I've also made the following figs available on this Tumblr post. "Death Benefit" continues from where last week's
Person of Interest left off, with Northern Lights (i.e. The Machine) has become public knowledge (for the most part), and Control has "shut it down" with a phone call. In this episode, the Machine basically goes publicly offline, and attempts to use our gang to save "herself."
The episode begins with Reese (Jim Caviezel) turning the bad guys on each other, then beating them both up and calling Fusco to take care of them. Another couple of irrelevants saved... from each other!
But the Machine still has to handle relevant numbers. That's what Root (Amy Acker) is for, now that Control is out of the picture! Root rides up on a motorcycle to take Shaw (Sarah Shahi) up to Alaska to handle a relevant. The two biker babes ride off, leaving Reese and Finch (Michael Emerson) on their own.
The next number is U.S. Senator Roger McCourt (John Heard). Reese decides to shoot at him so he'll know he's in danger, and can step in as one of his secret service agents by stealing the identity of a real agent.
Meanwhile, Old Man Decima -- Greer (John Nolan) -- gets hold of Senator Ross H. Garrison (John Doman), the congressman who had been working with Northern Lights, and tries to convince him that Samaritan is a better Machine because it will find anyone and do as it's told.
Reese spots someone spying on McCourt. The spy takes off after eying Reese, so Reese feeds Finch his license plate. As he does this, he gets sexually harassed by McCourt.
Later, Shaw and Root enjoy drinks in Miami after a job well done beating up militia in Anchorage.
Root takes off for more relevant duties, leaving Shaw to figure out her next job. Then we see that they had just completed a second job in Miami, leaving a trail of sore saps in their wake.
Reese faces more sexual harassment when he breaks into the senator’s office after hearing sounds of distress. Oops! McCourt is just having sex and being a pig.
But then Decima breaks up the party, and Reese has to shoot out a few kneecaps and kidnap the congressman. They can't seem to hide, and Reese learns why: Decima had put a tracker on McCourt's flag lapel pin. Reese throws it away, and Shaw comes to the rescue.
They hit a roadblock when driving away, so the gang pulls McCourt and one of the Decima agents they've captured into a house on a side street. The owners are on vacation.
In questioning McCourt and their captive, they realize that Decima is trying to protect McCourt, not kill him. Finch had mentioned that McCourt has the power to set Samaritan in motion. Reese says this all means that the Machine wants them to kill McCourt!
McCourt may be a dirty pig who takes bribes, but Finch is not prepared to kill someone. He tries to explain to McCourt that Samaritan will get many people killed, but he doesn't want to believe it. He has convinced himself that it's just one of those things that people freak about at first, but then they settle into it, and it will protect them. Plus, he'll make some money off the deal, because he was bribed into it.
Reese and Shaw both want to off McCourt if it means saving the Machine (and themselves), but Finch would rather leave the group than kill anyone. They let him live, but now they are on the run from the authorities. To make matters worse, Shaw gets shot in the leg.
Old Man Wrinkly goes right to work, having McCourt call Senator Garrison to tell him that he'll get Samaritan passed through congress. Garrison OKs a beta test right away, limited to New York for 24 hours. But that's all Decima needs to find their first target: Harold Finch!
