Person of Interest – Season 2 Episode 16 – Recap – Relevance

by Amy Hyun
February 22, 2013 at 12:46 am

The recap of Person of Interest – Season 2 Episode 16 – “Relevance”:

Just when I thought Person of Interest was starting to get a little stale, Episode 16 successfully reeled me back in. This episode was the best of the season—even better than when Agent Donnelly (Brennan Brown) figured out Reese (Jim Caviezel) was the Man in the Suit. For the first time in the history of Person of Interest, the POI starred as the Lead Actor, not Reese, not Finch (Michael Emerson), not Carter (Taraji P. Henson), not Fusco (Kevin Chapman). I’m so happy that the powers that be re-invented their script.

Government operatives in Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi) and Michael Cole (Evon Moss-Bachrach) were the persons of interest this week. Whilst working for a secret government program called the Intelligence Support Activity, Sam & Michael realized that their own employer was targeting them. That said employer hired a man named Wilson to kill Sam & Michael.

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POI: Sam

However, let’s back up for a minute: Sam & Michael’s collective job was to prevent terrible things from happening (i.e. terrorist attacks, or preventing people from getting murdered). Their job is quite similar to that of Reese and Finch’s job. Just like The Machine, a system called “Research” traces new victims & perpetrators (numbers). When Sam & Michael received a new number from “Research,” they headed over to a small motel room to assist the new number, only to realize that they had been conned and trapped. Wilson and his men shot bullets through the front door killing Michael and clipping Sam in the process. Sam had no other choice but to leave her deceased friend behind, so that she could get away. After realizing that her employer had sent Wilson to kill her, she quit the job for good. Wilson and his men still continued to hunt down their ex co-worker (Sam), thereafter.

Sam was also faced with the daunting task of figuring out why her other co-worker Daniel Aquino was killed, two years prior. Although she realized that her employer was responsible for the deaths of Daniel Aquino and Michael Cole, she didn’t understand why that said employer had been killing off his employees. Then, Sam took matters into her own hands: she contacted Michael’s contact person in the CIA—Veronica Sinclair—in an effort to dig deeper into this mystery. When she arrived to Sinclair’s office, a woman opened the door. (Sam naturally assumed that this woman was Veronica, but it wasn’t). It was actually Root (Amy Acker) who had opened the door. Root tied up Veronica, locked her in the bathroom, and then tazed Sam thereafter. Then, Root tied both of Sam’s wrists onto the armchair, and held a burning iron to Sam’s chest. (Root left the office just before Wilson and his men showed up). After Wilson and his men injected poison into Sam using a syringe, Reese arrived just in time to pull it out. But Sam didn’t know who Reese was, so she shot him in his bulletproofed chest. I’m so glad Reese was wearing a bulletproof vest!

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Root holding an iron to Sam’s chest

Finally, Reese asked Sam to meet with Finch. Finch explained everything to her: he figured out that “Research” doesn’t actually exist, and that Michael had realized this before he was murdered. Daniel Aquino had been murdered because he also realized that “Research” doesn’t exist. Then, when Finch offered to help Sam… she declined his offer. Later that evening, Hersh (Boris McGiver)—one of the men working with Root—grabbed Sam behind her back, and injected poison into her using a syringe. Though she passed out from the poison, Carter, Fusco, Finch, Reese, and Leon (Ken Leung) were there to save the day. Finch hired Leon to go undercover as an EMT/medic. They drove to a nearby cemetery; Sam awoke from unconsciousness; and then she pointed a gun at Reese and Finch. However, she still didn’t trust them (even though they saved her life)… so she took their phones, left them at the cemetery, and drove away.

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Hersh–the guy that Reese stabbed in Episode 15–is alive and well

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Reese

Poor Reese and Finch had to walk back home, while phone-less!

This was an outstanding episode, and I hope Person of Interest continues to evolve in this manner.

Thanks for reading this recap of “Relevance”!

— Amy Hyun

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4 comments

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sableterra

This show has just been elevated. I've been waiting for some more operatives to join the show. I thought Reese's ex-partner was going to join their group, but this was excellent writing. Whenever, you can take another character and write/add an extra storyline it makes for a better show. I don't like them having her show Reese up too much though -- he still should be the slightly better operative -- although, it is understandable that he wasn't trying to harm her, whereas she was. Finch needed a sidekick also, but Cole died, maybe they bring back the eccentric software billionaire character from a few episodes.

Amy617

@sableterra My sentiments exactly :) If I had to choose between Kara (Reese's ex-partner) or Sam, I'd have to go with Sam because of her cool 'tude, edginess, and overall badassery.

Also: are you referring to Logan Pierce--the former CEO of Friendczar.com? I'm not a huge fan of his character though.

Thanks for reading, sableterra! Really appreciate it.

prish_and_hubby

My husband is freaked! "I thought the wrong show was on." "I'm shocked." "That's not the show I turn in to see, every week." He just turned off the TV, and is going to bed, very disappointed. My husband says that she is, obviously, not trained in martial arts, like Reese. IMHO, the producers, really, need to think through these changes. I had to have him fast forward the new kicking girl and root scene. I am so tired of the root track.

@prish_and_hubby Hi prish_and_hubby! I'm right there with you! I totally thought this was the wrong show until I spotted Reese in the latter half of the episode. TPTB definitely threw a curveball with this episode, but I LOVED it. It was my favorite one yet. After the last two lackluster episodes (14 & 15), I really enjoyed this one. This is what POI is all about :)

Oh, and yes: it's unfortunate that Amy Acker (Root) was given that kind of character. That Root character sucks.