- Title: Person of Interest – The Contingency
- tv.com: link
“You created an Intelligence. Life. And then you ripped out its voice, locked it in a cage, and handed it over to the most laughably corrupt people imaginable.”
Outsmarted by Root (Amy Acker), the Second Season premiere finds Reese (Jim Caviezel) enlisting the help of Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Detective Fusco (Kevin Chapman) to search for Finch (Michael Emerson) who was kidnapped by the computer hacker in last year’s season finale. Meanwhile, Reese finds himself protecting the Machine’s latest number, a money launderer (Ken Leung) for the Aryan Nation, whose well-being may, or may not, be connected to that of Finch.
With Fusco attempting to keep the latest number safe and Carter looking into Root’s murder of Alicia Corwin (Elizabeth Marvel), Reese tales on a few pissed off members of the Aryan Nation and tries desperately to find a trail back to Root, and, when that fails, convince the Machine to help him find its missing creator.
Along with the search, “The Contingency” delivers scenes of the Machine’s early days as Finch tests its understanding and limitations. We also see the creation of Harold’s ground rules which make it hard for the Machine to help Reese’s search for his only friend. The fact that the shady government agents (Jay O. Sanders, Cotter Smith, Boris McGiver) with knowledge of the Machine are erasing any information about Corwin that might lead Carter, or anyone else, to eventually uncover the truth about the Machine makes any search for Root and Finch that much harder.
With Finch out of the loop the show’s basic structure is turned on its side. I’m happy to see the storyline isn’t quickly wrapped up in a single episode (and not only because it means we’ll get more Amy Acker, who is delightful as the psychopathic Root). Next week’s episode takes Reese and Carter on a road trip to Texas to investigate what little they can uncover of Root’s history and search for any clues that might lead them to their missing friend.
