Reese and Finch dealt with their toughest case yet as The Machine gave the number of the cop who has been hunting for The Man in the Suit: Homicide Detective Joss Carter. Meanwhile, The Machine flashes back to a day in Carter’s job before she became a detective. Tonight, let me take a deep dive into the ninth episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), “Get Carter.”
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers from “Get Carter.” 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
Detective Jocelyn “Joss” Carter is a member of the New York Police Department’s Homicide Task Force who works at the 8th Precinct. Before she became a detective, she was a military interrogator. Her beloved son, Taylor, is in high school and sometimes stays with his grandmother whenever she needs to work overtime.
By the book, honest to a fault, Carter has enemies from criminals to fellow police. She is also the same cop who has been after Reese since he started his vigilante missions with Finch. She also doesn’t know that her partner in the force, Detective Lionel Fusco, works with the duo.
Victim or Perpetrator?
Joss Carter is the victim.
The Machine gave Carter’s number to Reese and Finch after hearing an audio recording of the kill order from an organized crime boss and a number Reese and Finch regretfully saved, Carl Elias. He explicitly said, “But it’s gotta be clean.” The corrupt Captain Artie Lynch relayed the kill order to Detective Lionel Fusco, who has been secretly working with Reese and Finch.
There are also other threats to her life, namely Edward Kovach (whose battered wife she wanted to protect) and Hector Alvarez (a feared gangster who runs guns and is allegedly behind several homicides, including a young man named Ronnie Middleton).
Did They Stop The Crime In Time?
While Carter is not Edward Kovach’s target, he did threaten her when she warned him at the bar that she would come after him if he kept abusing his wife. When a distressed Mrs. Kovach called Carter for help, Reese finally put an end to Edward’s abuse by beating and tying him up.
To be updated soon.
After arresting Alvarez, Reese followed Carter in her neighborhood, but lost her along the way. Carter met Bottlecap to pay whatever money she had on her, and Bottlecap apologized before suddenly shooting her in the chest.
To be updated soon.
Other Threads
To be updated soon.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
The Episode Title
Of all the episode titles so far, “Get Carter” seems pretty straightforward, though upon further research, there is a British gangster thriller film titled Get Carter starring Sir Michael Caine as Jack Carter. They only share the title, not the plot. (Also, Sir Caine also played Batman’s butler and confidant, Alfred Pennyworth, in The Dark Knight Trilogy, where Person of Interest creator Jonathan Nolan served as screenwriter in two films, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.)
“Get Carter” can mean two things. Firstly, to criminals like Elias and Hector Alvarez, getting Carter means killing her to protect their interests and individual reign as crime bosses. Secondly, when it comes to Reese and Finch, getting her means protecting her, even if there’s a high risk their mission of saving lives—something they do from the shadows—will be compromised.
On Joss Carter & Integrity
If all the haters are against you, you know you must be doing something right.
Marty Rubin
As mentioned in my brief introduction on Carter, she is honest to a fault. She consistently chooses to do the right thing, even if it earned her the ire of criminals like Elias and corrupt cops like Captain Lynch. She is also after Reese, a vigilante who has been consistently saving lives, because he is, in legal terms, a criminal. That’s understandable because she’s just doing her job as a detective.
Then there’s the part where Carter wanted to protect poor Mrs. Kovach from getting killed by her abusive husband. When Fusco coldly told Carter that she can’t save them all, she replied, “That’s a homicide waiting to happen. Figured I’d try to stop one for a change.” Without knowing it, Carter wanted to share Reese and Finch’s mission: saving lives. And while Carter could’ve done so without a vigilante’s help, in this case, still getting such help is a better alternative. She thanked Reese for helping out, but she also warned him that someone innocent will get hurt if he keeps working as a vigilante. Again, she’s just doing her job.
In a world that’s almost full of evil, it needs good people with integrity like Carter. And as Reese told Finch earlier, she is someone the world can’t afford to lose. Though, sadly, there’s a kind of loneliness in being principled (which I discussed in the Standouts’ second and third parts).
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Standouts
Reese Without the Suit
Because Carter is the number Reese and Finch had to protect, and she has been after The Man in the Suit for several months, an outfit switch was in order. This time, Reese had to wear a racer jacket, and that enabled him to continue taking down criminals without Carter noticing easily. Notably, to make Hector Alvarez run away from Carter, he used a grenade launcher to blow up the storefront gate of his shop and a submachine gun to neutralize his crew. He even stole one of his vintage cars and their weaponry. Badass.
After that scene, Officer Valentino (a police officer who introduced Carter to a homeless Reese in the pilot episode) reported the incident to Carter.
Carter: This guy wearing a suit?
Valentino: No, motorcycle jacket. Why?
Carter: Maybe it’s in the cleaners.
Carter’s Confrontation With Sgt. Harris
As I said earlier, there’s a kind of loneliness in being principled.
In the flashback, Carter convinced Yusuf to point out the location of the explosives for their children. Sadly, Sgt. Harris reported that Yusuf died after they found and detonated the explosives he pointed out, and that broke Carter’s heart because she promised she would protect him. Sgt. Harris frankly replied that Carter shouldn’t make promises she couldn’t keep, and it’s not his job to care for Yusuf and the family he left behind. The last line made Carter furious.
What is wrong with you? You can’t just play God! You don’t get to decide who lives and who dies!
Despite Carter saying those words, Sgt. Harris only doubled down instead of showing the slightest of care.
You want to stand on your high horse, go ahead. But don’t expect me and my men to back you up. It’s a long war. You’re all alone.
In that scene, when it comes to protecting people, Carter is all alone.
Reese Saves Carter
Then there’s the scene where Reese saved Carter by shooting the confidential informant-turned-gunman of Elias, Bottlecap. Thankfully, Carter heeded Reese’s warning earlier by wearing a bulletproof vest, but (grim as it may seem) stopping Bottlecap altogether seems the right move to save her.
For the first time since the pilot episode, Reese is speaking near her, even if he’s hiding from the shadows.
I know this doesn’t change anything. I know you’ll still arrest me if you get the chance. But you should know, whether you like me or not, Joss, you’re not alone.
Yes, there’s a kind of loneliness in being principled, but it’s not total loneliness. Carter is an honest, principled officer of the law, and Reese can do what officers of the law couldn’t (the very reason Carter is after him), but they share the same fight and mission: saving lives. That’s why Reese said she’s not alone, and he made it more heartfelt when he called her by her first name, Joss.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Conclusion
In “Get Carter”, Reese and Finch’s toughest case yet because they had to save the one who’s been after them since the show started, and fortunately, they did just that. The episode also showed Carter’s integrity and moral compass from start to finish, whether she was an army interrogator, a police detective, or a single mother. With that, she is definitely worth saving by the vigilante duo, even if she thinks they’re criminals.
Rating: 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Header image: Person of Interest: Foe (Season 1, Episode 8).
Disclaimer: This is simply an in-depth analysis from a fan. No copyright infringement is intended in any of the show-related media featured in this post.
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