Person of Interest – Season 2 Episode 17 – Recap – Proteus

The recap of Person of Interest - Season 2 Episode 17 - "Proteus":

This episode was exciting, but the outcome was a bit too predictable for my liking.

After The Machine gave Finch (Michael Emerson) & Reese (Jim Caviezel) six numbers at once, they looked for more information on a number named Jack Rollins. In an effort to gather more information about Jack, Finch headed to Rollins’ home in Brooklyn while Reese headed out to Rollins’ rental house in Owen Island. Both Finch & Reese, however, had bad news: Finch discovered Rollins’ molars inside of an incinerator and Reese ran into a serial killer disguised as an FBI Agent inside of the rental home.

The six numbers

Over in Manhattan, Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) conducted more research on those six numbers. She found FBI Agent Fahey’s name listed on the bottom of the papers that she was reviewing, so she gave him a call. Though Carter believed she was speaking with Agent Fahey, she was actually speaking with the serial killer that was disguised as an FBI Agent. (This is the same man that Reese ran into at the rental home). This said killer murdered Rollins, the other five numbers, and a Deputy Sheriff of Owen Island.

As soon as Finch figured out that a single individual had murdered all six numbers, he headed over to a police station in Owen Island via his small plane. (He didn’t drive his car due to the bad weather; that is, heavy rain & disruptive winds). Also: Finch wasn’t able to get through to Reese because the storm had disrupted the power circuits, generators, and telephone connections. When Finch arrived to the police station, he claimed to be a storm chaser named Harold Gull, and Reese pretended to be a U.S. Marshal named John Jennings.

Along with Finch, Reese, and the man disguised as Agent Fahey (Luke MacFarlane); a few other locals spent the night inside the police station. Finch was aware that someone inside of this police station was the serial killer, but he didn’t know exactly whom. Understandably so, Finch didn’t realize that “Agent Fahey” was the mass murderer, until it was too late. “Agent Fahey” had killed another innocent soul—the Deputy Sheriff (Becky Ann Baker). [You may know Becky Ann Baker as Hannah’s mother on the hit HBO series, “Girls.”]

Since Carter wasn’t able to get through to Reese and Finch, she decided to head to Owen Island. She wanted to go alone, but Detective Cal (Sterling K. Brown) didn’t allow her to do so—so he drove her there instead. During their car ride, Carter took this opportunity to confront Cal about his shady past. He confessed to previously smuggling narcotics, and begged Carter for forgiveness. At one point during the car ride: when Cal had accelerated to 90mph, I thought he was trying to kill Carter! Carter made him slow down the car, and she reached for her gun thereafter. This is what they had to say to each other:

Cal: “Are you serious? You think I’d hurt you?”

Carter: “I don’t know, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

Carter and Cal

While Cal and Carter were still driving to Owen Island, Finch had finally figured out that “Agent Fahey” wasn’t Fahey after all. This man had actually killed the real Fahey, locked the real Fahey inside of a car trunk, and then pretended to be Fahey when he spoke to Carter over the phone (earlier in this episode). He also killed the deputy sheriff because he wanted to “improvise” his murders.

Later, this man stood behind Finch, pointed a gun to his head, and ordered him to walk inside of a garage. As soon as this man was about to pull the trigger on Finch, Carter shot the guy in his back. This man was wearing protective body armor, however, so he tried to shoot Finch again. Fortunately for Finch and Carter, Cal shot the guy down again. (Cal was standing on the other side of the room).

Fake Agent Fahey pointing a gun at Finch

It turns out that Cal isn’t that bad of a guy after all. He’d do anything for the woman he loves (Carter). Carter, on the other hand, is still wary of Cal’s shady past. All in all, I hope Carter and Cal get back together. They’re super cute together!

My thoughts on the outcome of this episode: When I spotted this fake “Agent Fahey” at the beginning of the episode, I predicted that he was the killer. It was extremely obvious. Nonetheless, the acting was great and that is all that matters at the moment.

The killer: Fake Agent Fahey

Thanks for reading this recap of “Proteus”!