Person of Interest: Deus Ex Machina Rewatch
March 24, 2025 9:18 AM - Season 3, Episode 23 - Subscribe
The team takes desperate actions in its race to prevent their opponents' AI program Samaritan from coming online and making them its first targets. Meanwhile, the months-long battle with the anti-surveillance terrorist group Vigilance comes to a shocking conclusion.
New York City is in the midst of a total blackout, and Vigilance has kidnapped Greer, Finch, Senator Ross Garrison, Manuel Rivera, and Control. They are holding them at an undisclosed location, creating a mock trial and broadcasting it live across the world. Collier calls Rivera up on the stand and questions him about Northern Lights. Rivera stands up and begins screaming at Collier when he realizes that Collier has gotten his hands on Federal documents linking him to the Northern Lights Project, Collier shoots him dead.
Root has found Samaritan. She calls Shaw and orders her to go to 24th and 5th St with Reese and Hersh. Shaw can tell that Root is “about to go kamikaze” and she is concerned about her. Shaw sends Reese and Hersh to the location in the dark, and commandeers a pedestrian’s bicycle so that she can go check on Root.
Reese and Hersh arrive at the location, and NYPD officer Fusco meets them there. Fusco has no idea what trial they are talking about.
Root delivers seven more Samaritan servers to a lab. Then Shaw shows up and strangles one of the guards. They proceed to cut the computer chips out of the guards’ arms; they will need them to gain access to the building.
Collier calls Garrison up on trial, as he is still demanding to know who is in charge of Northern Lights. After questioning Garrison, Collier realizes that Control was the person who orchestrated Northern Lights. He tells Garrison to step down and orders Control up on the witness stand. Control informs him that as a sworn officer of the United States, she will not answer any questions. The mock jury finds Control guilty, as they are about to sentence her to death Finch jumps up and tells them to stop – he confesses that he made the Machine and he knows where it is.
Hersh and Reese find some members of Vigilance looting and pillaging NYC during the black out, they trick them into telling them where the court house is where Collier took Ross, Control, and Finch. Finch tells Collier he will tell him everything that he knows, as long as he lets everyone in the room go freely and unharmed.
Shaw and Root have made it into Samaritan’s main server room. Root informs her they are “inside a sleeping giant,” and instructs her not to wake it up.
Hersh and Reese arrive outside the courtroom and find six dead Vigilance members; someone else has beaten them to them. Hersh and Reese sneak into the court house. Vigilance knows their security has been breached and turns off all of the lights, a shootout follows. It turns out Greer’s men have arrived to save him. They wound Collier and take him hostage, but Finch begs Greer not to kill him. Greer reveals to Collier that his team hijacked his live feed, and the world didn't see it, they just tweaked the servers to make Vigilance think that millions of people were watching them. Greer reveals to Collier that he owns him and he recruited him. Greer started Vigilance. Finch and Collier are shocked.
Meanwhile Hersh has found a huge bomb in the basement while Reese is still being caught up in a shoot-out between some members of Vigilance. Finch, Greer, and Peter are safely up on top of a nearby building roof. Greer turns the power back on, and they watch the courthouse building explode. Hersh is killed in it. Greer then kills Collier. Reese arrives just in time to save Finch.
Garrison guarantees Greer that they will give Samaritan access to the government feeds.
Reese is tending to Finch’s wounds. Root calls him and tells him they need to leave the Library it isn't safe. She tells them there is an envelope in the desk with their new identities in it.
Root wasn't able to stop Samaritan, but she was able to put a blind-spot in the servers and create seven new identities for herself, Shaw, Reese, Finch, as well as Daniel Casey, Daizo, and Jason Greenfield, their three tech nerds so that they will not be in danger, and they all must go their separate ways and begin new lives.
In the meantime, with help of Samaritan's tracking, Greer's men and the NYPD hunt down and kill several Vigilance operatives.
Samaritan asks Greer what are his commands, and Greer responds that it is the other way round - what are Samaritan's commands. "Calculating Response" is displayed on Samaritan's screen.
Points of Interest
Control cites the 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to move the "trial" along. The sixth amendment sets out the rights of the accused in a criminal trial. They include the right to be informed of the charges against them as well as the right to a speedy trial, the right to an impartial jury of one's peers, the right to counsel, and the right to confront one's accuser.
Collier responds to Control that he, "knows the Bill of Rights." The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit government and establish states' rights. In the scene in the storage container, the Bill of Rights appears on the back wall, written in ink visible only in black light.
Finch's line, "Because I built it!" calls up his opening monologue, seen in most episodes.
The Machine's prediction of a mass casualty event, first mentioned in “Root Path (/)” s3 e17 as happening at [40.71448 / -74.00598], or near New York City Hall, occurred in this episode.
Garrison's testimony reinforces Greer's statement in “Death Benefit” s3 e20 that he became involved with Northern Lights in 2008 after its development. He was not involved in the early phases of the Machine.
At the end of the episode, Root's voice-over references Pandora's Box. The Greek myth of Pandora's Box tells the tale of an unopened box (sometimes a jar) that contains all the miseries of the world. It remains closed until the curious Pandora, the first woman on earth, opens it, releasing its contents. She quickly closes the box, leaving one small being, hope, behind. Pandora's box has become a metaphor for actions that have significant, negative and unexpected consequences, or which will cause nothing but trouble.
The photographs on the Library floor at the end of the episode are Wayne Kruger from “Nothing to Hide” s3 e2, Fermin Ordoñez from “C.O.D.” s2 e9, Patrick Simmons from “The Devil's Share” s3 e10, Ian Murphy from “Lady Killer” s3 e3, and Joss Carter. There are also print outs about Lifetrace and an article from The New York Journal.
Root's message to Harold paraphrases Number 6's quotes in The Prisoner (1967), "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!" and "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only that gives every thing its value." The American Crisis, Thomas Paine (1776)
"In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a God." Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2, William Shakespeare
Collier also used the DarkNet, previously mentioned by Finch in “C.O.D.” s2 e9, “Mors Praematura” s3 e6, and “RAM” s3 e16.
Vigilance uses satellite technology made by Rylatech to broadcast the trial all across the world.
Later, Greer tells Collier that the broadcast was watched by one person, and it was made to look as though millions were watching. The Machine detects this "transmission anomaly" right at the beginning of the episode, when she was searching for Finch.
Hersh's autopsy report is dated April 16, 2014. He died on April 15, 2014.
When leaving the Library, Reese can be seen carrying Plan B.
At the end of the episode, the dialog Root is referring to when Harold told John about the point about Pandora's box is in the extended version of the “Pilot”.
In retrospect, the graphics and overall design of the Season 3 opening sequence can be seen to be from Samaritan's point of view.
At the end of the episode, when Greer asks Samaritan what its commands are, Samaritan starts calculating its response when in the exact moment, the lyrics in Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)" are "We hope that you choke, that you choke." In “Dead Reckoning” s2 e13, Greer recruits Kara Stanton to work for him by using the tale of the mythical Titans as an analogy. He tells her that the Titans were so afraid of the new gods, their own children, that they ate them. The Titans were finally killed after their youngest child, Zeus, wrapped a boulder in his clothes right before his father would eat him, and watched as his father choked on it.
The courthouse is the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank on Chambers Street.
All blackout scenes were shot during the day with special effects added during post production. In old film vernacular, these are known as "day for night" shots, and can be identified by the actors' shadows.
The Vigilance member who is attacked by Bear is really Graubaer's Boker's trainer.
The idea to have Vigilance be a plot by Decima was thought up by Jonathan Nolan.
Michael Emerson provided solo commentary on the episode. He revealed comments that his wife, who plays his former fiancee Grace on the show, often has to explain the big picture to him because he gets lost in the details of an episode.
Emerson also describes the care with which Jim Caviezel deals with the terminology, weapons and combat methods Reese employs to be sure he is handling equipment accurately and looks authentic. Emerson also commented that special forces troops stop him in the airport to compliment the authenticity of the show's portrayal of that world.
To celebrate Person of Interest airing on Netflix starting September 1, 2015, IGN.com asked Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman to pick a few of their favorite episodes. Plageman picked "Deus Ex Machina" as one of his favorite episodes because when it was revealed that Vigilance was a plot by Decima, it takes your breath away, and makes people wonder what could be next.
Root's closing monologue:
"The Machine and I couldn't save the world. We had to settle for protecting the seven people who might be able to take it back, so we gave Samaritan a blind spot: seven key servers, that hard-codes it to ignore seven carefully crafted new identities. When the whole world is watched, filed, indexed, numbered, the only way to disappear is to appear, hiding our true identities inside a seemingly ordinary life. You're not a free man anymore, Harold. You're just a number. We have to become these people now, and if we don't, they'll find us, and they'll kill us. I'm sorry, Harold. I know it's not enough. A lot of people are gonna die, people who might've been able to help. Everything is changing. I don't know if it'll get better, but it's going to get worse. But the Machine asked me to tell you something before we part. You once told John the whole point of Pandora's Box is that once you've opened it, you can't close it again. She wanted me to remind you of how this story ends. When everything is over, when the worst has happened, there's still one thing left in Pandora's Box: hope."
New York City is in the midst of a total blackout, and Vigilance has kidnapped Greer, Finch, Senator Ross Garrison, Manuel Rivera, and Control. They are holding them at an undisclosed location, creating a mock trial and broadcasting it live across the world. Collier calls Rivera up on the stand and questions him about Northern Lights. Rivera stands up and begins screaming at Collier when he realizes that Collier has gotten his hands on Federal documents linking him to the Northern Lights Project, Collier shoots him dead.
Root has found Samaritan. She calls Shaw and orders her to go to 24th and 5th St with Reese and Hersh. Shaw can tell that Root is “about to go kamikaze” and she is concerned about her. Shaw sends Reese and Hersh to the location in the dark, and commandeers a pedestrian’s bicycle so that she can go check on Root.
Reese and Hersh arrive at the location, and NYPD officer Fusco meets them there. Fusco has no idea what trial they are talking about.
Root delivers seven more Samaritan servers to a lab. Then Shaw shows up and strangles one of the guards. They proceed to cut the computer chips out of the guards’ arms; they will need them to gain access to the building.
Collier calls Garrison up on trial, as he is still demanding to know who is in charge of Northern Lights. After questioning Garrison, Collier realizes that Control was the person who orchestrated Northern Lights. He tells Garrison to step down and orders Control up on the witness stand. Control informs him that as a sworn officer of the United States, she will not answer any questions. The mock jury finds Control guilty, as they are about to sentence her to death Finch jumps up and tells them to stop – he confesses that he made the Machine and he knows where it is.
Hersh and Reese find some members of Vigilance looting and pillaging NYC during the black out, they trick them into telling them where the court house is where Collier took Ross, Control, and Finch. Finch tells Collier he will tell him everything that he knows, as long as he lets everyone in the room go freely and unharmed.
Shaw and Root have made it into Samaritan’s main server room. Root informs her they are “inside a sleeping giant,” and instructs her not to wake it up.
Hersh and Reese arrive outside the courtroom and find six dead Vigilance members; someone else has beaten them to them. Hersh and Reese sneak into the court house. Vigilance knows their security has been breached and turns off all of the lights, a shootout follows. It turns out Greer’s men have arrived to save him. They wound Collier and take him hostage, but Finch begs Greer not to kill him. Greer reveals to Collier that his team hijacked his live feed, and the world didn't see it, they just tweaked the servers to make Vigilance think that millions of people were watching them. Greer reveals to Collier that he owns him and he recruited him. Greer started Vigilance. Finch and Collier are shocked.
Meanwhile Hersh has found a huge bomb in the basement while Reese is still being caught up in a shoot-out between some members of Vigilance. Finch, Greer, and Peter are safely up on top of a nearby building roof. Greer turns the power back on, and they watch the courthouse building explode. Hersh is killed in it. Greer then kills Collier. Reese arrives just in time to save Finch.
Garrison guarantees Greer that they will give Samaritan access to the government feeds.
Reese is tending to Finch’s wounds. Root calls him and tells him they need to leave the Library it isn't safe. She tells them there is an envelope in the desk with their new identities in it.
Root wasn't able to stop Samaritan, but she was able to put a blind-spot in the servers and create seven new identities for herself, Shaw, Reese, Finch, as well as Daniel Casey, Daizo, and Jason Greenfield, their three tech nerds so that they will not be in danger, and they all must go their separate ways and begin new lives.
In the meantime, with help of Samaritan's tracking, Greer's men and the NYPD hunt down and kill several Vigilance operatives.
Samaritan asks Greer what are his commands, and Greer responds that it is the other way round - what are Samaritan's commands. "Calculating Response" is displayed on Samaritan's screen.
Points of Interest
Control cites the 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to move the "trial" along. The sixth amendment sets out the rights of the accused in a criminal trial. They include the right to be informed of the charges against them as well as the right to a speedy trial, the right to an impartial jury of one's peers, the right to counsel, and the right to confront one's accuser.
Collier responds to Control that he, "knows the Bill of Rights." The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit government and establish states' rights. In the scene in the storage container, the Bill of Rights appears on the back wall, written in ink visible only in black light.
Finch's line, "Because I built it!" calls up his opening monologue, seen in most episodes.
The Machine's prediction of a mass casualty event, first mentioned in “Root Path (/)” s3 e17 as happening at [40.71448 / -74.00598], or near New York City Hall, occurred in this episode.
Garrison's testimony reinforces Greer's statement in “Death Benefit” s3 e20 that he became involved with Northern Lights in 2008 after its development. He was not involved in the early phases of the Machine.
At the end of the episode, Root's voice-over references Pandora's Box. The Greek myth of Pandora's Box tells the tale of an unopened box (sometimes a jar) that contains all the miseries of the world. It remains closed until the curious Pandora, the first woman on earth, opens it, releasing its contents. She quickly closes the box, leaving one small being, hope, behind. Pandora's box has become a metaphor for actions that have significant, negative and unexpected consequences, or which will cause nothing but trouble.
The photographs on the Library floor at the end of the episode are Wayne Kruger from “Nothing to Hide” s3 e2, Fermin Ordoñez from “C.O.D.” s2 e9, Patrick Simmons from “The Devil's Share” s3 e10, Ian Murphy from “Lady Killer” s3 e3, and Joss Carter. There are also print outs about Lifetrace and an article from The New York Journal.
Root's message to Harold paraphrases Number 6's quotes in The Prisoner (1967), "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!" and "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only that gives every thing its value." The American Crisis, Thomas Paine (1776)
"In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a God." Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2, William Shakespeare
Collier also used the DarkNet, previously mentioned by Finch in “C.O.D.” s2 e9, “Mors Praematura” s3 e6, and “RAM” s3 e16.
Vigilance uses satellite technology made by Rylatech to broadcast the trial all across the world.
Later, Greer tells Collier that the broadcast was watched by one person, and it was made to look as though millions were watching. The Machine detects this "transmission anomaly" right at the beginning of the episode, when she was searching for Finch.
Hersh's autopsy report is dated April 16, 2014. He died on April 15, 2014.
When leaving the Library, Reese can be seen carrying Plan B.
At the end of the episode, the dialog Root is referring to when Harold told John about the point about Pandora's box is in the extended version of the “Pilot”.
In retrospect, the graphics and overall design of the Season 3 opening sequence can be seen to be from Samaritan's point of view.
At the end of the episode, when Greer asks Samaritan what its commands are, Samaritan starts calculating its response when in the exact moment, the lyrics in Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)" are "We hope that you choke, that you choke." In “Dead Reckoning” s2 e13, Greer recruits Kara Stanton to work for him by using the tale of the mythical Titans as an analogy. He tells her that the Titans were so afraid of the new gods, their own children, that they ate them. The Titans were finally killed after their youngest child, Zeus, wrapped a boulder in his clothes right before his father would eat him, and watched as his father choked on it.
The courthouse is the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank on Chambers Street.
All blackout scenes were shot during the day with special effects added during post production. In old film vernacular, these are known as "day for night" shots, and can be identified by the actors' shadows.
The Vigilance member who is attacked by Bear is really Graubaer's Boker's trainer.
The idea to have Vigilance be a plot by Decima was thought up by Jonathan Nolan.
Michael Emerson provided solo commentary on the episode. He revealed comments that his wife, who plays his former fiancee Grace on the show, often has to explain the big picture to him because he gets lost in the details of an episode.
Emerson also describes the care with which Jim Caviezel deals with the terminology, weapons and combat methods Reese employs to be sure he is handling equipment accurately and looks authentic. Emerson also commented that special forces troops stop him in the airport to compliment the authenticity of the show's portrayal of that world.
To celebrate Person of Interest airing on Netflix starting September 1, 2015, IGN.com asked Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman to pick a few of their favorite episodes. Plageman picked "Deus Ex Machina" as one of his favorite episodes because when it was revealed that Vigilance was a plot by Decima, it takes your breath away, and makes people wonder what could be next.
Root's closing monologue:
"The Machine and I couldn't save the world. We had to settle for protecting the seven people who might be able to take it back, so we gave Samaritan a blind spot: seven key servers, that hard-codes it to ignore seven carefully crafted new identities. When the whole world is watched, filed, indexed, numbered, the only way to disappear is to appear, hiding our true identities inside a seemingly ordinary life. You're not a free man anymore, Harold. You're just a number. We have to become these people now, and if we don't, they'll find us, and they'll kill us. I'm sorry, Harold. I know it's not enough. A lot of people are gonna die, people who might've been able to help. Everything is changing. I don't know if it'll get better, but it's going to get worse. But the Machine asked me to tell you something before we part. You once told John the whole point of Pandora's Box is that once you've opened it, you can't close it again. She wanted me to remind you of how this story ends. When everything is over, when the worst has happened, there's still one thing left in Pandora's Box: hope."
The reveal that Collier is just a pawn for Samaritan is so devastating. That all this time he's been unwittingly working for the very thing he hates. Right in the heart.
posted by miss-lapin at 10:50 AM on March 24
posted by miss-lapin at 10:50 AM on March 24
Oh I am so far behind in commenting now, but yes: love the multiple Prisoner references here:
When the whole world is watched, filed, indexed, numbered, the only way to disappear is to appear, hiding our true identities inside a seemingly ordinary life. You're not a free man anymore, Harold. You're just a number.
And that they're slant references: "watched, filed, indexed, numbered" is just similar enough in theme and cadence to make you wonder "that's a deliberate allusion, right?" and then in the next sentence: Six's declaration inverted.
I remember being rather confused by Root hiding seven identities from Samaritan: mentally counting off our main characters and coming up short -- Fusco? but that's still only five?. The wiki says that the extra three are Root's ragtag hackers; I don't think that's at all clear from the episode; and it seemed like their arcs were fully done in the previous episode.
(Oh, and as this is marked as rewatch I guess I don't need to hide this behind a spoiler tag: if I'm remembering right, those three characters don't ever recur in subsequent episodes? Maybe they were just keeping their options open here, and/or maybe they were dropping a quiet note that Root looks after her people; growth.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:52 PM on March 24 [1 favorite]
When the whole world is watched, filed, indexed, numbered, the only way to disappear is to appear, hiding our true identities inside a seemingly ordinary life. You're not a free man anymore, Harold. You're just a number.
And that they're slant references: "watched, filed, indexed, numbered" is just similar enough in theme and cadence to make you wonder "that's a deliberate allusion, right?" and then in the next sentence: Six's declaration inverted.
I remember being rather confused by Root hiding seven identities from Samaritan: mentally counting off our main characters and coming up short -- Fusco? but that's still only five?. The wiki says that the extra three are Root's ragtag hackers; I don't think that's at all clear from the episode; and it seemed like their arcs were fully done in the previous episode.
(Oh, and as this is marked as rewatch I guess I don't need to hide this behind a spoiler tag: if I'm remembering right, those three characters don't ever recur in subsequent episodes? Maybe they were just keeping their options open here, and/or maybe they were dropping a quiet note that Root looks after her people; growth.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:52 PM on March 24 [1 favorite]
Hersh: "They're Decima. They'll go out the window before they'll talk."
So convenient.
Oof. Yeah, strong chilling season finale as Samaritan spreads.
Reese: "First times the worst, eh?"
Finch: "Why would you ever choose a career where this was an occupational hazard?"
Reese: "Well, I tried to quit - but some jackass told me I needed a purpose."
Root: "This was never about winning, it's just about surviving."
if I'm remembering right, those three characters don't ever recur in subsequent episodes?
Yeah, at least they went more nobly than 'The Lone Gunmen'.
posted by porpoise at 7:44 PM on March 24 [1 favorite]
So convenient.
Oof. Yeah, strong chilling season finale as Samaritan spreads.
Reese: "First times the worst, eh?"
Finch: "Why would you ever choose a career where this was an occupational hazard?"
Reese: "Well, I tried to quit - but some jackass told me I needed a purpose."
Root: "This was never about winning, it's just about surviving."
if I'm remembering right, those three characters don't ever recur in subsequent episodes?
Yeah, at least they went more nobly than 'The Lone Gunmen'.
posted by porpoise at 7:44 PM on March 24 [1 favorite]
Goodby Hersh :-/
He always did whatever needed to be done.
Here's to those who do whatever comes next, no matter how difficult it is:
.
posted by techSupp0rt at 1:16 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
He always did whatever needed to be done.
Here's to those who do whatever comes next, no matter how difficult it is:
.
posted by techSupp0rt at 1:16 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
Sure, Hope is the last thing to come out of the box. But, on a bleaker note, hope is also the last thing to go.
posted by techSupp0rt at 1:17 PM on March 25
posted by techSupp0rt at 1:17 PM on March 25
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posted by janell at 10:22 AM on March 24 [1 favorite]