After celebrating Person of Interest’s 15th anniversary yesterday, tonight I’m reviewing the 17th episode of Season 1, “Baby Blue.” In this episode, The Machine sends the team two numbers, and one is the youngest ever.
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers. If you haven’t watched it, please do so before reading my analysis.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Episode Breakdown
After walking several miles, John Reese meets Detective Joss Carter in her car as their newest irrelevant number calmly walks from prison…
The First Number
Don Gianni Moretti is one of New York’s Dons and Carl Elias’s biological father. He ordered the murder of Elias’s mother, Marlene, though he never admitted to it. After Don Moretti gets into his car, Carter offers police protection (again), but he refuses.
Meanwhile, because the numbers never stop coming, Harold Finch goes undercover at St. Raymond’s Clinic l as Dr. Tillman. There he finds their second irrelevant number and a patient…
The Second Number
Leila Smith, a baby, was found by Dr. Marcus Adalian and Nurse Mary Abbot outside their clinic. The latter filed for Leila’s Social Security number, which The Machine sent to Finch. According to Nurse Abbot, Leila was supposed to be given up for adoption, but she has medical issues like bronchitis.
Victims or Perpetrators?
The first number may be an old mob boss, but with Elias’s rising influence in the city, Don Moretti is the victim.
As for the baby… are you kidding me? Leila Smith is the victim.
Did They Stop the Crime in Time?
Don Moretti’s victim status is proven when a team of assassins took out Moretti’s mobsters, while Reese and Carter shot all of them and brought the don to a safehouse. Detective Bill Szymanski arrives at the safehouse to protect Morreti (though he is unaware of Reese’s involvement). Carter asks Morreti for help in capturing his son, Elias. Outside the safehouse, Carter thanks Reese for helping, and The Man in the Suit simply replies, “You’re welcome.”
As for Leila, Finch notices a few nurses wearing black boots, which forces him to bring her out of the clinic and into their base of operations, The Library. Both Finch and Reese wonder who would want to hurt Leila. Finch then assumes that if the kidnappers finished their job, Leila (probably an offspring born out of an affair or someone who will inherit a legacy) will be smuggled out of the country.
After further research, the team learns that the clinic received $50,000 when Leila was born and $10,000 every month since then from an anonymous donor. Finch sent a strict email to the clinic as an IRS agent, demanding the donor’s tax ID. The team also receives an Amber alert with a weird-looking police sketch of Finch.
Carter meets Finch in a grocery store. After giving an update on Don Moretti, the detective gets curious about the hacker’s items, notably diapers. Finch mentions a baby who went missing from a clinic. Carter realizes the “weird-looking” man in the Amber alert is Finch, and John is babysitting Leila, which makes her furious. Finch asks Carter to check the clinic for more information on Leila’s parents; he specifically mentions Nurse Abbot.
Meanwhile, Officer Patrick Simmons (an HR lieutenant) meets Detective Lionel Fusco in the precinct’s pantry. Simmons commands a reluctant Fusco to find where Carter and other officers hid Don Morreti.
In the clinic, Nurse Abbot and Dr. Adalian firmly tell Carter (posing as an SVU detective) they don’t know Leila’s parents. The doctor refuses any more questions and walks away, while the detective gives Nurse Abbot a calling card.
Back in The Library, Finch learns the donor’s tax ID; it points to a construction company owned by a married businessman, Adnan Petrosian. Later, Reese bugs the Petrosian residence, and he hears a confrontation between Adnan and his son, Bradley.
In her car, Carter receives a call from Nurse Abbot about Leila’s bracelet with the initials “C.C.” Finch, with the initials, hacks into the Petrosians’ files, which leads him to Claudia Cruz, a receptionist who died four days ago.
Carter, Finch, and Reese (with Leila) meet in a park near the river, and they assume that Claudia wanted to keep the baby and that she was killed to cover up the affair and stop any financial support. The team split after.
Finch poses as a Family Services agent and talks to Claudia’s parents about her pregnancy; he confirms Claudia’s bracelet, and the parents give him a photo of Bradley and Claudia.
Meanwhile, from afar, Reese sees Bradley kissing a man in a cafe. At The Library, Finch instructs Reese to return because Leila is suddenly missing.
Carter, with the autopsy report, reinvestigates Claudia’s crime scene with her mentor from the Fire Department, Alvarez, and they find that Claudia’s head was hit before the fire happened. They also found a lamp that could be the murder weapon.
Back at The Library, Finch and Reese look around for Leila, and the latter finds the baby with a tear gas grenade. Finch is startled, and Reese gently takes the grenade from her. A furious Finch takes Leila to her grandparents (who were transferred to a safe house).
In the precinct, Fusco notices Carter with a murder weapon wrapped in an evidence tag. Carter gets a call from Szymanski, and then asks Fusco to bring the evidence to the crime lab. Fusco asks Carter what’s going on, and instead of telling him the truth, she tells him Szymanski asked her out on a date.
Finch and Reese arrive at the apartment, and the latter finds the grandparents tied up by the kidnappers. Fires are shot, and Reese unsuccessfully runs after the kidnappers. Finch is incapacitated, and Leila is taken. Later, Finch tells the grandparents they are still in danger and asks them to get their things. Reese assumes that if they don’t save Leila tonight, she will be out of the country for good. He also knows that an Eastern European crime group took Leila. Reese exits the apartment to search for the baby.
In a safe house, Don Moretti wonders why only Carter and Szymanski are guarding him. Carter reminds him that Elias almost killed him, and the more cops know his whereabouts, the more chance he will be found. Over the phone, Detective Kane updates Carter on the murder weapon and the killer. Carter asks for the name.
Suddenly, Reese literally crashes the Petrosians’ home. The Man in the Suit chokes Adnan for information on Leila’s kidnappers, and fights their security guard. Adnan confesses to his affair with Claudia, and Reese gets a text from Carter: Nicola, Adnan’s wife, is Claudia’s killer. Reese turns to Nicola and asks her to call the kidnappers, and she says she couldn’t, and they’re already gone. Reese leaves the house and continues his search in a bar. He takes down everyone in the bar except one, and he asks for the kidnappers’ location at gunpoint. The criminal says to shoot him because he doesn’t know at all.
Back at The Library, the team runs out of options… except calling the man who knows the criminal underworld (and a man they saved), Carl Elias. After calling, Reese meets Elias in an undisclosed location. After much convincing (Reese did saved him), Elias and Scarface guide him to where the smuggling will take place.
The morning after, the smugglers meet in a parking lot when a car suddenly moves. Reese takes out the smugglers one by one with gunshots, with one running away. Reese confronts the smuggler who has Leila and shoots him in the head. Reese saves the baby and walks away from the parking lot… until Scarface points a gun at him and says, “Sorry. Boss had a change of heart.”
Elias, with Scarface and his goons, and Reese’s phone destroyed, cuffs The Man in the Suit in a refrigeration truck with a crying Leila. The crime boss says they will be free from the truck if Reese gives him Moretti’s location, and they locked them both.
Meanwhile, in the precinct, Simmons asks Fusco about Moretti’s whereabouts. Instead of telling him the truth (because he followed Carter earlier), Fusco says that Carter likes pepperoni pizza. Simmons reminds him of the murder they covered up for him, and demands that he look for Moretti.
Several minutes after being locked in a refrigeration truck, and Reese hugging a weeping Leila, he gives in and tells Elias Moretti’s location over the walkie-talkie. Elias thanks Reese; he tells him neither he nor Reese would harm a child. A key drops inside the truck; Reese frees himself from the handcuffs with the key, forcefully opens the truck door with a metal pipe, and he carries Leila out. He searches for a truck to turn on the heater for Leila. Finch meets Reese outside the parking lot; Reese tells Finch that Leila’s in the truck and takes his vehicle.
On the way, Reese tells Carter that Elias knows Moretti’s safe house. Carter updates Szymanski, and her fellow detective tells Moretti to grab his things. Reese arrives at the safe house with a wounded Szymanski. Reese confesses to Carter that he gives Elias the location to save the baby. A disappointed Carter tells him that he should’ve called the police. She severs ties with the team, apologizes, and shouts at Reese to go away before the cops arrive.
Team Machine saved Leila’s life, even if Moretti gets kidnapped in the process. The old don’s life remains intact for now.
The Threads After
Finch and Reese bring Leila to her new family, Claudia Cruz’s parents. Reese wonders (but also dismisses) the possibility of having a family despite their line of work, and Finch says, “Trouble with children, you never know how they’re gonna turn out.”
Speaking of children, mobsters bring Moretti to their boss, Elias, at the same spot where he met Reese. The rising crime boss simply greets, “Hello, Dad.”
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
The Episode Title
According to Quillbot, baby blue describes a range of pale, soft blue sitting between blue and cyan in the color wheel. Symbolizing calm, safety, and new beginnings, it’s a popular color choice for children’s rooms and nurseries.
The episode’s second number, Leila Smith, has blue eyes.
On Elias
In “Witness,” before Elias left an injured Laslov Yogorov and Reese tied to a boat, here were their parting words:
Elias: I wish you luck, John. You stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of yours.
Reese: What if I don’t?
Elias: Then we’ll meet under unpleasant circumstances.
In “Baby Blue,” Reese and Finch see further consequences of interacting again with a devil like Elias. In the first part of this episode, Reese crossed paths with the rising mob boss by saving his father (the one who ordered his mother’s murder). In the middle of the episode, in an ironic twist, Reese asked the same man for help because of his intimate knowledge of the criminal underworld. Reese had no other choice.
While the mob boss may be instrumental in finding Leila’s kidnappers, he turned the tables to get what he wanted: his father, who ordered the murder of his mother, Don Morreti. He knew Reese, a man he called “talented” in their first meeting, would never harm the baby, and he used that to his advantage to extract his father’s whereabouts. Elias is so cunning, I can compare him to Finch if he turned evil.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Standouts
The Funny Moments
For a dark episode that involves an affair and smuggling, it has its funny moments, from the store clerk asking Carter and Finch if they’re having their first child to this exchange between the spy and the hacker:
Finch: I told you to move your arsenal.
Reese: I was going to.
Finch: When? After the whole place was blown?
But what really drove me to tears and laughter was when the two men got the Amber Alert, and I’ve seen the strangest-looking police sketch ever, fictional or not.
Fusco Going Undercover in HR
Returning to this episode, Fusco spoke with Simmons, a high-ranking lieutenant in the criminal group, HR. The dirty cop gave Fusco a simple yet risky mission: find out where Carter is hiding Don Moretti. Later, Fusco found their location, but now that he’s truly aligned with Carter, he chose to cover for her by lying to Simmons. Obviously, Simmons is not convinced, and he pressed the detective to look harder.
At this point, Fusco may have messy double roles for Team Machine, but he’s on the way to true redemption.
Carter Severing Ties
When Reese found a wounded Szymanski and a worried Carter, Reese confessed that he leaked Morreti’s location. He thought he had no other choice, but Carter argued that he should’ve called her and the police. After that, she severed ties with Team Machine, while still showing care for Reese by apologizing and telling him to go.
Reese, a vigilante who protects people and shoots criminals’ kneecaps) is willing to cross the line the authorities couldn’t, but he also forgot that Carter, an officer of the law, holds that very line. She could’ve helped him if he asked, but he didn’t. Reese made a tactically sound choice that made the detective leave the team, and while it’s understandable, it’s saddening.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Standouts, Conclusion
Conclusion
In “Baby Blue,” there’s no surprise that Team Machine will protect an innocent baby, Leila. What’s thrilling is their journey, with Elias becoming an unexpected ally of Reese and Finch… only to turn the tables to get what he wants: his father, Don Moretti. Reese’s risky tactical choice may have saved the baby, but it definitely strained the team’s relationship with Carter. For now, Team Machine only has three members.
Again, happiest 15th anniversary to my favorite series, Person of Interest!
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 show-related media featured in this post.
