A high school history teacher who witnessed a murder is the next number The Machine delivers to Harold Finch and John Reese. Also, the search into the elusive boss Elias concludes. Tonight, let me delve into “Witness”, the seventh (and the most important one by far) episode of Person of Interest (Season 1).
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers from “Witness.” 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
Charlie Burton (played by Enrico Colantoni) is a history teacher at a high school in Brighton Beach. Some of his students are related to the Russian mafia.
Victim or Perpetrator?
Charlie Burton is the victim.
Burton is a witness to an execution inside a Russian store, which was caught on the surveillance footage checked by Homicide Detectives Joss Carter and Lionel Fusco. Organized Crime Detective Bill Szymanski shared with Carter and Fusco that the victim was a former La Cosa Nostra lieutenant, Benny D’Agostino. Now led by Carl Elias, D’Agostino and his men had recently eliminated half a dozen members of the Russian mafia.
As usual, The Machine sent Finch and Reese Burton’s Social Security right on time. While Reese monitored Burton (who looked nervous in his apartment) from afar, he also saw a Russian hit team led by Peter Yogorov enter the apartment, which is good reason enough for Reese to save Burton.
Did They Stop The Crime In Time?
Reese convinced a reluctant Burton to escape the apartment with him. Reese took down a few hitmen and was to drive away with Burton, but one of them shot the bald teacher in the right shoulder. With Reese’s phone broken and Burton not having any, they had to hide inside the Double Bs housing project run by a Bulgarian drug leader.
Finch couldn’t contact Reese, so he hacked the ATM camera near Burton’s building. He found footage not only of Reese and Burton but also another group looking for Burton—including a police officer. Upon further investigation of the group’s vehicle with Fusco’s help, Finch assumed that the group works for Elias.
While Reese and Burton are hiding the Double Bs, The Man in the Suit stole cocaine and superglue to momentarily treat the teacher’s gunshot wound. Burton was truly grateful to Reese for saving him. Reese offered him his sidearm, and he found a hardline to contact Finch again. Thanks to the blueprints Finch found, Reese and Burton found a way out, but the hit team reached the same floor they were on. Thankfully, one of Burton’s students, Will, provided temporary safety for both men in his family’s apartment.
When the Russians exited the building, Reese held Laszlo Yogorov, the last Russian to go out, hostage, and took his phone to contact Finch once more. Reese and Burton rode a boat with Laszlo tied to it; Reese told Finch they would meet Fusco at the ferry.
Yes, in the end, Reese stopped the Russian mafia from killing Burton.
But…
Elias Reveals Himself
It turns out that Charlie Burton, the man Reese saved, is the elusive mob boss himself, Carl Elias. Reese didn’t realize it until the restricted Laszlo asked him who he really is, and Carter didn’t realize it until Peter Yogorov told her during the interrogation, “You honestly think we’d go to all this trouble for a witness?” It turns out the Russian mob was actually after Elias himself when they learned his true face.
When Reese finally realized it, Elias bluntly told him while pointing the same firearm he offered earlier, “Don’t make me shoot you, John.” Elias politely asked Reese to drop his weapon and kick it to him, and the mob boss revealed to them that he had studied his enemies, including the Russian mafia, through their children who were his students. Elias shot Laszlo in the kneecap, and he proclaimed that Brighton Beach is now his.
Scarface, who posed as a police officer to track his endangered boss, finally met him at the ferry, and they drove away. To solidify Elias’s takeover of Brighton Beach, his right-hand man, Scarface (who posed as a cop earlier), shot Peter and Laszlo Yogorov’s father/Russian mob boss Ivan in his office.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
The Episode Title
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word witness means a “person who sees an event happening, especially a crime or an accident.”
The episode title refers to Carlie Elias being a witness to two murders: his mother’s when he was young and innocent, and a former mobster when he is now older and ruthless. Also, I suppose the word witness fits well for everyone because we (especially Finch and Reese) witnessed Elias’s true rise in influence in the city.
The Connection Between “The Fix” and “Witness”
As I said in my previous analysis for “The Fix”, childhood can affect anyone’s journey, whether that turned out good, bad, or both.
Just like how a fixer influenced Zoe Morgan when he was young, Elias’s seeing the lifeless body of his own mother paved the way to his descent—and rise—in the criminal world. And it seems like Laszlo Yogorov’s children will definitely bite the mafia once they grow up, especially since Elias revealed, “Your children hate you almost as much as I do.”
On Saving Elias & Its Consequences
“Witness” is one of the most important episodes of Person of Interest (and also one of my favorites) because it expanded its criminal world and introduced a cunning mob boss spectacularly.
More criminal groups were introduced in this episode. In the previous episodes, Reese and Finch faced drug-dealing gangs and bank robbers. Now, in “Witness,” they had to interfere with the rivalry between the Russian mafia and Elias’s men because an innocent teacher was involved. Little did they know that this time, saving a life gave a criminal group the upper hand against their enemies.
At this point, Reese and Finch have consistently saved lives. In the pilot episode, they saved an attorney from being killed by his own colleague and her gang. In “Ghosts,” they saved a cheater from being killed by assassins hired by his own wife, and a daughter who witnessed her own family being murdered and has been on the run since. In “Mission Creep”, they saved an ex-soldier who became a bank robber to provide for the family a fellow soldier left behind. In “Cura Te Ipsum,” they saved a doctor from turning into the killer of her sister’s rapist. In “Judgment,” they saved a court judge and his son from being murdered by a street gang that’s been laundering money. In “The Fix,” they saved the life of a fixer from greedy businessmen whose product killed several people. Now, they saved a gentle, caring teacher who turned out to be a ruthless mobster who’s out for revenge and the city he thinks he deserves.
Elias is finally out of the shadows, and now more people will be in danger. That begs the question: Is saving people worth it, even if they don’t deserve it? Is saving Elias worth it?
My answer to that: Elias definitely deserves punishment for his crimes, but if Reese and Finch left him to the Russian dogs, that doesn’t align with their mission: saving lives, whether they deserve it or not. And in general, like I said in “Cura Te Ipsum,” we need to try to be better than evildoers, even if that can be difficult.
Parallels Between Finch & Elias
Firstly, when Reese monitored Elias (who was Charlie Burton, the teacher) from afar, he quipped to his billionaire hacker boss about the number’s career:
Reese: Well, maybe a student’s after him. You know, teaching can be a dangerous profession.
Finch: Yes, I imagine espionage was a much safer choice, Mr. Reese.
Later, while Reese and Burton were hiding at the Double Bs, and The Man in the Suit was looking for a hardline to contact his boss:
Elias: I’m sorry I got you into this mess.
Reese: It’s okay. It’s my job.
Elias: It’s a dangerous career choice.
Reese: That’s the second time today I’ve heard that. It’s funny. You remind me of him.
Finch and Elias somehow said the same thing to Reese. And another similarity between them: genius intellect. In the coming episodes, those similarities (and more) will be more apparent.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Standouts
The Dry Humor
To break the ice for a while, I’d like to point out two standout scenes that made me laugh. They are basically funny banter between unique characters.
The first one was the Reese/Finch talk while Burton was in the apartment (which I mentioned earlier). Secondly, when Fusco finally met Finch for the first time while having a hot dog sandwich, the man with glasses showed concern the way he knows how:
Finch: You should be careful about your cholesterol intake, detective.
Fusco: What, are we dating?
Never change, Fusco.
The Reveal Paid Off
Going back to the seriousness of it all, the conclusion to the search for Elias was executed splendidly.
The first time I watched Person of Interest, when they started the Elias storyline, I expected the mob boss to be the usual hotheaded one. So, I did not expect that a gentle, intelligent man, Charlie Burton, would turn out to be Elias himself. And many people say that the quiet ones are the most dangerous.
“It’s My Fault He’s Out There, Finch.”
If I were to pick one standout from “Witness”, it would be the conversation between Reese and Finch on the ferry after they unknowingly saved the life of a criminal boss. Reese expressed total regret, and so did his hacker boss. And Finch’s words were true: they have limited information. They can only do so much, especially since The Machine only gives Social Security numbers.
And then Finch gently redirected his hired gunman back to their mission: to save people. It reminded me of Finch’s warning in the pilot episode, “The numbers never stop coming.” But Reese, a man who truly wants to save people, bluntly replied:
And how many of those numbers will come up because we saved one man’s life?
Like I said, Elias is finally out of the shadows, and now more people will be in danger. Who’s next?
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Conclusion
“Witness” is one of the most important episodes of Person of Interest because it featured the debut of the recurring villain, the cunning Carl Elias, and the show’s criminal world expanded during that. The buildup towards his reveal was careful yet exciting, and I’m pleasantly shocked by the reveal. The episode also showed how Finch and Reese’s mission to save lives can be tricky when the person they’re saving could cost more lives along the way.
Rating: 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Header image: Person of Interest: Witness (Season 1, Episode 7).
Disclaimer: This is simply an in-depth analysis from a fan. No copyright infringement is intended on any of the show-related media featured in this post.
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