TV Review: Person of Interest 1.6, "The Fix"

There’s honestly not much to be said about this weeks Person of Interest. It’s not that it was a bad episode; it’s just that after the heavy dose of atmosphere in Episode 4 and the high-octane drama of Episode 5, it feels like Episode 6 takes its foot off the accelerator a bit.

By Emile Lewis /

rating: 3.5

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There€™s honestly not much to be said about this weeks Person of Interest. It€™s not that it was a bad episode; it€™s just that after the heavy dose of atmosphere in Episode 4 and the high-octane drama of Episode 5, it feels like Episode 6 takes its foot off the accelerator a bit. With each episode so far being better than the week before, I suppose it was only inevitable that we would eventually hit a snag. Hopefully a mid-season slump won€™t hit the ratings too hard, because I€™m really gunning for a second season. Anyway€ This week Reese goes undercover as a driver for Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco), an all-attitude businesswoman with no identifiable business records. As Finch points out, she has no current employer but somehow managed to pay for a $2 million apartment in cash. Obviously she€™s mixed up in something that€™s not exactly mentioned on her tax return. Reese drives her to a meeting at a secluded naval yard, where she trades cash for a package and then it€™s on to a convention where judging by the number of uniforms, it€™s some sort of police precinct cocktail party. Zoe meets Lt. Allan Gilmore (Jeff Wincott), to whom she delivers the package, a gun as it turns out, that belongs to another cop. Zoe is a Fixer, someone who acts as a liaison between discreet parties, who sets up their business and takes a cut. Why the machine would single her out as a person of interest is still unclear but you can bet that one of her clients will soon find a good enough reason to do her harm. Meanwhile series regular Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) finally gets some headway into her investigation of Reese. A forty-year-old murder weapon that Reese reluctantly helped to steal from evidence in Episode 3 turns up in the chest of a retired mafia enforcer. She ends up in a shootout with the killer who gets away, but not before he leaves a bloodstain behind. The threat to Zoe becomes apparent when she brokers a blackmail deal between a major pharmaceutical company and an investment blogger, who has dirt on the companies Chief Financial Officer and soon-to-be C.E.O. Mark Lawson (Tim Guinee). The dirt in question is a tape that hints at an affair with former employee and now deceased, Dana Miller (Anna Koonin). After the deal goes down, the company decides to clean house, including Zoe. As it turns out, Dana was a person of interest identified by the machine but back then Finch hadn€™t partnered up with Reese and was unable to help her. We finally get to see some real emotion out of Finch, who has so far made an effort to conceal his motives in using the machine. Clearly he feels strongly about injustice and being helpless to prevent it, or maybe this is just another ploy to distract Reese from his true intentions? It€™s too early to tell what his game really is but I can€™t shake the feeling that they hired Michael Emerson because he€™s so good at playing the deceitful mastermind. There are surely some twists still to come€ Jim Caviezel is settling into his role rather nicely. After his heavy, emotional performance in Episode 4 we€™re starting to see more of his humorous side come out, particularly this week with potential romantic interest Zoe. While she was only a guest star, they€™ve definitely left it open for her to return at some point. Whether they bring her back or introduce a new love interest, it will help give Reese a more personal investment in the story because as he says himself €œI don€™t have any things I care about.€ Having a protagonist who doesn€™t have an emotional attachment to anything can only carry a show for so long.