Recap / Person Of Interest S 04 E 14

Season 4, Episode 14

Guilty

But can you imagine how that would feel? To know that something bad was gonna happen and that it was your fault if it doesn’t get stopped?

—Emma Blake

With Shaw missing and presumed dead, and Root suffering a Heroic BSoD, Finch's Secret Identity is called up for Jury Duty, where he encounters this week's number. Meanwhile, Reese begins to open up to his therapist and crosses paths with an old friend.

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• Accidental Truth:
  Zoe, to Finch: What are you, from the Midwest or something? (Oh, Crap! from Finch)
• Alpha Bitch: Zoe calls one of the jurors this.
  Reese: She seems like a pain in the ass.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Reese and Zoe test each other's skills on reading a couple of jurors. Zoe wins.
• Betty and Veronica: A mild version with Iris vs. Zoe; who predicts that whoever her rival is, her relationship with John won't last.
• Book Ends: Opens and closes with Finch and Reese discussing their current situation in the same diner.
• Breather Episode: After several episodes dealing with the Myth Arc of Samaritan and the search for Shaw, this episode is a much simpler, self-contained story in the style of the first two procedural-heavy seasons (especially the first). It is also notable in being the first and only episode in the series to not feature a single gun being fired.
• The Bus Came Back: Zoe.
• Call-Back:
  • Like Reese's plane flight in "4C," the Machine manipulates things to get Finch placed on the jury with Emma.
  • Reese refers back to Finch telling him in the pilot that their work with the Machine will eventually get them both killed, and says their recent losses are even worse.
• Cassandra Gambit: Subverted; Harold tries to get out of jury duty with this. It almost works, getting him named as the first alternate. Then the Machine volunteers him by getting rid of a juror.
  Finch: No, I can't think of anything that would prejudice me in this case. I mean, except for the larger issues with our government.
  Prosecutor: "Issues?"
  Finch: [scoffs] Well, one can't really call it "government of the people, by the people", can one?
  [The prosecutor and judge look confused]
  Finch: Because we're all being watched by an intelligent supercomputer that's slowly but surely taking over the world.
• Continuity Nod:
  • At the beginning of the episode, Reese and Finch talk about the backlog of numbers they missed while fighting the war with Samaritan and searching for Shaw.
  • Dominic is hypothesised as the cause of the kidnappings discussed at the beginning.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Inverted. Harold does not like it when John calls him "Harry."
• Driven to Suicide: Emma, almost, because Harold's life is at stake. Finch talks her down.
• Embarrassing Ringtone: When it looks like Finch won't be selected, the Machine sets off the cellphone of an already selected juror, causing it to play MC Hammer's "Can't touch this". The juror is sent off protesting that the song isn't even what he selected for his ringtone.
• Everyone Knows Morse: After the jury is sequestered, Finch and Reese use Morse code to communicate.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Subverted. Cell phone towers which produce debilitating but non-lethal radiation sounds exactly like something Samaritan would use in its goal to control people. Plus, the murder, cover-up, and jury rigging also ring of Samaritan as well. It turns out that the plot isn't Samaritan-related at all.
• Hollywood Hacking: Finch tries hacking into the database to show he's been dismissed for jury duty, and is puzzled as to why it keeps rejecting his changes.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • Finch is rehearsing how to sway the jury towards a guilty verdict. Taking the opposing viewpoint, Reese argues that the cell phone evidence could have been faked. "I've got a friend who could do it." Said friend gripes, "Now that's just cheating."
  • Zoe in the same scene. "This isn't rational science, it's law. Rational thought doesn't apply."
• I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Used as a threat to keep Emma in line.
• Jury and Witness Tampering: The plot of the episode.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • Attempted. Rather than bring Fusco into the masquerade, Finch and Reese try to sideline him. Fusco insists that they keep working together.
  • The Machine initially does not inform Finch that his jury summons is not a coincidence and that it needs him on the jury. It only gives Reese the new number once the jury has been selected. It is unclear if the Machine kept them in the dark because it initially did not know which juror was being targeted or if it had other reasons.
• Never Suicide: The real killer attempts to invoke this with Finch. Good thing Reese arrives Just in Time.
• Never Trust a Trailer: One of the previews shows Finch in a flashback, and Reese and Iris walking down a street. Neither were in this episode.
• "No Talking or Phones" Warning: The Machine uses this to remove a juror so Finch can take his place.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Reese turns down a night with Zoe, who instantly realizes he's interested in someone else.
• Quit Your Whining: Fusco to Reese regarding his attempts to shut him out.
  "You don't get to decide what or who I'm willing to die for. I made that choice a long time ago. So stop shutting me out."
• Rogue Juror: The heroes initially believe that Emma will become this in order to get the defendant acquitted. Zoe spends a lot of time training Finch in how to neutralize such a person and sway the jury back toward a guilty verdict. Then it turns out that Emma is actually there to vote guilty so Finch has to become the lone holdout. The whole episode is, in may ways, a Shout-Out to the Trope Codifier, 12 Angry Men.
• Shout-Out: also has one to Give 'Em Hell, Harry, the one-man play (and film) about Harry Truman.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Reese spots Emma getting ready to jump and has enough time to flash out a full sentence to Finch in Morse.
• Technical Pacifist: On a meta level. This is the only episode in the entire series to have no guns fired over the course of the story.
• They Know Too Much: Both the motive for the murder of Caroline Mills (whose trial is part of the episode), and the justification for Tim to try and kill Emma and Harold.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension:
  • John and Zoe, as usual. However, it is highly implied that this tension has been resolved... multiple times.
  Finch: Saying no to her was never your strong suit, was it?
  • Also with John and Iris. Zoe picks up on it.
• Wrong Genre Savvy:
  • Harold, John, and Zoe think that Emma is rigging the jury to vote not guilty, so Harold tries to counter-rig the jury to find Bryson guilty. And then...
  Emma: Yes, exactly! What Harold said. This man is guilty.
  [Cue Oh, Crap! by Harold, John, and Zoe]
  • When Harold sees a Laser Sight on his wall, he thinks it's a Cold Sniper. Turns out it's John using Morse code to communicate with him.