Person of Interest

Season 1

Pilot

1. In one transition between scenes, the security camera the machine is looking through has the numbers: 4 8 1-5 at the top and 16 23 42 at the bottom. This matches the series of numbers that comes from the other bad robot TV series Lost (2004)' - 4 8 15 16 23 42.
2. The lowest official Social Security Number starts with 001. But several of the SSN's on the list Finch shows to Reese start with 000.
3. Information on John's New York Driver's License: DOB: 7-28-66 Manzione, James J 227 West Portland St NY, NY 10008 Sex: F* Eyes: B Ht: 6-04 Issued 06-30-06 Expires 03 or 05-16-12-[sic]
4. At the beginning of the episode, the Machine places a yellow recognition box on Reese, indicating he is an asset to the Machine.

Ghosts

1. During the scene where Nathan finds the list of irrelevant numbers (in this case, photos). The last photo shown before Harold turns the monitors off is Jessica (ex-girlfriend of John Reese).
2. 47 reference: When walking through the cemetery, a sign reads "Section 47". 47 is found randomly throughout shows & movies J.J. Abrams is involved in and is PoI executive producer, which originally began by the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). It's found in all subsequent series of Star Trek, as well as many other productions outside of Trek & ones with Abrams involvement.
3. Mr. Finch's first name is Harold. Horst Herold was the president of German federal law enforcement in the '70s where he invented the dragnet - the first system that used a database full of personal information to identify criminals or suspects from the masses.
4. Although this is the second episode of the series and rated above 8/10, this is so far the lowest rated episode of the whole series.
5. In the final scene showing the memorial bust of Nathan, the window behind it is decorated with 101 101 101, repeated all the way across. An homage to computer programming language that utilized 1's and 0's.

Mission Creep

1. Joey Durban is played by James Carpinello. He is married in real life to Amy Acker, who would later become a prominent member of the show's cast.
2. Mission creep: The gradual or incremental expansion of an intervention, project or mission, beyond its original scope, focus or goals, a ratchet effect spawned by initial success.
3. The evidence stolen from police lockup was labeled "Elias M.". This is the first mention of Enrico Colantoni's character who becomes a recurring guest star.
4. In the evidence lock-up there is a statue of the Virgin Mary. This is a nod to executive producer J.J. Abrams Lost (2004) where drug traffickers use statues of the Virgin Mary to transport heroin.

Cura Te Ipsum

1. The phrase "cura te ipsum" is Latin for "heal thyself."
2. This series is created by Jonathan Nolan, brother of Christopher Nolan. And much like Inception (2010) written by Christopher, this episode ends in such a way that the audience gets to decide the "outcome".

Judgement

1. When we see a close up of Koska's phone at the end of the episode, one of the company names is "Plohoi robot ZAO" or "Bad Robot Company" in Russian.
2. At the beginning of the episode, Finch is seen reading a first edition of the novel It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. The fiction book is about a feared fascist dictatorship happening in America in the wake of the rise of Hitler and Mussolini. Later in the episode, Finch uses the name of a character, Walt Trowbridge, as an alias.
3. The two restaurant scenes where Reese and Finch discuss the case take place in the Lyric Diner, real- life location 3rd Avenue and 22nd St. in Manhattan.
4. According to security footage of the hit-and-run incident, the events in the episode start on October 20, 2011, the same airdate of the episode.
5. The episode title obviously refers to the Person of Interest's position as a judge, but can also refer to the "judgment" each main character made in the episode to place their trust and friendship on.

The Fix

1. Introduction of Paige Turco as Zoe Morgan.
2. Finch uses the alias "Partridge," another last name based on a bird.
3. According to the signage and advertising present in the shot of Times Square during the opening scene, the footage was shot in 2003.
4. Virtanen is one of the most common last names in Finland.

Witness

1. When hiding inside of the apartment, Burton asks Will what he thought of the The Count of Monte Cristo. Will mentions how he admires Edmond Dantes while Reese looks on. Jim Caviezel (Reese) also played Edmond in the movie adaptation of the book. There are also a number of references to the film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). When Charlie asks Reese why he chose such a violent career, he answers "It's complicated". In the movie, this was the response given to Edmond Dantes (Caviezel) by his best friend when asked why he chose to betray him. Towards the end of the film, Dantes responds the same way after he gets his revenge almost 20 years later.
2. This episode ends with the song "Sinnerman" (performed by Nina Simone) playing over the final scenes and credits. This song was also used in Deja Vu (2006) and High Crimes (2002), both of which also starred Jim Caviezel as a person who has retired from the military.
3. The mob kills a man in a neighborhood bodega (or grocery). The name of the victim is Benny D'Agostino. D'Agostino is the name of a famous local chain of neighborhood grocery stores located almost exclusively in Manhattan (13 stores) with only one store outside of NYC.
4. Veni, vidi, vici (Latin) means: I came, I saw, I conquered.
5. Vory, in Russian, means "thieves". In the Russian Mafia, to become a "Vor" (the singular), is an honorary title meaning to become a made man.
6. There are two reasons John uses cocaine on Charlie Burton's, played by Enrico Colantoni's, gun shot wound. The first reason, cocaine is an anesthetic, it would help with the pain. The second reason, cocaine constricts blood vessels, it would help to stop the bleeding.
7. Mr Burton while at his student's apartment sees the book "The Count of Monte Cristo" and remarks to the student how Edmond Dantes returns to kill the people who wronged him. This is a hint about the plan he has hatched in order to avenge his mother's death after laying low all those years.
8. The identity of Elias is revealed in this episode.

Foe

1. The sniper rifle Reese uses is a Barrett .50 caliber model 82A1.
2. Wernick is having lunch at Craftbar on Broadway.
3. Michael Emerson and Alan Dale played mortal enemies on Lost. In that series, Dale's character was responsible for the shooting death of Emerson's character's daughter. In this episode of Person of Interest, Emerson's character saves Dale's character's daughter and wife.

Get Carter

1. Carter's given name of Jocelyn, or Joss, is revealed.
2. Reese is riding a Moto Guzzi Griso 8V SE motorcycle.

Number Crunch

1. The book Reese leafs through at Finch's place is 'The Ghost in the Machine' by Arthur Koestler. 'Ghost in the Machine' is a phrase coined by the Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle to describe René Descartes' mind-body dualism relationship. In the case of Person of Interest's arc plot, Koestler's book subtly hints that The Machine may be developing a soul, or already has. The soul is famously called 'Ghost in the Shell' in the Japanese manga and anime classic by Shirow Masamune.

Super

1. Along with several visual elements that make an homage to Rear Window (1954) (such as Reese being confined to a wheelchair, the suspected villain digging in a rose garden, the use of a camera to observe neighbors), the character of John Reese leases the apartment using the name "Mr. Hayes". John Michael Hayes wrote the screenplay for "Rear Window".
2. David Zayas says to Reese: "It seems like yesterday I was partying till dawn down in Miami." This is a direct nod to the Show Dexter (2006), where Zayas plays Detective Batista who was known to party till dawn.
3. When Finch eats at the restaurant where Lily is working, Reese calls him on the phone and greets him with "Good afternoon, Mr. Finch." just like Finch usually greets Reese. This is an allusion to the roles of Finch and Reese being reversed in this episode.
4. When Finch explains how the Machine works, he mentions the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994. The so-called AMIA bombing occurred on July 18, 1994 killing 86 people and wounding several hundreds.
5. The apartment Finch rented for Reese is located in The Apthorp, a historic apartment building and New York city landmark at 390 West End Avenue.
6. Trask, the super, mentions his yacht being trashed by hurricane Opal. Opal was the strongest hurricane of the 1995 Atlantic season. The category 4 hurricane did $2.1 billion in damages in Florida alone.
7. In this episode, David Zayas plays the super, Ernie Trask. Later, it's revealed that his real name is Ernesto Machado, a former Miami resident, who is now in Witness Protection from the Cuban Mafia. In Dexter (2006), Zayas plays one of the main characters, Angel Batista, a detective in the Miami police department, who sometimes has cases involving Cuban mafia.

Legacy

1. The apartment Will Ingram moves into is the same filming location used as Susan Jacob's Smart Home in Mr. Robot (2015), where fsociety holes up for much of season 2.
2. When Reese uses the tablet in the "bat cave" to view the article about Ingram's death, there are portions of the article text that are repeated, presumably via copy and paste.
3. Chris Scollard is the character name of the Department of Family Services clerk. In reality, Christopher Scollard is one of the visual effects supervisors for the show.
4. According to Andrea Gutierrez's bank statement, the events of this episode start on January 18, 2012.

Root Cause

1. Though her face isn't shown, this is the first appearance of recurring character Root.
2. The alias chosen by the villain in the background is Root. The Root user or superuser is a user on Unix-like systems with full administrative privileges.

Wolf and Cub

1. The entire episode is an homage to "Lone Wolf and Cub", a Japanese Manga about a disgraced Shogun who becomes a wandering Assassin who travels with his infant son as they seek revenge on their betrayers.
2. Amongst the items in Darren's room is a poster for the anime Samurai 7 (2004), an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) which Reese is seen watching in Person of Interest: Pilot (2011).
3. The quote "Only the paranoid survive," was from former Intel CEO Andy Groves and is also the title of his book.
4. Darren and Reese discuss the Art of War by Sun Tzu, a 5th-century BC Chinese general and strategist. It is considered one of the seminal studies of military tactics and strategy, influencing western military procedures into contemporary times. First translated into English in 1905, it has been translated multiple times and studied widely by both military and non-military strategists.
5. Andre Wilcox (Malik Yoba) works at a comic book store. Yoba played a super type hero on the TV series Alphas (2011). He had the power of super strength.
6. At the end of the episode, Detective Fusco gives Mr. Reese an envelope containing photos of Harold Finch's alias "Harold Wren". Both photos are pictures of a younger Michael Emerson (the actor who plays Harold Finch).

Blue Code

1. A song is played in the background of a scene between John and Fusco. It's called "If I Had A Heart" by a Swedish recording artist, Fever Ray. It is now played during the opening credits of the History Channel's Vikings (2013).
2. The first mention of "HR"
3. The title of the episode refers to the "Blue Code of Silence", sometimes known as the "Thin Blue Line", an unwritten law among police officers not to report on another colleague's errors, misconducts or crimes.
4. It is established that John Reese is originally from Puyallup, Washington, which is 95 miles away from Mount Vernon, Washington, the real life birthplace of Jim Caviezel, who portrays Reese.
5. When Joss Carter shows the weapon box which is inside the back of her car, to John Reese, John says "Lady after my own heart" which foreshadows the eventual romantic relationship between them on the course of the series. Coincidentally, this exact line was said by Harold Finch in season one finale, when he heard Root, who was posing as a psychiatrist, said that she would protect her clients' privacy at all costs.. This also foreshadows the special relationship she will eventually have with Harold throughout the series.

Risk

1. The stock shorted is the company that Reese previously exposed their actions that included murder in Person of Interest: The Fix (2011).
2. Origin of the Title: Risk is an investment term.

Baby Blue

1. Finch uses the name "Dr. Tillman" at the hospital. Dr. Megan Tillman was a previous number Finch and Reese received in the episode Person of Interest: Cura Te Ipsum (2011).
2. Juan Carlos Hernández, who guest stars as Claudia Cruz's father Sammy, previously co-starred with Jim Caviezel in the movie High Crimes (2002).
3. When Detective Carter calls in that an officer was shot, she says "I repeat...." Having been in the military, she would have said "I say again...." In the Army, "repeat" is an artillery term that means "fire another round in the same location." There are undoubtedly enough military veterans in the NYPD that the person to whom she was speaking would recognize the phrase.

Identity Crisis

1. Finch and the female Jordan Hester eat at Robert, a restaurant atop the Museum of Arts and Design at the south corner of Columbus Circle.
2. The bookstore scene takes place at Rizzoli, which was located on 57th St. between 5th & 6th Avenues for many years before shuttering in 2014; it subsequently relocated to Broadway & 25th Street and re-opened in 2015.
3. When Harold says, "Can the real Jordan Hester, please stand up?" This is a reference to the game show To Tell the Truth.
4. Sarah Wynter and Al Sapienza previously appeared together in the second season of 24 (2001).
5. During the final scene of this episode, Harold quietly says "Goodnight, Nathan." after John says goodnight and walks away.
6. The perpetrators real name ends up being Tara Verlander. Justin Verlander won the Cy Young award just a few months prior to the episode air date.

Flesh and Blood

1. This episode features 9 former actors from The Sopranos (1999), as well as most of the actors cast in this episode either appear in Law & Order (1990) or The Good Wife (2009).
2. In the scene with the young Elias (while working for his father Moretti), Moretti is shown sitting at a round table covered with a white tablecloth, in a dark suit and tie, toward the back center of a restaurant with wooden chairs. This is a recreation of the scene in The Godfather where Michael shoots Sollozzo and McCluskey. Only the shape of the wooden chairs is different. Round tables down the center. Square tables at the walls. The young Carl Elias has a strong resemblance to the young Michael Corleone.
3. According to the bank statement, the events in this episode start on April 3. The episode ends on April 5, the same day as the original airdate.
4. Carter's son goes to Marbury High School in Brooklyn. Although there is no school with this name in Brooklyn, the map on Finch's computer shows the location of another school, St. Cecilia School, located at the corner of Richardson St. and Monitor St. When Carter drops Taylor off at his school in the beginning of the episode and later when Scarface kidnaps Taylor the actual building can be seen.
5. In the two shootout scenes, Reese wields a Kriss Vector SMG .45 Submachinegun.
6. Elias says his SSN is 306-00-3894. The first group, "306-," is from Indiana; the second group, "00-," does not exist.

Matsya Nyaya

1. Matsya Nyaya is Sanskrit meaning "the process of the big fish eating the small fish", i.e., the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest.
2. When Reese and Stanton are in Ordos, they are marked as threats by the Machine.
3. According to the Grayling Armored Services website, the events of the episode start on April 25, 2012.

Many Happy Returns

1. In The Prisoner (1967) starring Patrick McGoohan, there is also an episode called The Prisoner: Many Happy Returns (1967). In it, Number 6 is allowed to believe that he has escaped and returned to London. After being returned, he discovers that he was allowed to leave because it was his birthday. In Person of Interest, Jim Caviezel's character is also granted a reprieve on his birthday. Before POI, Jim Caviezel also played the character "Number 6" in the remake of The Prisoner (2009) as well.
2. Dagmara Dominczyk (Sarah Jennings) also plays Mercedes Iguanada in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). Jim Caviezel plays the title role.
3. The board game Reese and Mr. Han are playing is called Xiangqi, a Chinese version of chess.
4. John Reese's SSN is 380-00-0050, which would have been issued in Michigan.
5. Reese's apartment is the same one used by Tommy Egan in Power (2014).

No Good Deed

1. The interrogation room in police precinct where Peck rants his troubles and guesses about the Machine to unimpressed Detective Fusco is room number 303, like The Matrix (1999) the room for choosing red or blue pill and some Resistance activities.
2. Michael Emerson, who plays Mr. Finch, and Carrie Preston, who plays Grace (Mr Finch's fiancée), are married in real-life.

Firewall

1. The name of character Caroline Turing may be a reference to the "Turing Test," an evaluation of a machine's ability to exhibit behavior indistinguishable from a human.
2. At one point Mr. Reese says, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not trying to kill you." This is similar to a well-known quote from author Joseph Heller (in "Catch 22"): "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."
3. Following the trend for high end yet easily replaceable gear, Mr. Reese changes his DSLR Nikon for a SOny NEX-7, equipped with a Sony E 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS APS-C lens.
4. In the very first surveillance camera shot of Caroline Turing, the Machine gives her a yellow box instead of the usual white one, indicating very early on that Turing knows about the Machine.
5. When Finch received the new number, we can hear root's soundtrack. Root's soundtrack played for the first time in Person of Interest: Root Cause (2012), when Root tried to hack Finch.
6. Second appearance of (though the first time we see) the villain named Root. The alias she has selected is a reference to a computer's "root" files. On Unix-like systems, the root user or superuser is a user with full administrative privileges.
7. When Harold Finch heard Root, who was posing as a psychiatrist, saying that she would protect her clients' privacy at all costs. He said, "Lady after my own heart". This foreshadows the special relationship she will eventually have with Harold throughout the series. Coincidentally, this exact line was previously said by John Reese, on an earlier episode 'Blue Code', when Joss Carter shows the weapon box which is inside the back of her car to him. Which also foreshadows the eventual romantic relationship between them on the course of the series.