Line #54 Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E01


1	'''Season 3, Episode 1''':
2	!Liberty
3
4	->''"Fleet Week! An annual deluge of drunken sailors that somehow does ''not'' qualify as a military attack."''
5	-->--'''Finch'''
6
7	It's Fleet Week in New York City, and with 6,000 sailors out on the town, it's all hands on deck for Team Machine to keep track of the latest number: Petty Officer Jack Salazar. Carter has been demoted to a patrol officer on account of the shooting incident in "Zero Day," and is helping Elias to stay hidden. Root, now a patient in a mental hospital under the pseudonym "Robin," is getting to know her psychiatrist and is arguing about her methodology with the Machine.
8
9	-----
10	!!Tropes present in this episode include:
11	* ActorAllusion: One of Shaw's [[DeadpanSnarker quips]] obliquely references Sarah Shahi's previous TV series, ''Series/FairlyLegal,'' in which she played a mediator:
12	-->'''Shaw:''' Hey Reese, no offense, but if the vigilante thing doesn't work out, I'm not really seeing a future for you in [[Series/FairlyLegal conflict resolution.]]
13	* AllMenArePerverts: Root reveals that her psychiatrist fantasizes online about having sex with several of his patients.
14	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Salazar predicts what moves are going to be made in the upcoming BarBrawl, in an attempt to avert it.
15	* BarBrawl: Notable if only for the fact that Reese actually wasn't involved for once, apart for being [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl gratuitously clobbered with a stool at one point]].
16	* BatmanColdOpen: The episode opens with Reese rescuing a POI from a van full of kidnappers. At the same time, Shaw is shown in her first case as an official member of Team Machine protecting a con man from killers sent by the family of his last victim.
17	* BatmanGambit: Elias knew something was going down at Maxim's shop so he had his lieutenant Marconi walk into the carnage left behind by Reese and Shaw in there to steal the diamonds ''and'' the money the Russians were planning to use to buy them.
18	* TheBigBoard: Carter has one in the back of her closet, diagramming her pursuit of HR.
19	* BigEater: Just based on this episode, Shaw seems to be one.
20	* BlackComedy: Shaw wounds a man as per Finch's ThouShaltNotKill policy, only for him to fall out the window to his death.
21	* BloodKnight: Shaw really enjoys combat.
22	-->'''Shaw:''' I would have taken a head shot, but Finch gets annoyed when I kill people.
23	* BombDisposal: Fusco has to remove a detonator from a large tank of propane before it's detonated remotely, despite no training in this matter. He digs out the fuse JustInTime.
24	* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: Only it's not enough.
25	* BookEnds: The episode opens with Reese grumbling that the numbers never say thank you after he saves their life. At the end, Jack does just that.
26	* BorrowedCatchphrase: Reese deadpans that he's "a very private person" to Finch.
27	* CameraSpoofing: Finch loops an image of Reese so he can leave while Fusco defuses the bomb.
28	* CasualDangerDialogue: Shaw snarks at Reese throughout the crisis.
29	* CassandraTruth: Root really is HearingVoices from a higher power.
30	* TheChosenOne: And even Root finds this scary.
31	* ClimacticMusic: "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone.
32	* ComeAlone: An EnforcedTrope. Knowing the Man in the Suit will turn up anyway, the Devildogs strap Salazar's friend to a bomb, which they will detonate if Reese leaves the room while Salazar gets a taxi to the real location.
33	* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Well it's not like Reese shot the hostage-takers including the driver which crashed the van.
34	* DealWithTheDevil: Carter has Elias hidden away, and not even Team Machine knows this. In exchange, Elias has agreed to lie low and is providing information on his enemies (the Russians and presumably HR) while seeking to manipulate events to his advantage.
35	* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Or do not cut off contact between an insane sociopath and the all-seeing AI she fervently worships.
36	* EnemyMine: Carter and Elias.
37	* EvilVersusEvil: The Russians shooting it out with the crooked Marines over the diamonds.
38	* FailedASpotCheck: The Cartel kidnappers are confused when they realize there's another masked man in the back of the van with them. Violence and HilarityEnsues.
39	* FreezeFrameBonus: At the very end of the episode, after Root's HannibalLecture, The Machine constructs a [[GeniusBonus Bayesian network]] [[http://images.wikia.com/pediaofinterest/images/f/f2/POI_0301_EndGraphic.png diagramming possible outcomes of its ongoing interaction with Root]].
40	** A branch of blue boxes estimates a 1.91% probability of Root becoming an Indigo asset.
41	** A yellow branch labeled "Asset Activation" estimates a 28.49% chance of her number coming up. Possible outcomes include "Aux_Admin" and "Marriage and Procreation", as well as a 12.64% chance that "Asset" (Reese or Shaw) dies, and another 62.79% chance that he gets captured.
42	** A red branch estimates a 34.98% probability of violence, which leads to a 78.06% probability that Dr. Carmichael dies, a 12.66% probability that "Admin" (Finch) dies, and a couple of other cheerful scenarios: 9.86% chance for a "Mass Casualty Event" ([[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E13 which the Machine is later seen to refer to relevant threats by]]) and 3.91% chance for a "[[Film/WarGames Global Thermonuclear War]]". Another red branch estimates a 12.51% chance that Root dies.
43	* GunAccessories: Shaw lampshades the importance of flash suppressors.
44	* HannibalLecture: Root gives her psychiatrist an epic one at the end, eliciting an OhCrap reaction from him when he realizes she knows things about him that nobody else does.
45	* HeadTurningBeauty: Carter gets a lot of appreciation from the [[HornySailors sex-starved squids]]. She's [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl not adverse to the attention]].
46	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Root states this when the psychiatrist says she will thank him one day for putting her in solitary confinement without access to technology.
47	* HumanShield: Fusco isn't happy when Shaw stands behind him firing GunsAkimbo past his head.
48	* [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Friend]][=/=]HostageForMacGuffin
49	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Shaw with the sniper rifle.
50	-->'''Shaw:''' In the arm through a brick wall in the dark....You're welcome.
51	** DestinationDefenestration: Subverted into this when the wounded man stumbles through the window to his death.
52	* InfractionDistraction: The Cuban cigars being smuggled actually conceal African diamonds.
53	* IronicEcho: In a CallBack to the Pilot episode, Reese tells Finch that he's "a very private person", and also snarks that he's 'a concerned third party'.
54	* InsistentTerminology:
55	-->'''Salazar:''' I'm not a jarhead, I'm a squid, but a tube steak like you doesn't get to call me either.
56	* ItIsDehumanizing: Averted with Root who refers to '[[MachineWorship God]]' using feminine pronouns.
57	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn[=/=]MediumAwareness: Scarface whistles along with Nina Simone as he walks out of the botched exchange with the diamonds ''and'' the cash.
58	* MacGuffin: An AK-47 memento from a Marine pirate raid. Turns out they were using it to smuggle back diamonds.
59	* MachineWorship: If we ever had doubt of her feelings before, now Root openly makes her faith clear.
60	-->"The truth is, God is 11 years old, that she was born on New Year's day, 2002, in Manhattan. The truth is that she's chosen me, and I don't know why yet, that for the first time in my life... [[AIIsACrapshoot I'm a little scared about what's gonna happen]]."
61	* MafiaPrincess: The man Shaw and Fusco saved seduced and robbed a girl who apparently asked her mobbed up father to kill him in retaliation.
62	* MexicanStandoff: Between Russians and Americans, which sure enough leads to mutually assured destruction.
63	* MasterOfDisguise: Fusco wearing a fake beard, posing as a Central Park carriage driver!
64	* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: Reese has a problem tracking down the POI among 6000 other squids.
65	* NoodleIncident: The Machine is sending out Relevant numbers too, with a newspaper headline about a policeman who [[ContrivedCoincidence just happened]] to find plutonium in the trunk of a car. Nice to know Northern Lights can be subtle when needed.
66	* NotHelpingYourCase: RJ asks if Fusco is with the Bomb Squad.
67	-->'''Fusco:''' Homicide. ''[RJ flinches]''
68	* NotMyDriver: The Devildogs throw Salazar in the trunk, only to find out Reese got to the car first.
69	* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Root and Shaw appear in the intro for the first time.
70	* PunkInTheTrunk: The Devildogs throw Salazar in the trunk, when kidnaping him. Fortunately for him, Reese had already stolen the car.
71	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Creator/{{CBS}} shifted the broadcast time of the show to follow after ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' and ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' for Season 3's original run, so the writers decided to set the premiere during Fleet Week as a nod to it.
72	* ReasoningWithGod: Root tells her psychiatrist that she's been arguing with 'God' (The Machine) about whether or not she is going to kill him.
73	* SmallNameBigEgo: Root's therapist. She puts him in his place though.
74	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Shaw vs. Reese. Shaw appears to be winning at this stage.
75	* SteelEardrums: The horses don't startle at all the gunfire near their ears. Fusco isn't happy, though.
76	* ThouShaltNotKill: Shaw chafes at Team Machine's restrictions.
77	* TokenEvilTeammate: Team Machine regard Shaw as this.
78	* TradingBarsForStripes: Salazar, and apparently Reese at one point in his life.
79	* VillainRespect: Scarface thanks Carter for saving Elias in "God Mode".
80	* VillainsOutShopping: Carter goes to Elias for the name of a diamond fence, and finds him sharing a nice home-cooked meal with Scarface.
81	* WakeUpFighting: Jack does this after getting shot, and immediately gets a gun to his head from Shaw.

Context Recap / PersonOfInterestS03E01