Tonight, let me look deeply at “Mission Creep”, the third episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), where John Reese infiltrates a robbery ring to protect the next number, an ex-soldier, and Detective Joss Carter is still after The Man in the Suit. Also, during Reese’s undercover mission, another domino falls.
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers of the third episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), “Mission Creep.” If you haven’t watched it, please do so first before reading my analysis.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Episode Breakdown
The Number
Joey Durban, an ex-soldier from the United States’ 107 Infantry Regiment who works as a hotel doorman and is secretly a bank robber.
During the Mission
Reese and Finch follow Durban’s activities as a hotel doorman. They later discover that he has a girlfriend, Pia Moresco, a waitress, who waited six years for him after his army duty. Reese also discovers he is a bank robber during a heist while stopping an armed guard from shooting the gang.
Reese sees Durban handing over money to a blonde woman, even though he has a girlfriend. Reese also sees a taxi driver handing over money to Durban, while Finch tracks the driver’s name (Willis), and one of his stops, The Green Zone, which is owned by Former US Army Master Sergeant Sam Latimer, the gang’s ringleader.
Reese meets with Latimer at his bar as an ex-soldier named Tony Miller. “Miller” is interested in joining the robbery gang. Latimer says there are no job openings at the moment. Upon learning that, Reese asks Finch to create a vacancy for him. Finch plants guns in the taxi driver’s cab trunk, and he alerts the police, arresting Willis.
Robbery Detective Molina approaches Detective Carter because he has a case that may be connected to her investigation on The Man in the Suit. Carter watches the footage of Reese stopping the armed guard and the bank robbers’ movements. Detective Carter confirms the robbers are ex-soldiers, and Detective Molina assumes the vigilante is their inside man.
Finch and Reese learn that Durban joined the robbery gang of Sam Latimer to make amends for the death of a friend, a fellow soldier, and to financially support the daughter he left behind. During a meeting at Coney Island, Reese asks Durban to leave the gang, but he refuses because he still wants to take care of his friend’s kid.
To be updated soon.
Flashback
Reese suddenly meets Jessica Arndt, the love of his life, in an airport terminal. They had a brief chat about his new (and secretive) job. Reese learns that Jessica is engaged to a man named Peter, and tells her how lucky her fiancé is.
They had a back-and-forth about waiting for him without his approval, how he just left to spare the pain of his possible death on duty, and how she believes it was easier for him to be alone. Reese grimly tells her, “In the end, we’re all alone, and no one’s coming to save you,” and wishes her happiness with her fiancé as he walks away.
Jessica doesn’t believe what Reese just said to her, and she tells him that she will wait for him if he tells her to, which will take real courage. Jessica walks away, and Reese whispers, “Wait for me. Please.”
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
On Joey Durban & Reese’s Compassion
In “Mission Creep”, the mission hits pretty close to home for Mr. Reese. Like The Man in the Suit, Durban is back on US soil, but his mind is elsewhere, and he’s fighting for a good cause through questionable means with the end uncertain.
Durban robbing banks is unexcusable, but it was his way to (quickly) gain funds for the daughter of a fallen soldier and a friend, and also a way for him to atone for the guilt of that particular death, which is admirable in a way. If I were in Durban’s shoes, I would also feel guilty of a friend’s death and feel obligated to take care of his/her family, but I believe not going down to Durban’s criminal level. Then again, I’ve never been in a dire financial situation like he does.
In the middle of their investigation, Finch deliberately says about Durban, a crook who already has a decent job, a pretty girlfriend, and a good service record: “Don’t we even know why he’s such a mess?” But because Reese is an ex-soldier like Durban, he has a gut feeling that the person of interest at that time may be a criminal, but he’s no killer like he was. Or is.
The duo’s mission is to stop violent crimes before they happen. To do that, they have to assess the person, determine whether they will be the victim or the perpetrator, and then stop the crime. And figuring everything out under time pressure is not easy, perhaps impossible. To quote Finch in the pilot episode, “I offered you a job… never said it would be easy.” And it’s a good thing Reese’s intuition and his past experiences as a highly trained assassin led to saving Durban’s life, him abandoning his wayward ways, and having a happy ending with his girlfriend, Pia, even if people may think he doesn’t deserve the latter.
Reese’s Life Decision
As much as I love the show’s grounded sci-fi elements, what also draws me is the characters’ backstories, their decisions, and the consequences.
In the pilot episode and in the flashbacks of “Ghosts”, Finch’s important life decision (which he truly regretted) was explained: coding The Machine to delete the irrelevant list at midnight. In the flashbacks “Mission Creep”, Reese made an important life decision of his own: to let go of Jessica Arndt, the woman he loves, for the job/mission, even if she offered to wait for him.
And while Reese looks at Durban and his girlfriend, he remembers that gut-wrenching moment with Jessica at the airport in 2006, and probably all the what-ifs if he hadn’t left her. From my own experience, imagining all those what-ifs can be really draining mentally, emotionally, and physically. But I’m also not wired to not have alternate trajectories constantly running through my mind. That’s why having a purpose, a job, or a hobby can either distract me from those trajectories or sit with them. I’d like to think that that’s what’s happening in Reese’s mind: Finch gave him a purpose that also gives him life, but the hurt of all the what-ifs is still there.
The Episode Title
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, mission creep means “the fact of doing a much larger job for a longer time than was originally expected…” In the episode, Durban may be doing the robbery job longer than he wanted to, but he has to for his fallen comrade’s family.
Also, more importantly, Reese and Finch’s mission to save Durban leads to another mission involving the name “Elias.” I said before in the “Pilot” analysis that Person of Interest is not a background-music-while-working type of show. Before I watched this show, and as I said earlier, alternate trajectories run constantly through my mind, and I often overthink, so I tend to look deeper than I should. So, when I watched “Mission Creep” for the first time and saw the evidence box labeled “M. Elias,” I said to myself, “Oh, maybe this will lead to something.” And it did lead to something. Big.
But I’m getting ahead of myself at the moment.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Standouts
The Talk Over the Walkie-Talkie
When Carter reached out to The Man in the Suit over the walkie-talkie after he saved Durban, it heightened the tension and further established their determination in their missions: Carter is determined to find Reese, and Reese is determined to take down bad guys.
Carter: Sooner or later, I’ll lock you up. Or find you bleeding out somewhere.
Reese: I will take my chances.
A shape of things to come? Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll see.
The Airport Terminal Flashback
Personally, of all the standout parts of “Mission Creep”, the sole flashback (Reese meeting Jessica again at the airport terminal) struck a chord the most because it captured the hurt of intentional distance and waiting, even with uncertainty—something I relate to. I felt an overwhelming sting in my heart when Jessica, an engaged yet seemingly unhappy woman, pleaded with him as he stared blankly:
Tell me to wait for you and… say those words, and I will.
That would take real courage, wouldn’t it?
And then said Reese achingly whispers when Jessica walked away:
Wait for me. Please.
Beneath the monotonous suit and the darkness that awaits Reese, he showed a bit of humanity and, specifically, longing. He wanted her to wait for him, but he restrained himself. Truly heartbreaking.
“In the End, We’re All Alone…”
Speaking of the airport terminal scene, Reese said my first favorite quote from the entire series:
In the end, we’re all alone, and no one’s coming to save you.
As a man who has been struggling with anxiety disorder and clinical depression, this speaks volumes to me. Whether I’m in a state of joy or sorrow, whatever my emotion is at the moment, the grimly fact about life remains: we will die alone, and it will happen sooner or later.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Conclusion
“Mission Creep” lives up to its military meaning. Finch and Reese’s mission to save lives leads to a broader one, and now they will have to investigate further the client who hired Durban’s boss. As for the Reese/Jessica flashback, while I’m not as sad as I was with my past experiences, the whole scene still cuts deep.
Rating: 👁️👁️👁️👁️
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Header image: Person of Interest: Mission Creep (Season 1, Episode 3).
Disclaimer: This is simply an in-depth analysis from a fan. No copyright infringement intended on any of the show-related media featured on this post.
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