Season 1, Episode 2:
Ghosts
The newest number corresponds to Teresa Whitaker (Valentina De Angelis), a teenage girl who has supposedly been dead for two years, the victim of a massacre when her father went crazy on a houseboat and killed the entire family.
Digging deeper reveals that the murders were carried out by Solnick (Michael Medeiros), a hitman who refused to kill a child, and now the people who hired him are determined to finish the job. Meanwhile, Detective Carter keeps tracking the appearances of the Badass in a Nice Suit, determined to arrest him.
In a flashback to June 10, 2002, Finch continues to work on building the Machine in absolute secrecy while his business partner, Nathan Ingram (Brett Cullen), receives yet another award for Finch's work. Ingram acts as the public face of the company and deals with the government, and lets them believe he built the Machine; they don't know that Finch exists. Finch is satisfied with this arrangement.
Later, in 2007, after the Machine has been taught to track people and spot terrorists, Nathan discovers the existence of the "irrelevant" list and is horrified that so many people in danger have been ignored; Finch defends his decision to delete the irrelevant list because the Machine wasn't built to save "somebody", but rather to save "everybody".
In the present, Reese still wants to know more about Finch than Finch is ready to tell. Reese tracks Finch down to some office where Finch has worked as a low-level database developer for roughly seventeen years. "What happens if I say the wrong thing here?" Reese asks. Finch replies that the department would be disbanded: everyone would be reassigned to other departments.
However, in the end, Finch instead decides to leave that cover position. Reese asks but no one knows whether Finch was laid off, fired or what.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- 555: There are at least three 555 phone numbers in this episode.
- Teresa's aunt's phone number, (718) 555-121, is wiretapped by the new hitman.
- Teresa calls her aunt from (212) 555-0199.
- The new hitman's phone number is (917) 555-0161, he sends a text message to one of the Landale crooks.
- Actor Allusion: Brett Cullen is once again a colleague of Michael Emerson, and again is a Posthumous Character.
- Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Reese uses Finch's credit card to book the floor of a hotel. And order a $50 cheeseburger.
- Batman Cold Open: In the teaser, Reese protects a cheating husband from a pair of hitmen hired by the man's wife.
- Battle Discretion Shot: So, a Man in a Suit walks into a bar...and comes out with a name.
- Big Damn Heroes: Reese turns up Just in Time to save Finch and Teresa.
- Blatant Lies: Teresa tells Carter she doesn't remember who the two men who helped her look like. "It was a traumatic experience."
- Bulletproof Vest: The hitman turns out to be wearing one, after Reese shoots him in the chest.
- Car Fu: Reese rams the car of the corrupt developer with a dumpster truck.
- CEO Incognito: Finch has a low-level IT position in a company that he owns.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Reese beats up a bar full of thugs to get the name of the hitman who murdered Teresa's family. Sadly, we don't get to see exactly how he does it.
- Cut Apart: The hitman appears to have narrowed down which hotel room Finch and Theresa are in, only to find they've baited him with talk over the phone line.
- Cut the Juice: The hitman cuts the hall lights, then checks to see which room has light coming under the door, revealing that it's occupied.
- Destination Defenestration: Happens to Reese, of all people.
- Ditch the Bodyguards: Averted; Teresa is about to walk out on Finch, but he persuades her to trust him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Solnick, the hitman hired to kill the Whittaker family, refused to harm Teresa because she was a child. He's also on the receiving end because his fellow inmates think he killed Teresa and he's been defending his honor against them ever since.
- Faking the Dead: Teresa was presumed dead with her family, but the Machine realises she's alive and in danger again.
- Fascinating Eyebrow: After Reese is thrown out of the bar, he gets up, dusts himself off, and waggles his eyebrows at Fusco before proceeding to wipe the floor with everyone in the bar.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus/Foreshadowing: While Finch and Nathan are discussing the irrelevant list in the flashback to 2007, one of the names and faces to appear is Jessica Ardnt, Reese's ex-girlfriend.
- Impersonating an Officer: Reese is using the NYPD badge he stole from Stills in the previous episode, to meet Fusco in his own police station.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Finch urges Teresa down the fire escape, but when she realises he can't follow with his disability, she refuses to go.
- Meaningful Echo: Finch tells Theresa, "You have to trust someone", but makes it clear he's not at that stage with Reese yet.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: Not much is made of the sacrifice in Redemption Equals Death below... it happens and then everyone seems to forget the character existed for the rest of the episode. Apparently it was the least he could do after his (completely unintentional) betrayal.
- Never Found the Body/Not Quite Dead: Teresa Whittaker, obviously.
- Not So Above It All: Finch hints that while other members of the department he's working in would be transferred if his secret came out, his Pointy-Haired Boss would be fired instead.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The hitman in prison quickly realises Reese is a Professional Killer like himself.
- Our Founder: The final shot of the episode is a bust of Nathan Ingram, confirming his identity as the founder of IFT. There is a Freeze-Frame Bonus here too.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Reese trying to track down Finch.
- Person with the Clothing: Carter instantly realises Teresa has been sent to meet her, because she's wearing Reese's suit.
- Posthumous Character: Nathan Ingram, as revealed in The Stinger.
- Redemption Equals Death: Theresa's uncle decides to keep quiet and buy her some time when the Landale hired hitman interrogates him. He shoots him dead.
- Second Episode Introduction: Although appearing in only eleven episodes, Nathan Ingram is a very important character who did not appear in the pilot.
- Sound-Only Death: With a Hollywood Silencer, no less.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Carter is established as one in this episode.
- Un-person: When Reese turns up at Finch's workplace again, he's quit his job and dumped all his personal items in the trash.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Nathan Ingram's reaction when he discovers the Irrelevant list.
- Woman Scorned: The POI in the Batman Cold Open. Rather than go for the straight divorce, the man's wife hired hitmen.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: The man hired to kill Teresa's family refused to murder a child. The current hitman isn't so particular.
- You Are Too Late: Reese tries to scare the Landale CEO into cancelling the contract on Teresa, but he tells Reese it's too late as the hitman has already tracked her down.
