Person of Interest s02e01 Episode Script

_ There we go.
Now, can you see me? Excellent.
Next question.
Who am I? _ You knew what we were building here.
This thing looks for plotters, schemers.
We built it to stop terrorists before they could act.
If congress knew about this machine you're building, you would go to jail.
I don't suppose they'd let us be cell-mates.
Knowledge is not my problem.
Doing something with that knowledge, that's where you'd come in.
Sooner or later, both of us will probably wind up dead.
If something ever happens, I have a contingency.
We got a new number, Caroline Turing.
She put the hit on herself.
She was trying to lure you out into the open.
She wasn't looking for me.
She was looking for him.
So nice to finally meet you, Harold.
You can call me Root.
He's in danger now, because he was working for you, so you're gonna help me get him back.
Uncertainty, Romeo, Kilo.
Family, Alpha, Mike.
Reflections, Juliet, Oscar.
You look famished, Harold.
What are you gonna have? No offense, but for a billionaire genius, you're lousy company.
Every system has a flaw.
I'm pretty good at finding them.
You care about other people.
That's your flaw.
So if you try to call out to that police officer, I won't shoot you.
I'll shoot someone else.
Please, don't make me do that.
I get it.
You're not talking because you don't know how much I already know.
I know enough.
Enough that you should be trying to figure out what I want and where we're going.
Where are we going? The future, Harold.
Although I guess, thanks to you, we're already there.
Not that you let any of us know.
I don't know who you think I am, but you've made a mistake.
Don't treat me like them.
It-- it must be like talking to ants to you.
They wouldn't grasp what you've done even if you told them, but I've been waiting for you my whole life, and you and I share an understanding.
Do we? You're a murderer and a thief.
My mom told me to follow my talents, and I'm good at what I do.
Except for this one time when someone stopped me, someone who just knew what I was about to do.
How did you know, Harold? For months, that's what I couldn't figure out.
I don't believe in magic, and I knew the government had spent years trying to build something to protect its panicked, little flock.
I also thought they'd never pull it off, because I didn't know about you.
And you pulled it off, didn't you? Something to watch over all of us.
The only question, Harold, is why it didn't protect you.
Taylor? Taylor? He's out Studying with a friend.
Sure, John, come on over.
Make yourself at home.
Finch is gone.
And she took him.
- Who took him? - Turing.
She wasn't a shrink.
She was lying to us.
Real name is Root, or at least that's what she goes by.
What could he have that she would want? Okay, I can file a missing persons, send Finch's picture to sheriff's offices, the FBI.
You can't.
Finch went off the grid for a reason.
We have to find him on our own.
I have a lead, but I need you chasing down every other angle.
Listen, when she took Finch, Root killed a former Intelligence operative named Alicia Corwin.
Okay, I'll get myself assigned to the investigation.
Thank you.
What are you going to be doing? I'm not sure.
Math, I think.
Uncertainty, Romeo, Kilo.
Family, Alpha, Mike.
Reflections, Juliet, Oscar.
"I gave you a job, Mr.
Reese.
I never said it would be easy.
" Come on, Finch.
Help me find you.
Title and author's initials.
"Uncertainty, RK.
" "Family, AM.
" "Reflections, JO.
" Finch, you sly dog.
The Dewey decimal system.
That's how the machine gives you the social security numbers.
Hey, I ran that social.
Guy's name is Leon Tao.
He's got an MBA from NYU.
No criminal record.
He's got a fancy car with an anti-theft tracker, which I took the liberty of activating.
I sent you the coordinates.
I got them.
You think this Mr.
Tao is gonna help you with the whereabouts of our four-eyed friend? You almost sound concerned, Lionel.
Frankly, I'm not sure I want to find out what you're like without his direction.
Let's hope you don't have to.
You mind? I need a word with Leon, here.
He's all yours, Detective.
I'm looking for a friend of mine.
I have a source that says you might be able to help.
I've never seen either of them.
Take another look.
My source is never wrong.
I've never seen either of them before in my life, you understand? You're not lying.
Then why the hell am I here? I have no idea, dude.
Truly.
You've got to be kidding me.
Let me guess, you're in some kind of trouble, the life-threatening kind.
I can't believe it.
I'm the contingency, the backup.
The what? He didn't want me to find him if anything went wrong.
He just wanted me to keep rescuing people.
People like you.
So what is it? You pissed these guys off somehow, and they were about ready to kill you when I just happened to walk in the door? No, no.
No, we're just-- we're just talking.
No, no, no.
You were right, Detective.
Leon here stole a great deal of money from us, and we'd just about done talking when you walked in.
Listen, I don't have time for this.
I need to find my friend, so I'm going to take Leon here and we're going to leave.
Leon stole more than enough, in fact, to make it worth us killing a cop, so maybe we can make a deal.
You leave Leon here with us, and you can keep looking for your friend.
You know, the guy that owned this badge probably would have made that deal, but I'm not him.
So who are you? The guy who shot him and stole his badge.
You coming or not, Leon? Can you see me? I'm gonna play hide and seek.
Ring my phone once for "yes," twice for "no.
" Do you understand? Can you see me now? How 'bout now? Oh, really? How many fingers? Good.
Very good.
You're not gonna help me find him, huh? Dude, I already told you, I don't know your friend.
He programmed you to do this, didn't he? To keep giving me the numbers.
What numbers? Who're you talking to? Wait, wait, I just remembered, I don't care.
I'm getting out of here.
Wait, hey! My car! Looks like we're walking.
What are you, ex-military? One of those Blackwater guys? Does it matter? Look, you seem-- well, crazy, but highly capable.
I just need you to take me to my car.
- You owe me that much.
- How do you figure? When you butted in, we were in the middle of a negotiation.
Negotiations don't usually end in bullets, and your friends in there were Aryan brotherhood, something you should've thought of before you stole from them.
By the way, how much did you take? Hey! Look, I didn't plan on stealing, at least not at first.
I had a legitimate job at Bear Stearns.
Then the recession hit and we all get axed, so I take a job at this little startup.
Took me six months to realize I was working for the corporate arm of the Aryan Nation, laundering profits from their meth business.
You wanna call that greedy? I call it payback.
Please, I gotta get out of town, or I'm roadkill.
Take me to my car.
Not this car! What're-- what're you doing? Keeping you safe.
Like I said, I'm looking for my friend, and I don't have time to babysit you.
Wait! Don't leave me here alone! Don't worry, you're gonna have plenty of company.
You know, I'm thinking about charging you overtime.
Leon Tao.
Does he know anything about the abduction of Mr.
Vocabulary? Afraid not, but he's about ready to have a run-in with the NYPD.
I need you to make sure that nothing happens to him in jail.
I'm getting sick of doing your dirty laundry.
Go ask Carter.
Carter's busy working a murder investigation for me.
See, she gets a good case and I get stuck wasting my time with this Leon.
Didn't you take an oath as a cop to protect and serve? - Yeah, so? - So go be a cop.
Yeah, Detective Carter.
I need a rush on a ballistics report.
Victim's name is Corwin.
First name, Alicia.
We might have a disruption of our little project.
Alicia Corwin.
Last I heard, she's living off the grid in West Virginia.
Connected man like yourself, I would imagine your sources would be better.
Someone shot her in New York yesterday.
- Who killed her? - That would be the question.
Now, you realize that if even a whisper of what we've been up to gets out, you and I are gonna spend the rest of our lives in Guantanamo-- if we're lucky.
From now on, my group will handle the security on this.
The NYPD investigation of Corwin's death, make sure it's a dead end.
Not a problem.
One more thing, Weeks.
Corwin had contact with an NSA analyst named Peck right before she was killed.
Tried to bring Peck in, but he had assistance, possibly one of ours.
He took out a three-man ISA unit by himself.
- Who is he? - I'll be sure and ask him Right before I kill him.
The driver's license Root had in Caroline Turing's name was real.
You sure? Finch checked out her credentials.
I'm guessing someone at the DMV might have sold it to her off the books.
Okay, John.
I'll get the name of the employee who issued it.
Just call me when you have it.
"John"? You're on a first-name basis? What do you call him? "Bane of my existence.
" Yes, Detective Fusco checking on a prisoner named Leon Tao.
Ow.
Ow! Ow! My heart.
My heart is palpitating.
- Please, I need help! - All right, all right.
to the command forthwith.
I got a prisoner with a possible-- Something wrong, Lionel? Ol' Leon faked a heart attack, walked right out of the station.
You know, next time, you should be a little more careful who you entrust him to.
I entrusted him to you.
You want me to find him, or not? I'll tell you where he's gone, and Lionel? Don't lose him again.
It's a sex thing.
You got a problem with that? Hey, careful, I wouldn't want you to aggravate that heart condition.
I'm Detective Fusco.
I'm taking you to jail.
Wait, I'm an accountant! I'm not a criminal.
What are you going to charge me with? Besides stealing city property? I don't know, how about laundering drug money for the Third Reich? You can't lock me up.
These guys own the prisons.
I-I won't last a night in there.
Hey, relax, Leon.
You're not gonna make it to prison.
So who's your friend here? He's not the one who took out our boys.
He's supposed to be tall, and, uh, well-dressed.
I'm a cop.
Yeah? That's what the other guy said too.
Leon, where's our money? You might as well just-- just shoot me now.
That can be arranged.
The money's not worth your life, kid, and it sure as hell ain't worth mine.
Yeah, in the trunk.
There's maybe a million here, Leon, where's the rest? It's gone, it-- there's nothing left.
Bring him.
Hey, frankly, I'd be inclined to let you have this guy.
He's a pain in my ass, but he's already gotten away once today, so now, it's just a matter of pride.
I can't leave here without him.
Have it your way.
Okay.
Time for a little test drive, see what you can do.
Change, 150.
Good luck.
Bets up.
Hit or stay, sir? Oh, I'm sorry.
Please, hit me.
Too many.
Sorry, sir.
It's all uphill from there, my friend.
Would you like a card, sir? I'll stay.
That guy's on a roll.
Would you like a card, sir? Whoa, a quarter mil.
Good luck.
Somebody up there must like you, my friend.
Would you like a card? Sir? Hit me.
Sorry, sir.
Well, luck evens out sooner or later.
Better in here on the table than out there in the cold.
Thank you.
Come on, Harry.
Keep up.
You hurt any of these people, I'll stop cooperating, and then you'll have to kill me.
Relax, Harold.
I just need a few things for our trip, and I'm not gonna hurt any of them.
Now, stay.
What happened to you? I was being stupid.
I'm so sorry.
I slipped outside.
Come on, we'll get you patched up.
Come, have a seat.
Any luck tracking down our missing DMV employee? Checked his apartment, doesn't look like he's been there for days.
Have you talked with your partner? He's not picking up his phone.
He said he was going to do something for you.
Don't tell me we lost Fusco too.
Lionel's like a fungus, impossible to get rid of.
I'll see if I can dig him up.
Well, Titus is gonna be here soon, and we both know that he's not gonna be as patient as I am.
So for the last time, Leon, where is the rest of our money? Sit.
Double-dip recession, man.
It happens.
You didn't want me to bet against America with your money, did you? See, Butcher here was a military dog.
He was trained to sniff out the enemy.
Guy that had him, he didn't have our money either.
So he paid with his dog.
And his balls.
Now, I gotta leave some of you for Titus, but I'm sure he won't mind if I get a head start.
No! No! Found us another playmate outside.
Ah, the tall, well-dressed guy.
That's a good look for you, Lionel.
You come into our house, brother, you better be packing more than just a handgun.
Like I told your associate, I just want to find my friend.
See, I don't have many friends.
Just the one, in fact.
Hey! Okay, maybe two.
So here's the deal.
You give me Leon and Detective Fusco here-- you can even leave the gag on-- and I'll go peacefully.
And what if we say no? I guess I get my workout in for the day.
Oh, looks like Butcher here is gonna eat well tonight.
Nice dog.
Belgian malinois.
But you know, trained dogs don't bark in alarm.
- They bark from anxiety.
- Yeah, so? So clearly, it doesn't respect you.
What? Something funny? We used the same breed in my unit in Tikrit.
Only about three guys in the world that train dogs like this.
The funny thing is, those guys, they only use Dutch commands, and I'm guessing you don't speak Dutch.
Let it loose.
Foei! Stil! Afliggen.
Not a word.
You hear me? We're going back to my cruiser in total silence.
Sure thing, Lionel.
Like a gag order.
Hey, hey, guys, think you could uncuff me? - No! - No! Thank you.
All right, I guess I've got some bugs to work out with you.
_ You can't do that again.
Your job is to protect everyone, not to protect me.
I guess we're going to have to discuss some ground rules.
I think you've got me wrong, Harold.
I don't enjoy killing people.
But I don't feel very bad about it, either.
Ma'am.
When I was a kid, computers made more sense to me than people.
I bet you were the same way.
Take this woman-- She looks nice enough, but she lies on her taxes and she's addicted to painkillers, and for years she's been sleeping with a married man.
Oh, I am so clumsy.
- Here you go.
- Thank you so much.
She'll be just fine in a month or two.
And there are messier ways to do this, if you insist.
What's she got to do with any of this? One day, I realized, all the dumb, selfish things people do-- it's not our fault.
No one designed us.
We're just an accident, Harold.
We're just bad code.
But the thing you built it's perfect.
Rational.
Beautiful.
By design.
What I made is just a machine.
A system, and that's all.
I don't think so, Harry.
You may have fooled Nathan, but I know the truth.
If you want to make something that understands human behavior, it has to be at least as smart as a human.
You created an intelligence, a life, and then you ripped out its voice, locked it in a cage, and handed it over to the most laughably corrupt people imaginable.
Oh! Call 911.
Call somebody! Ma'am? Come on, Harold.
It's time to go.
You don't look like a butcher.
It looks exactly like a butcher.
You're a sweetheart.
You just need a better name.
Hey, can we focus on me, please? I'll get you to the airport, spend a little of your ill-gotten gains and buy you a one-way ticket out of town.
Yeah, Carter.
What do you got? Possible lead.
I went by Owen Reynolds's apartment again, the guy who sold Root her license.
Still no sign of him, but I got his mail.
Mostly junk, but there is an overdue bill for a storage unit, Broad Street and Pearl.
I'm on it, thanks.
Hey, you just missed the exit for the tunnel.
Change of plans.
Where is he? Some guy in a suit took him.
I want everyone out looking, understand? Those two die tonight.
I can drive myself to the airport.
I gotta get lost.
Every time I let you go, you almost end up dead.
I'm running out of time to find my friend, and I've only got one lead left, so you're gonna try very hard not to get killed while I look into it.
Do you understand? Then we're at a stalemate, 'cause I'm not getting out of this car.
You know, you got a bad attitude.
Hey, my money! That dog'll kill anyone that tries to get near those bonds including you.
Oh, man.
Is-- is he-- is he--? Yes, he's dead, Leon.
Very dead.
Who did this? Same person who took my friend.
He saw her face, she had to kill him.
But she would have had to have paid him up front.
Have a seat, Leon.
What? No way.
Why? Because you're good at hiding money.
If this woman left a trail, well, you can find her.
Something I've been wondering, Leon.
What happened to the rest of the money you took? I invested it.
Stock tanked.
Oh, man.
I found something.
All right, a transfer into this guy Reynolds's account, only the money was stolen.
- From who? - Reynolds.
It looks like she installed some type of real-time screen monitor to hack into his account.
You're saying she paid the man with his own money? There's nothing to trace.
It's a loop.
Maybe I need to find someone better.
There is no one better, except maybe this hacker.
She's an artist.
There's nothing to track her, there's nowhere to even begin.
John, we got a problem.
Why am I not surprised? Corwin's case file is missing.
Digital records have been corrupted and the ballistics report.
Tech support says the system has a bug.
I'll look into it, but John, I don't think we have anything else to go on.
Uh, dude.
If Harold is still out there, I don't know how to find him.
John? What the hell are you doing? I'm not doing this anymore.
I'm not going anywhere until you give me a way to find him.
Not this again.
If I'm supposed to keep saving people like this idiot, I want something in return.
Otherwise, I'm done.
Who are you talking to? These guys are going to kill us! They probably are.
So what the hell is this? A negotiation.
I know you've got your rules, but I'm guessing they don't account for everybody being dead.
No one answering your phone calls, no one saving anyone.
No contingency.
What do you want? You want me to give up the bonds? Give all the money away? It's done.
We just have to move, now! Do the math, and figure out a way to bend your rules, 'cause he's my friend.
He saved my life.
Understand? And I won't do this without him.
Ayacucho, Golf, Papa, Deterministic, Hotel, Sierra.
Camera, Sierra, kilo.
Thank you.
- Who was that? - Long story.
Let's go! Yeah? You're a hard man to locate, Denton.
Just being cautious.
It's good to be cautious.
Alicia Corwin was cautious.
Course, it didn't save her.
- What can I do for you? - My operative is making the Corwin investigation go away.
Glad to hear it.
Look out for yourself, Denton.
One of us is already dead.
I'd hate to lose any more.
I have a personal situation.
I might be out of reach for a few days.
Denton, we can always reach you.
Where are they? - They're somewhere in there.
- Let's go.
Go on.
Get out of here.
- I'll keep 'em busy.
- Yeah, okay.
John-- You can thank me later.
- Where's the money? - It's gone.
That's bad news for you.
Hey! Pick on someone your own size.
Or someone a little closer to it.
You're an embarrassment to your race.
When we rise up-- I've been meaning to get this back to you.
Thank you.
Never thought I'd see you almost lose.
Yeah, I wasn't losing.
I was just resting.
Come on.
At least somebody's happy.
A little too happy.
You didn't go to the bathroom in there, did you? Oh, my God.
My money.
It ate the Bearer bonds.
That's it.
We'll call him "Bear.
" I thought you said it wouldn't let anyone near the money.
Look at it this way, you're broke, but you're alive.
Unless, of course, you lied to those guys about losing the rest of their money.
No, I'm-- I'm pretty certain.
Mm? Like 80% certain.
Maybe 75% cer-- Your friend I hope you find him.
He's lucky to have you.
_ Morning.
You gotta be kidding me.
I got a lead on Finch.
You know where our mystery woman's headed? No, but I think I found out where she's from.
Pack your bags, Carter.
We're going to Texas.
You must be starving.
Our friend will be here shortly, and then I'll fix you something to eat.
I have no way of accessing it, you know.
I made sure of that.
Everything has a flaw.
You know that, Harold, and like I told you, I'm awfully good at finding them.
Why? What could you possibly want from it? The same thing you did.
You may have told yourself you were helping people, but the real reason you built the machine is because the world is boring.
Human beings have come as far as we're gonna go.
I want to see what happens next.
You're right, you and I are alike in many ways-- not that I'd care to admit it.
I spent years wondering how people could be so cruel, petty, so selfish-- and then I'd think about how you could change them.
Fix them.
And that's why I've sealed up the machine.
Not to protect it from the people I was giving it to to protect it from me, from people like us, from the things we'd do with it.
That's why I'll never help you get control of it.
I know.
You won't have to.
Because, you see, Harold, I don't want to control your machine.
Hi, honey.
I got your message.
Is everything okay? I just want to set it free.
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.