Person of Interest ups the hilarious factor with "4C," an episode that takes place almost entirely on a plane. A few fans thought the fight scenes were unbelievable or stupid, but I believe they were meant to be funny. Reese's (Jim Caviezel) fighting style always contains a certain level of comedy anyway, and this just takes it to the next level. I see this as a comedic episode, and an awesome one to boot.
The episode begins with Reese waiting for a flight. He gets bumped, but then something "luckily" opens up. He is immediately annoyed by all sorts of things, including a couple of newlyweds who ask to switch seats so they can be together, and an annoying guy yelling on his cell phone and being rude to the flight attendant. Reese handles it by drinking heavily and stretch-punching out the rude guy.
Reese then finds a marshal passed out in the bathroom, and another who has a nerdy guy named Owen (Samm Levine) in custody. Reese knows it is no coincidence that he just happened to wind up on the flight, and calls Finch (Michael Emerson) to bitch about not wanting to do his dirty work anymore. Finch says he didn't do it, so Reese asks him to tell the Machine that he quit. Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.
He warns the marshal that something happened to the other marshal, but is written off as a loon. Reese is good with that, since he doesn't want this job anyway... until the other marshal soon passes out from being drugged. When the culprit sticks a needle full of blood coagulant in Owen's leg, Reese knocks him out, and pulls out the needle. His solution to the possibility that Owen may have some of the coagulant in his system is to drink alcohol, a blood thinner.
Reese is now fully invested in his latest number, given to him directly by the Machine, and sits down for a little chat with Owen. Owen claims to be an "irrelevant" person in an Internet site known as the Black Market Bazaar, having only worked for the company that hosted the site. The real developer is a guy known as "The Sphinx."
One fan even noted the link between
Person of Interest and
Almost Human (another show for which I write these
recaps):
Finch fears that Owen is exactly the opposite of what he has called himself: a "relevant," which a first for Reese. Owen is wearing a stun belt, so Reese takes the stun button and begins stunning him with it in order to get some answers. He finally admits to having built the website, and having met the Sphinx, who funded the site.
Holly (Sally Pressman), the friendly flight attendant, begins to wonder what's going on, what with all the unconscious people. Reese explains that he's "International Homeland Security," which confuses her further.
It's not long before the couple who took Reese's seat attacks Owen as well. Reese fights them off, then screws the "husband's" hand to the wall with a corkscrew.
Once he's taken care of the bad guy, the "wife" stabs Reese in the shoulder. Holly joins in by knocking her out with a coffee pot.
Meanwhile, Finch sends Shaw (Sarah Shahi) to speak with her former employers from ISA to find out why Owen is relevant to national security. She "discusses" the matter with a former handler, who had planned her death:
The only thing she learns from him is that they have sent one of their own operatives to kill Owen. Of course, the guy is a tall, dark badass, just like Reese. Reese gets the jump on him, and knocks him out before he can suffocate Owen... But then Owen takes off.
A small child watches some of the battle, and Reese's solution is to ask Holly to put a finger of whiskey in his sippy cup. Then he helps out Holly by feeding her plenty of alcohol as well.
Owen is hiding nearby, so Reese knocks him out (faster than listening to to him bitch and moan like a whiney baby), and takes him to the cargo hold. He then threatens to tase him again until he admits that he's the Sphinx. It's not long before the "walking steroid," as Owen calls Mr. Badass #2, arrives. Reese has met his match in steroid guy, until he MacGyver's a blow torch out of some hairspray, and stabs him with scissors.
Shaw drugs Hersh (Boris McGiver), and finally learns why they want Owen dead: he will basically create a national embarrassment if he takes the site public. The only problem is the the Machine doesn't care about embarrassments, but it definitely cares about mass murder.
The male flight attendant on the plane works for a Colombian group that doesn't mind killing lots of people to take out a single target, and this is exactly what he intends to do. Reese runs up to the cockpit, where the flight attendant has already made short work of the pilot, and begins fighting him. Unfortunately, that leaves nobody at the helm, so Finch pulls out his gaming controls and lands the plane.
Finch apologizes for the rough landing, but the passengers seem happy with it. Reese holds up the phone so Finch can hear them clap.
When he finally makes it off the troublesome plane ride, Reese drops his suitcase on the ground, and, surprise surprise! Owen pops out.
Finch meets up with Reese in Italy, and they have a little chat about Carter, without actually saying her name. Reese is still in great pain, but Finch's acknowledgment that he misses her too seems to do wonders. Reese knows he's not alone in his pain. He decides to come home, after a quick trip to get a new Italian suit.
