Elias’s attempt to take over the city reaches its climax. Tonight I’m reviewing the 19th episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), “Flesh and Blood.”
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, Conclusion
Episode Breakdown
The Numbers
The five leaders of La Cosa Nostra consist of Don Caparelli, Don Vittorio Zambrano, Don Luciano Grifoni, Don Basile, and Gianni Moretti, Jr. Don Gianni Morreti Sr. was in prison (and then kidnapped by his illegitimate son, Carl Elias), so his real son, Morreti Jr., took over his place.
Victims or Perpetrators?
While Harold Finch and John Reese assume the five Dons might turn on one another, they conclude that Elias, the rising crime boss, will take them all down to control the entire mafia. Finch also considers the collateral damage. After bugging their meeting place, The Covenant Club, they learn a disagreement between Morretti Jr. and the other Dons.
The five Dons are the victims.
Did They Save All the Numbers?
After Detective Joss Carter takes her son, Taylor, to school, she talks to Detective LaBlanca about Elias’s bank accounts that he drained after the Tritak investment scam (“Risk”). Carter theorizes that Elias used the money to hire killers and to bribe corrupt cops and officials to turn a blind eye. Detective Lionel Fusco listens from afar.
In an undisclosed location, Elias gives food to the biological father he kidnapped, Don Morretti. Elias wants Morretti to see him unite the five families and take control of the mafia. Morretti doubts they will cooperate, and his illegitimate son says they don’t have a choice.
In a street in Queens, Fusco meets with HR lieutenant, Officer Patrick Simmons. The cop wants intel on the vigilante, The Man in the Suit. Fusco asks why, and Simmons says HR is hired for Elias. Simmons commands Fusco to call in sick for a few days afterwards.
Reese offers Caparreli protection, but he refuses. Caparelli and his men get killed by a car explosion set up by Scarface.
Meanwhile, Carter offers Basile protection, and while he has doubts, he accepts. After Carter’s police detail leaves them, a shooter gets to Basile, but he is taken out by Reese.
Carter reunites with Finch and Reese in a diner; Finch offers to trace Elias’s payees, and Reese gives her Plan B, his duffel bag of weaponry.
Reese follows one of Elias’s payees Finch traced, and he discovers the payee is following Officer Simmons and his family. Elias wants to coerce both his allies and enemies.
Meanwhile, Carter and Fusco offer the remaining Dons protection again. They refuse, which leads to the detectives kidnapping them. Shooters go after them; they escape, and Finch guides them to one of his safehouses. Things turn out for the worse when Scarface kidnaps Taylor, and Elias negotiates with a frightened Carter to trade her son for the Dons. Reese promises Carter he will save Taylor no matter what the cost.
Finch approaches Officer Simmons with photos and files of Elias’s payees, including the one who tracked him and his family earlier. Simmons asks what he wants, and Finch demands Taylor’s location and for HR to stop helping Elias.
Zambrano tells Carter about Fusco’s association with the missing Detective Stills (someone Reese killed). Elias and his men arrive at the safehouse; one of them cuts the door with a torch. That makes Carter doubt her work partner for a moment.
Finch and Reese arrive at Taylor’s location; Finch wants Reese to teach him how to use a gun, and Reese tells him to be just the getaway driver. Reese takes down all of Elias’s men except Scarface, then saves Taylor and Don Morretti. Finch drives with
Elias gives Carter one last chance to give up the Dons, and Carter stands her ground. Fusco sees the HR associate driving away. Zambrano pulls Fusco’s gun, revealing his alignment with Elias; a standoff takes place. Elias and his men enter the safehouse, and they see Carter and Fusco with guns and Zambrano dead. Sirens are heard; Fusco tells Carter he called for backup. Elias and his men finally surrender. Carter gets a call from Taylor, who is with Reese and Finch (their driver).
Carter and Taylor reunite in a street corner near a diner. The detective thanks Reese for keeping his promise; Reese winks and walks away. At a prison, Elias is processed, mugshots and all. The Morretis walk to a car, and the older Don gets a call from Elias. Before entering his cell, Elias says goodbye, and the car explodes. Scarface looks before driving away, and Elias gives his phone to the guard.
No, not all five Dons were saved. Only Grifoni lives.
Flashbacks
All three flashbacks involve a young Elias.
First, in a nail salon, Gloria treats a young, injured Elias. He was bullied for being a “bastard,” and he has a family tree he couldn’t fill out except mentioning his late mother. When he asked about his father, Gloria tells him to let it go and be his own man.
Second, in a restaurant, a teenage Elias finally talks to his biological father, Don Morreti. The father was hostile, but Elias just wants to learn from him and prove himself. The Don closes with, “There’s a place for you here.” Elias is glad to meet him.
Third, Morretti’s goons bring Elias into the wilderness. Crying because his own father wants him dead, Elias becomes angry and warns he will destroy them all. He stops a goon’s garrote wire with his bare hands, kills them one by one with a gun, and walks away.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
The Episode Title
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase flesh and blood refers to people’s qualities and to someone from your family.
In “Flesh and Blood”, we are shown a few families. Five families form a massive villainous organization that rules the city. Before this episode, Elias kidnapped one of the Dons, Don Morretti Sr., his biological father (who caused the murder of his beloved mother). Carter has her beloved son, Taylor (who was kidnapped by Elias). Even Patrick Simmons (a vile HR lieutenant) has a family, and they were being followed.
In General
When it comes to “Flesh and Blood”, I have a lot of things to say because it’s one of my top ten favorite Person of Interest episodes.
First, Carter reunited with Finch and Reese after she ran out of people to trust, even from the police force. She also trusts Fusco, even though doubt crept in after Zambrano revealed something incriminating about his work partner (notably, his connection to the missing Detective Stills [a cop Reese killed]). Still, Fusco proved his loyalty to Carter when he called for real police backup. Team Machine is back in full force.
Second, the vigilantes’ influence in Carter became more apparent when she kidnapped the four Dons. Reese even approved when Finch told him what he did.
But most importantly, I saw the scene that made me fall in love with the show…
“You have my word.”
The series has delivered banger after banger (even after this episode), but this scene where Reese promised Carter he would save her son no matter the cost gave me goosebumps. The way he prepared to go to battle while giving Carter his word is so full of valor, determination, and selflessness, and I can completely see the Batman in The Man in the Suit.
Reese: …you don’t have to make that decision, ’cause I’m gonna get your son back, no matter what the cost. I won’t let anyone hurt him. You hear me, Carter?
Carter: Promise me.
Reese: You have my word.
This single scene made me fall in love with Reese’s character and Person of Interest. This single scene is my point of no return. Years after the show ended and after countless rewatches, I’m glad I fell in love with it.
And thankfully, Reese kept his promise. He saved Taylor, and Carter is incredibly thankful for him.
On Being Alone & Being Proven Otherwise
In the only flashback of “Mission Creep”, Reese, a man who puts the mission first, bleakly tells his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Arndt:
In the end, we’re all alone. And no one’s coming to save you.
In “Get Carter,” Reese, now a vigilante known as The Man in the Suit, also has a different point of view. Plus, Carter has been chasing him for months. After Elias turned Bottlecap (Carter’s confidential informant) into his hitman, Reese took him down with bullets while being in the shadows. Thankfully, Carter has a bulletproof vest, yet she lay down from the impact. The vigilante approached his then-nemesis:
…whether you like me or not, Joss, you’re not alone.
In “Flesh and Blood,” while Elias’s goon is cutting the door with a torch, the mob boss grimly says:
You need to accept the fact that no one’s coming to save you. You are all alone.
Later, Carter stood her ground, aiming her weapon near the door:
I’m staying right here. They’re not getting past me. I’m not as alone as you think!
Carter is a decent cop who was fighting a long war alone. With a cop on the road to redemption like Fusco, an intelligent hacker like Finch, and a changed protector of the innocent like Reese, she’s not fighting a war alone.
Finch’s Intellect
After Reese asked Finch for Taylor’s location, Finch approaches Simmons himself in a diner with photos of Elias’s payees, and one of them followed him and his family earlier. Simmons is visibly pissed, yet he doesn’t know whether the man with glasses works for Elias. Finch had another ace up his sleeve: his own words.
I imagine you don’t. But are you really willing to bet your family’s life on it?
Eventually, Simmons gave up Taylor’s location, and HR stopped assisting Elias. Finch’s brilliant tactical move worked. Reese found and saved Taylor. The detectives took down Elias and his men. Bravo, Team Machine.
Elias Wins / Taylor is Saved
Four of the five numbers The Machine sent are dead. Caparelli died in a car explosion set up by Scarface. A criminal hired by Elias shot Basile. Zambrano was shot by Carter. And while Elias got arrested, he had already gained the keys to the criminal kingdom, and he had the Morretis killed in another car explosion set up by Scarface.
Sadly, Finch, Reese, Carter, and Fusco can’t save everyone The Machine tells them to, even if they don’t deserve it. But at least they saved someone important to Carter, Taylor, and that matters more than statistics.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, Conclusion
Conclusion
In “Flesh and Blood” (one of my favorite Person of Interest episodes), Elias rose to power after taking down most of his enemies (even indirectly when Carter shot his ally, Don Zambrano). Team Machine may have failed to save most of the crime bosses, but Reese saved someone important to Carter who got caught in the war. In the end, Elias got what he wanted, yet Team Machine is back in full force.
Rating: 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Breakdown, Thoughts & Feelings, 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.
