Recap / Person Of Interest S 04 E 08

Season 4, Episode 8

Point of Origin

"Like you said, Katya... at the end of the day, it's all about relationships."

—Martine

Reese volunteers as an NYPD police academy instructor in order to keep an eye on Dani Silva, a talented young student whose suspicious actions make him question her motives. Meanwhile, Martine – armed with information from Samaritan – uses a little old-school "human intelligence" to hunt a member of the team.

• Arc Word: "Relationships"
• Birds of a Feather: Like Reese, a judge gave Silva a second chance, and she was recruited for a secret intelligence operation.
• Call-Back:
  • "I had a math teacher once, who said all the world's infinite possibilities rest within this one, simple circle."
  • Silva has heard about the takedown of HR, and asks John if he was part of it. He doesn't give a straight answer.
  • The Brotherhood infiltrating the NYPD via moles is compared to The Mafiya mole Laskey.
  • According to Iris, Reese being involved in yet another shooting, this time inside a police station, has not helped his reputation with Internal Affairs.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Dr. Campbell says that Reese has this. He immediately proves her right.
  Iris: We can start where we left off: your hero complex, which men often develop in response to being bullied as a child.
  Reese: Iris, my school didn't have bullies. I kept them in line.
  Iris: Uh, bullying bullies is kind of the very definition of a hero complex... You seem distracted. There something else on your mind?
  Reese: You could say that.
  Iris: Look, I'm not sure what you're running from, but—
  Reese: I'm not running from anything. I'm trying to save someone!
• Cliffhanger: At the end of the episode, Martine enters a department store, verifies Shaw is in the vicinity, and draws a handgun just as Shaw notices her.
• Continuity Nod:
  • IA agent Silva notes that Fusco's name seems familiar.
  • Dominic recruited Ortiz as The Mole by using an expensive lawyer to get a relative off on drug charges. This is the same tactic he was going to use with Malcolm, who was also thinking of becoming a cop.
• Cutting the Knot:
  • Even with a partial photo of Shaw, all the surveillance cameras of the USA and the precise location of her phone that it knows to belong to a person it wants eliminated, Samaritan can't find her. Sadly, Greer and Martine are not bound by such restrictions and manage to track her down just fine.
  • The Brotherhood gets information on Elias' organization by stealing the NYPD intelligence files, getting years-worth of intel without much effort. They do so by hacking the files via the NYPD Academy, whose security is less tight.
  • Trapped in the school by superior numbers, Reese blows a hole in the bottom of the swimming pool to create an escape route.
• Danger Room Cold Open: Reese at the training academy as a tactical instructor.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Silva.
  "In high school, I was a runner for a gang. Where I'm from, it's not a choice. Once you're in, it's either knocked up or locked up."
• Dramatic Gun Cock: Reese trolling Iris — he's really getting to grips with his whole shooting people thing.
• Enhance Button: Samaritan is shown working on the blurred image it has of Shaw.
• Frame-Up: Silva's handler is shot with her training gun.
• Good Old Ways: Greer and Martine discuss the advantages of human intelligence.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: When Finch was a teacher, he was really hoping to inspire the students with his circle speech. It turned out it did inspire one of his students; that student just happened to be Dominic.
• I Have Your Daughter: How Martine leverages Katya, by pressing a photo of her daughter up against the window.
• Impostor Forgot One Detail: Silva notes that Reese's tactics on the range are military, despite not having a military background as Detective Riley.
• Internal Reveal: Team Machine discovers that Mini is Dominic, which the audience has already known for four episodes.
• Irony:
  • Martine used to be an investigator for the Hague.
  • Reese gets kneecapped during a training exercise.
• Klingon Promotion: Dominic asks another gang member "You the Number Two?" before having him kill his leader.
• Lampshade Hanging: After various characters all say something to the effect of 'it all comes down to relationships', Martine's reaction to finding out that the way to find Shaw is via a dating app (an app to find relationships) was just "How apropos."
• Linked List Clue Methodology: Martine puts the squeeze on Katya, and gets Katya to give up Romeo, who she then gently persuades to reveal how he contacted Shaw.
• The Mole: Ortiz, Silva's academy partner, who is in with the Brotherhood.
• More Dakka: Two silencers, and Bear with a vest-load of hand grenades!
• Moving the Goalposts: It's never just one job with the Brotherhood.
• Offhand Backhand: Martine shooting the man behind her in the bar scene.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Shaw, once she sees Martine at the makeup counter.
  • Shaw and Finch both react this way when they realize that "Mini" is Dominic.
• Ship Tease: Iris laughs off Reese's suggestion that she's a Stalker with a Crush, but she does appreciate Reese saving her from a drive-by shooting.
• Shame If Something Happened: The Red Herring trainee suspect suggests she might have a training accident next time they use live rounds.
• The Starscream: Invoked by Dominic; when the leader of the Trinitarios starts giving him problems, they hand a gun to his Number Two and ask if he wants a Klingon Promotion.
• Take That!: A darkly comedic one from Rousseau. Having bluffed a man with a double-barreled shotgun, eliminated him, and then blasting Romeo with one barrel, she says, "Sorry to go all Dick Cheney on you."
• They Have the Scent!: Bear is used to find Ortiz in the abandoned school.

• Walk and Talk: An Enforced Trope when Iris starts badgering Reese at the same time he's trying to follow Silva.
• Wham Line:
  Finch: And I finally figured out the common denominator. Our new number. [Finch places a photo of Elias on the board]
  • Martine gets one too:
  Martine: No worries. I found her.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Played straight by the Trinitarios. Dominic and his number two give a gun to the Trinitarios' number two. The Trinitario shoots his own leader, not Dominic.
• You Have Failed Me: Dominic's modus operandi.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Dominic tells the Trinitarios to kill Ortiz.
• You Look Familiar: Garcia, the Trinitario leader played by Luis Da Silva, Jr., previously appeared in "The Crossing".
• You Remind Me of X: Silva's dedication reminds Reese of Carter.