“I’m not going to threaten to kill you. I’m going to kill you.”
- Reese
We have come to the end of November sweeps and the three-week event. The first act is a very different approach for the show. Aside from the musical score, there is no dialogue for the first four minutes of the episode. We see Reese recouping in a hospital while Finch, Shaw, Fusco and Carter’s ex-husband and son attend her funeral. Shaw disappears and starts pounding on some criminal types to try and find Simmons. His picture is on every paper and it is not surprising when the Machine gives Finch his number. Just before the first act break, a group of gang bangers is driving along when they’re hit by an oncoming truck. Reese appears all angry and after the guy in the back seat doesn’t seem to give him the info he wants, Reese just walks away. To say he’s out for blood would be a grave understatement.
We jump back to 2010 shortly after Nathan is killed. Finch is seeing a therapist and he asks about the purpose of grief and survivor’s guilt. He wants to know if it ever goes away especially since he knows he’s the one responsible. In the present, Root offers to help Finch but he turns her down. He gets a call from Lionel and shows up at the car crash scene. Witnesses say it was Reese, although since Shaw’s out and a bout causing mayhem it could have been her. Lionel knows that the guys worked for a forger whom they find downtown being tortured by Shaw. It seems she’s been a few steps behind Reese since he dumped the guy off a building and broke his legs. Now our trio figures out that they need to find Quinn’s location since apparently he’s the only one who knows Simmons’ exit strategy. According to Finch, Reese’s injuries are life threatening so they need to hurry. Finch does a little Google fu and finds the name of Quinn’s sleazy defense attorney. They are a little late to the party though. The attorney’s been tortured. At first Fusco thinks it is Reese but they find security footage that shows the Russians showing up after Reese. So now they are racing against time and the Russians. Shaw makes the recommendation that they actually get Root involved.
We jump further back to 2005 to learn that Shaw was a doctor at one point. She apparently delivered the news that a man died while eating an energy bar. She’s technically brilliant but emotionless. She’s a sociopath. But we already knew that. The man she’s talking to says that she’ll never be a doctor. It took me a minute to see that the flashbacks are showing our core characters dealing with tough emotions. In the present, after a little arguing, Finch lets Root out. She immediately gets a call from the Machine. Fusco gets to bitch a little during the car ride with having to sit next to Root. She’s giving directions much like when she kidnapped Shaw earlier this season but it gets the job done. She really is creepy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amy Acker, but Root is just weird. She gets them into the building opposite the one where Quinn is staying. She points out the twelve guards on duty and notes that Reese is on the premises. Fusco asks how she’s sure and then a car explodes to draw the guards’ attention.
In 2007, it appears that Reese is reenlisting to be a sniper/black ops guy and he’s kind of quiet and submissive. But then he reveals that he’s been in this position before and he’s under orders out who is leaking names to the Chinese. The doctor he’s talking to is the culprit and Reese offs him without so much as a blink. The way this scene was shot was rather haunting. For much of the scene, you could only see parts of Reese’s face and it made him look dead. It was an apt comparison for how he no doubt feels in the present as he tries to avenge Carter’s death. In the present he’s getting worse, all covered in blood and really not looking so good. But he’s got enough energy to take out numerous armed men and get to Quinn. He demands that Quinn give him Simmons’ location. He doesn’t use death as a threat. He promises to kill Quinn regardless of if he coughs up the intel. The rest of the team is running out of time. They know that Reese is dying and so Finch heads up (once Root and Fusco clear the way) and ultimately stop Reese from killing Quinn. Shaw is pissed that they’re focusing on getting Reese medical attention and letting Simmons go since they have the location. But Fusco stayed behind to make sure the Feds got their hands on Quinn and he picks up the paper with the location. So one of our heroes is still in play.
We jump back to 2005 to see Lionel seeing the department shrink after a shooting. He first says it was a good shooting but when he learns that the session is confidential, he admits that he killed the guy for shooting a rookie the year before. In the present, he encounters Simmons at an airstrip and beats the crap out of him before arresting him. He refuses to let Simmons undo all the good Carter did in his life. Reese is going to pull through and it seems that Root is going to stick around for whatever big fight they have ahead of them. And in the hospital, Simmons gets a visit from Elias. He takes it personally that Simmons killed Carter so now he’s going to “fix” the problem and has Simmons killed. I have to say I think this was a very interesting way to approach losing a member of the team and seeing how everyone handled it. I’m excited to see where the show goes now. Oh and I’m so thrilled that HR is officially done. It was an interesting storyline in the beginning but they really dragged it on too long.
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