Person of Interest

Season 1 Episode 13

Root Cause

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Root Cause
8.9
out of 10
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273 votes
6

EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • Finch meets his Match named Root

    10
    By dreamgoat, Feb 08, 2012
    LOL, great episode of 2 hackers going at it Finch and Root. Haven't seen battle like that before, Root was behind a lot that was going on in this episode about the congress and set up the guy that the computer read that was in trouble or the threat. Along the way was a slight twist but mostly shockers and this one about another hacker out there that is as good as Finch is great. Root acknowledges Finch and looking forward to play him again, lol can't wait for that of course Reese was great in his hand to hand combat with the assailant great battle scene. I tell one thing this show keeps getting better and better by each episode lol I'm sad its only an hour or 42mins. DON'T MISS OUT WATCH YOU WON"T REGRET IT !!!moreless

  • Finch Gets Hacked...Great Episode.

    10
    By AudioFileZ, Feb 04, 2012
    Person of Interest is the rare show these days which keeps building on its strengths - it gets better with time. Not only does it have characters the viewer is now fully invested in, it has the smarts to pace itself with pure entertainment. This week's episode starts off in great fashion with Finch attempting to phone Reese while he is disabling a man who is on the cusp of killing his wife. The opening fight segment is a greatly entertaining salvo displaying why we have come to love the cooly detached Reese.



    The POI of the week is a man who is completely believable. A man who has been unemployed due to political manuvering in City Hal and has reached a kind of critical mass as he has hidden his unemployment from his family, is maxed out financially, and is desparate for income. Finch and Reese believe he may be to the point of ugly revenge, things such as emails originating from the POI's computer seem to indicate he may be an erstwhile assassin. As things progress it becomes clear that, like infamous assassinations, there may be a conspiracy and a patsy. Maybe this is not entirely original, but it doesn't have to be as it just needs to work well. It is done very well here indeed.



    As Reese isn't able to stop the assassination he clearly sees their POI is not the shooter and is framed. At the same time Finch's system is infected with a "honeypot" virus. This is important in that it brings up frailties in both Reese and Finch that add great dimension to their repective characters. The ability of Reese and Finch to regroup and undo a convincing set-up is now the important thing. It culminates with Reese enacting a perfectly executed intercept from the Feds transportation of the POI to the courthouse where Finch realizes he will be murdered in some way insuring "no loose ends". Reese now has the POI and Finch is getting closer to finding the hacker who is obviously a big part of an eloborate scheme.



    As the story progresses it displays just the right mix of action and drama to keep the viewer on edge. How important the weaknesses of Finch and Reese must work around can't be missed as it brings another nemesis on the level of Elias to be brought into the storyline. This time the evil person pulling behind the scene strings is on a level even Finch is having great difficulty trailing. In other words an important new villian has arrived. While Finch and Reese are able to protect and, ultimately, free the POI the episode ends with a great scene whereby Finch is drawn into an instant messaging session with the villian. The unknown villian, who says to call her "Root", is glad to be in a cat and mouse game with a worth adversary and there will be a next time! A perfect ending to a great episode.



    With the afore mentioned ending it is a must to tune in next week. Of special mention is the excellent, though stingy, screentime devoted to detective Carter and political troubleshooter Zoe Morgan proving the show has depth beyond the two protagonists. Without a doubt, Person of Interest is the best new show of the 2011/12 season, episodes like "Root" cement the claim.moreless

  • GREAT!

    10
    By DeadRookie, Feb 04, 2012
    Exciting, riveting, well acted, great action, a cliff hanger of an ending..what more can I say this is the best new show on TV..it;s BATMAN for 2012 ;love it.

  • Keeps getting better and better

    10
    By Sp3kkie, Feb 03, 2012
    Man, this writers and this show needs even more attention than it gets now. What a show. And it keeps getting better.



    One thing I asked myself a couple of times now. I'm not sure of the colors, can anyone tell me how it works. For now I thought that Red was the danger, yellow was the victim and white is random people/ bystanders.







    First of all, what was that after the opening? The words and stuff, is the machine detecting the kind of crime too, like the traitor thing turned red? And if so, he probably chooses the cases himself? Is this an ability that the machine had from the start or does the machine evolve? And thats just the part where we didn't see any characters at all.







    Then the episode starts with a great fighting scene. After that we get an introducing of the character, one you can relate to easily. I felt sorry for him. It surprised me when we got to see he just had a confetti canon, not what I expected. So there is a big plot behind it. But instead of just an assassin its someone with bigger plans who can return.







    So just another big bad guy, or woman actually. And I liked it, I doubt if the need to add more of them, for now its enough. But this one is more like one for Finch. So far we got the enemy's kind of spread over the two main characters. Finch has the new girl and maybe his partners killer. Reese has the FBI. And although Elias isn't formiliar with Finch, he is kind of an enemy for both, although more for Reese I think. And then the police is searching for them too, but this isn't a very big part now. I just hope they won't hold them on board for too long. Most of the series have one big villain for a lot of seasons, I hope they don't do that here. But I have faith in that. Just loose one or so in this season. But the show surprises me everytime, so I would find it strange if they lost all of them in one season and found a way to make it plausible also.







    What is great about this show is that they show our Super team also can make mistakes and are not untouchable. First when Reese was shot and now the hacking of Finch. I also liked the talk in the subway, first I thought, please no, don't force us a flashback after Reese said that someone thought of him just as a killer. But I should have had more faith cause they didn't. Excactly whats good about this show, flashbacks when they think is needed and not forced.







    About Roscoe, I'm not sure but I think he was finding stuff on Finch for Reese. And about Zoe, I like here. And I doubt she is the hacker, cause first the nails, I didn't see them when she was with Finch or Reese, but I doubt someone with that profession would have nails like that. And I think it doesn't match with her clothes. And although she can fake that, from what I saw she knows very little of computers and in some situations it could have saved them trouble in the first episode she was in







    So in conclusion! Another fantastic episode! Keep this going! And if the dare to cancel this show they should send Reese to kill the bastards! That would teach them.moreless

  • the root of a cool episode

    10
    By protonefrid, Feb 03, 2012
    first of all, what a great first scene. Reese has awesome ways in convincing people not to kill their own wives. Also this week's POI (at least from my point of view) was pretty interesting and a very realistic character. He managed in a single episode to make me feel for him and care about him (so far only the doctor lady and the judge managed this more or less), which also was a great plus for an even greater storyline.



    What I don't get is why did the machine give them this guy's number instead of the congressman's... after all his death was planned and was supposed to happen before the POI's murder. The machine must have known for whose murder the POI was going to be framed. Is the machine choosing the people it want saved? or it simply assumed that this number had better chances for a positive outcome for everyone involved?

    anyway, not only today's POI but also the main characters were top notch except Carter who didn't have enough screen time to shine as we all know she can. Finche's facial expressions when he decided to go on a stake out and while he was being hacked were priceless albeit for different reasons and made me like him even more... (it's so fun watching him being clueless and his anguish in the hacking scene made the whole thing even more intense). I must confess i was so blown away from the last scene that I'm not sure of Finch's expression. was he almost half smiling as if intrigued by a new challenge?



    Reese was his usual bad ass self even though the smile and look he gave Zoe in the end were mighty sweet but it looked a little as if those few seconds were added (inserted) latter on ( probably to mess with the female viewers) because the moment the camera angle changed, while he turned his head towards the house, he was dead serious again. Facial expressions don't change that fast. Except for this little slip everything was amazing: the fight scenes, the way he slightly took the phone from his ear expecting Carter to scream at him after the shooting (loving the way she sometimes talks to him...lol) and his acting in the subway.



    But the greatest thing in this episode was the hacker, Root. Finally an interesting foe, someone who might really turn out to be a formidable opponent for our team (and she didn't even show her face yet), even though not a match for the machine as it found her pretty fast. Hopefully, it will perceive her as a threat to its assets and watch her closely. Also, the way she tied up her loose ends was priceless (lesson learned, don't hire smart assassins to get rid of people, if they fail they might end up 'suiciding' you)moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

James Caviezel

James Caviezel

John Reese
Taraji Henson

Taraji Henson

Detective Carter
Michael Emerson

Michael Emerson

Harold Finch
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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

Myk Watford

Myk Watford

Scott Powell

Guest Star

Damian Young

Damian Young

Pete Matheson

Guest Star

Amy Hargreaves

Amy Hargreaves

Leslie Powell

Guest Star

Paige Turco

Paige Turco

Zoe Morgan

Recurring Role

Brennan Brown

Brennan Brown

Special Agent Donnelly

Recurring Role

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Season 1 Episodes

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Firewall
Ep 22
No Good Deed
Ep 21
Many Happy Returns
Ep 20
Matsya Nyaya
Ep 19
Flesh and Blood
Ep 18
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Baby Blue
Ep 16
Risk
Ep 15
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Ep 14
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Ep 13
Root Cause
Ep 12
Legacy
Ep 11
Super
Ep 10
Number Crunch
Ep 9
Get Carter
Ep 8
Foe
Ep 7
Witness
Ep 6
The Fix
Ep 5
Judgement
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Ep 2
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Pilot

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