Person of Interest

Person of Interest

A person of interest is someone involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. Person of Interest or A Person of Interest may also refer to: Person of Interest (TV series), an American science fiction crime drama television series, produced by Bad Robot, exploring artificial intelligence and government surveillance A Person of Interest (album), a 2012 album by American hip hop artist DJ Paul A Person of Interest (novel), a 2008 novel written by the American writer Susan Choi "Person of Interest" (song), a song by American recording artist Rebecca Black "A Person of Interest" (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), a second-season episode of the TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent "A Person of Interest", a fifth-season episode of the TV series Medium "A Person of Interest", a first-season episode of the TV series Pretty Little Liars "Persons of Interest", a fourth-season episode of the TV series Lincoln Heights

Genre: Drama
Year:
2011
21,837 Views

Andrew Benton:
Where am I? That woman in my loft, she... tazed me.

John Reese:
Don't worry I told her to leave. She isn't cut out for this. She fixes people. Not like us - we break 'em.

Andrew Benton:
I don't understand. Um... who are you? What are you going to do to me?

John Reese:
Honestly, I haven't decided yet. But let me ask you a question: do you think people ever really change? I mean, you - you hurt innocent people and I, well for a long time, I killed people like you.

Andrew Benton:
Please, I'm not who you think I am. This is a mistake.

[Reese reaches for a gun sitting on a table between them]

Andrew Benton:
Wait oh wait oh oh OK - I've done some things um, I've crossed some lines. But I won't do it again I I I I swear. Please, let me go.

John Reese:
I could let you go. Because you know that for the rest of your life, that I'd be watching you. And if you hurt anybody, I'd stop you. And maybe you could change, and maybe so could I. But the truth is... people don't really change do they?

Andrew Benton:
No, they uh, they can. I can and you - I... I don't think that you're going to kill me.

John Reese:
No?

Andrew Benton:
No because I can see inside that you're a good person. You're a good man.

John Reese:
"Good".

[chuckles]

John Reese:
I lost that part of myself a long time ago... not sure if I can find it... not sure it matters anymore. Maybe it's better this way, maybe it's up to me to do what the good people can't. Or maybe there are no good people, maybe there are only good decisions.

Andrew Benton:
Please, you y-y-you don't want to do something that you're going to regret.

John Reese:
Which do you think I'll regret more - letting you live or letting you die? Andrew, help me make a good decision.

[last lines]

Harold Finch:
I take it your plan to stop Samaritan was unsuccessful.

Root:
Any chance we had of stopping it ended when we didn't kill the Congressman. This was never about winning. It's just about surviving.

Decima Tech:
[Cut to Decima lab] Higher functions online, sir. Searching for targets now.

John Greer:
Good. Eliminate them all.

Decima Tech:
Yes, sir.

Root:
[V.O] The Machine and I couldn't save the world. We had to settle for protecting the seven people who might be able to take it back. So we gave Samaritan a blind spot: seven key servers that hardcodes it to ignore seven, carefully crafted new identities. When the whole world is watched, filed, indexed, numbered, the only way to disappear is to appear, hiding our true identities inside a seemingly ordinary life. You're not a free man anymore, Harold. You're just a number. We have to become these people now, and if we don't, they'll find us, and they'll kill us. I'm sorry, Harold. I know it's not enough. A lot of people are going to die. People who might have been able to help. Everything is changing. I don't know if it will ever get better... but it's going to get worse. But the Machine asked me to tell you something before we part. You once told John, the whole point of Pandora's Box is that once you've opened it, you can't close it again. She wanted me to remind you how the story ends. When everything is over and the worst has happened, there's still one thing left in Pandora's Box: hope.

John Greer:
[to Samaritan] Good morning.

Samaritan:
[as individual words flashing on screen] WHAT ARE YOUR COMMANDS?

John Greer:
I assure you, it's quite the other way around. The question is, what, my dear Samaritan, are your commands for us?

Samaritan:
CALCULATING RESPONSE.

Root:
It's finally time for me to leave.

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
see. Okay, Robin, the only way you can leave this facility is with my signature, which you're not gonna get any time soon. You need to start participating in your therapy. It's the only way to get well.

Root:
I am participating. And it's been educational, to say the least, but there's a government operative who's coming to kill me, which means you and I have run out of time.

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
Okay, that sounds to me like what we call a persecution complex.

Root:
Oh, he's quite real, I assure you. So, you see, sadly, I need to be moving on.

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
Okay. So, um, you're going to escape? Hmm. And how do you plan on doing that?

Root:
First the phone on your desk will ring. She'll be letting me know it's time. Then I'll punch you in the carotid artery. It'll hurt, Ronald, but it won't kill you. Then I'll take your car keys.

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
And the guards, how how will you manage them?

Root:
I won't have to. They'll be incapacitated from the desflurane in the ventilation system. It vaporizes at 75 degrees. Which the building climate control has been programmed to reach ten minutes ago.

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
Okay, this voice that you hear, she's gonna do all this?

Root:
Of course not. She sees everything, but there's very little she can do about it herself. That's where I come in. She tells me what to do and I do it. Well, she did help me a little with stealing the desflurane from the automatic dispensing system. Don't worry. I closed the vents in your office two days ago. It should have cleared out by now. Do you hear how quiet it is out there? Must be almost time. Are you as excited about this as I am?

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
I thought it would be good for us to resume our dialogue. I know that you'd rather be talking to the voice, but you're gonna have to settle for talking to me.

Root:
What do you want to talk about?

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
I'd like to talk about something real, Robin. I know you're very smart. I'd love to know what you're really thinking, so why don't we start with the truth?

Root:
The truth? The truth is a vast thing. I see that now Just how much truth there is. Where would we even begin? The truth is you are not very smart. In fact, you're only the 43rd smartest person in this building.

Dr. Ronald Carmichael:
43rd, hmm? Okay, did your voice tell you that? That's based on what?

Root:
Every standardized test you ever took averaged together, not including your medical boards, which you cheated on. The truth is you smoke an average of nine cigarettes a week in the parking lot when you think no one's looking. The truth is that you visit a massage parlor once or twice a month, that you pay for it with crisp $100 bills that you get out of the cash machine at the 7-Eleven across the street. The truth is that you fantasize on online forums about having sex with some of your patients, though not me yet. I guess I'm not your type. The truth is, God is 11 years old. That she was born on New Year's Day, 2002, in Manhattan. The truth is that she's chosen me, and I don't know why yet. But for the first time in my life, I'm a little scared about what's going to happen. The truth is, my stuck here for now, and the only "dialogue" you need to be worried about is between me and her. Which is why you might want to give me my phone back, because we're having an argument. Would you like to know the truth doctor? About what we're arguing over?

Root:
[Doctor looks worried] Whether or not I'm going kill you.

Detective Joss Carter:
You're CIA. I met plenty like you in the green zone. So why are you worried about me?

Mark Snow:
Because of the man you're chasing. He's dangerous.

Detective Joss Carter:
He saved my life. What was that, an accident?

Mark Snow:
No. Just proves he still has good instincts.

Detective Joss Carter:
Do you even know him?

Mark Snow:
Yeah. I was his best friend.

Detective Joss Carter:
Then why do you want him so bad?

Tyrell Evans:
Because he used to kill people for his country. Now he just kills them. His victims. The ones that we know of. For some he deserves a medal. For some, the chair.

Detective Joss Carter:
Why are you telling me this?

Mark Snow:
'Cause we want you to know who he is. He's an incredibly dangerous, incredibly gifted man who's been almost destroyed by the things he was made to do. He's always looking for someone to trust, but his paranoia makes trust impossible. [Puts a picture on the table]

Detective Joss Carter:
I don't understand.

Mark Snow:
Kara Stanton, his CIA handler. They were a team. Inseparable, saved each other's lives a dozen times, and then...

Tyrell Evans:
He killed her. Then disappeared. We thought he was dead. Gave him his star on the wall at Langley. Then three months ago, you ran his prints. Brought him back from the dead.

Mark Snow:
We want to bring him back in before he kills anyone else. Before he kills himself. We want to help him.

Detective Joss Carter:
So where do I come in to all of this?

Mark Snow:
We think he trusts you. Like he trusted her.

Root:
We understand the machine. We can understand Samaritan.

Harold Finch:
We don't understand the machine at all. Out of 43 versions, how many do you think there were that didn't try to either trick or kill me? One, and I could only bring it to heel by crippling it. I put the machine in chains, bereft of voice or memory. Now it has both, and it terrifies me.

Root:
You don't trust the god you made?

Harold Finch:
It's not a divinity. I programmed it to pursue objectives within a certain parameter, but it's grown out of my control. One day, to suit its own goals, it's possible that the machine will try to kill us. We are only numbers to it; code.

Root:
No, the machine cares about us.

Harold Finch:
If it fools you into thinking that you're special, that assumption may doom you.

Root:
You're wrong. She chose me. I *will* protect her, and you.

Harold Finch:
The second that a bullet enters your brain, the machine will cast you off and replace you. Don't tie your life to its whims. We cannot understand these intelligences. The best we can hope for is to survive them.

Root:
She loves us, Harold. She taught me to value life, but war requires sacrifice. I'm not lost. I'm scared. We're losing. But I know where I am and where I'm headed.

Harold Finch:
We have more to look forward to than death.

Root:
I hope so. But the life I've led, a good end would be a privilege.

Harold Finch:
It's not where you begin, it's where you end up. You're a brilliant woman, comrade and a friend.

Root:
If the worst comes to pass... if you could give Shaw a message?

Harold Finch:
I think she already knows.

Special Counsel:
You probably think I made a devil's bargain. And maybe I have. But the program is the reason we haven't had another major attack. If the public knew about what we do, we'd lose that ability.

Sameen Shaw:
And Aquino?

Special Counsel:
Again, a regrettable decision, but a necessary one. No one life is above the safety of millions of Americans. That's the ugly math that I have to deal with every day. You of all people should understand that.

Sameen Shaw:
I do. And if I were in your place, I'd do the exact same thing. I may not be in the program anymore, but I - I still understand how important it is.

Special Counsel:
Then why the cloak and dagger?

Sameen Shaw:
[Pulls out a USB key] Cole's research on the Aquino case. I wanted to give it to you personally.

Special Counsel:
Why not give it to Wilson?

Sameen Shaw:
You can't hire people like Cole and expect them to act like sheep. Now, I know how to follow orders. But Cole was just brilliant, and he believed in the cause. And Wilson knew that. [to Wilson] You know, you could've warned him. Or even me. But instead, you placed a kill order like we were some kinda problem to be solved.

Wilson:
Your partner broke the rules. You're on the hook for that as much as he was.

Sameen Shaw:
And then you screwed that up in such a spectacular fashion. How could I trust this idiot with something so important?

Special Counsel:
Hersh was right. You are a good soldier. You didn't want revenge. You wanted to protect the program.

Sameen Shaw:
A good soldier does both. [Shoots Wilson]

John Reese:
I am looking for a friend of mine. I have a source that says you might be able to help. [Shows him a picture of Root and Finch]

Leon Tao:
I have never seen either of them.

John Reese:
Take another look. My source is never wrong.

Leon Tao:
I've never seen either of them before in my life understand?

John Reese:
You're not lying. So why the hell am I here?

Leon Tao:
I have no idea, dude, truly.

John Reese:
[Looks around the bar, notices several armed patrons] You gotta be kidding me. [Goes back to Leon] Let me guess, you're in some kind of trouble A life-threatening kind. I can't believe it. I am the contingency, the backup.

Leon Tao:
The what?

John Reese:
He didn't want me to find if anything went wrong. He just wanted me to keep rescuing people. People like you. So what is it? You pissed these guys off somehow and they're about ready to kill you when I just happened to walk in the door?

Leon Tao:
No, we were just we were just talking...

Byron:
[Interrupts] You are right, Detective. Leon stole a great deal of money from us and we're just about done talking when you walked in.

John Reese:
Listen, I don't have time for this. I need to find my friend, so I'll take Leon here and we're gonna leave.

Byron:
[Puts a gun on the table] Leon stole more than enough, in fact to make it worth us killing a cop so maybe we can make a deal. You leave Leon here with us and you can keep looking for your friend.

John Reese:
You know, the guy who owned this badge would probably have accepted the market. But I'm not him.

Byron:
So who are you?

John Reese:
The guy who shot him and stole his badge.

Root:
No offense but a billionaire genius you are lousy company. [Harold is silent] Every system has a flaw. I'm pretty good at finding them. You care about other people. This is your flaw. So if you try to call out to that police officer I won't shoot you. I'll shoot someone else. Please don't make me do that. [Harold is still silent] I get it. You're not talking because you don't know how much I already know. I know enough. Enough that you should be trying to figure out what I want and where we are going.

Harold Finch:
Where *are* we going?

Root:
The future, Harold. Although I guess thanks to you we're already there. Not that you'd have any of us know.

Harold Finch:
I don't know who you think I am but you have made a mistake...

Root:
Don't treat me like them. It must be talking to ants to you. They wouldn't grasp what you'd done even if you'd told them, but I've been waiting for you my whole life and you and I share an understanding.

Harold Finch:
Do we? You're a murderer and a thief.

Root:
My mom told me to follow my talents, and I'm good at what I do. Except this one time, when someone stopped me, someone who knew what I was about to do. How did you know, Harold? For months, that's what I couldn't figure out. I don't believe in magic and I knew that the government had spent years trying to build something to protect his panicked little flock. I also thought that they'd never pull it off. Because I didn't know about you. [laughs slightly] And you pulled it off, didn't you? Something to watch for all of us. The only question, Harold is why it didn't protect you.

Will Ingram:
[Talking about his dad's old things] One or two things I'm sure he would have wanted you to have. Mostly it was boring stuff, except for this, which is just strange. [Hands Harold a champagne cork wrapped in a piece of paper]

Harold Finch:
[Reads] Day one: The machine, February 24, 2005.

Will Ingram:
It's interesting, isn't it?

Harold Finch:
Is it?

Will Ingram:
I told you I'm looking into that period when dad shut down operations at the company. This is right in the middle of that. Now, obviously he was celebrating something, but what? A machine? The machine?

Harold Finch:
I wouldn't know. You know your dad; any excuse for champagne.

Will Ingram:
Well, I guess you're right. But there's still one person who I think of who might know. You probably know her too Alicia Corwin?

Harold Finch:
No. I don't think so.

Will Ingram:
Hers is the only name that appears in any of the files during that seven-year blackout, and she worked for the White House. I guess they were in touch about something.

Harold Finch:
Have you been in contact with her?

Will Ingram:
It wasn't easy. After she quit her job at the government a year ago after dad died, she moved to this remote town in West Virginia - Green Bank.

Harold Finch:
Never heard of it.

Will Ingram:
Me neither. Turns out it's the only place in the US. That doesn't have cell phones or wireless Internet. Apparently, they do something to the radio telescopes.

Harold Finch:
Are you sure you're not chasing shadows here, Will?

Will Ingram:
Maybe, except for one thing. Remember that contract that dad signed with the government for $1? It's the next day - February 25th, 2005.


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