Case Study No. 0575: Staff of Unnamed Library (Person of Interest)

Person of Interest - Return The Favor
4:26
Reese gets Scott safe and finds Finch working mobile from the library. He has decided to call in a specialist. Meanwhile, the police bring in Powell's wife for questioning.
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Added: 1 month ago
From: CBS
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[Reese has secured Scott Powell (framed for the assassination of a US Congressman) from federal custody, and has him holed up in a motel room]
SCOTT: Thanks ...
REESE: You're welcome ... Here, put these on.
[he tosses him a baseball cap and a hoodie]
REESE: You're the most wanted man in New York.
[he picks up the phone and dials a number]
FINCH: [over the phone] 212 555 0159.
[he hangs up, dials the number of the disposable cellphone that Finch has given him, and waits for a response]
[cut to the camera zooming in on Finch from behind, who is sitting in a public library as patrons and librarians are milling about in the background]
FINCH: [into the phone] Mister Reese?
REESE: [from off camera] Finch ... What the hell happened?
FINCH: I'm afraid I underestimated our hacker. As a consequence, my equipment in the library is compromised, so for the time being I'm mobile.
[a young male patron at the adjacent table shushes him, so he turns and whispers into the phone]
FINCH: Listen, I felt like we might need a little extra help, looking for Congressman Delancey's killer, so I've called in a specialist. Someone with an intimate knowledge of the political arena ...
[he looks up at someone off camera]
FINCH: Oh, here she is, I have to go.
[cut to Zoe Morgan entering the library]
REESE: [from off camera] Wait a minute ... Specialist? She?
[cut back to Reese in the motel]
REESE: Finch?
[cut back to Finch, who hangs up the phone]
[cut back to Reese, who gives a concerned look]
[cut to surveillance camera footage ("Study Rm 1 Camera B 19:34:04") of Finch and Zoe entering one of the private study rooms, where a younger couple are making out]
FINCH: Ahem ...
TEEN GUY: Hey, I reserved the room!
[Finch holds up some money]
FINCH: [quietly] Take a study break.
[the man takes the girl by the arm, grabs the money, then looks at Zoe]
TEEN GUY: [to Finch] Nice work, dude ...
[they leave]
FINCH: Please ...
[he pulls out a chair for her, and they sit down]
FINCH: Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Miss Morgan.
ZOE: I work when I'm need, Mister ...
FINCH: Harold. Please.
ZOE: I am curious how you got my number.
FINCH: Mutual friend. He assisted you on a ... delicate negotiation with a certain pharmaceutical company.
ZOE: So you're the guy on the other end of the phone ... How is John?
FINCH: On the run, as usual. He's actually helping another one of our clients, even as we speak. And, in the same way that he was able to assist you, we were hoping that you might be able to return the favor.
[cut to Scott's wife being interrogated by an FBI agent]
LESLIE: I don't understand ... One man took my husband away from all of you?
SPECIAL AGENT ELLIS: We believe he's part of an armed group, possibly terrorists. Did your husband have any radical political views, Misses Powell?
LESLIE: Terrorists? No, Scott would never be involved in anything like that!
[he gives her a blank stare]
LESLIE: If you don't believe me, ask his friends! His co-workers!
SPECIAL AGENT ELLIS: You do know that your husband has been out of work for the past eight months?
LESLIE: No, Scott goes to work everyday.
SPECIAL AGENT ELLIS: Have you taken a look at your finances recently?
[he opens a folder and shows her Scott's credit card bills, which she looks over with a growing sense of disbelief on her face]
SPECIAL AGENT ELLIS: It seems pretty clear that you ... don't know your husband as well as you think, Misses Powell.
[cut back to more survelliance camera footage ("Lobby Camera H 19:36:32"), which shows an aerial view of several people in the library, including a female librarian at the "Returns" desk]
[cut to Zoe and Finch in the study room, as he places several photos on the desk]
FINCH: Our client was at Congressman Delancey's fundraiser ...
ZOE: As a guest?
FINCH: The shooter. He was framed. We're looking for the actual shooter.
ZOE: You boys certainly do like a challenge, don't you?
[he gives no reaction and continues looking over the photos]
FINCH: I've come up with a list of alternative suspects, people who might've wanted the congressman dead.
ZOE: Well, all of these people have been at each other's throats at some point. Now, whoever killed Delancey goes way beyond politics. Prior to running for office, Delancey owned a contracting company.
[she picks up two photographs and separates them from the rest]
ZOE: DA's office has quietly been preparing an investigation into the company for several months.
FINCH: How do you know that?
[she gives him a look]
FINCH: Never mind.
ZOE: There are allegations of corner cutting and payoffs to city inspectors.
FINCH: Strange way for Delancey to run his business, considering his anti-corruption platform.
ZOE: It is ... but he wasn't running the business.
[he picks up one of the photos]
FINCH: Matheson. Delancey's campaign manager.
ZOE: And business partner.
FINCH: For two years, Delancey is in full time campaign mode, not really running the day-to-day of his business.
ZOE: So the bribes and the corner cutting, they must've happened under Matheson's watch.
FINCH: Unless he could say ... Delancey was really running things.
ZOE: Which he could, if Delancey wasn't around to defend himself.
FINCH: [pause] Even if this was true, we have no proof that Matheson had Delancey killed.
ZOE: [smiles] Let's go get some.

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From wikipedia.org:

Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson), a mysterious billionaire, developed a computer program for the government that predicts terrorist threats in New York City. It was designed as a means to prevent another 9/11-type disaster, but Finch discovered that it was also predicting many "irrelevant" (non-terrorist) violent crimes. The non-terrorist data is dumped to a separate database and deleted each night. Finch realized that a great many domestic crimes could also be prevented if that data could be used. Finch built a back door into the machine that allows him to retrieve a list of Social Security numbers of people who will be involved in those crimes in order of occurrence. Unable to investigate on his own, Finch hires John Reese (Jim Caviezel), a former Green Beret and CIA field officer who is presumed dead, to help stop the crimes from taking place. Finch made the choice of only transmitting the Social Security Numbers of the persons of interest so that if the back door is discovered, the government would have no clue as to what the numbers mean, or who is acting on the data.

Characters

John Reese (Jim Caviezel): A former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and CIA field officer, who is presumed dead. Little is known about Reese's background, and his name is believed to be one of several alias he uses. He lost his lover, Jessica, at some time prior to his having met Finch, which appears to have marked him deeply. Reese demonstrates skill in the use of a range of weapons, hand-to-hand combat and surveillance tactics. He knows very little about Finch, whom he occasionally addresses as "Mr. Finch", and is rebuffed when he attempts to learn more about him.

Harold Finch (Michael Emerson): A reclusive, intensely private billionaire software genius, Finch developed a post-9/11 machine that can isolate the social security numbers of people with either premeditated homicidal intent or who will be homicide victims, based on its analysis of surveillance video. Following a traumatic event in his own life that led to the death of his business partner, he recruits Reese, whom he addresses as "Mr. Reese", to help him deal with the people the machine identifies. Finch lives and works in an abandoned library, and shows the results of severe physical injuries, including the inability to turn his head, rigid posture, and a limp.

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From tv.com:

Person of Interest ("Root Cause")
Season 1, Episode 13, Aired 2/2/12

The Machine gives Reese and Finch the number of a down-and-out man who has been pushed too far, and they're forced to turn to former Person of Interest Zoe Morgan for help.

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From rickey.org:

The duo investigate the latest Person of Interest who can be described as a man on the verge of collapse. He's lost his job and can't catch a break. When Finch discovers death threats to a local congressman in his email, they decide to act. They realize that the man is being set up to take the fall for the congressman's assassination. Unfortunately, Reese isn't able to get to the real shooter in time. The congressman is killed and the POI is taken in for murder.

Finch realizes that an incredibly skilled hacker is responsible for the entire thing. He tries to manipulate his way into the hacker's network but ends up putting himself in a trap. Finch and Reese have to destroy their phones and hang out in hotels and the library for the time being. Realizing they're a tad screwed, Finch enlists the help of Zoe. Zoe manages to figure out that the congressman's business partner more than likely wanted him dead. She lends her skills, which apparently in this episode are nothing more than a conversation, and manages to get the proof they need. While all of this is happening, Reese is off kicking ass in a subway bathroom while wearing a hoody. I approve.

Finch gets a call from the creepy hacker and for one wild moment I thought he was in cahoots with her. But then when the hacker contacts him again, she calls herself Root and considers Finch an opponent. Who is she? Does she think what they're doing is a game or a competition?