Person of Interest Recap 2×17
Open with a storm approaching the New York region.
Reese and Finch walk out of a movie and talk about not having heard from either Agent Shaw or the machine. Finch wonders if it’s related to Stanton and her virus. A nearby payphone rings. It’s the machine.
The guys have been given six number from various parts of the country that don’t seem to have any connections. Three of them are listed on a missing persons database and the others are completely off the grid. Jack Rollins, a Brooklyn antiques dealer, is the only local name.
At Rollins’ home/office Reese finds a rental property bill. He’s left town in a hurry for an island property in Suffolk County, the heart of the area expected to be hit by the storm. Reese heads for the beach.
Carter looks into the missing person files from the machine’s numbers. An FBI desk jockey named Alan Fahey did the paperwork on all of the files. Carter asks about Cal and learns that he’s probably bad news.
Carter calls Fahey, who says his only job is to file reports. She says her lead connecting the cases is confidential and he isn’t interested in hearing any more.
Reese arrives at Rollins’ rental house, while Finch searches his home. In the basement Finch finds empty photo frames, which matches the files of the other missing person, whose homes were found without pictures. Finch and Reese get cut off just as Reese realizes he’s not alone in the house and Finch’s dog finds something in the furnace. Reese turns a corner and comes face to face with Fahey, who has his gun drawn. Reese pretends to be a U.S. Marshall looking into Rollins.
Finch has found what appears to be burned human remains in Rollins’ basement, with only the teeth still visible. He wonders to Carter whether they might be looking at a string of murders. Carter agrees, thinking they might be looking at a serial killer. With phones not working Finch thinks he needs to go warn Reese in person.
At the local police station Fahey and Reese show Rollins’ picture to the only remaining officer still on duty. She can’t help them because of the weather. Fahey takes Reese aside and says he thinks they’re on the trail of a killer.
Cal drops by to see Carter. He wants to know what he did wrong and she basically blows him off.
Fahey thinks that the killer has been taking the identity of each person he kills. Reese thinks the killer could be on the island. Gradually people start to filter into the station to avoid the weather. One of them mentions they saw someone prepping a boat for travel.
At the docks Reese and Fahey find two guys on the dock. They bring them both back to the station.
At the station Reese finds that Finch has arrived, now under arrest for landing his plane in the middle of town. Reese talks her into letting him go for the moment. Finch tells Reese they need to consider who the killer has been and therefore what he might look like.
Fahey shows Reese that someone just recently tries to burn the Rollins identity, meaning he’s moved on. This means the killer could be anyone with them in the station.
Carter asks Cal to look at security camera footage of Rollins in Chicago. In the second image Rollins is taller and left-handed.
Reese asks Fahey to allow Finch to help him investigate everybody in the station. His plan is to use some hidden equipment to record whether or not the person is lying.
One of the fishermen seems nervous about something. The cop thinks it’s weird a drifter would come to town in winter looking for seasonal work.
Carter conducts a Skype interview about one of the other names on the list. The missing student has a roommate named Declan who requested a change. She can’t find Declan in the school records. Carter tries to connect with the station where Reese and Finch are hold up but can’t get through.
The power goes out and Reese turns on the generator. When the lights come back on the on the officer is lying dead with a knife in her chest.
Carter leaves to follow-up on her lead and Cal demands to go with her.
The locals begin to get riled-up. Reese targets one of the guys from the docks, named Victor. He immediately starts to punch Reese then admits he was lying because he’s a Marine who deserted during a second tour. It was his knife, but he didn’t kill her. They realize the fisherman Ethan is missing and Reese goes after him.
On the drive Carter brings up Cal possibly being dirty.
Reese finds some marijuana on the dock, realizing that’s what Victor was trying to protect. He’s a small-time smuggler. Ethan tries to attack him and Reese quickly knocks him out. Reese opens his trunk and finds a body wearing an FBI jacket. Ethan uses the distraction to knock Reese out.
Finch figures out that Fahey is the killer. Fahey sneaks up behind him and sticks a gun to his head. He tells him if he makes a sound he’ll start “hurting innocents.” Fahey said he killed the deputy because he couldn’t be sure what she heard over the radio. Fahey asks Finch if he is “like me.” Finch says “you have no idea. You’re an amateur at this.”
Ethan is about to dump Reese into the water. Reese turns the tables and knocks him out with a paddle.
Finch assures Fahey he’ll never get off the island. Fahey responds that Finch will fly him off the island. He’s says he’s living people’s lives better than they did but Finch counters that all he does is hurt people. Fahey raises his gun to kill Finch but Carter arrives from behind and takes him out. As they turn away Finch realizes that Fahey also had body armor. Fahey pops up but is cut down by Cal who walked in from the other side of the room.
Reese tells Finch he’s glad the machine was smart enough to give them all of the false IDs. But Finch is still worried about the machine having gone down for three days. He wonders what that might mean for the future.
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