S2 >>
Person of Interest -- Season 1 (Flashbacks in parentheses)
#01 "Pilot" (Reese)	#09 "Get Carter" (Carter)	#17 "Baby Blue"
#02 "Ghosts" (Finch)	#10 "Number Crunch"	#18 "Identity Crisis"
#03 "Mission Creep" (Reese)	#11 "Super" (Finch)	#19 "Flesh and Blood" (Elias)
#04 "Cura Te Ipsum"	#12 "Legacy"	#20 "Matsya Nyaya" (Reese)
#05 "Judgment"	#13 "Root Cause"	#21 "Many Happy Returns" (Reese)
#06 "The Fix"	#14 "Wolf and Cub"	#22 "No Good Deed" (Finch)
#07 "Witness"	#15 "Blue Code" (Reese)	#23 "Firewall"
#08 "Foe" (Reese)	#16 "Risk"

"Ghosts" is the second episode in Season 1, and overall the second produced hour of Person of Interest. It originally aired on September 29, 2011.

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 2002 1.1.1 June 10 1.2 2007 1.3 2011 1.3.1 September 2 Trivia 3 Production notes 3.1 Bloopers and continuity errors 3.2 Music 4 Analysis 4.1 Themes 4.2 Cultural references 4.3 Literary techniques 5 Quotes 6 Clips 7 References

SynopsisEdit

2002Edit

June 10Edit

Ingram reaches an abandoned floor of a building, finding Finch running on a treadmill. Ingram hands Finch a trophy, and notices an early version of the Machine, with Finch noting that it receives government feeds from NSA, including mail, phone calls and surveillance cameras. While this prototype only covers New York, Finch claims he is trying to "teach" the Machine how to track people, and sort them according to the information. A map of the city is shown, with every person represented by a moving square.

2007Edit

Ingram, who is revealed to be Finch's co-builder of the Machine, is shocked when he finds out that Finch taught the Machine to ignore "irrelevant" crimes, with only eight people knowing about the Machine. After explaining that the Machine deletes the irrelevant crimes every night at midnight, he exclaims that the machine was not built to save "somebody," but rather "everybody." The face of Jessica Arndt showed up as a victim before Finch shut off the monitors.

2011Edit

SeptemberEdit

In an elevator, Bill, on his way to his lover's place, is approached by Reese, who informs him that the two men standing behind them are hit men who were sent by his wife to kill him because he was cheating on her. Before they can strike Reese intervenes and puts them out of action by shooting them in the legs so that "they can never play golf again". Carter is later called to the scene, because according to Bill's statement "some gentleman in a suit" was involved.

Following a bitter exchange, where Finch reminds Reese that he is in charge, the Machine supplies the two with the Social Security number of Theresa Whitaker, a 15-year old girl who was supposedly deceased, along with her entire murdered family. At a harbor, Finch reveals that Theresa's father shot his wife and kids, and according to the police, committed suicide soon after. The bodies were found at the harbor, though Theresa's is still missing.

Fusco is surprised to find Reese at the police department, learning that Reese uses Detective Stills' badge. Reese demands Theresa's file. Back at Finch's library, after watching a news footage following the murder, Reese concludes it was a professional job. While Reese sets out to find if Theresa is hiding with a friend, Finch poses as an insurance agent and visits Theresa's aunt, Elizabeth. Finch learns the family buried an empty coffin, and her ex-husband and Theresa's uncle, Derek, never got over the murder. She gives Finch Derek's old cellphone number.

At the Washington Square Park, Reese confronts Theresa's friend, who is reluctant to help. After pairing the two cellphones, Reese spots Theresa. After a short chase, Theresa's slices Reese's hand with a switchblade.

In an office building, Finch is making his way to the cubicle, while being greeted by fellow employees with "Harold." Finch is surprised to find Reese waiting for him; it seems as if Finch has been working in this company for the past 17 years, with none of the employees knowing that Finch owns the company. Reese shares his experience at the Park, revealing that Theresa is making a living by using a skimmer machine that she uses on ATMs. Realizing that Derek is hiding from creditors, Reese seeks out the hitman that killed Theresa's family.

Reese tracks down Solnick, the killer of Theresa's family, who is serving a life-sentence. He claims he spared Theresa since he does not kill kids, and reveals he was paid in cash by an unnamed man.

Reese finds Theresa at a laundromat, where they are both attacked by a hit man, nicknamed IRS. After a short struggle that ends with IRS getting shot by Reese, Theresa agrees to join Reese and stay at his safe house. At a hotel room, Reese leaves Theresa with Finch. Reese finds Derek, who retells the story behind the family's murder, revealing that Theresa's father's assets were supposed to be turned over to Derek. Derek, on his part, brought in Landale, a third party, though eventually the deal went bad. Landale ordered the murder of Theresa's father in order to reclaim his money, and kept Derek alive long enough so he could sign over the valuable assets. Turn out, though, that the legal heir to the land property is Theresa, hence why she is wanted dead. At his house, Derek is shot by IRS after refusing to divulge Theresa's current location. At the scene of the crime, Carter declares they must locate the girl.

After Theresa's failed call to her aunt, whom Finch reveals loves her and misses her, IRS tracks the call to the hotel. Reese tracks Calhoun, Landale's representative, who receives a message that "package lost and found." Reese crashes a semi-truck into Calhoun's car, and finds out that it is too late, as IRS is on his way. Reese warns Finch and Theresa to escape, though IRS is already on their floor. They are cornered by IRS, who is shot down at the last second by Reese.

Reese calls Detective Carter, announcing it is time for them to meet, Back at the Washington Square Park, Carter discovered Theresa, who tells her "her friend" told her Carter is trustworthy. Across the street, Reese and Finch watch them, before walking their separate ways. Following Calhoun's arrest, Theresa's questioning regarding Reese is cut short with Elizabeth's arrival, and the tearful reunion.

Back at Finch's empty cubicle, Reese discovers "Harold" is gone for no reason. Meanwhile, at the company's lobby, Finch dispenses of his belongings and calls Reese, informing him he is a very private person, for his own personal reasons. Reiterating that he will be the one making the calls, Finch exists the building, with a bust of the company's Founder coming into view, resembling Finch's partner, Ingram. Under the title of The Founder, the dates of his life are listed as 1962 - 2010.

TriviaEdit

• For the first time, Finch's given name of "Harold" is used. His fellow employees call him "Harold," and Reese uses the name as well. There's no reason to believe that it is his real name.
• Interview notes collected by Maxine Angelis in her search for the man in a suit ("Bury the Lede") confirm that Reese in fact did not kill the assassins in the elevator but only kneecapped them, as implied by Detective Terney.

Production notesEdit

• Starting with this episode, a new opening is used. The opening features previously seen moments from "Pilot", this episode, and "Mission Creep", with Michael Emerson's voice over.

Bloopers and continuity errorsEdit

• According to a security camera, the events of this episode start on September 22, 2011. This was also the premiere date of "Pilot".
• In the last scene when John is calling Finch, it's not raining in the shoot of John (we can see it from the clean window); while it is raining when Finch leaves the building.

MusicEdit

• "The Truth" by Handsome Boy Modeling School - End of episode.

AnalysisEdit

ThemesEdit

• Trust
• Double-life

Cultural referencesEdit

• Michael Emerson (Finch) and Brett Cullen (Ingram) appeared together on Lost as members of The Others. Emerson's Benjamin Linus was jealous of Cullen's Goodwin, and sent him on a mission that led to his death.
• Brett Cullen appeared in creator Jonathan Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" in 2012 & Ritchie Coster (IRS) had played a Russian gangster in Nolan's "The Dark Knight" in 2008.

Literary techniquesEdit

QuotesEdit

"You knew what we were building here. This thing looks for plotters, schemers. We built it to stop terrorists before they could act." -Finch

ClipsEdit

ReferencesEdit

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