The episode opens at the tail end of a person of interest story that leads Reese, Finch and Bear to go undercover at a vet’s office.  This was classic chemistry between the characters with fun banter including Reese sheepishly admitting he feeds Bear table scraps and the scandalized look on Finch’s face.  Missed these guys just hanging out together.  Now, time for the real case which involves a wife killing her husband. Past tense.  Was the Machine too late?

SPOILERS BELOW

Finch firmly believes his machine is never wrong, so goes on the assumption that either the wife is planning on killing someone else or she was setup and someone is going to kill her. The POI this week was interesting because she was both cold and sympathetic, depending on the situation. That, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a clue, though only in retrospect does it become obvious.

Fusco finally got some screen time this week and the use of all the characters feels as in balance as the season premiere. However, Carter gets the lion share of side story development.  Carter’s hunt for Beecher’s killer has led HR to put a rookie in place to spy on her. Its not a big surprise that the rookie is working against her since his shy earnest spiel was a little over the top.  It’s unclear whether the rookie really mistook Reese for Carter’s new boyfriend or if he was trying to put her at ease.  Either way, he has seen Reese and Carter together and will put that together sometime soon.  Carter’s story continues to build suspense with HR in a way that Fusco’s angle did not.

Shaw throws down a bet that the POI is guilty and Finch is offended she would make light of one of their numbers.  Finch is offended by a lot of what Shaw does and seems to genuinely dislike her, which is odd since he continues to use her as backup.  When the case is finally finished, Finch’s disapproval meter should be off the charts with Reese.  The team plays judge and jury with the POI and decided she was innocent. They sent her on her way with cash and a new identity only to discover she was in on the plot to fake kill her husband, but now wants to do it for real. Reese’s annoyance, and the whole double fake out, culminates in him arming both husband and wife and walking away. Granted they were annoying, but last time they had a couple like this, Finch did gunpoint marriage counseling. What has changed between last season and this one? Bad Reese!

Last week my review ended with a complaint about Shaw trying to steal Bear and apparently the writers were paying attention. Reese very clearly established Bear is his dog and not hers. Very petty, yay!