Person of Interest: Season 1

John Reese, a former CIA agent and Army Special Forces soldier now a homeless alcoholic, is arrested for getting into a fight on a New York subway train. He is bailed out before homicide detective Joss Carter can question him regarding DNA evidence linking him to a string of killings. Reese is brought to mysterious billionaire Harold Finch, who explains that after the September 11 attacks, he designed an algorithm capable of predicting crimes by analyzing behavioral patterns in troves of surveil

Reese takes the case of Theresa Whitaker, who supposedly died alongside her family years prior. He discovers that the crime was in fact an assassination staged to look like a murder-suicide, and that there is still a price on Theresa's head. He tracks down the original hitman, who admits he let Theresa live out of a refusal to kill children. Finch locates Theresa, only to be cornered by another hitman; Reese intervenes in time to save them, leaving Theresa in Carter's care. Carter attempts to ac

The Machine produces the Social Security number of Joey Durban, a former soldier. On returning from Afghanistan, Joey joined a gang of former soldiers who have taken to robbing banks. Reese infiltrates the gang for their final robbery at an NYPD evidence lockup. They steal a file marked "Elias, M." before Latimer, the ringleader, begin killing off the gang members and escapes. Reese starts tracking him down, but discovers that Latimer has himself been murdered after handing the file over to Elia

Reese begins 24-hour surveillance of Dr. Megan Tillman, whom he and Finch believe to be targeted by serial rapist Andrew Benton. Reese discovers that Tillman is in fact stalking and planning to kill Benton for raping Tillman's sister, who killed herself after her assault. Tillman abducts Benton, but is talked out of killing him by Reese, who suggests she will not be able to forgive herself for taking a life after spending her career saving them. Reese then kidnaps Benton himself and contemplates

A Polish street gang known as SP-9 kidnaps the son of Samuel Gates, a judge known to be tough on crime. In exchange for his son's safe return, the gang's leader demands that the judge release a banker who is key to their money laundering operation without punishment. Breaking with his preferred means of operation, Reese makes himself known to Gates in an attempt to stall the kidnappers while he uses Fusco to process evidence from the scene of the crime. He misleads SP-9 into believing that their

Reese takes the case of Zoe Morgan, a professional fixer who uses her high-profile connections to perform various services for her own clients. Zoe is hired to retrieve an incriminating recording of a pharmaceutical executive from a rival company, but comes under threat when she hears the contents of the recording itself and realizes that her employer is just as corrupt as his rival. Finch finds that Zoe's case is connected to that of Dana Miller, a POI whom he was unable to save before meeting

Reese must protect Charlie Burton, a schoolteacher who witnessed a Russian mobster shooting an Italian-American mob lieutenant in a Brighton Beach bodega. As Reese and Burton flee the Russian mob as well as the Five Families of New York's Italian mafia, they stumble into territory controlled by the Bulgarian mob. Meanwhile, Carter searches for Burton to place him in protective police custody, and in doing so, draws closer to finding Carl Elias, believed to be the illegitimate son of an aging mob

Reese and Finch track former Stasi agent Ulrich Kohl across New York City. Kohl, who recently escaped his 24-year captivity from Germany, is now hunting down his former Stasi colleagues who betrayed him to the American and German governments in exchange for new lives in the U.S., as he believes them to have murdered his wife Anja (who died while attempting to flee Germany with him). Kohl kills one ex-agent, while Reese saves the other from poisoning. Upon confronting his third former colleague,

In flashbacks, Detective Carter, while serving in the Army, convinces an Iraqi deliveryman to give intelligence on Al-Qaida. Carter is outraged when the American soldiers kill the man during the operation, causing one to warn Carter that she's on her own. In the present, Carter's investigation into the Elias case has earned her a place on Elias' hit list, making her the next POI. Reese faces the challenge of protecting her without revealing his identity. While Carter investigates the murder of a

The Machine produces four POIs: Reese finds one dead and fails to prevent the murder of the second. He learns that all four individuals were involved in robbing drug money from the scene of a car crash, and are now being targeted by the corrupt banker and Congressman implicated in the accident. Carter is approached by CIA operative Mark Snow, who requests her help in locating Reese; Snow explains that Reese was responsible for the death of his CIA partner Kara Stanton years ago, and disappeared

Finch takes a wounded Reese to the morgue and pays an assistant to suture Reese's wounds while sending Fusco to misdirect the CIA. While Reese is in a wheelchair, Finch rents an apartment for him. The building's super, Ernest Trask, is the newest number; Reese and Finch believe him to stalking one of his tenants, Lily Thornton, and targeting her boyfriend Rick. However, Trask reveals that Rick is the one stalking Lily and he is only trying to protect her. Reese rushes to Lily's apartment to save

Reese decides to finally meet Carter, who helps Finch and him in their next case to glean insight into their methods. Their POI, Andrea Gutierrez, is a self-made attorney who specializes in suing the state of New York on behalf of convicts who believe they were wrongfully imprisoned. They learn that the parole officer of Andrea's latest client is setting up convicts for imprisonment and profiting off of placing their children in foster care, and manage to save Andrea's life. Reese follows Finch

Reese and Finch take the case of construction manager Scott Powell, who was laid off due to budget cuts advanced by Congressman Michael Delancey, whom Powell is planning to assassinate in revenge. However, as Reese tries to intercept Powell, Finch realizes that he has been framed, and he and Reese are unable to stop the real assassin from killing Delancey. Powell is arrested by the FBI in the face of mounting evidence. Reese helps him escape and enlists Zoe Morgan's help in helping identify Dela

The latest POI, teenager Darren McGrady, is attempting to avenge the death of his older brother Travis at the hands of a drug gang. Reese stops him from killing the gang's leader and later tracks down both the murder weapon and the perpetrators, who are arrested while Darren is taken to a new foster home. Finch is visited by Will Ingram, who found a reference to the Machine in his father's belongings; Finch later observes Will as he meets ex NSA employee Alicia Corwin, who flees when Will mentio

Reese and Finch discover their latest POI, Michael Cahill, to be secretly involved in a ruthless smuggling ring led by a man named Vargas. Reese infiltrates the ring and learns that Cahill is in fact an undercover cop formerly named Daniel Tully, and has held off on arresting Vargas in hopes of apprehending his superior. Reese learns that Vargas may have a connection inside the NYPD; Fusco attempts to locate the connection via his friend, corrupt police officer Patrick Simmons, but is later take

Reese goes undercover as Finch's asset manager at a Wall Street investment firm to monitor their latest number, trader Adam Saunders. Adam had advised his adoptive uncle to invest heavily in a firm known as Tritak, but has since noticed suspicious activity, putting his life in danger. Reese learns that Adam's co-worker, along with an SEC employee monitoring him, are engaged in insider trading, hoping to short the soon-to-fail Tritak and defraud thousands of people out of millions of dollars. Ree

Carter places crime lord Don Gianni Moretti in witness protection ahead of his anticipated testimony against Elias. Reese and Finch are surprised when the Machine names a six-month old child, Leila Smith, as the latest POI. They learn that Leila is the illegitimate child of a construction magnate whose wife ordered the hit to protect the family's reputation and is now unable to call off the contract. Leila is kidnapped; a desperate Reese goes to Elias for help. Elias helps Reese to retrieve Leil

Reese and Finch are given the number of Jordan Hester, whose identity matches both a male and a female individual. Finch believes the female Hester to be in danger, but learns that she is an identity thief named Mary, while the real Hester is the man. Mary drugs Finch and leaves him to die in a fire, but Fusco rescues him. Mary goes to kill Hester, but Reese gets her arrested, exposing her real identity as con artist Tara Verlander. Carter, keeping her distance from Reese and Finch, is approache

The Machine yields five numbers belonging to the respective heads of New York's major Italian crime families. Reese and Finch suspect Elias is planning to eliminate his competition, and Carter has the dons placed in protective custody. One of the dons is killed in a car explosion while another is killed in witness protection. Carter takes the remaining dons to a safe house, but is tracked down by HR cops. Elias has Carter's son kidnapped to force her to turn the dons over to him; Reese rescues C

The latest POI, armored-car driver Tommy Clay, is working with a team Finch believes will be robbed. Reese infiltrates the team, but the vehicle explodes during a platinum robbery and Clay shoots Reese, who is rescued by Carter and hospitalized. Finch tracks Clay to a motel where his two partners have been killed, while Fusco realizes HR is connected to the robbery. Finch tracks down Clay's girlfriend Ashley, a waitress, but she kills Clay and attempts to escape with the platinum before being ki

Flashbacks reveal that Reese's girlfriend Jessica was killed by her abusive husband Peter Arndt, who covered up the death as a car crash. Finch spots Reese in the hospital as the latter learns of Jessica's death, suggesting she was a POI Finch was unable to save. Reese later finds evidence of Arndt's abuse and apparently kills him in his home. In the present, Reese is given the day off, ostensibly for his birthday. Finch urges Carter to accompany agent Donnelly to New Rochelle, where Donnelly su

Flashbacks to 2009 show Alicia Corwin warning Ingram that the Machine will "flag" anyone who discovers its existence, leading Ingram to realize the government will use the Machine to spy on its own citizens. He asks Finch to create a contingency to avoid such an abuse of power; when Finch refuses, Ingram creates one himself. In the present, NSA security analyst Henry Peck, the latest POI, is being targeted for unwittingly discovering the Machine's existence in a security report. Though Peck is i

Fusco is hired by HR leadership to obstruct any investigation into a planned murder, with the target being the latest POI: Dr. Caroline Turing, a therapist with a powerful client list. Reese poses as one of her clients and saves her from an assassination attempt. HR and FBI later converge on the hotel where Reese is hiding Turing; Carter and Fusco help them escape and fend off HR – discovering in the process that they are on the same side – while Finch waits in a car to collect Turing. However,