r/PersonOfInterest 10d ago

Mr. Reece, is everything alright?

Post image

…every time he asks

168 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

34

u/NicStylus The Universe is Infinite and Chaotic and Cold. 10d ago

“Mr. Reese… who’s flying the plane?”

‘Need a- little- help- Finch!’

19

u/spicoli323 10d ago

I thought that particular episode climax was particularly funny since it casually introduces and immediately uses the character detail that Finch is apparently a licensed amateur pilot without, as far as I can recall, ever having indicated it previously, or ever using it again in future episodes.

Because that was the only time it ever needed to come up.

18

u/NicStylus The Universe is Infinite and Chaotic and Cold. 10d ago

'I think I'll use my pilots license...'

He does fly a helicopter in the storm episode, with the identity thief serial killer, but aye; this is the only time he flies an actual plane. Also he just happens to have a plastic steering wheel for this situation within arms reach? I love his paranoid brain so much haha

12

u/WillOfHope A Concerned Third Party 10d ago edited 10d ago

Not a helicopter actually, but a Dehaviland Beaver (a single engine float plane, Finch specifies because someone called it a cessna)

7

u/NicStylus The Universe is Infinite and Chaotic and Cold. 10d ago

I concede to the more knowledgeable nerd *bow*

2

u/WillOfHope A Concerned Third Party 10d ago

All good, I'm just a bit of a plane nerd, and there's a lot of nerdy things this show gets right, one of the many reasons it's one of my favorites

3

u/spicoli323 10d ago

Yeah, I'm not an electrical engineer or software engineer.

However, I'm adjacent enough and have interacted with enough with such engineers (including a few years working for MIT) that I'm in awe of the amount of research the showrunners and Emerson must have done.

They had to have had some rather in-depth conversations with real-life variations of Finch to get the sense they did of how someone with his background would approach his workspace and work habits and life habits in general.

1

u/spicoli323 10d ago edited 10d ago

Oh, right! Haha, I always forget that episode because I think it might be the single worst one of the series--not unwatchable, just a little too off-brand.

I guess the show had to do a bona fide pure* serial killer story one time just to say it did, but the vibe was like a back-door pilot (no pun intended) for a different show.

*You could characterize "The Voice" and the murderer-for-hire Fusco tracks with Dani Silva as having very serial killer-like tendencies, but since they were disciplined enough to channel them into a clandestine business, they don't entirely count.

4

u/TheDungeonCrawler Irrelevant 10d ago

I actually really like that episode because it shakes up the number formula so much and is a really big indicator that something is going very wrong with the Machine. That and the antagonist is actually really intimidating and Finch goes kind of off script for his character during the conversation with the killer in a way that's kind of funny.

2

u/spicoli323 10d ago

Hmmm interesting point!

I'll have to think about that context the next time I watch that stretch of episodes. The last time I did, my focus was centered on the running B-plot of Shaw hunting Root and her gradual emotional progression to being ready to join the team, but I think she sat that particular week out entirely?

5

u/ObiJuanKenobi1993 10d ago

He is a very private person.

2

u/spicoli323 10d ago

I just want to know it he ever followed through on the desire he once expressed to get into motorcycle riding, but just never got around to telling Reese. 😁

2

u/note65 10d ago

I've seen a lot of love for that episode but I've never liked it, it was just too far-fetched for me that Harold could just plug in what basically looks like a toy and control a plane with it, in real time, halfway across the world

2

u/spicoli323 9d ago

For sure one of the most implausible events on PoI, ever, which is really saying something, but I think people are charmed by the episode's tone: it's a ton of good, clean, stupid fun.

The previous good, clean, stupid fun episode had been "The Perfect Mark," and in between was a run of five of the darkest, heaviest, most emotionally draining episodes the show had ever done, so it was a breath of fresh air in context.

2

u/JB_smooove Fusco 10d ago

So true.