two HR cops to allow Reese and Carter to escape but is knocked out and captured by Simmons. Fusco is taken to a fortune cookie factory where he is tortured by Simmons and another HR cop in an attempt to get the location of the safety deposit box containing the evidence against HR. Fusco refuses to tell Simmons which bank the key belongs to, so Simmons breaks Fusco's fingers.
Meanwhile, Finch, aware that Fusco is missing, asks Shaw to find and rescue him. Shaw threatens an HR cop with activating a hand grenade unless he tells her where Fusco is. The cop pleads with Shaw, telling her that if he crosses Simmons his family will end up being killed, and Shaw relents and leaves the cop handcuffed to his car horn.
Reese, Carter, & Quinn are forced to take refuge inside the city morgue. Quinn says that Reese & Carter will never be able to escape HR's forces, and Reese stabs him in the neck with a sedative. Following Simmons' threatening to kill Lee, Fusco reveals what he claims to be the location of the safety deposit box. Simmons leaves to go to the location while another HR cop remains behind to guard Fusco. Reese and Carter take stock of what weapons they have to fight, and they begin to discuss how close they have come to dying. Carter says that when she was in the Army while on patrol with a Marine, she stepped on a landmine. John reveals that he was considering suicide until he ran into some thugs on the subway and was questioned by Carter. Reese says that he changed his mind because of her, and they kiss.
Simmons discovers that the bank Fusco lied, sending him to the wrong bank, and orders his men to kill Fusco and his son. The HR cop guarding Fusco allows him to speak to Lee one last time, and Fusco tells Lee it will be okay and that he loves him. A gunshot is then heard through the phone, and Fusco assumes Lee is dead and starts to cry. Shaw then tells Fusco that it will be okay, revealing that the gunshot actually came from her when she killed the HR cop who was about to kill Lee. Shaw explains that she thought HR might come after Lee so decided to protect him but realized that she wouldn't be able to save Fusco too. Fusco tells her she did the right thing and thanks her.
Finch brings breakfast for Root (at 4:00 AM). After giving Root her breakfast, he leaves to go find Carter and Reese. Root once again asks Finch to let her help him find Reese but Finch once again refuses. Root says she understands that Finch doesn't trust her and apologizes for Finch's loss.
Reese leaves the morgue through the air vent determined to buy Carter time to deliver Quinn into custody. Finch arrives at the morgue and attacks a guard. He contacts Carter through the morgue's loud speaker, and he tells her that she is now free to leave the morgue with Quinn. After a shootout with HR, Reese runs out of bullets and is arrested by honest cops.
Fusco manages to escape his handcuffs and kill the HR cop guarding him. Carter finally delivers Quinn to the police and is re-instituted as a detective. Carter meets with Finch and Carter reveals that she knows about the Machine, surmising that a computer with access to Government feeds is the only logical way for Reese and Finch to get the information they receive. Fusco watches Lee walking around after his hockey practice from his car. Shaw gets in and Fusco thanks her for saving Lee's life. Shaw brushes it off, telling Fusco to just drive.
Reese is freed from custody by Finch's lawyers as he and Carter talk about Carter's defeating HR (Quinn along with most of HR having been arrested earlier), but they note that they didn't yet catch Simmons. Simmons surprises them and shoots Reese and Carter and then flees. A wounded Reese tries to tend to a severely injured Carter. Carter asks Reese to take care of Taylor, and then she dies in John's arms as Finch watches in horror, and the Machine continues to call a ringing payphone.
Points of Interest
This episode closely mirrors the movie the Gauntlet where a cop has to cross a gauntlet of hundreds of cops to bring his prisoner to City Hall.
The publicity campaign for the episode arc which includes this episode was designed to lead viewers to believe Lionel Fusco was going to die in this episode. To help keep the secret, an alternate ending was filmed in which Fusco catches the bullet. Creator Jonathan Nolan referred to their efforts as "the big lie."
When Carter tells Finch that she has deduced that he is using a computer receiving government feeds to identify the people who need help, he confirms it, and the Machine acknowledges her deduction by assigning her a yellow box.
Root mentions to Finch that John was not his first "helper monkey" suggesting that Reese is not the first person to occupy the position he does now with Finch.
Finch mentions the axiom, "divide and conquer", which is a common interpretation of the Latin "Divida et Impera" which was said by Julius Caesar who began the Roman Empire. It refers to a military strategy where one side attempts to divide the opposing force into smaller units that can then be more easily defeated in battle. In common usage, it has become an expression for the process of breaking up any large problem into smaller, manageable units, or to separate allied people in order to win an argument. In computer programming, divide and conquer is a widely taught method of breaking a programming problem into manageable computing tasks.
At the precinct, Reese and Carter replay some of their dialog from when they first met.
Carter dies at the same spot where Finch's private security picked up Reese in the pilot.
After the shooting we see Reese and Carter on the ground through a camera but neither one has a box. This may be an indication that even the Machine has reacted to Carter's death.
This episode is the second of a three-episode "The Endgame" arc.
Reese and Carter's kiss was unscripted, and intended by the actors to be an expression of the depth of the connection between the two characters, rather than being romantic.
The ambulance (#502) they use to transport Quinn is the same one that Shaw robbed in “Razgovor” s3 e5.
I remember watching this, a while after release and from afar, so without knowing about the publicity around the episode, and feeling sure that the danger to team POI was over after Fusco was saved. I found out later about Taraji Henson feeling under-utilised and wanting to leave, but at the time it felt like the show being willing to maintain a sense of jeopardy for the main cast that felt quite refreshing. Still packs a punch though...
posted by sarble at 3:59 AM on January 27 [1 favorite]
posted by sarble at 3:59 AM on January 27 [1 favorite]
The summary underplays (no offence to miss-lapin!) how much of a badass Fusco really is – after Simons breaks his fingers, Fusco breaks his own thumb to get out of the handcuffs.
Kevin Chapman also posted an ambiguous goodbye type tweet just before this episode... the scoundrel :)
That kiss came out of nowhere and felt unearned in terms of plot.
posted by techSupp0rt at 5:22 AM on January 27 [3 favorites]
Kevin Chapman also posted an ambiguous goodbye type tweet just before this episode... the scoundrel :)
That kiss came out of nowhere and felt unearned in terms of plot.
posted by techSupp0rt at 5:22 AM on January 27 [3 favorites]
I can see why Ms. Henson felt underutilized - it seems like they course-corrected while writing her exit. I thought her performance the morgue was quite moving. I was also jarred by ‘did I miss something?!?’ at the kiss - since we barely ever see any of these people touch each other outside of a medical setting. I think a kiss on the forehead or cheek or just a face-press cheek to cheek would have better expressed the connection they were going for.
posted by janell at 10:57 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]
posted by janell at 10:57 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]
That kiss came out of nowhere and felt unearned in terms of plot.
Very, very much so.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:30 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
Very, very much so.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:30 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
I've always wondered whether Henson getting that plum role on Empire was a happy coincidence or the actual reason she asked off of the show. It was certainly a better gig for her, in many ways, in any case.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:31 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:31 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
So, first-watch me did not know what was coming and the ending here was a total gut-punch: we spent the entire episode in the ratcheting tension of the running of the gauntlet; our team fucking wins; and then wham, no, there's a price to pay.
I was rather critical of the HR storyline in earlier episodes -- they spend a lot of time setting a lot of players on the board and it became hard to keep track of them all and hard to know if it was ever going to go anywhere. I do still think that storyline has been too long and too convoluted, but that it all pays off here in such a satisfying -- albeit tragic -- way does somewhat redeem it. It also underlined for me that generally, you can trust the show to know where it's going; that things are eventually going to pay off.
Fusco is a badass, but also: what a great performance from Kevin Chapman; he made it feel entirely believable, and heartbreaking, that Fusco was hearing his son die.
The kiss, yeah, WHAT THE FUCK. And also a bit of a side-eye too to the "you changed my mind, Joss" line. Like, c'mon, I still remember S1E1 and while Carter is kind to him -- she recognizes that he's a veteran and sympathetically offers help -- it's Harold giving the big "you need a purpose; more specifically you need a job" speech.
"Let's not pretend that John is your first helper monkey." They are so good at writing the Root/Harold scenes, and so good at using them to hold Harold responsible for his decisions.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:17 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
I was rather critical of the HR storyline in earlier episodes -- they spend a lot of time setting a lot of players on the board and it became hard to keep track of them all and hard to know if it was ever going to go anywhere. I do still think that storyline has been too long and too convoluted, but that it all pays off here in such a satisfying -- albeit tragic -- way does somewhat redeem it. It also underlined for me that generally, you can trust the show to know where it's going; that things are eventually going to pay off.
Fusco is a badass, but also: what a great performance from Kevin Chapman; he made it feel entirely believable, and heartbreaking, that Fusco was hearing his son die.
The kiss, yeah, WHAT THE FUCK. And also a bit of a side-eye too to the "you changed my mind, Joss" line. Like, c'mon, I still remember S1E1 and while Carter is kind to him -- she recognizes that he's a veteran and sympathetically offers help -- it's Harold giving the big "you need a purpose; more specifically you need a job" speech.
"Let's not pretend that John is your first helper monkey." They are so good at writing the Root/Harold scenes, and so good at using them to hold Harold responsible for his decisions.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:17 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
This managed to surprise me even on rewatch, it's been a few years and when the episode almost "ended" I started to doubt myself -- I had thought Carter died in this one.
Oh.
Yeah, the kiss was a bit much but I could read it as a platonic thing.
Fusco was awesome with the thumb-breaking scene.
posted by mmoncur at 12:45 AM on February 15 [1 favorite]
Oh.
Yeah, the kiss was a bit much but I could read it as a platonic thing.
Fusco was awesome with the thumb-breaking scene.
posted by mmoncur at 12:45 AM on February 15 [1 favorite]
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posted by porpoise at 6:51 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]