We have only three episodes left of “the final chapter” of PERSON OF INTEREST and the story couldn’t be getting more exciting or more dire. We lost two big characters last week. Who is next?
Last Monday, Shaw returned to New York City by way of the Mexico/Texas border and began killing off Samaritan agents, one by one, still unsure of what was reality and what was virtual after her mind-bending sessions with Samaritan. Root ran into her by accident while chasing Samaritan agents, and they re-established their relationship, returning Shaw to The Machine’s fold.
Reese and Fusco found themselves working together despite Fusco’s reluctance, thanks to the manipulation of a criminal mastermind from the past known as “The Voice.” He shut down the precinct to get to a thug there who had done work for him, but who had managed to identify him, holding that identity out as insurance for some future use. Reese and Fusco battled The Voice and gangs he had planted at the precinct, but in the end, The Voice killed the thug and got away. Well, The Voice didn’t get away entirely, because Finch and Elias, who had been trying to identify him on the outside, caught up with him, and Elias blew The Voice up in his car. Reese finally took Fusco aside and began filling him in on The Machine and Samaritan, giving Fusco the respect he deserved.
Last Tuesday was a bummer episode. Elias had come to see Reese and Finch as his last friends. Root was helping Shaw gain back her perspective. And then Finch made a fatal mistake that changed everyone’s lives. He absentmindedly had coffee at a shop he had forgotten was the first place he had taken his girlfriend so long ago — a place that Samaritan also associated with Finch. It became the beginning of a never-ending hunt to bring Finch in. The episode became one hit attempt after another with Reese, Fusco, Root, and Shaw all defending him. Finch went to Elias for help, and Elias mustered his considerable underworld resources, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. Samaritan killed Elias and took Finch away. Root and Shaw arrived in time to rescue Finch in another messy gun battle, Samaritan even bringing out an armored SUV with a mounted machine gun. Root whisked Finch away while Shaw kept the SUV busy. But then the chase was on. In the getaway, Root was shot — twice. The second time was fatal. They were caught in a police barricade and Finch was taken away in custody to a federal facility.
Earlier, Finch had locked down The Machine, but at Root’s urging Finch had given The Machine the ability to pick its own identity, have its own voice. As Finch was waiting to be escorted to a holding cell in the federal facility and agents were arguing over his custody, a nearby payphone rang. Finch answered it. The Machine used Root’s voice as its identity. Finch asked The Machine to set him free, and The Machine shut down the facility, allowing him to escape.
Elias and Root are down. It still leaves us Finch, Reese, Shaw, and Fusco, like old times. But Samaritan has the upper hand. Root had added a code that would let The Machine defend itself if Finch will allow it. Where does that take us?
We have solo weekly episodes Tuesdays now as we count down to the end. Tonight, Finch looks for ways to take on Samaritan on his own as he separates himself from the team and The Machine helps him out in the voice of the Root, while Reese, Shaw, and Fusco tackle a conspiracy and the Secret Service when the President of the United States becomes the next person of interest. That’s some mission!
See a sneak peek below and watch PERSON OF INTEREST tonight (June 7) at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS (U.S.) and CTV (Canada).
