What I’m Watching: Person of Interest

Person of Interest: Season 2, Episode 17 “Proteus” (B+)

This was in many ways a strange installment of this show, but an extremely thrilling and involving one nonetheless. Starting out on a rainy day on the eve of a major storm with Finch and Reese emerging from a movie led to an eerie payphone call with six numbers at one time, and the eventual search for a serial killer. Many shows – and movies – have featured the scenario of a small group of people, one of whom was a villain, stuck together in one place during bad weather, and this was a sterling example of that setup. It was obvious from the beginning that the FBI desk agent was in fact the killer, but everything that led up to Finch’s horrified discovery with the false agent standing in the shadows behind him was truly compelling. Finch flying his plane there posing as a stormchaser was great, and I like that Reese decided to out him as a suspicious person in service of his plan to control the situation. Beecher sure is persistent, and he’s actually quite helpful, both in terms of noticing things on the video and in giving Carter a ride to Finch and Reese. Him driving like a madman was somewhat worrisome, but he made up for it by fighting for her to give him a second chance and then saving everyone’s life by shooting the bad guy who was wearing his body armor. Aside from Carter and Beecher’s relationship, this episode did nothing to advance the greater storyline, but it was an excellent diversion.