Person of Interest delivered a solid sixth episode, a fitting celebration of the show earning a full-season order from CBS. “The Fix” saw a terrific guest-starring role from Paige Turco as Zoe Morgan, a hot-shot NYC fixer who has found herself in a little trouble after doing a favor for a big pharmaceutical company.
Reese (James Caviezel) plants himself as Zoe’s driver, a move which needs no introduction given the show’s M.O. to this point, and as such it doesn’t get one. The opening sequence teases that Zoe might be a hit-woman, but her femme fatale looks and attitude are equally as misleading. Soon, Reese saves her life and finds himself on the desperate pharm company’s most-wanted (dead) list.
Last week’s episode, “Judgment,” felt a bit like a stumbling block on the way to the show getting into a rhythm and the story became too complicated that the characters were lost. Michael Emerson as Finch hardly received any screen time, but he gets it back in “The Fix,” an episode in which he’s every bit as critical as Reese. Finch manages to use his “wealth” and “influence” to buy a curiously strong percentage of the pharmaceutical company’s shares and as such gets treated quite well on the inside by the morally questionable higher ups who are after Reese and Zoe. Although their character histories continue to take a back seat, at least this week’s case took a combined effort.
Reese and Zoe are kindred spirits as we watch them get entagled in figuring out why the pharmaceutical company wants so many people dead. They’re both intensely personal people, but they prefer that most things remain a secret, sharing many “you have your ways, I have mine” exchanges. The chemistry between them is strong and suggestive of a romance, but they keep it professional in the episode and it serves us well. Given her contacts and her ability to move under-the-radar, she could legitimately be brought back for as a regular. I thought Caviezel and Linda Cardellini of the show’s fourth episode had good potential, but watching the tension between Reese and Zoe on a semi-regular basis would be great fun.
Finch also has a moment or two in this episode where we more clearly understand his passion for doing this. As it turns out, while working this case Finch discovers a name he recognizes — someone whose number came out of the machine before he met Reese and was helpless to do anything about it. He realizes if he puts an end to this case, he could really make a difference (in addition to easing his conscience) by putting an end to a dangerous group of powerful people likely to churn more numbers out of the machine. Finch remains an enigma for now, but his dedication to tracking down the people involved in these murders and preventing them can’t be contested.
“The Fix” also delivers on previous promises as Det. Carter (Taraji P. Henson) works a homicide case related to the “Elias” file stolen from the police archives in Episode 1.3. Turns out her body was killed with the same knife used to a kill a woman in the ‘70s, a case in which the new victim was the prime suspect. Although it’s not quite clear where the “Elias” hunt will take us, it offers more incentive to watch the show week to week, something that it needs to get better at. Perhaps the full-season order will mean that come January the show can really take off and become what those who have stuck with it so far expected from the likes of J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan: Science fiction that tantalizes our curiosity.
For now, fans of procedurals will likely find Person of Interests a terrific change of pace thanks to the action and “level of technology.” Considering the only traditional detective characters are supporting roles, it can’t quite be compared with other mysteries on TV.