crack_van | Fandom Overview: Person of Interest

Hi and welcome to the relatively small but enthusiastic fandom that is Person of Interest.
Finch: The numbers never stop coming

PERSON OF INTEREST ...

“You are being watched. The government has a secret system, a Machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because ... I built it. I designed The Machine to detect acts of terror, but it sees everything, crimes involving ordinary people like you, crimes the government considered irrelevant. They wouldn’t act so I decided I would—but I needed a partner, someone with the skills to intervene. Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret. You’ll never find us; but victim or perpetrator, if your number’s up, we’ll find you.”
Harold Finch Season 1 opening narration

Person of Interest revolves around a persumed dead, former CIA field agent, John Reese (Jim Caviezel) living rough in New York City, who is recruited by a mysterious billionaire and software genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) to prevent violent crimes, before they happen.

In the aftermath of 9/11 Harold Finch, with the help of his partner Nathan Ingram, built a machine, that predicts crimes by analysing electronic data and surveillance feeds for the United States government. The Machine was designed to see national threats, potential terrorist attacks etc, but it did something unexpected, it started to predict violent crimes, murders, kidnappings, that had nothing to do with national security. The potential threats are categorised into relevant (terrorist) and irrelevant (everything else). When he first discovered the irrelevant list Finch was reluctant to act on it, then later, he was unable to, eventually, he found a solution in Reese, a man with the necessary skill set and as importantly, with nothing to lose.
Finch: Knowledge is not my problem. Doing something with that knowledge, that's where you'd come in. And you can call me Mr. Finch.

As only the Social Security number is revealed, neither Finch nor Reese know if the “Number” will be the victim or the perpetrator.
Finch: "I offered you a job Mr. Reese. I never said it would be easy."

The crux of the show is the interaction between the two primary leads, Reese and Finch and the relationship that is evolving between them, from Finchs paranoia, Reeses need to understand his boss, to tentative friendship, respect and absolute loyalty. Relationships throughout the show are complex, most of the characters are coming from dark places and see the world in shades of grey, but there is always the promise of redemption, mostly, it must be said, explored through the medium of kneecapping, swift punches to the neck, pastries and hacking.

In the process of dealing with the “Numbers” the two manage to get on the wrong side of the FBI, CIA, NSA, NYPD, the Mafia (Italian, Irish, Albanian and Russian!), random drugs and arms dealers and a corrupt group of police known as HR and as such the show has a huge recurring rogues gallery.

Unusually, in my opinion, Person of Interest features a continuous lineup of excellently written, strong female characters, ranging from the recurring leads such as Carter and Zoe, to one off characters like Andrea Gutierrez and Meg Tillman. There has yet to be a fainting harpy in the bunch and long may that continue.

Person of Interest is an American television crime drama broadcasting on CBS. It is based on a screenplay developed by J. J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan.[1] The series was officially picked up by CBS on May 13, 2011,[4] and debuted on September 22, 2011.[5] It is currently on its second season in the US.

A note on the title: In the first episode, news report said that John is wanted as “Person of Interest” in many ongoing homicide investigations. Finch and Reese do not call potential victims/perpetrators persons of interest, they useu their name or call them “numbers” . The title of the show doesn’t refer to the people Reese and Finch are saving, but rather John Reese himself! Seeing as the CIA are still after him.
Source: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/PersonOfInterest?from=Main.PersonOfInterest

Main Characters

Finch: "I told you I’m a very private person."
Harold Finch (Michael Emerson): a somewhat reclusive and intensely private billionaire software genius. Finch developed a machine that can isolate the Social Security numbers of people with either premeditated violent intent or who will be victims of violence, based on its analysis of surveillance data. Following a traumatic event in his own life that led to the death of his business partner, he recruits Reese to help him deal with the people the Machine identifies. Finch has had a cervical spinal fusion of the C3, C4 and C5 vertebrae, more precisely, a 2-level posterolateral fusion, which means that he is unable to turn his head fully, has rigid posture and walks with a limp. Finch has had to give up, Grace (Carrie Preston) the women he loves, to protect the Machines secret.
Finch: I guess you can call me, "a concerned third party."

Reese: “When you find that one person who connects you to the world, you become someone different, someone better. When that person is taken from you, what do you become then?”
John Reese (Jim Caviezel): a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and CIA field officer, who is listed MIA and presumed dead. Little is known about Reese’s background, and his name is one of several aliases he uses. He lost his lover, Jessica, prior to meeting Finch. The loss and a significant betrayal lead to a downward self destructive spiral, until he was given a purpose once more by Finch.Reese is highly skilled in hand to hand combat, with a particular fondness for neck punches and the occasional chest kick, he is an expert with knives and guns, has a good knowledge of chemicals!

Reese: "I don’t particularly like killing people, but I’m very good at it."

He is adept in surveillance, although the latter lets him down when it comes to Finch’s private life. He is for the most part morally ambiguous and believes he is not a good man. His particular triggers are kids being harmed, finch being threatened, people who he believes are good and therefore needed, being targeted, and you had better be nice to the dog!

Reese: "I’ve spent some time feeling lost."
Sophia: "What changed?"
Reese: "Someone found me, told me I needed a purpose."
Sophia: "Sounds like a good friend."
Reese: "He is."
This speech was followed by a loud mysterious bang as ovaries exploded throughout fandom.

Detective Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson): a NYPD detective and single mother to a teenaged son, Taylor. Carter is a former U.S. Army interrogator who passed the bar exam in 2004, but gave up practicing the law to return to police work. Carter initially pursues Reese aka “The Man in the Suit” seeking to put a stop to his vigilantism but eventually forms an uneasy alliance with Reese and Finch, even though she continues to disapprove of Reeses methods. She is quite isolated in her department and is rightfully suspicious of her sometimes partner Det. Fusco. Carter is often the moral barometer of the show. She is unaware of the Machine’s existence.Affiliation with

NYPD, FBI and Reese

Reese: How did you track down her old mug shot?
Lionel: Police work. Even I do it on occasion.

Detective Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman): a corrupt cop who Reese blackmails into being a mole inside the police department. Reese arranges for Fusco to be transferred to Carter’s precinct so that he can keep an eye on her. Over time, Fusco becomes increasingly loyal to Finch and Reese. Like Carter, he does not know about the Machine. Fusco has one child, a son, named on IMDB as Lee but not as yet named in the show. He seems to be a very devoted father. Lionels story so far is one of potential redemption, but he’s not quite there yet.Affiliation with

HR, NYPD and Reese

Sophia: “O Garanhão”

Reese to Finch: "If anyone ever messes with you he’ll [Bear] eat them"
Bear (Graubaer’s Boker): a Belgian Malinois, a former military dog who only responds to Dutch commands. Reese appropriated him from the Aryan Brotherhood. He is assigned as a bodyguard to Finch and on occasion to guarding Finchs computers. He has also gone undercover as John’s pet.Likes donut icing, doggie pastries, tennis balls and squeaky toys.Though the dog only obeys commands in Dutch, he certainly understands some English, like “walk”, “leash”, and “treats”.

Finch: The police only see what they choose to look for. The Machine sees almost everything.
The Machine: is a piece of software designed and built by Finch and Ingram (see below) after 9/11 for the government. The Machine utilizes feeds from domestic organisations such as the NSA, and foreign entities including Interpol (“No Good Deed”). It reviews all video footage, phone calls, electronic transactions and e-mails secretly without anyone knowing about its existence and categorises them into relevant (terrorist) and irrelevant (everything else) threats.Every night at midnight, the irrelevant list is erased.By the time of its creation officially seven people knew about the Machine.

Except for Ingram, nobody else knew of Finch also being involved, therefore, in fact eight people were aware of its existence

Banner by

hpcool2003

Recurring Characters

“Root” : A highly intelligent hacker and contract killer who is equally interested in Finch and the Machine. Root believes in some ways that Finch has imprisoned and betrayed the Machine. I haven't included photo as the UK is still only on the first half of season 1.

Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco): a fixer who specializes in crisis management. She is intelligent, strong and fearless and takes great satisfaction in teasing Reese.
Zoe: You want to get out of here?
Reese: Where are we going?
Zoe: To do something illegal

.

Nathan Ingram (Brett Cullen): Finch’s deceased collaborator on the Machine, who died under unknown circumstances. Ingram acted as the frontman for the Machine project thus ensuring that Finch remained anonymous to the government and interested parties. He is survived by a son Will who is a somewhat wayward doctor. Will considers Harold as an uncle.

Carl Elias (Enrico Colantoni): an up-and-coming crime boss and the illegitimate son of Mafia don Gianni Moretti. Elias is determined to take over from the five families and rid New York of the Russian mafia in the process. He has dealings with both Reese and Finch and has proven to be an enemy and tentative ally on occasion.
Reese: And how many of those numbers will come up because we saved one man’s life?

Special Agent Donnelly (Brennan Brown): an FBI agent who is charged with heading up the task force looking for the “Man in the Suit”.

Mark Snow (Michael Kelly): a CIA operative who once worked with Reese and is now trying to find him. He claims to be Reeses best friend. He works with another CIA agent, Tyrell Evans.

Kara Stanton (Annie Parisse): A ruthless CIA agent who was charged with training and later partnering Reese. She is widely presumed to be dead

.

Alicia Corwin (Elizabeth Marvel): a liaison between Ingram and the government while the Machine was being developed and a former member of the National Security Council.

Leon Tao (Ken Leung): Former forensic accountant and repeated irrelevant.

Pennsylvania Two (Jay O. Sanders): Works for the office of the Special Counsel.

Hersh (Boris McGiver): A Fixer/Cleaner for Pennsylvania Two.

Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi): Former Marine and ISA operative charged with hunting down "Relevants".

Det. Cal Beecher (Sterling K. Brown): NYPD Narcotics Detective.

Grace Hendricks (Carrie Preston): Artist/Illustrator and Harold's former fiance.

Characters who often appear in Fanfiction

Leila Smith.
Reese: I’m teaching her to go undercover.

Sofia Campos.

Logan Pierce.

Dr. Megan Tillman.

Finchs bodyguards.

Popular Ships

Reese/Finch= Rinch
:- episodes of shippy note, Baby Blue, Number Crunch, Super, The Fix, Many Happy Returns, Firewall, Nearly every episode of season 2

Carter/Reese = Creese
:- episodes of shippy note, Get Carter, Till Death, Flesh and Blood

Fusco/Reese = Rusco

Harold/Nathan = Inch

Zoe/John = Joe, Zreese
:- episodes of shippy note, The Fix, Root Cause, Bury the Lede, The High Road, Bury the Lede, Booked Solid

Carter/Fusco = Lioness, Cusco

Stanton/Reese = Kareese

Ship naming source:

menagerie here

Bear/Asimov = Baz
:- episodes of shippy note, Bad Code

Also the ship poll of ship polls by

draycevixen

A note on the machines colour indexing:

White box : People being scanned, if they are not involved in a crime the box disappears. The white box also disappears if a person dies in frame. The white box remains if the person is determined to be involved in a “non-relevant” crime. Fusco and Carter also have permanent white boxes, probably due to their links to Finch and Reese but lack of knowledge of The Machine.

Yellow box: Yellow boxes seem to indicate people linked to Finch with some knowledge of the existence of The Machine. Reese and Finch themselves have yellow boxes around them. In flashback Ingram is shown in yellow. Alicia Corwin, is shown in yellow when she appears in “No Good Deed”.

Red box: When the perpetrator of the crime linked to the Number is about to act their box turns red along the corners and center hash marks. When a person is deemed an imminent treat to The Machine their box goes fully red. Reese gets his own red box after The Machine decides his investigation into Finch poses a threat to itself, and decides to designate him as such. A flashback in “Matsya Nyaya” shows Stanton and Reese in red boxes during their final operation in the CIA.

Green triangles : Airplanes flying in and out of the city

White diamonds : Ships moving in and out of the city are displayed in white diamonds.

For reasons that are revealed in Season 2 The Machine flashes up blue code every so often, if you wish to look at the coding translations you will find them here . Do note however that the page contains spoilers for mid season 2 episodes.

Gratuitous jumping shot

Things and what nots:

Irrelevants: Fans of the show
Diet Pepsi: Not Reeses thing
Peanut Butter: I'm not even going there
Pastries, donuts and takeout: all valid dietary options
Pringles: Hack the world
Sencha Green Tea: Beverage of Champions
Poke in the eye: Valid self defence move
Black pillowcases: goes with everything
Coffee: it's for closers

The Meaning of Pi according to Harold Finch:
"Pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, and this is just the beginning; it keeps on going, forever, without ever repeating. Which means that contained within this string of decimals, is every single other number. Your birthdate, combination to your locker, your social security number, it's all in there, somewhere. And if you convert these decimals into letters, you would have every word that ever existed in every possible combination; the first syllable you spoke as a baby, the name of your latest crush, your entire life story from beginning to end, everything we ever say or do; all of the world's infinite possibilities rest within this one simple circle. Now what you do with that information; what it's good for, well that would be up to you."

Finch:Any croquillants in there?
Reese:If that's a doughnut, then yes.

Finch:Mr. Reese, I'm highly uncomfortable being here.
Reese:I'm highly uncomfortable having you here, but I need a spotter.

Reese:I'm proud of you, Finch. You've really gotten comfortable with your breaking and entering duties.
Finch:Thank you for appreciating my descent into deviant behavior.

Yeah I'll be honest, absolutely no reason for this shot other than the sheer woof of it.

Emm artistic reasons

Team machine being sneaky

Bear and his Daddies

Person of Interest Communities and Groups:

pofinterest_fic
personofint_tv
reeses_pcs John Reese H/C Fanfiction Community
wegetcarter Fan community for Person of Interest’s Detective Joss Carter
meme_of_interest :Person of Interest kink meme on dreamwidth

http://personofinterest-confessions.tumblr.com/
http://textsfromthemachine.tumblr.com/

PersonInterest twitter: Official twitter of the show

BearDeHond twitter : Bear’s twitter, mostly Bears little observations during the show and quotes. It is written in Dutch but you can press translate at the top of the page.

http://www.personofinterestdiscussion.com/ : Discussion, videos, fic reviews, character and episode discussions
http://www.person-of-interest.net fansite with forums and discussion in English and German

CBS Person of Interest

Person of Interest Wiki : The shows wiki.

delicious.com person of interest tag, linked to pofinterest_fic

AO3 Person of Interest tag

FF.net Person of Interest tag
Tumblr tags: The violent amoral unicorn of justice, Nerd king of New York

Vehicles of PoI : Cars, trucks & bikes

Weapons of PoI: Season 1, Season 2

Carter: I don't know who to trust anymore.
Finch:You can trust us, Detective.

Finch:(changing a baby)This flap here, that flap there, see? Neat and simple.
Reese:I see your time at MIT wasn't wasted.

Finch: Sooner or later both of us will probably wind up dead. Actually dead this time. I said I would tell you the truth. I didn't say you would like it

And finally if you fancy giving Finch a call ...

Sources: person of interest wiki, imdb, wikipedia, tv.com, tv-tropes.org, tvfanatic.com, livejournal, tumblr, my own ~~perving~~ observations, the poi comms. P

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, you know I love the crazy. *g*

You really did a splendid job with explaining not only the canon but the breadth of the fandom.

Would you mind if I mentioned your crack van drive at the com? There are many "new to fandom" people there who might not be aware of the crack van.

of course, that would be great, possibly should warn them about the potential for dodgy driving

Done and done. :D

Fandom Overview: Person of Interest

no subject

no subject

no subject