On John Reese’s birthday, the rest of Team Machine deals with a sensitive case. Tonight I’m reviewing the 21st episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), “Many Happy Returns.”
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers. If you haven’t watched it, please do so before reading my analysis.
Trigger warning: Themes of abuse.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Conclusion
Episode Summary
Main Storyline
Harold Finch gives John Reese a birthday leave, but he secretly investigates the next irrelevant number with Detective Lionel Fusco because it will remind Reese of old wounds.
Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Nicholas Donnelly and Detective Joss Carter revisit an old case connected to the vigilante, The Man in the Suit (Reese).
The Number
Karen Garner, a waitress, is actually Sarah Jennings, a wife who tries to run away from her abusive husband, US Marshall Brad Jennings.
Obviously, Karen Garner is the victim.
Flashback
The flashbacks show what happened to John Reese after being burned as a spy (“Matsya Nyaya”) and how his love, Jessica Arndt, was killed by her husband, Peter.
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Conclusion
Thoughts & Feelings
The Episode Title
Many happy returns is synonymous with the more common happy birthday. It’s a traditional, thoughtful way of saying “more birthdays to come” to someone.
John Reese quietly celebrates his birthday in “Many Happy Returns”, and Finch gives him a clean, spacious apartment as a gift (though he gave the key first, and the address after the case). The sad, ironic thing is that in the middle of his birthday, he had to remember a tragedy that disconnected him from the world.
On Sarah Jennings & the Marshal
Sarah Jennings has done everything she can to get away from the marshal, but because of his position and connection, he always catches her. Abuse of power. Abuse of wife. Brad is a fucking monster, and there are many like him, man or woman, in real life who use their power and authority to abuse people in any way, especially those whom they claim they “love.” It’s sickening.
I’ve said before in the previous reviews that we should try to be better than the criminals. But in this episode, it’s hard to be sympathetic with the marshal, especially since he’s about to murder his abused wife. Do abusers deserve the same human rights the abused were deprived of? For me, it’s hard to give them that because abusing someone is never right. So, there’s some satisfaction in seeing Reese beat up and break the marshal’s nose, and Sarah being finally free from her abuser.
Speaking of Reese…
Reese’s Inner Conflict & Choices
Since Reese became The Man in the Suit, he struggles to protect the innocent while running away from his past as a cold-blooded government assassin. That inner conflict resurfaced in “Many Happy Returns.”
In the flashback, after being burned as a spy, Reese returned to New York and looked for his love, Jessica Arndt. When he visited her hospital, that’s when he found out the tragic news that turned his world upside down: she died in a car accident. What’s more tragic is the truth: Peter argued with Jessica inside their New Rochelle home, which led to her accidental death, and he covered it up as a car accident. After rewatching their wedding video and trying to make sense of the tragedy, Reese confronted Peter, and the husband was never seen again.
In the main storyline, Finch gave Reese a birthday leave, which is enough reason for him to bench him and work on a case that could reopen an old wound. But eventually, Reese found out that their number, Sarah Jennings, is a victim of abuse, and he insisted on working the case with Finch. With his insistence, it was like Finch was working with the old Reese who left a frightening body count for the government. Reese even put it to words: he’ll show the marshal what a real monster looks like.
Unlike how he confronted Peter, he actually made a scene at the marshal’s office, and he coldly warned him:
If you come after her again, I will kill you. No one will be able to protect you from me.
He could’ve killed him right there, but he didn’t. The inner conflict is there, brimming.
When Reese found Sarah and the marshal in a motel room, I saw probably the hardest, vengeance-fueled set of punches Reese has dished out in the series. Ever. It didn’t come from a petty squabble. It came after being reminded of a tragedy that disconnected him from the world again. In a way, he’s like beating the hell out of Peter all over again, and it also looked like he’d actually bring him to hell.
After Carter found Reese in a car with the marshal in the trunk, the detective tried to stop him from being a killer again. He only asked her to trust…
Carter: What? For you to do the right thing?
Reese: That I’ll do what needs to be done.
It looked like Reese was willing to be the cold-blooded killer that he was for this case. But fortunately, Carter (and the audience) learned that Reese planted drugs on the marshal and sent him to a prison in Mexico. Even if the marshal reminded Reese of Jessica’s tragic death (on his birthday, of all days) and he wanted to kill the marshal, Reese still found a way to be better than him. Reese still found a way to be The Man in the Suit.
“I’m so sorry.”
In one of their first encounters in the pilot episode, Finch told Reese that he knew about Jessica’s death. In “Many Happy Returns,” while Reese and Finch sat in the same spot where they met, the ex-spy asked his boss if one of the earlier irrelevant numbers was Jessica’s. Finch answered:
What I know, Mr. Reese, is that New Rochelle happened before we started working together. And because of that, there was nothing that either one of us could have done.
Finch created The Machine to stop future terrorist attacks, and he had to teach his AI surveillance system to separate national security threats from ordinary violent crimes. Because of the boundary, many ordinary people who needed saving died. One of them is Jessica Arndt.
Long after Finch started paying attention to the irrelevant numbers, he saw the personal cost of ignoring them when he saw Reese receive the saddest news of his life at the hospital. Finch was the guy Reese literally bumped into in the flashback. He was in a wheelchair with three files: Reese’s, Jessica’s, and Peter’s. Frowning at his future vigilante partner, he could only say these words as Reese walked away…
Every death is unbearable, especially when it’s someone you love dearly. And sometimes, we can’t offer comforting words beyond “I’m so sorry.”
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, Thoughts & Feelings, Conclusion
Conclusion
In “Many Happy Returns,” Reese was reminded of a great tragedy because of the new number, and he confronted the perpetrator more aggressively than usual. Meanwhile, the flashback shone a light on the tragedy that broke Reese. It’s a melancholic Reese-centric episode that breaks my heart every time I watch it.
Rating: 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️
Navigation: Introduction, Episode Summary, 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.
Do You Need Help?
If you’re struggling with abuse and domestic violence, you may look up helplines in your area at FindaHelpline.com.
In the Philippines, you can search for helplines on the Violence Against Women and Children page.
