Recap / Person Of Interest S 04 E 03

Season 4, Episode 3

Wingman

Fusco: I think I know who's gonna kill our guy.
Shaw: Who?
Fusco: Me.

Fusco goes under cover as the client of Andre Cooper, a "professional social liaison" (pickup artist) whose past is catching up with him. Meanwhile, Root takes Finch on a "scavenger hunt" that finds him buying an anti-tank missile on the black market.

• Animal Motifs/Theme Naming: "Harold Egret".
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: A death threat Cooper received from a disgruntled former client ends, "And I'm giving you a bad Yelp review!"
• Batman Gambit: "She knows you so well, Harold."
• Benevolent A.I.: The Machine is this, even after being replaced by Samaritan.
  Finch: I take it these men will just continue to sell munitions on the black market.
  Root: Have a little faith, Harry. [cue police sirens] You see? She's still doing her job, Harold. Always watching.
• Borrowed Catch Phrase: Fusco gets to use one of Reese's ("Concerned third party."), and Root borrows one from Finch ("I'm sure we'll think of something.").
• Breather Episode: Confirmed by Kevin Chapman and, by extension, Amanda Segel to be a more light-hearted episode in the midst of the heavy Samaritan arc.
• Briefcase Full of Money: After Root takes out the Latvian mob, she and Harold end up in possession of their two large duffel bags full of untraceable money (along with a lot of firepower).
• Brick Joke: Turns out Fusco got the phone number of the woman in the art gallery after all.
• The Bus Came Back: In a sense, the Machine. This is the first episode since "Deus Ex Machina" to feature the Machine's point of view.
• By-the-Book Cop: Reese's subplot is about him learning to be this.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The cufflinks Fusco was complaining about are used to pick the lock on his handcuffs.
  • Reese pretends to buy an imitation handbag off the street vender while bribing him, and gives it to his captain later to butter her up.
  • At the end of the episode, Finch asks what they should do with the anti-tank missile they bought. Roots just smirks. "I'm sure we'll think of something."
• The Chessmaster: The Machine, again.
• Combat Stilettos: Shaw fights a mook, and then kicks off her pumps.
• Continuity Nod: The captain complains that homicides have gone up 20% in the past two months, no doubt due to Team Machine being temporarily put out of business.
• Cowboy Cop: Reese, and it should be noted that his supposedly by-the-book superior isn't bothered by the suggestion that he's getting some of his information illegally, as long as the cases are solved.
• Da Chief: Subverted; Reese soon wins his captain over, and the two end up playing this trope in a Perp Sweating gambit.
• Deadpan Snarker: Andre's comments show Fusco's wardrobe no mercy, leading to the exchange quoted above.
  • Meanwhile, the rest of Team Machine are snarking with full force in this more light-hearted episode.
  Shaw: What, did you shoot somebody else?
  Finch:You have to be more careful, John. The identities that The Machine created for us are precious commodities not to be taken for granted.
  Reese: It was hot out.
  • Finch and Root, as per usual.
  Finch: Are you feeling a little exposed, having an anti-tank weapon in our possession in the middle of Manhattan, or is it just me?
  Root: Samaritan isn't going to be looking for a college professor with an AT4.
• Death Glare: Finch does his best when trying to face down arms dealers.
• Dueling Hackers: Look closely at the scene transitions; you can see the Machine's and Samaritan's icons jockeying across the various information feeds.
• Does Not Like Guns: Finch is hilariously out of place playing an Arms Dealer, and clearly doesn't like the implications of the arsenal they've now assembled.
• Fish out of Water: A whole school of them.
  • Finch playing the part of a legendary badass mercenary and arms dealer.
  • Fusco in an art gallery trying to pick up women.
  • Reese as a By-the-Book Cop.
  • Shaw sitting at the computer.
• Five-Finger Discount: Faced with the problem of acquiring funds without access to Finch's bank accounts, the Machine solves the problem by having them steal untraceable money from the Latvian mob.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Implied to be The Brotherhood, as Andre chews out his friend for making a deal with "a criminal street gang".
• Improbable Aiming Skills:
  • Reese hits a perp who's half a block away, running, in the back of the leg, with one shot from a pistol.
  • Root kneecaps four mobsters with Guns Akimbo.
• Kavorka Man: Andre has an Oh, Crap! on seeing Fusco, but clearly some of the lessons came across.
• Knee-capping:
  Captain: The guy's probably gonna need crutches for the rest of his life. What is that, the third or fourth guy you kneecapped this month, Riley?
  Reese: Fourth, ma'am.
  Captain: I suppose I should give you points for being such a good shot.
  • On seeing that the Latvians have been kneecapped (by Root), the captain makes a quip that Reese might be responsible.
• Moral Event Horizon: invokedFinch refuses to cross it by selling the missile to the Latvian mob. The Machine expected as much.
• Must Have Nicotine: There's a Running Gag over the captain using a nicotine patch.
• No Hero to His Valet: As the Man in a Suit, Reese is a badass Vigilante Man. As a cop, he's real frustrating to have as a partner.
• Oblivious Mockery: Andre tells Fusco he needs new shoes, as they make him look like a cop.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Fusco uses this as an excuse for not telling Andre he was a cop; as cops don't need wingmen to help them pick up women, he'd "eat shit for the rest of his life" if it came out.
• Sherlock Scan: Reese does this to his captain, who dismisses it as a parlour trick (to be fair, so did the actual Sherlock Holmes).
• Sinister Surveillance: In addition to the usual AI shenanigans, Reese and Shaw track down the perps using Reese's pass to Domain Awareness:
  Reese: Thanks to Big Brother, we can be watching too!
• The Triple: Finch is worried about being caught with an anti-tank missile.
  Finch: It's not Samaritan I'm worried about.
  Root: Then who?
  Finch: Homeland Security. NYPD. An errant meter maid.
• Perp Sweating: Reese solves a case by playing two co-conspirators against each other in a classic "prisoners' dilemma" scenario.
• Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere: Fusco and Andre are locked in a shipping crate to die, likely of heat exhaustion.
• Tranquil Fury: Finch's "Harold Egret" persona turns this up to eleven.
  "...I have only two modes, Jerry: calm and furious. It's a rare person that sees the latter and lives to talk about it."
• What the Hell, Hero?: Fusco is not at all pleased with Reese's cavalier attitude towards being a cop. Reese just regards it as his cover identity, but to Fusco it's his job and worth taking seriously.
• Who Are You?: Fusco gives the "concerned third party" answer.
• Working the Same Case: Reese can't go to save Fusco because he's working a case assigned by his captain. It turns out to be related.