"Endgame" is the 8th episode of the third season of the American television drama series ''
Person of Interest''. It is the 53rd overall episode of the series and is written by Nic Van Zeebroeck & Michael Sopczynski and directed by
Sylvain White
Sylvain White (born 21 December 1971) is a French film director and screenwriter.
Life and career
White attended Pomona College, graduating in 1998.
He debuted his feature film, ''Stomp the Yard'', at number one in the US. He went on to direct ...
. It aired on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
in the United States and on
CTV in Canada on November 12, 2013.
The series revolves around a computer program for the federal government known as "The Machine" that is capable of collating all
sources of information to predict terrorist acts and to identify people planning them. A team, consisting of John Reese, Harold Finch and Sameen Shaw follow "irrelevant" crimes: lesser level of priority for the government. In the episode, Carter decides to go all out to end HR once and for all, planning to put the Russians against them and start a war. Despite being credited,
Amy Acker does not appear in the episode.
According to
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
, the episode was seen by an estimated 12.60 million household viewers and gained a 2.0/6 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received critical acclaim, with critics highlighting Taraji P. Henson's acting, writing and ending.
Plot
Flashbacks
In 2005, Carter (
Taraji P. Henson) stars her career at the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
when she runs into her ex-husband, Paul (
Laz Alonso Laz or LAZ may refer to:
People
* Laz people of the Black Sea area
**Laz language
First name
* Laz Alonso (born 1975), American actor
* Laz Barrera (1924–1991), Cuban-born American racehorse trainer
* Laz-D (born 1982), American rapper
*Laz Dí ...
). Paul, an Army veteran, is suffering
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...
and has been told by Carter not to get close to their son Taylor until he seeks treatment. She later finds Paul on her house and both have a verbal fight before Paul loses the temper and destroys a lamp, forcing Carter to get him out of the house.
In 2008, Carter has been promoted to Detective and runs into Paul again. Paul has been taking treatment at
Veterans Affairs
Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...
and leaves Carter with his phone number in case she or Taylor need him.
Present day
The Machine has produced 38 numbers, all belonging to police officers that may be on HR's payroll. Reese (
Jim Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...
) and Fusco (
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's '' Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's ''Mystic River'' ...
) investigate a truck robbery which may be connected to Peter Yogorov (
Morgan Spector
Morgan Michael Spector (born October 4, 1980) is an American actor. Spector has appeared in the TV series ''Allegiance'' (2015), '' The Mist'' (2017), ''Homeland'' (2018), and '' Pearson'' (2019), as well as the films '' The Drop'' (2014), ''Chri ...
). Yogorov meets with Simmons (
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in '' RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...
), where he refuses to pay an additional fee for protection, severing ties with HR.
Two days earlier, Carter meets with Quinn (
Clarke Peters
Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...
), where she says she will stop pursuing Cal Beecher's investigation. Actually, the meeting is a chance for Carter to
clone Quinn's phone, as she knows he is HR's boss. She intercepts a call from Quinn, who expresses doubt on her statement and asks for her to be watched. Carter meets with Reese and asks him not to be with her for a while as HR may use this to their advantage. Carter then sends Elias (
Enrico Colantoni
Enrico Colantoni (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian actor and director, best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom ''Just Shoot Me!'', Keith Mars on the television series ''Veronica Mars'', Louis Lutz on the short-lived sitcom ''H ...
) to meet with Yogorov, offering a partnership to take down HR and leaves behind a document with crucial information. Carter is revealed to be behind the attack on the truck robbery, having been supplied guns by Shaw (
Sarah Shahi
Aahoo Jahansouzshahi ( fa, آهو جهانسوز شاهی; born ), known professionally as Sarah Shahi (), is an American actress and former model. She played Carmen on ''The L Word'' in 2005, Kate Reed in the USA Network legal drama ''Fairly Leg ...
), planning to incriminate HR in the robbery.
Yogorov calls Quinn, threatening to expose the whole organization if the truck is not returned. Carter then shoots at Quinn's office, planning to start a war between HR and the Russians. Reese and Finch (
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
) discover that Carter was the robber and also discover Quinn's role as the boss of HR. After her actions, Quinn starts having a lot of Yogorov's men arrested. Carter then shows up at Yegorov's house, and takes him to the station as it's the only safe place. She offers a deal to Yogorov where she will transfer his brother in jail to a safer place and a deal if he confesses to HR's criminal activities with the amount of evidence she collected, which he accepts.
Carter then tells Fusco of a safe deposit box that will contain all her evidence against HR and leaves. HR members prepare to execute the Russians when more police officers arrive and discover the cocaine in one of the cars, arresting both the HR members and the Russians. Carter then calls a judge to ask for an
arrest warrant against Quinn. Unknown to her, the judge is on Quinn's payroll and notifies him of this immediately.
Before meeting the judge, Carter calls Paul, who has had Taylor with him during these events. She thanks him for everything and then talks briefly with Taylor. She arrives at the judge's home, only to find Quinn and HR members awaiting for her. She prepares to be executed but mentions that their conversation where Quinn confessed to Beecher's murdered was recorded. Reese enters and shoots at many of HR's men with Quinn getting shot in the shoulder. Reese, Carter and Quinn exit the house where Reese has a shootout with one of the HR members before they flee the area. Simmons then uses the cruiser's
Dashcam
A dashboard camera or simply dashcam, also known as car digital video recorder (car DVR), driving recorder, or event data recorder (EDR), is an onboard camera that continuously records the view through a vehicle's front windscreen and sometimes ...
to get a photo of the three and tells the officer to spread it to other officers.
Reception
Viewers
In its original American broadcast, "Endgame" was seen by an estimated 12.60 million household viewers and gained a 2.0/6 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This means that 2.0 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 6 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. This was a 7% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 11.79 million viewers with a 1.9/6 in the 18-49 demographics. With these ratings, ''Person of Interest'' was the third most watched show on CBS for the night, behind ''
NCIS: Los Angeles'' and ''
NCIS'', third on its timeslot and sixth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind ''
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...
'', ''
Chicago Fire'', ''NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''NCIS'', and ''
The Voice
The Voice may refer to:
Fictional entities
* The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics
* The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe
* The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...
''.
With Live +7 DVR factored in, the episode was watched by 17.09 million viewers with a 3.1 in the 18-49 demographics.
Critical reviews
"Endgame" received critical acclaim from critics. Matt Fowler of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' wrote in his verdict, "'Endgame,' for better or worse, didn't provide us with the big death that it seemed to be setting up, but - man oh man - it was a good, world-shaking episode. With Carter going rogue and pulling a few choice pages out of Reese's black ops book."
Phil Dyess-Nugent of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the episode an "A−" grade and wrote, "Always changing, recharging, and finding new twists to play on a premise that didn’t look as if it could sustain that many of them, ''Person of Interest'' is heading into its final batch of episodes of 2013 with a full head of steam."
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Endgame (Person of Interest)
Person of Interest (TV series) episodes
2013 American television episodes