Ghosts

Harold Finch meets John Reese and tells him that he should protect the teenager Theresa Whitaker. However, they go to the cemetery and Finch shows her tombstone and questions whether the machine has worked properly. They decide to investigate Theresa's death and Reese asks her file case to Detective Lionel Fusco. Soon he learns that her family was killed by a hitman at the harbor, but Theresa's body was never found. Meanwhile Finch poses of insurance agent and learns from Theresa's aunt, Elizabeth, that an empty casket was buried in her grave. Finch and Reese conclude that Theresa is alive and in danger due to a business of her father Grant and her uncle Derek with dangerous people.

"Ghosts" is the second episode of "Person of Interest" with an intriguing story. There is also flashbacks of how Finch and his partner created the machine and where Finch presently works. The plot is full of action and well-resolved. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ghosts"

Note: On 03 February 2024, I saw this episode again.

The second episode of Person of Interest is slower but slowly reveals more about The Machine and how Finch is dealing with sorting out relevant/irrelevant lists. I'm sure we'll find out more about his partner Nathan Ingram as well in future episodes. Along with the flashbacks, Finch and Reese searched for a teenage girl to save her from getting murdered.

From how the flashbacks are, it looks like Finch might know more about what happened to Jessica than Reese does.

P.S. Reese and Finch make a good team together.

No idea why this is rated the lowest, it's a solid continuation from the pilot and establishes many character dynamics right off the bat. We get to peer into the past of this mysterious reclusive billionaire while witnessing more of Mr. Reese's incredibly thrilling antics! The number they need to look into is also one of the more interesting ones for this season, captivated me instantly. Can't wait to watch more!

From the start this show was looking like and episodic ride, with a case every episode... that's because CBS wanted this type of show. But don't forget we have Jonathan Nolan as creator and JJ Abrams as producer (the guy who made the fantastic show that was LOST). So yes, they had a plan with this show from the beginning, although they made some things on the way.

From this episode the show starts to build on the history between Finch and the Machine and more about how it was build and all of those things will later come and complete themselves with other scenes and flashbacks from the later episodes.

As for this episode, is somewhat a continuation of the pilot although the time period is not sure and it deals mostly with another case from the Machine. And that's the largest part of this season, case after case. But in this all episodic run of episodes... there are bits of story between characters that are being build towards the next episodes. And it is from there that the show will eventually pick up speed.

So even if this is not the greatest episode... hang in there, there is something being build up here that will surprise you like: "I was completely unprepared for this and it is awesome!" Another thing that might throw you off this show is the overpowering John Reese has in this season, but starting from the next season his character will grow and you'll see him more as a human than the robot killing type person that he is in the start of this show.

8/10 from me.

Sadly this episode didn't live up to my expectations. My major complain would be that it was less funny than the pilot when its humor is one of the elements that convinced me the most. John's attitude is still bold and Jim Caviezel's performance is excellent but I missed the gag with the young gangster for instance. There were a few funny scenes but it wasn't enough to balance the overall too serious vibe. The cat and mouse game between John and Mr. Finch was entertaining but the episodic plot was only decent and not original nor linked to the Machine arc. I also found the cop investigation subplot boring considering how much it has already been overused by far too many other shows. Moreover I find the whole surveillance camera concept slightly dated. Wouldn't it more modern to use social networks too ? Still the few minutes dedicated to Big Brother were interesting because we all know it's possible to track people using their cellphones. Moreover the numerous animations to illustrate Mr. Finch's explanations and the constant reminders that the Machine watches them made things more realistic. I'll never play Kinect again nor video chat. Technology is pure evil. Seriously an exciting thing about the show is that it tends to make you a little paranoiac and realizing it is quite funny. However with all the security issues and threats covered in the news it's hard to trust anyone these days. The Playstation Network was hacked, spams are everywhere and recently a website named Copwatch was launched in France to track the police ! For the moment it's hosted by a North American company so it will probably take them weeks to shut it down. It leads us to the Machine again because learning more about it was interesting but I want more. Terrorists could hack it to search and kill powerful individuals for instance. What about a Dr Hyde trying to destroy it ? Give us something fresh, intriguing and twisted to support the episodic format. To sum things up they better step up their game next time or I will definitely give up on Person of Interest. It would be sad because its concept could be fascinating if it was properly executed.