The one thing I like about “Person of Interest” is that I never know what to expect each week.  This show is known to be a mixture of procedural and serial, and often a procedural element gets too routine and stale in any show.  The machine may routinely spit out numbers every week, but each case is proving to be rarely the same.  Some are funny, some are tragic, some have lots of break taking action and suspense, and some just feel so wonderful at the end.  The latter is the case with “C.O.D.” 

Before I get to any relevant plot points, can I say how wonderful it is that Bear got in some action this week?  Finch took him to a bar knowing he’d probably run into trouble and when he did, his trusty companion was there to attack.  Reese even got to arrive in the knick of time and save his life!  Aww, he’s truly part of the team.  Then Reese takes him out to the park later and throws baseballs around for him to catch.  What a good boy. 

But yes, a lot of action happened aside from the fact that the dog got some airtime.  It wasn’t the greatest case we’ve seen, but I enjoyed watching it all nonetheless.  The person of interest is a Cuban defector, Fermin Ordonez, whose baseball dreams ended years ago in injury, so now he’s making an honest living driving a cab.  Judging by everything this guy is doing, he needs money now.  That poses a big technical problem for Finch and Reese since a number of people get into that cab a day.  That’s a lot of people to check out on the fly, but if anyone can deal, it’s Finch.  They don’t have to wait too long anyway, because an Estonian woman shows up asking what a man left in the cab the day before and then traps the cab in an alley.  Luckily Reese was following on motorcycle (moped?) following so he could jump in and save the day in time. 

So how did the Ordonez get into the mess?  That mystery man left a laptop, and he sold it to a friend so he could have enough money to pay a shady man to get his wife and son into the country.  Except that jerk changed the rules and wanted more money.  That gives Ordonez two big problems.  The man he sold the laptop to ends up dead, and now the laptop is on the black market.  In feel good moment number one, Finch arranges to buy the laptop for double the guy’s initial fee and warns him to get out of town because he’s in danger.  He does just in time, and Finch gets out of the ambush thanks to his two attack dogs, Bear and Reese. 

Carter during all this is working with the Secret Service, who also wants that laptop.  They don’t know what it’s got but no fear, Finch has figured it out  He thinks It’s got some sort of secret Homeland Security data on it that allows people to sneak into the country easily.  These Estonians are trying to kill everyone that comes in touch with it because they’re evil terrorists who want it all to themselves.  Needless to say, the Secret Service will have none of that.  Since Finch was able to get the laptop, they got a bargaining chip for Fermin.  The laptop for his wife and son.  In one of the most moving scenes I’ve seen all season, while Reese is at a ball field playing fetch with Bear, Ordonez is tearfully reunited with his wife and son.  It’s all good.

Oh wait, not for Fusco.  This guy is in a total mess.  HR is not going away quietly.  They’re trying to pull him back in and they have their blackmail, him pointing a gun at missing police officer Davidson, who Reese actually killed in last season’s episode “Blue Code” while saving Fusco.  You know, the part everyone doesn’t know about except Fusco and Reese (and us).   Fusco was assigned to do a hit, but the target was wise, took out Fusco’s cohort in the attack and kept Fusco alive so he could deliver a message.  He went back to Simmons and told him the stuff it, so Simmons gave Carter an anonymous tip that Davidson was killed by a cop.  Uh oh. 

What I found most interesting about Fusco’s situation is he called Reese when he was ordered to do the hit, but when Reese answered the phone, he was a bit busy cracking Estonian skulls in the bar with Finch and Bear (I’m throwing this responsiveness to subordinates in my boss’ face from now on).  Reese called back later though, and Fusco told him it was nothing.  Did he do that because what was happening was about to go down, or did he do that because he’s still having trouble reaching out and trusting Reese and Finch in this matter?  Perhaps because he doesn’t want Carter to find out anything either?  Whatever the reason, he’s in a mess, and you do have to wonder if Fusco’s name ends up coming out of that phone booth call sometime soon.   

Stray Thoughts

Someone will have to tell me if there’s any evidence from prior episodes that Finch is a baseball fan or if a new canon was established.  It is a game that’s statistic heavy (a geek’s paradise), so the love would make sense.  He was so adorkable when talking baseball.  

I was thrilled to see Reiko Aylesworth in a show that didn’t kill her off.  I had her in the dead pool as soon as she appeared, so I’m glad I got that wrong. 

I give Tim at TV.com total credit for this idea, but I’m backing it 100 percent.  An entire episode exclusively from Bear’s point of view.  Bring it!  

Wasn’t Finch’s ride in the cab with Fermin charming?  Those two hit it off so well.  He pegged Finch to be a librarian.  Good catch!  

This week is the midseason finale.  I’m expecting something high stakes, perhaps even with HR.  And John Reese shooting off some kneecaps.  After all, it’s Christmas.  
 
  

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