John Reese gets a sidekick? Tonight, let me reflect on the 14th episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), “Wolf and Cub.”
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers from the episode. If you haven’t watched it, please do so before reading my analysis.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Episode Breakdown
Harold Finch and John Reese return to inspect The Library for suspicious activity after the elusive hacker-assassin Root infiltrated Finch’s computer system in the last episode, “Root Cause.” When everything is free and clear, Finch gives The Man in the Suit the next number…
The Number
Darren McGrady is the younger brother of a murder victim in Crown Heights, Travis McGrady.
Reese discovers Travis’s crime scene using his cover as Detective Stills, and Harold Finch assumes that while the older McGrady was murdered, Darren’s situation may be ongoing.
Victim or Perpetrator?
In a morning meeting at a car, Detective Joss Carter shares more information on the case and Darren: Travis was shot by three men at the apartment; first responders arrived half an hour late after they both lost their single mother to renal failure three years ago; and Darren left the precinct after Child Service officers didn’t show up.
To learn more about Travis’s case, Detective Joss Carter interviewed Detective Hill, the assigned officer. Travis was on his night shift at a restaurant when a female employee was harassed by three gangsters, and he tossed one of them out of the restaurant. Carter assumes the three gangsters were the same three men who were at the McGrady’s apartment. Hill added that one of them took Travis’s work hat; he had no other information about the suspects or where Darren went, and as Carter can tell, he doesn’t care about the case or Darren at all.
With all the gathered information, Reese figures that if the gangsters think Darren witnessed the crime, they will silence him for good, even if he’s a minor. Safe to say, Darren McGrady is the victim.
Did They Stop The Crime In Time?
Reese finds the one who was harassed by the gangsters; he convinces her to point out where he can find them, and she tells him to go to a comic book store a few blocks away. Right there, he found the guy with Travis’s work hat. He also found Darren, whom he stopped from shooting the gangster with a gun. After Carter apprehended the gangster, Reese and Darren left with her car.
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Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
The Episode Title
According to Britannica, the wolf is one of two species of wild doglike carnivores. Its young can be called a pup, or in this case, a cub.
In “Wolf & Cub,” Reese not only protected Darren, but also taught him a few things along the way. In a way, Reese became the father (the wolf), and Darren became his adopted son (the cub).
On Darren McGrady
Like the lives of Zoe Morgan and Carl Elias (the numbers from “The Fix” and “Witness,” respectively), Darren McGrady’s life changed with one fateful moment at a very young age. And like Dr. Megan Tillman (from the episode “Cura Te Ipsum”), Darren was deeply affected by a loved one’s death, and he wanted to put the law into his own hands. He even pawned his belongings, including his own trumpet, to buy a weapon to go after his older brother’s murderers. He didn’t care if he was young, and he was blinded by his own rage.
When Reese was “hired” by Darren to help him take down Travis’s murderers, The Man in the Suit also gave him a look into the life of a vigilante. It was a dangerous prospect, but it was Reese’s weird way of showing the young boy that his job is not for everyone. After Reese finally retrieved the murder weapon, Darren expressed his determination not just to take down Brick, but also everyone connected to him, including his boss and comic book store owner, Andre. Reese then firmly told him that revenge would not bring his brother back, and if he continued that warpath, he would only end up imprisoned or dead. However, Darren didn’t listen as he slipped away from Reese along with the murder weapon.
When Darren finally confronted Brick and Andre, he pulled the murder weapon and pointed at the killer without saying a word. Andre, who saw potential in Darren, encouraged him to kill Brick. But eventually, Darren didn’t pull the trigger, and Andre wasn’t surprised either and pulled the gun away from him.
As I mentioned before in “The Fix” and “Witness,” childhood can affect anyone’s journey. But this time, Darren is still a child, and he can still choose to seek revenge or let it go. In the end, the cub listened to the wolf, and the young victim didn’t become the young perpetrator. Good job, Darren.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Standouts
The Library’s Offline, Yet…
At this point, where The Machine sends the numbers is still a mystery. The first time I saw the show, I thought the location was in The Library itself. But in “Wolf and Cub,” after the vigilante duo inspected their base of operations, Finch handed Darren’s number to Reese. The Man in the Suit was surprised, “Even with The Library offline,” and Finch just nudged him to get back to work.
The Machine’s lore and modus operandi are expanding further in an intriguing way.
Reese Attacks Another Vehicle
When Darren “hired” Reese, Reese also gave Darren an inside look into his own modus operandi without the kid getting involved in the ultra-dangerous side of things. After the well-dressed vigilante shook up Curtis and Trim by carjacking the latter’s SUV, Finch tracked the former’s phone GPS, and then the wolf and the cub discovered their boss, Andre. Later, Reese found Curtis and Trim driving the former’s grandmother’s car, and smashed the vehicle with the same SUV he stole.
I always love it when Reese attacks vehicles with “Knock Knock” playing in the background.
We Learn More About Finch
After the team saved young Darren and he finally found a family who will take care of him, Fusco relayed to Reese what he’s dug up on his hacker boss, Finch. It turns out that Finch is an underwriter for an insurance company and a top MIT graduate under the name Harold Wren, another fake name. Apparently, Finch has been living under false identities for most of his adult life.
That’s how paranoid the billionaire hacker is, and why he’s like that is unclear at this point. Also, The Machine detected the detective and Finch’s own employee as threats. Interesting.
Also, someone else somehow learned about Finch’s existence: Alicia Corwin, the former liaison between Nathan Ingram and the government. When she asked Will, Nathan’s son, to let go of his questions concerning Nathan’s work for the government, the young doctor slipped without knowing it, “You sound just like Uncle Harold.” Alicia looked alarmed, and upon learning that Nathan has a best friend named Harold, she left Will.
Someone from the government is a few inches away from knowing the real man who built their AI massive surveillance system. Uh-oh.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Conclusion
In “Wolf and Cub,” Reese took the young, revenge-driven Darren McGrady under his wing. And in the end, this episode’s person of interest listened to the vigilante and didn’t go below the level of criminals who took his older brother’s life. Meanwhile, Fusco and Reese learned more about Finch, while Corwin also learned of his actual existence, which is game-changing. The Machine’s actual relaying of numbers still has a huge question mark, which is as intriguing as it sounds.
Overall, the episode is a great story on family and revenge while smoothly expanding lore involving the government and what makes the show a standout: The Machine.
Rating: 👁️👁️👁️👁️
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
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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