Recap / Person Of Interest S 05 E 09

Season 5, Episode 9

Sotto Voce

Reese follows the latest Number, Terrence Easton, a locksmith being coerced by "The Voice" (from the Season 3 episode "Last Call") into planting bombs and freeing jailed gang members—but who is not what he seems to be. The Machine assigns Root to look into a radio technician who may be working for Samaritan, and she discovers she's not the only one stalking Samaritan operatives—Shaw is back in town.

• 10-Minute Retirement: Fusco is determined not to help Reese even in minor ways, but the obligatory Conflict Killer crisis arises. It helps that Reese is willing to address Fusco's grievance by telling him the full truth.
• Accent Relapse: Inverted with Amir.
• Admiring the Abomination: Finch gives a long list of ways he's impressed with Easton's work, at the end. Shortly before having Elias car bomb him.
• Back for the Dead: The Voice.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Elias blows up Easton's escape car, suggesting that Finch brought him along for that very reason.
• Batman Gambit: Easton's terrific plot, to set himself up as the victim of a mad bomber with a nonexistent wife, all to get arrested and put into the police station, all so he could kill Amir, the man who would have exposed him as the Voice.
  • Crazy-Prepared: The Voice had two other alternate schemes for killing Amir running in parallel with his Batman Gambit, and his base of operations had a tripwire-activated booby trap behind the door.
• Batter Up!: Fusco is fully prepared to go Rabid Cop in revenge for the murdered policemen before Reese stops him.
• The Big Board: Finch has an Oh, Crap! moment when Elias pulls aside a sheet to reveal a pinboard showing not only the Voice's Evil Plan, but that Team Machine is part of it and he knows all their faces.
• Bilingual Bonus: "Sotto Voce" means "soft voice" or "whisper," suggesting the Voice's return.
• BFG: Root helps herself to a large sniper rifle, to Finch's discomfort.
  Root: I'll keep my eye on Stone from a distance, and I'm pretty sure I'll have the biggest gun on the block.
• Blatant Lies: Shaw tries to drive away Root by claiming that she always killed her during the simulations.
• Bulletproof Human Shield: It helps if your Human Shield is wearing a Bulletproof Vest.
• Call-Back:
  • Finch notes that Elias used to be a teacher.
  • Elias meets with the man who built the bomb that killed his father.
  • Finch recalls threatening to electrocute a man he thought was The Voice.
  • Sameen tells Root about the simulations Samaritan put her through.
  • And at the end, when Team Machine finally meets back up, they do so at the spot under the Queensboro Bridge where Finch recruited Reese.
• Catchphrase: "Cleanliness is all." He also uses "Be seeing you" as per the end of "Last Call".
• Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: Root stalking a Samaritan gunman through the park.
• Comedic Sociopathy: "I never properly thanked you for providing the car bomb that killed my father."
• Dirty Cop: Chin. Though this was more due to a threat to his family than any personal gain.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: The Voice turns out to be the POI.
• Driven to Suicide: Root and Shaw, nearly.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: In all 7,000+ simulations, Samaritan didn't figure out that it could bring Shaw to not kill herself by having Root threaten to do the same.
• Evil Versus Evil: Finch suggests using "one enigmatic criminal to catch another".
• Evil Wears Black: Root quickly pegs the men tampering with the transmitter as Samaritan operatives thanks to their familiar black suits. Then another figure in black intervenes.
• External Combustion: How The Voice is finally silenced.
• Fire-Forged Friend:
  • Elias implies this is true of Finch.
  • Reese and Fusco's ordeal mends their broken relationship.
• Heroic BSoD: Shaw clearly suffers from it, unable to tell reality from simulation and haunted by the murder of the scientist.
• Heroic Suicide: Unable to tell if this is just another simulation, or if she's a Manchurian Agent who will turn on her friends, Shaw resolves to shoot herself for real as the only way of ensuring their safety.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Easton's bomb planting, of course.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Easton's own "secure" signals are exactly what allows Finch to zero in on him to cut off Easton's escape and, with Elias' help, blows up the man's car. With his own bombs, too.
• Homoerotic Subtext: When Reese takes him off somewhere private, Fusco says, "You're not going to propose to me, are you?"
• I Have Your Wife: The Voice has kidnapped Easton's wife and threatens to kill her unless his instructions are carried out. Subverted when she turns out to be an actress he's hired.
• Internal Reveal:
  • After four and a half seasons, Fusco finally learns the truth about the Machine.
  • Shaw tells Root about the simulations Samaritan and Greer put her through and what she did in each and every one of them.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Shaw is finally reunited with Root, and her first instinct is to get the hell away from her.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Shaw leaves the smugglers in the middle of the desert on a hot day, unable to walk, with no water and no shade — exactly what they were planning to do to the migrants they were about to screw over, except for the "unable to walk" part.
• Lured into a Trap: For once Reese decides to take back-up for a hostage rescue. When he's delayed entering the building by the Voice's phone call, it's obvious what's about to happen.
• Mood Whiplash: Amir does a creepy shift from a frightened Middle Eastern delivery driver to a Smug Snake Professional Killer once Fusco exposes his lies.
• Mugging the Monster: The people smugglers who brought Shaw across the border imply that they want her to pay for her passage with sex. She's five foot and loose change, recovering from almost a year of experimentation and mental torture, and unarmed to boot. It goes exactly like you'd expect.
• Offhand Backhand: Reese shoots a gunman creeping up behind him.
• On Three: Reese and Fusco during the precinct shoot-out.
• Properly Paranoid: When it's time to reveal the truth about the Machine, Fusco complains when Reese throws away his phone because it's not even turned on. Carter could have told him differently.
• Prophecy Twist:
  • Once again the Number turns out to be the perpetrator after appearing to be the victim.
  • The Machine is apparently pointing Root at a Samaritan operative, when it's actually putting her in Shaw's path.
• Putting the Band Back Together: At the end of the episode, Team Machine is united once more.
• Reaction Shot: Reese's eyes narrow when Easton talks of the mysterious voice on the phone who knew all about him.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Upon returning to New York, Shaw undertakes a mission to kill as many Samaritan operatives as she can.
• Sequel Episode: To "Last Call."
• Short-Distance Phone Call: The Voice appears to have escaped, but is shocked to get a phone call from Finch, who then appears walking up behind him.
• A Sinister Clue: The Voice picks up his coffee cup with his left hand.
• Sixth Ranger: Carl Elias appears to be taking this role, to repay his debt to Team Machine. And as we know, he takes his life debts very seriously.
• Stop, or I Shoot Myself!: After her Game of Chicken with the Machine in "Asylum", Root again uses the threat of her own suicide to convince Shaw to back down from her own.
• Talking Down the Suicidal:
  • Faced with the prospect of harming Root, Shaw prepares to kill herself again like previously in the simulations. However, this time Root to threatens to do the same if she does, which causes her to back down from it.
  • Subverted with Reese and Easton, since Easton really wasn't planning to blow himself up.
• The Voice: The Voice, fittingly, until he's finally busted.
• Tastes Like Friendship: A subtle version; Reese fetches coffee for Easton, but is shown sharing coffee with Fusco at the end of the episode.
• Token Evil Teammate: Elias is on Harold's side in this one, but he's still a bad guy, which he makes abundantly clear in his last scene.
• Trash the Set: For the first time, it happens to the 8th precinct.
• Trojan Prisoner: Easton and the Templarios are both brought into the precinct to take out Amir.
• Violence Really Is the Answer: Finch does give the Voice the opportunity to surrender peacefully, but his reaction to Elias blowing him up is remarkably subdued, and Elias suggests he knew full well what was going to happen. One wonders what Root was planning to do with that sniper rifle too, before Shaw shot the Samaritan operatives. All-in-all, Team Machine's Thou Shalt Not Kill philosophy is under some strain.
• Virtue Is Weakness: Elias disagrees with The Voice on this. He does so right before he blows the guy up, but the sentiment is there.
  Easton: Careful. Compassion and loyalty make people weak. Easy to exploit.
  Elias: Well, that's some stinking thinking—and why you're gonna lose.
• We Need a Distraction: Bombs are planted all over the precinct to draw out every possible police officer. Though that still doesn't explain where the admin staff is.
• We Will Meet Again: Only this time, he doesn't.
• Working the Same Case:
  • Root and Shaw are both tracking the radio engineer.
  • The Templarios and the serial killer Amir are both related to the Voice.
• Worthy Opponent: Finch appears to consider Easton this at the end.
• invoked Working Title: "Line Hunt"
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: At least he doesn't waste time on monologuing, but the Voice talks just long enough for Fusco to save Reese.
• You Are Worth Hell: Implied when Root threatens to shoot herself if Shaw does so, musing that she never gave much thought to what comes after. It's unlikely these two think they're going to Heaven, so...
• "You!" Exclamation: By Amir when Easton finds him.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Amir was used to kill off anyone who might lead to the Voice. Realising he would be next on the list, Amir tracked down the Voice's true identity so he could use it to plea bargain with.