Person of Interest “All In” 

As I have stated in past reviews, one of the things I love most about Person of Interest is the enormous amount of attention the writers give to detail.  If something is mentioned in passing, even though it may not seem important at the time, file it away, because there is no such thing as a “hanging chad” in this show.  As an added bonus in this episode, we get to see a fan favorite character that I wouldn’t be surprised becomes a series regular by season’s end.

The episode begins on a very light note.  After having been already been saved twice by Finch (Michael Emerson) and Reese (Jim Caviezel), our good friend, Leo Tao (Ken Leung) is in serious crap again.  We all probably have heard of Nigerian scammers, con artists who promise you a big payday if you send them money to help a “relative” come to the U.S.  Leon decides to give them a taste of their own medicine and scams them out of all of their money.  As always, Leon steals the show with the opening scenes and the hysterical dialogue with the scammers:

      I didn’t know Nigerian scammers were actually Nigerian!

     Wait, you are trying to KILL me?  Yes! You are trying to kill me!

Like Leon predicted, Reese bursts through the door at exactly the right time and saves our beloved Leon.  Better be careful, Leon.  Even a cat only has nine lives!

Finch and Reese has to move on quickly, however, because they have another number (and not Leon’s again!).  This time it is a Baccarat player named Lou Mitchell (Ron McLarty).  After Finch discovers the man has lost over $320,000 in the past 6 months to the Venus Casino, loan sharks immediately come to mind.  But, like all Person of Interest episodes, nothing is ever that simple.

It turns out other senior citizens have the same pattern – losing nearly a half million dollars in the past 6 months.  What’s even stranger is that all of these people are nearly broke, and so, where in the hell did the money come from?  The key is the sleezy owner of the Venus casino, Darien Makris (Michael Rispoli).  Besides his shady operations at the casino, he is also being investigated for drug trafficking and money laundering.  And, what better way to launder your dirty drug money than to have innocent senior citizens lose it all at your casino.  It’s a pretty ingenious plan, but not smart enough to get past our Finch and Reese.

I felt that the case in last week’s episode was a little predictable and boring, but this one was nothing but.  However, even with the superb case, the most important parts of the episode come at the end, when we learn of Lou’s back-story.   Lou was a lifelong gambler until a night after he had been beaten senseless, and found by a waitress named Marilyn. He married Marilyn, left his gambling past behind, and it was the happiest 40 years of his life.  He returned to gambling only after Marilyn was diagnosed with cancer and needed money fast for an experimental treatment.  He ultimately returns to gambling one last time – against the advice of Finch who had sent him away for his own protection – to win enough money to buy the diner where he and Marilyn had met.  Now, that’s true love.

At the end of the episode, after Lou explains this all to Finch, he senses that Finch had lost someone equally as special.  But, then he realizes that Finch’s love isn’t dead but very much alive.

       Wait, you mean she’s still alive?  Well, what are you waiting for?  You’re still living and breathing!  — Lou to Finch

I honestly believe Lou’s statement had a huge impact on Finch.  Reese tries to console Finch by saying that his decision saved Grace’s (Carrie Preston) life, and Lou doesn’t understand that.  But, with the look in Finch’s eye, it makes you wonder if he is now questioning his decision.  We really haven’t seen much of Grace this season aside from a few flashbacks, but I wonder if she’ll be back before season’s end.  Hmmmm…..

Aside from all of this, it appears that HR is starting to get back in full swing.  A Russian mobster is on trial, and in an attempt to get the Russian crime family on their side, HR arranges to have their star witness, Detective Schimanski (Michael McGlone), framed for a series of crimes, thus putting his testimony in question.  Carter (Taraji P. Henson) doesn’t buy it for a minute, and ultimately is able to clear Schimanski’s name.  But, as powerful as HR once was and is becoming again, Carter is pretty naïve to think that would stop them.  Schimanski and the ADA are executed by dirty Detective Terney (Al Sapienza), with the Head of HR, Alonzo Quinn (Clarke Peters), superficially wounded.

The important part here is that this Detective Terney showed up to do the dirty work.  I was holding my breath, as I was fully expecting Cal Beecher (Sterling K. Brown) appearing to handle the executions.  So, what does this mean?  Is Cal Beecher still in deep with HR?  Or, has he pulled a Fusco and is trying to come back to the good side?

For the most part, I thought this episode was excellent.  The main storyline was fantastic, it tied up a great deal of loose ends from previous episodes, and it had some wonderful comic relief from our old pal, Leon Tao.  The only bad thing is that we now have to wait until April 4^th for a new episode.  But, with a series like Person of Interest, the wait is always well worth it.

So, what does everyone else think?  Will Finch eventually try to contact Grace?  And, what about Cal Beecher – good cop or bad cop?

Person of Interest airs on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.