Person of Interest

Season 2 Episode 4

Triggerman

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Triggerman
8.4
out of 10
User Rating
189 votes
15

EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

Reese and Finch must decide whether to help a mob triggerman who is their newest Number, or leave him to his well-deserved fate.

FAN RECAP

TV.com Episode Review

  • Person of Interest "Triggerman" Review: The Good, The Bad, and the Sorta Good 36

    Person of Interest "Triggerman" Review: The Good, The Bad, and the Sorta Good

    On the outside, "Triggerman" wasn't the most interesting episode of Person of Interest, but it did a great job of exploring the ideas of right and wrong that have been created for this world.

    By Tim Surette, Oct 26, 2012

    • Fan Episode Reviews (15)

    SUBMIT REVIEW

    • Person of interest

      10
      By P61, Feb 04, 2013
      This is the best action,thriller show of all time. Congratulations!!! Job well done,

    • My hands are in this episode!!

      10
      By NicolsCruz, Oct 31, 2012
      The close-up shots of the character "Ochoa", lighting the match in the station and all the way at the end of the episode zipping up the bag of cash, putting the gun in his waist and leaving are my hands!! I just felt the need to share that....

    • We all can be saved...

      10
      By cecylia248, Oct 28, 2012
      POI keeps on delivering weeks after weeks from every angle. This one touched on the question "is every number the machine gives deserve to be saved/protected?. Since it is a machine, it may not understand some humans "codes". Morality , redemption, etc. This week's POI Riley was a mob enforcer who was tasked by his boss to kill a lady who is also a widow of the former employee of the mob that the head had Riley kill "months" before. The twist was the Riley and widow had fallen in love in "months" after he killed her husband, and the widow didnt know. Incidentally, the mob boss knows about the romance and wanted his son to kill Riley.Riley instead, killed the son, and had to escape the city with the widow (Annie) thus both becomes in danger and on the run from the mob.

      Now the fun part, the machine gave out the number of Riley, a killer, to use Root's word, Bad code, Finch say at the beginning that Reese should protect Annie since Riley is a killer, a bad code (flawed in design). Reese reminded Finch that there isnt much difference between Reese and Riley, they are both killers.You can argue that the machine gave out Riley's number coz Riley was protecting an innocent and he needed the protection, but i would like to believe the machine gave out Riley's number because he was WORTH SAVING. He may be a killer but he was a killer that had found a reason to be better, a reason to change and do good. As Reese said in the pilot episode "When you find that one person who connects you to the world, you become someone different, someone better. When that person is taken from you, what do you become then?". For Reese that person was Jessica and tha why he understood Riley, because Annie the widow was Riley's Jessica. Riley knew Annie had to be saved and get out of the city but he was a better person enough to understand, if he runs with her, Annie will always be in danger. He was willing to let her go. Just like Reese was for Jessica. Annie was saved, Riley died and Reese in the end made "someone" accountable for Riley's murder. Reese drawing parallels to himself knew Riley was WORTH to get justice for.

      As Finch stated in the end, Bad code only apply to machines!we are humans "we have the ability to change, to evolve" to be someone better.





      moreless

    • Testing the moral waters of Finch and Reese

      8.5
      By anngel421, Oct 28, 2012
      The strength of this show lies in the relationship of finch and reese, Both these men have been broken by the world and have views that are bound to clash. This episode proved it. Finch was still suffering from Root centric PTSD a little bit and deemed anyone with a history of violence like this weeks POI was "bad code" and thus didn't deserve the benefit of their services. ( to be fair, no one asked:P) But reese, seeing the bigger picture and the similiarity of his own nature to Riley's decided that if a man is willing to forgo everything he knows to save an innocent woman, he's worth saving and when it comes down to it, their job, is to stop anything bad happening whether it be victim or perpetrator so if your "bad guy" is having a change of heart then shouldn't they go along with it? Aside from the thought provoking questions in the further goings on of finch and reese, this episode would have been quite forgettable if it hadn't been for the ten minutes of enrico cantolioni as Elias. The dude is a BAMF and he proves it time and time again. Instead of going around shouting and being kind of a pervy jerk like George Massey, low level irish mob boss, he plays it cool and runs NYC criminal enterprises from his jail cell. You gotta give props to the Enrico C, for playing him with such suave coolness. Even more, the show has proven with their better villains, that they are likeably psychotic. Elias, who initially could have been a revenge seeking one off villain, became this master of disguise who is bored with how flashy the criminal underworld runs things and seeks to change things, kind of like Finch and Reese who notice the government being big and flashy with who they decide to save so they go about saving the everyday joe. all in all a good episode, not for the actually content, that was a 7.5 but the fact that it gave you something to think about which nudges it to an 8.5 for me. Well... more Bear and i would go higher i guess.moreless

    • Everybody can be saved???

      8.5
      By DMS26oak74, Oct 28, 2012
      At some point the show is going to have to show somebody who is not redeamable
    See All Fan Reviews

    Cast & Crew: STARS

    James Caviezel

    James Caviezel

    John Reese
    Taraji Henson

    Taraji Henson

    Detective Carter
    Kevin Chapman

    Kevin Chapman

    Detective Lionel Fusco
    Michael Emerson

    Michael Emerson

    Harold Finch
    See All Cast & Crew

    Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

    Jonathan Tucker

    Jonathan Tucker

    Riley Cavanaugh

    Guest Star

    Mike McGlone

    Mike McGlone

    Det. Bill Szymanski

    Guest Star

    Liza J. Bennett

    Liza J. Bennett

    Annie Delaney

    Guest Star

    Enrico Colantoni

    Enrico Colantoni

    Carl Elias

    Recurring Role

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    Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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    • TRIVIA (0)

    • QUOTES (5)

      • George: He was a degenerate gambler, and it got him killed. You had better learn to accept that, Annie.
        Annie: I do. But I also remember that Sean was the sweetest guy in the world until the day he started working for you. So degenerate or not, I'll always miss him. I wonder who's gonna miss you when you're gone, George?

      • Reese: Are you saying we should protect Annie but not Riley?
        Finch: I'm just saying you might not want to put yourself and her at risk for a man like that. He's a killer, Mr. Reese.
        Reese: So was I, Finch.
        Finch: I think there's a distinction to be made.
        Reese: Not as much as you think.

      • Carter: Detective Szymanski. It's good to see you back on active duty.
        Szymanski: You know, I thought about dying but realized I couldn't afford it on a detective's salary.

      • Riley: You've got a detective in your pocket?
        Reese: More like on my back.

      • Reese: Earlier, what did you mean when you said "bad code"?
        Finch: It means a flawed design. The term applies to machines, not people. We have the ability to change, evolve.
        Reese: Even killers.

    • NOTES (2)

    • ALLUSIONS (0)

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    Season 2 Episodes

    See All
    Ep 22
    God Mode
    Ep 21
    Zero Day
    Ep 20
    In Extremis
    Ep 19
    Trojan Horse
    Ep 18
    All In
    Ep 17
    Proteus
    Ep 16
    Relevance
    Ep 15
    Booked Solid
    Ep 14
    One Percent
    Ep 13
    Dead Reckoning
    Ep 12
    Prisoner's Dilemma
    Ep 11
    2-Pi-R
    Ep 10
    Shadow Box
    Ep 9
    C.O.D.
    Ep 8
    'Til Death
    Ep 7
    Critical
    Ep 6
    The High Road
    Ep 5
    Bury the Lede
    Ep 4
    Triggerman
    Ep 3
    Masquerade
    Ep 2
    Bad Code
    Ep 1
    The Contingency

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