Person of Interest “Identity Crisis” 

I’ve been jonesing for a Person of Interest fix for a few weeks now. I’ve loved this show since the pilot, but I didn’t realize how much I would miss it the past few weeks. I’m so invested in these characters and the work they do. And things are interesting right now because they’ve got so much going on. Carter’s currently on a break from the team, Fusco’s in with HR but also trying to do his job and whatever Reese needs, and Reese (and increasingly Finch) is constantly in danger. Their latest case offers a twist they haven’t encountered before, which I always love.

Will the real Jordan Hester please stand up? The machine does its job by giving Reese and Finch a number, but things get complicated when Finch finds two people living under that name. One is a bar back who lives in Brooklyn. The other buys antiques for the rich and lives in Manhattan. Oh, and one of these people is a drug dealer.

Carter won’t take John’s calls but she also won’t rat him out to the FBI… for now. With a member of their team out of commission for all intents and purposes, Reese falls back on his previous go-to guy Lionel. I like Fusco, especially when he’s doing the right thing, so it was nice to see him back in action. While Fusco’s doing his thing, Carter spends some time with FBI Special Agent Marks. And what he has to tell and show her about Reece isn’t good. I have to give her a lot of credit for holding her tongue. I knew she wouldn’t rat on Reese, but the more she learns about his past the more she might want to. We know he’s done a lot of very bad things, but how many innocent people has he killed? You know Carter’s got to be asking herself a lot of questions.

Finch is a different person on drugs. Aren’t we all? I have never enjoyed seeing Finch out in the field as much as I did in this episode even though he got himself into mortal danger. His first mistake was to engage the target. His second mistake was to drink from the glass she offered him. While seeing Finch’s inexperience in the field shows us a different side to him, I don’t want him hurt or killed. And although the danger was real, I was also delighted by his behavior on drugs. He was childlike and funny. And when Reese had an opportunity to take advantage of Finch he didn’t. I didn’t expect that. Very interesting.

Guest Star Goodness

It is always good to see Rhys Coiro on my television screen. I didn’t watch much of A Gifted Man this season, but liked what I saw of him on that show. You may also recognize him as auteur Billy Walsh from Entourage or some of the guest spots he’s done on shows like Hawaii Five-0, Dark Blue, or Burn Notice. What I like about him here is that he’s a good guy who’s been driven into a life of crime. With the havoc the real drug dealer has been wreaking on his life, the real Jordan decided it was time to take back some control. And even though he makes a horrible criminal, I did like seeing him try to act like one.

You may recognize Sarah Wynter from Army Wives or Damages. Here she plays Jordan Hester, real name Tara – which she gave up at the age of 23 to delve further into her life of crime. She plays the victim so well she gets Finch to drop his guard and he almost ends up dead. I’m so glad she’s not the type to get her hands dirty by shooting anyone, because if she was we would’ve lost Finch in this episode.

I knew Seth Gilliam looked familiar. Most recently he had an arc on Teen Wolf and has guested on The Good Wife. Here he plays Det. Desmond Franklin. As a member of the ID theft squad he gives Fusco crucial information needed to crack this case. In fact, it’s both Fusco’s detective work and Reese’s special skills that help them determine who the real Jordan Hester is. And it’s Det. Franklin who arrests the impostor at the end of the episode and takes her to jail, where she belongs.

Random:

• Do you think Finch invented online Social Networking? I love that he needed to get more personal information on people and found a way for them to volunteer that information while making himself (and others) rich. We know he’s a billionaire and we don’t know where all his money comes from…

• A high-on-ecstasy Finch mistakes John for his deceased best friend Nathan Ingram (I originally thought we were learning John’s real name. How could I forget about Nathan?! Apparently I wanted there to be some crazy conspiracy involving the CIA and John – and there still might be. Thanks to a reader for pointing that out.)

Person of Interest airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.