Jimmi Simpson and Jim Caviezel share the screen; high energy, high octane versus cool, calm and seriously collected.  
There are three stand outs about this episode:  Jimmi Simpson, Jimmi Simpson and Jim Caviezel and the parallels between Ingram and Finch, and Finch and Reese.

I enjoyed this episode.  I absolutely loved Jimmi Simpson’s portrayal of Logan Pierce; a man with too many resources for Reese to keep track of in the usual way.  As a bit of an inside joke on the series Reese actually tells Logan what he does…“Normally I’d follow you around, help out behind the scenes.”  For those who dip in and out of the series, there’s the refresher course.  Jimmi’s response…“Sounds like fun…see, I knew you were interesting.”  In that moment we’re reminded of the twists and turns of Person of Interest, part procedural, part longer format, with shorter chapters and longer over-arching themes.

Jimmi Simpson held my attention every moment he was on camera.  I enjoyed his brash and bratty character because just when I thought I had him pegged, he changed.  We’re told he bullies potential competitors out of business, actually it was his partner.  Given the opportunity, he confesses the wrongdoing and offers to help the little company get back on its feet.  He appears to be having a breakdown of one kind or another, actually he is orchestrating his removal from his company in such a way that he can start anew with people he believes are more upright.  

He spends money lavishly but in actuality wants things simple, one car, one suit, a watch he doesn’t have to wind.  He appears to have no regard for his safety yet is well aware of Reese’s abilities because he knows the abilities of his own security guard and Reese clearly exceeded those.  He knows when a bug has been planted on his credit card, remembers Finch’s voice from the dry cleaners and recognizes it even as his life is in peril in his sports car.  His penchant for adventure ends up with his happily losing his sports car with the swoosh of a basket and in the next moment he hands over a 2 million dollar watch (that he carried into a neighborhood via a backpack that was thrown on the side of the court) complete with GPS tracker and then hops the subway home…Logan Pierce is a fun character, one I definitely hope we see again.

Watching Logan Pierce bounce off the coolness of John Reese was an added bonus.  The two actors appeared to enjoy sharing the screen together; the coolness of John Reese was only exemplified by the outrageousness of Logan Pierce.

Favorite moments:  Reese busting into Pierce’s office and explaining the situation, then Pierce copying Reese’s stillness as he sits down and says, “Sounds like fun.”  Then he sits forward and exclaims, “See, I knew you were interesting!”  Then there’s Logan putting his arm around Reese’s shoulders after Reese saved him and Reese pointedly removing the man’s arm from his shoulders and dropping it…dang!  Earlier such a move occurred just after Reese and Logan were in Logan’s office, however, John was much more subtle as the two men were supposed to be new partners, so he merely allowed Logan’s arm to slide off his shoulder as they moved off; he did watch it fall thought.  I also like Logan interrupting Finch and Reese’s street corner meeting and neatly summing up the capabilities of both men; the man is no slouch.  Reese outbidding Logan at the auction while Finch has a mild coronary back in the library was fun as was Reese abandoning Pierce saying that if Pierce doesn’t care about his safety, why should he.  The camera stays on Pierce as he watches John leave and Pierce has a forlorn look.  Then Reese, upon learning that there is a new threat to Pierce, heads back to work; the man has integrity.

The third standout in One Percent are the parallels between Finch and Ingram’s back story to Reese and Stanton’s as well as to the current partnership of Finch and Reese to Finch and Ingram.  The Stanton/Reese flashbacks of Prisoner’s Dilemma showed us that Reese learned to play the part Stanton wanted him to play, however, he was only ever playing.  When faced with death in Dead Reckoning, he refused to abide by her demands.  On the flip side Ingram pushed and cajoled Finch to create a backdoor to the Machine but Finch wouldn’t budge.  Ingram went ahead and created it anyway but as yet hasn’t revealed it.  However, we now see that Finch is 100 percent committed to the actions his partner took, unlike Reese who diverged completely from Stanton.

If we look at the Finch/Ingram moment s in these latest flashbacks, we note that the two men are side by side as they view the footage from 9/11 and brainstorm on changing the world, but, at the end, once the Machine has been delivered to its new owner, the two men stand squared off to each other with Ingram turning his back and leaving…partnership rapidly devolving.  Compare that to Finch and Reese in the park walking side by side and then sitting down in absolute harmony with each other on the bench.  This partnership remains solid.  Of course we know there are bumps ahead regarding Ordos.

A partnership that looks to be hitting some rocky waters is Carter and Fusco.  I’ve read some comments that suggest some anger at Carter for her seeming hypocrisy towards Fusco.  I’ll suggest something else going on as so far the writers have yet to err in their characterization.  My take is that in the month and a half since Dead Reckoning (based on dates given in Dead Reckoning and here on the credit card slip for the hotel room) Carter has had time to reflect on the fact that she was caught aiding and abetting a known fugitive; her career and son about to be forever out of her reach; her entire life as she knew it ended.  That’s pretty heavy stuff to digest.  Perhaps, with the adrenaline and the emotion long since faded away, she is a bit more circumspect about her work.

That’s not comforting to Fusco who wants to come clean and is stuck with confessing that while he didn’t kill either of those two officers (Reese did) he did bury them…both at Reese’s urging.  Knowing that Carter is committed to helping Reese, to the point of nearly dying with him, Fusco is unlikely to want to burst that bubble for her.  

The writers have a tendency to know when a particular story has gone on long enough and when it is time to wrap up; for us that means a soon payoff (as well as a return of Simmons) because the crumbs have been dropped, the trail is being followed.  I sense this story circling for a landing.

Next week we see the return of Zoe and if that’s not enough for you, Hersh and Special Counsel pay a visit, SAIC Moss and Cal Beecher.  There’s big doings going on at Person of Interest…who’s excited?

As always, thanks for reading,

Elle2