10 Best Person Of Interest Episodes

A brilliantly inventive episode, that took the audience inside the Machine's mind as she tried to save her assets (and the global economy) from near-impossible odds through predictive simulations, which were juxtaposed with flashbacks in which Finch shared his values with her through chess. It was genuinely touching to see that the Machine had taken Finch’s words to heart, prioritising saving the team over preventing the financial crisis.

The simulations were utterly thrilling (turns out that watching the team fight their way through the underbelly of the New York Stock Exchange with Fortune Days playing in the background never gets old), and the cunning concealment of their nature led to a truly shocking moment when Finch was suddenly killed by Lambert. The subsequent simulation proved brutal, as Reese and Root both went down fighting, and the third was downright hilarious, as the Machine was forced to simplify her predictions. Throughout the simulations, the team’s reactions to the scenarios were perfect, from Finch’s captivation with a precariously-placed artwork to Reese's coolly delivered sadistic warnings.

The episode did a superb job of creating a seemingly hopeless situation, making it all the more triumphant when a heavily-armed Shaw came to the rescue. And just when it seemed as if the team had won, Shaw was forced to sacrifice herself to enable her friends to escape in a heart-wrenching ending, made all the more painful by Root's distraught reaction. A phenomenally emotional ride.