Line #60 Recap/PersonOfInterestS05E05


1	'''Season 5, Episode 5'''
2	![=ShotSeeker=]
3
4	->'''Garvin:''' ...she's out there changing the world while the rest of us are wearing headphones, and now she's gone, and nobody cares.\
5	'''Reese:''' You care.\
6	'''Garvin:''' Another missing person, three days gone. You know how this ends, don't you?\
7	'''Reese:''' No, and neither do you.
8
9	The latest Number is Ethan Garvin, an audio technician who works on the [=ShotSeeker=] gunshot detection system. Garvin discovers evidence of a kidnapping (and probable murder) that has been covered up--by Samaritan! Meanwhile, Finch begins an experiment with the Samaritan malware code recovered in "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS05E03 Truth Be Told]]," and Fusco is growing increasingly curious about where Team Machine gets its information from.
10
11	* AddledAddict: Subverted. At first, Ethan ''looks'' like a strung out junkie. In reality, he's been popping stimulants for days, unable to sleep until he finds out what happened to Krupa.
12	* BaitAndSwitch: When Reese agrees to take Bruce to the safe house and explain who killed Elias, the viewer's led to believe that Bruce will be told about the Machine and Samaritan. Instead, John brings him to Elias, holed up at the safe house.
13	* BatmanGambit: Finch's plan to save Ethan depended on him correctly predicting that Samaritan would stop sending assassins if the research was released.
14	-->'''Finch:''' Let's assume that Samaritan is targeting Garvin because his investigation threatens to unearth a copy of Krupa's research.\
15	'''Root:''' Which is exactly what happened.\
16	'''Finch:''' By that logic, if we disseminate the research now, Garvin ceases to be a threat. The danger that he represents would've already come to pass.
17	* BeardOfSorrow: Ethan; Fusco tells him to shave at the end.
18	* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: At the end of the episode, Samaritan is shown using the [=ShotSeeker=] microphones to listen in on what people are saying.
19	* TheBusCameBack: Bruce from "The Devil You Know" returns. Elias is revealed to be alive.
20	* ContinuityNod:
21	** Harold's simulations confirm [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS04E10 what the Machine admitted to Samaritan]]: that there's no way she can beat him.
22	** Root recognizes [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS05E02 Jeff]]. She and Harold note that [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight the still-buggy Machine was correct]] when it gave them his number.
23	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Carrick was allegedly involved in the murder of six farming activists in Ecuador, which makes him a useful patsy for Samaritan.
24	* CowboyCop: Carrick refuses to be intimidated by Fusco and demands his lawyer. Cue Fusco locking the door and moving towards him.
25	* CurbStompBattle: Finch creates a virtual reality where a version of the Machine and Samaritan can battle. Samaritan proceeds to hand the Machine her proverbial ass in over 10 billion simulations.
26	-->'''Finch:''' I'm afraid we're [[HopelessWar fighting a war we can't win]].
27	** Three armed mobsters are guarding Reese, [[ImprovisedWeapon who takes them out with a broom]].
28	* DefiantToTheEnd: Mary says "Go to hell!" to a hitman just before he shoots her.
29	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Like any dictator, Samaritan is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_disappearance good at making people disappear]].
30	* FakingTheDead: Elias, after Fusco saved his life the night of the shooting, is hiding in a Team Machine safe house.
31	* FieryCoverup: Elias supposedly burned up in the prison transport.
32	* FictionalCounterpart: to the real-world [[http://www.shotspotter.com/ [=ShotSpotter=]]] gunshot detection and location system.
33	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early in the episode, Finch decides to check security at the safehouse and cleans up a coffee cup left on a table. Both elements hint that Team Machine is keeping someone there. Also, in "Truth Be Told", Reese moves the POI into a high-end hotel suite "now that the safehouse isn't available" -- but no explanation is given as to why. It's because it's being used by the person in this episode.
34	* FrameUp: Carrick never stole Krupa's research or arranged her murder.
35	* FriendshipMoment: Fusco puts his life on the line to mobilize the NYPD to look for Reese. At Finch's urging, Reese makes a point of thanking him.
36	* GreaterScopeVillain: Bruce reports that [[TheKingslayer four other crime kingpins]] were assassinated at the same time as Elias. Bruce has been waiting to see who fills the void left by their deaths, but no-one has. Not knowing of the [[OutsideContextProblem existence of Samaritan]], Bruce has come out of hiding to bring his enemy into the open.
37	* HijackedByGanon: Samaritan's behind it all once again.
38	* HopelessWar: Suggested by Finch and Elias. Rejected by [[KnightInSourArmor Fusco and Reese]].
39	-->'''Ethan:''' Krupa's still missing. Mary's dead.
40	-->'''Fusco:''' Yeah, we did the best we could.
41	-->'''Ethan:''' It wasn't enough.
42	-->'''Fusco:''' Hey, it never is. That's the curse of what we do, and why we never stop. I'm not giving up on Krupa. She's not alone among the missing.
43	* ImpliedDeathThreat: Bruce to Fusco's son. In response, Reese doesn't go for implied.
44	-->'''Reese:''' You want to talk about loyalty? [[IllKillYou I'll kill you]] myself you ever go near Fusco again.
45	* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:Root lets walk away the man who will kill her. Although even if she had shot Jeff, another Samaritan gunman would have just taken his place.]]
46	* TheKindnapper: Fusco handcuffs Ethan to his desk. Unfortunately this leaves him vulnerable when an assassin appears. Fortunately Fusco makes a ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind.
47	* LeaveNoWitnesses: Samaritan does this to anyone who knows about Krupa's research...until Team Machine publicly releases the research anyway, at which point [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Samaritan cuts its losses]] and stops trying to kill Ethan.
48	* LockedOutOfTheLoop:
49	** Fusco, still. He's not happy.
50	** Jeff, too. He doesn't know who actually employs him.
51	** Apparently averted by Elias. He tells Bruce just how much of a threat Samaritan is, but without using the name.
52	* AMillionIsAStatistic: Ethan was incited to take the case because he vaguely knew Krupa in high school; before that the names of the victims didn't mean much to him.
53	* MythologyGag:
54	** Root expresses [[ArsonMurderAndAdmiration admiration]] for Samaritan's skill in [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E13 committing murder and framing someone else for it]].
55	** Lionel puts up a photo of the missing woman, just like Finch does with each Number.
56	* NotNamedInOpeningCredits: Enrico Colantoni, preserving the surprise when Elias shows up alive.
57	* NotSoStoic: Samaritan gets the closest to being pissed off so far: after Fusco deals with the assassin it sent to kill Garvin, it declares the entire scene and everyone involved disruptive and prepares to continue sending assassins.
58	* OnlyBadGuysCallTheirLawyers: Subverted; Carrick may be a SmugSnake, but he really is innocent.
59	* PapaBear: InvokedTrope; Bruce threatens Fusco's son, knowing it will bring Reese out of the shadows. Root compares the Machine to a child being bullied in an attempt to incite Finch to protect Her.
60	* ProperlyParanoid
61	** Bruce wears a cap to obscure his face and keeps out of sight of CCTV cameras.
62	** The Samaritan assets also stay off the grid, no doubt guided by Samaritan.
63	** Finch locks Root out of the Samaritan vs Machine test.
64	** Even though Bruce says the men guarding him are Elias loyalists, Reese knocks them out before taking Bruce to see his boss.
65	* PunchClockVillain: Jeff, who is OnlyInItForTheMoney.
66	* RefugeInAudacity: Once again an assassin walks right into the police station to kill his target.
67	* RevengeBeforeReason: Both Reese and Elias urge Bruce to RunOrDie. But Bruce is NotAfraidToDie, and is determined to resurrect their criminal empire.
68	* [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet Shoot Him He Has A Smartphone]]: Ethan, which is only foiled by Fusco physically standing between him and the responding police.
69	* ShoutOut: Possible one to {{Series/Chuck}}, when [[TheNicknamer Fusco]] refers to the rest of the team as the "nerd herd", towards the end of the episode.
70	* SideBet: On whether the gun used in a shooting was a Glock 22. Ethan wins.
71	* SpiesInAVan: Though a van in silver this time, not a VanInBlack.
72	* SuicideByCop: Mentioned by name by Fusco, although it is more of a case of an "Attempted murder by cop", when Samaritan tries to frame Ethan as an armed & extremely dangerous killer.
73	* TeamRocketWins: Team Machine for once stops Samaritan from getting what it wants without incurring major losses, though two innocent people still get killed.
74	* TemptingFate:
75	** Reese says, "You can relax, Finch. He's gone" only to get jumped by another couple of thugs, this time working for Bruce.
76	** Fusco handcuffs Ethan to a desk in his office to protect him. Cue Samaritan dispatching an assassin there.
77	* VillainHasAPoint: Finch briefly wonders if Samaritan had good reason to destroy Krupa's research.
78	-->'''Finch:''' Why does Samaritan want to buy that research so badly? Could solving world hunger lead to an overpopulation problem?\
79	'''Root:''' We can't pretend to understand Samaritan's motivations. For all we know, it did all of this just to assume control of the global food supply. But what we do know is that we can save a life today by doing the opposite of what Samaritan wants.
80	* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption:
81	** Root urges Finch to modify the Machine to [[GodzillaThreshold take a more aggressive stance]] against Samaritan.
82	** Averted with Root and Jeff. With the police approaching, she gives him the option of walking away. He does.
83	* WeWillMeetAgain: Root thinks they [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS05E10 haven't seen the last of Jeff]].

Context Recap / PersonOfInterestS05E05