Person of Interest

Person of Interest

Episode 9: C.O.D.

Mini-Review

By: Carlos Uribe

Person of Interest is a drama about preventing planned crimes before they happen.

Spoilers Ahoy!

C.O.D. is an episode that seems to have been inspired by the movie Collateral. It's about a cab driver whose life is put in danger when a customer of his leaves his laptop in his cab. This laptop contains sensitive data relating to a travel database that terrorists can use. The information on there is very valuable and the Estonian mob is killing anyone who comes in contact with it. Reese and Finch not only have to keep the cab driver safe but they have to find the laptop. It should come as no surprise that they do both. It also wouldn't come as a surprise when Carter is able to pull some strings and get the cab driver's family from Cuba into the country. The weekly case isn't that bad but it's probably one of the least interesting ones this show has done. The cab driver himself is a weak character as his primary personality trait is that he's a family man who almost became a professional baseball player. That doesn't create a person of much interest. The action sequences were fun but there was little substance backing them up.

The side case with Fusco was the most interesting part of the episode. He's trying to get his nose clean but he keeps getting blackmailed into helping HR. They make him attend a meeting with Elias and then send him to try and take down the remaining mafia family head. A double-cross means that the cop sent with Fusco goes down and he's sent back to deliver a message to HR. He adds a flavor to the message that seems to have driven his HR superior to reveal to Carter that the missing cop was actually murdered by a cop. This is an interesting development if the series decides to pursue it as it will test the loyalty that Carter has towards her partner along with the people who were involved, Reese and Finch. All of this is primarily a way to remind a viewer that HR is still kicking and to set up the next part of the arc where Fusco's involvement with them is exposed to Carter. In other words this is largely just building up to something rather than being an important plot point that stands on it's own. Seeing as how next week is the midseason finale, I wouldn't be surprised if this plays some role in the episode. It would be odd to have this cliff-hanger and not follow through with it immediately. C.O.D. might not have been the best episode but it was still a solid entry.