Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Recap / PersonOfInterestS04E16

Go To

1'''Season 4, Episode 16'''
2!Blunt
3
4->'''Reese:''' I gotta say, it's quite invigorating being around all these idealistic young minds. You must be enjoying your day job, professor.
5->'''Finch:''' As near as I can tell, college has become an overpriced Bacchanalia full of entitled, oversexed binge drinkers.
6->'''Reese:''' Well, somebody's gotta pay your salary.
7
8The latest Number, Harper Rose, appears to be a college student who works at a medical marijuana dispensary, but she's actually a skilled con artist playing a dangerous double game with Dominic and one of the Latin American drug cartels.
9
10Root returns from Sri Lanka and sets about trying to "recruit" additional assets to help in the fight against Samaritan, starting with a former Number.
11
12----
13!!Tropes:
14* AccidentalPervert: Two college girls returning from the showers aren't impressed when they see a middle-aged guy in a trenchcoat and cameraphone lurking around the girl's dorm.
15* BatmanGambit: Finch knew Harper would [[AffectionatePickpocket steal his watch]], so [[HiddenDepths he stole her ring]].
16* BreatherEpisode: Is a mostly lighthearted episode after several tense weeks.
17* CallBack:
18** The Machine has commissioned Root to write an app, apparently to [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS04E02 recruit people like Samaritan is]].
19* TheBusCameBack: Caleb Phipps, the teen computer genius from "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E11 2-Pi-R]]," now has his own software company.
20* TheChessmaster:
21** Harper, in spades.
22** More specifically, Dominic and "Harper" both manipulated the cartel and each other just to arrange a meeting.
23* ConArtist: Harper.
24* ContinuityNod: Finch is able to get Reese a prescription for medical marijuana from [[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E04 Dr. Tillman]].
25* DrugsAreBad
26* DoubleSpeak: Finch can't bring himself to say Shaw's name [[NeverSayDie or that she's "dead"]] ([[Recap/PersonOfInterestS04E13 even though she isn't]], but he doesn't know that).
27* InSeriesNickname: "Harper" calls Reese "Kush pops" (after his purchase at the dispensary) and "Detective Laconic."
28* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: An apparent college student working in a dispensary ends up uncovering the Brotherhood's marijuana operation and taking down part of a cartel's operations.
29* MistakenForGay: Harper confuses what Harold means when he calls himself and "Detective Riley" partners. Finch and Reese don't bother to correct her.
30* NoodleIncident:
31** How ''does'' Finch know so much about pot and how to obtain it? He won't say.
32*** Fridge: Harold mentions "back pain" is always a good reason for a marijuana prescription. Something he'd know given his own injuries.
33** What was Root doing in Sri Lanka?
34* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The [[ColdSnap recent snowstorms in the Northeast]] clearly affected the outdoor shooting.
35* SeenItAll: Fusco is utterly unfazed by "Harper"'s threats.
36* SherlockScan: Harper is rather good at this; she quickly figures out Reese is former special forces "playing cop," and that he and Finch [[WeHelpTheHelpless help people on a regular basis]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because you have to be able to figure people out before [[ManipulativeBastard you can play them]].
37* ShoutOut: the diner confrontation between Dominic and Reese is an homage to ''Film/{{Heat}}''.
38* ShownTheirWork:
39** Finch's description of the legal status of pot dispensaries--permitted by the state, but still a violation of federal controlled substances laws--is accurate.
40** The Brotherhood uses "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_farming gold farming]]," a real-world practice, to launder money through online games.
41* TheStoner: Harper's boyfriend Trey.
42* StonersAreFunny: Trey's drug-induced [[CasualDangerDialogue nonchalance]] when Dominic's enforcer Floyd is holding him at gunpoint, casually offering her ice cream. He later acts casual when Reese rappels down from the skylight and has him hoisted out the roof, then stares at the flashing police lights in amazement.
43* TakeAThirdOption: Instead of continuing on their present stalemate with Samaritan, or going on the offense with just the three of them, Root and the Machine have started to try to recruit new people to assist them.
44* TaserTagWeakness: "Harper" is stopped in her tracks ... by Fusco and his Taser.
45* ThemeNaming[=/=]RunningGag: When Root is discussing software apps with Caleb's company, she goes by the name "Shannon," a reference to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon Claude Shannon, the father of information theory]].

Top