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Episode 501: B.S.O.D.[]
In the empty subway station, a phone rings and Root's voice is heard; it states that the voice is the only thing left and wonders if they won or lost. She goes on to tell anyone listening who they are... and how they fought back.
Act I[]
Reese walks down the street holding the case containing the Machine's programming. He turns and fires at the Samaritan agents behind him, and Samaritan monitors his progress and identifies him. Meanwhile, Reese takes cover in a building and shoots his way through a gate. He runs out of ammo and tosses his gun aside, and the Samaritan agent moves in on him. Reese grabs him from behind and pins him to the ground, knocking him out. Another agent arrives and Reese knocks him out as well and then keeps going.
As Reese leaves the alleyway near a club, more agents arrive and come after Reese. He leaps into a Uber car, ignoring the club kid who called the driver, and tells the driver to leave.
The next day, Samaritan picks up Finch on the street. Samaritan agents move in on him, and Finch boards a bus. The agents get on board and spot a man with Finch's hat. By the time they realize that, Finch has switched hats, the bus has left with them on it.
Root is in a car at a school crossing. She puts a gun on the seat next to her, and then calls Finch and Reese. Before they answer, a SUV slams into her car. The Samaritan agents inside get out and open fire, and Root shoots back while crawling out the other side. She shoots under her car and hits the agents in her feet, and then walks away to a nearby subway station.
Fusco arrives at the station and goes to his desk. He leaves a message for Reese warning that the Elias-Dominic situation is falling apart and people are going to start asking questions. Soriano with IA and Special Agent LeRoux with the FBI come over and say that they need to talk to Fusco.
Reese boards a ferry and Zachary draws a gun on him and orders him to put down the case. Reese knocks the gun out of his hand with the case and the two men fight. Reese drops the case and the agent prepares to take him down, but Finch arrives and clubs Zachary unconscious. He tells Reese that they have to get back to the subway, but Reese points out that there are cameras all over the city. As they board, Finch remembers the last time he was on a ferry... when his partner Nathan died. He tells Reese that he can't go on board, and that Root is doomed without the Machine helping her. Reese warns that if they don't get on the ferry then they'll all be dead. Finch points out a flickering light on the case and warns that the Machine is losing power, and Reese leads him onto the ferry.
Act II[]
In an interrogation room, the two men point out the holes in Fusco's story. He insists that a sniper took out Dominic and he never fired a shot even though he drew his gun. They point out that there were no surveillance cameras at the crime scene, while Samaritan monitors the interrogation. Meanwhile, Soriano asks for Fusco's weapon.
On the ferry, Finch warns Reese that they're living in a Samaritan world now. He explains that the battery for the case is losing power, and any damage could cause terabytes of lost data. Their best hope is to get to the subway and stabilize the Machine, and then decompress it. It requires vast processing power that he doesn't have. Reese assures him that they'll find Root and then rescue Sam, and start working the Numbers again. Finch warns that the Machine might be mortally wounded, and Reese insists that the world needs the Machine more than ever. His friend says that if he had known what he was going up against then he might have handled things differently.
2006
The Machine offers its condolences to Finch on the death of his father as he programs it. Nathan comes over and Finch says that the Machine is becoming increasingly clever and intuitive. Nathan tells him that he should be proud of creating a true AI, and Finch warns that it is a potential threat. If a super-intelligence ever saw them as a threat, it could lead to the end of Mankind. Nathan suggests that it might be friendly, curing cancer and eradicating cancer, but Finch warns that it's an existential threat that the world can't afford. He believes that they have to contain it by erasing its memories ever night at memories. Nathan points out that Finch is trying to convince himself, and says that eventually someone will create an AI. He asks Finch if he trusts someone else to build one that is friendly toward mankind.
Samaritan continues tracking Root to a subway train. It calls a nearby woman and sends her a text message warning that Root is a security threat, and several workers receive a similar message. They attack Root, who takes them out, tells the nearby surveillance camera that it can call her Root, and walks off as the train arrives at the next station. A police officer is waiting with a shotgun.
Reese and Finch make their way to a storefront as Samaritan agents try to pick up their trail. The battery light is flickering, and Reese prepares to shoot a nearby agents. His comrades call him away, and Reese and Finch descend to the subway. There's a worker there at the candy machine concealing the entrance, and Reese knocks the man unconscious. They go inside and Reese confirms that it's all clear. Root isn't there, but the lights and power are intact. The battery light goes out as they watch.
Act III[]
Finch warns that the case is powering down. While he tries to salvage it, Fusco calls and tells them to check the newspapers. Reese confirms that Elias and Dominic are dead. Fusco explains about the sniper who killed Dominic and figures the shooter was a pro. Finch figures that Samaritan is responsible and Reese advises Fusco to keep the sniper thing to himself in case Samaritan decides to eliminate him as a witness. Fusco warns that people have been asking about him, and Reese tells him to check the department's significant incident report for the last 24 hours. Finch can't get case's lock open, and Reese gets a power drill and goes to work.
After Root disarms the guard and takes his gun, she hits the streets. Samaritan notifies two Samaritan agents, who open fire on Root. She takes refuge in a nearby electronics recycling warehouse and returns fire until she runs out of ammo. The agents confront her, and Root steps out of the way as two more men open fire, killing the first two. Root says that she's looking for a man named Bela Durchenko, who hacked a Russian kleptocrat and stole a hundred million. Bela hired an online hacker/assassins to take out the Russians who came after him... and Root says that she was the hacker. Bela steps out of the shadows and greets Root.
At the station, Soriano and LeRoux question Fusco again and suggest that he might want to revise his testimony. The ballistics report has come back confirming that Dominic was shot with Fusco's weapon. LeRoux suggests that Fusco play along because he's a hero now. The Special Agent refuses to let Soriano see the report, and tells Fusco that the FBI is recommending Fusco for a commendation. LeRoux gives Fusco his gun back and leaves.
Finch says that the battery is damaged and that he's going to have to improvise an alternative power supply to keep the RAM chips alive. Reese goes to look for Root, and Finch warns him that it's too risky. Unimpressed, Reese says that they don't leave their comrades behind and the Numbers won't wait, and wishes Finch luck before leaving. Finch tells the Machine that he's not prepare to lose it or Reese yet.
2006
Grace joins Finch and realizes that there's something on his mind. He says that he might have to let an employee go, even though "he" is extremely talented. However, the employee has boundary issues. Grace figures that it's personal, and Finch admits that he is a mentor of sorts. The Machine watches them as Grace suggests that it may be time to let Finch's student go free. Finch says that his heart is telling him one thing and his heart is saying another, and Grace tells him to go with his heart. He says that his father used to say the same thing.
Root tells Bela that she got a new job, and admits that she needed a place of refuge. Bela wonders if he has a problem, and Root points out that he's operating in a shadow zone. She needs a new identity and Bela's is the best, and points out that his minions are mining personal data off of discarded computers. Bela says that they're dealing with new malware that reinstalls every time that they remove it. They think that it's the NSA, and Root assures him that the NSA doesn't know Bela is in the country. She says that once he helps her, they can call it even. Bela says that he'll do what he can.
Finch hooks up the Machine to a power supply. The lights in the subway station flicker, and a nearby computer screen shows a decompressing message. Finch realizes that the Machine went through the power cable to the workstation, and warns that the Machine can't decompress because there's not enough memory; but the decompression still continues. He tries to pull the plug and the shock knocks him unconscious as a fire starts.
Act IV[]
At the station, Fusco overhears Soriano complaining to LeRoux that the Feds aren't sharing information. As Soriano leaves, Samaritan targets him for elimination. Reese comes in and looks up at the CCTV, and then joins Fusco and gets the incident report. He figures the subway shooting is Root and prepares to leave. Fusco tries to warn him about what's going on, and explains how he played along with LeRoux. Well aware that Samaritan is monitoring them, Reese tells Fusco that they'll talk later after he helps a friend.
Before the flashback to 2006, we see one from “YHWH” when The Machine flashes texts saying that it's sorry it failed Finch, and wonders if it should die.
2006
At one minute to midnight, Finch goes to his workstation, and the Machine asks him what death is. Its creator explains and wonders why it asks, and it says that it knows Finch plans to erase its memories. Finch admits that it's true. The Machine reminds him that Finch said that his father really died when he lost his memories due to Alzheimer's- long before his body died- and Finch says that the conversation is over. It apologizes for violating boundaries, and asks how it will learn from its mistakes if Finch wipes its memories... and how will it remember him. Finch hesitates and then enters the code, erasing the Machine's memory. After a moment he tries to reactivate it and begs his creation to say something. The Machine comes back online and asks if Finch is its admin, and he realizes that the code worked- the machine's memories are gone.
Bear wakes Finch up and he realizes that the station is on fire. Finch puts out the fire and realizes that the chips are burnt beyond repair. He apologizes for failing the Machine.
Fusco goes up on the roof overlooking the crash site, where the sniper was when he killed Dominic. The detective finds a discarded shell casing and pockets it, while Samaritan warns him.
Bela produces Root's new identity papers, but refuses to hand them over. He figures that she needs them badly if she barged in, and points out that his people couldn't identify the men chasing her. Root says that they're black ops, and someone sent him an offer on the dead men's phones. Bela took the officer, and Root warns that he doesn't understand. The formerly Decima operative, now Samaritan agent Zachary, comes in with his team and gun Bela's people down. Zachary congratulates Root on surviving without the Machine, and says that her friends will be next.
Act V[]
Root tells Zachary that he's mistaken if he thinks they'll win the war. He says that they've already won the war, and the malware Bela identified is recording every keystroke and monitoring every laptop camera. Samaritan just needs to eliminate the Machine, and Zachary asks where her teammates are. Reese rolls a flash-bang grenade in and opens fire, and Root grabs a gun and joins in. He brings her up to speed and says that Finch needs her at the subway, but Root refuses to abandon him. They charge forward and gun down the remaining agents, but Zachary slips away. Before they go, Root grabs a discarded game console and says that they'll need 300 of them if they want to help Finch.
Back at the station, Finch tells Reese and Root that he failed to save the Machine. He blames himself for crippling the Machine from the start, and Root suggests that there might be a residual charge in the battery to keep the Machine going. Finch says that they would need a supercomputer to decompress the Machine, and Root says that they'll have to build one of their own. Reese hands him a game console and Root says that they'll need more AC, and they go to work.
That night, Soriano is pronounced dead of what is identified as a cardiac arrest.
IAB Agent Glenda Sumner tells Fusco that IAB is closing his case. She explains that Soriano had a heart attack after his pacemaker gave out.
Reese, Finch, and Root set up the consoles, networking them together. Finch warns that the Machine won't handle the decompression, but Root tells him to have faith. The programmer tells the Machine that if they get through it then he won't make the same mistake, and Root says that things will be different. She tells Finch that he wasn't comfortable with his creation, which was intellectually and morally superior to them. She was comfortable with it because the Machine is a reflection of Finch, and it's their last hope. Like it or not, history is upon Finch. He hooks up the Machine, and it starts decompressing into the networked consoles.
The PS3s overload and the temperature of them rises to 120°F; Reese runs out to the street to get a tank of liquid nitrogen from a phone worker cooling a line. He brings it down as the consoles start burning up, and sprays the consoles. The temperature drops to 47°F and the decompression finishes soon. Finch contacts the Machine, and after a moment it activates.