A 'Heist' episode. It was good and I like that they kinda used it to sell that the Olympcis are just a few days off, even if it was for Gymnastics and on a competing network. I will say that having those "parallel bars" on the ceiling for access to the Book they were after was just a tad too much coincidental. But still a fun episode. But there was one scene that spoke volumes for the characters and the series as a whole. While the team was celebrating their successful job, Reese pours a glass for Carter. The gesture was sweet because he hasn't forgotten her, nor have I. I think about Carter every episode since her last. I'm glad the writers are keeping her spirit around, especially for Reese. I would hate that they would move on so quickly, which a lot of shows do when a fan favorite character moves on.

The lack of new episode for POI has been frustrating. But with the Winter Olympics over, we should be getting a nice run of new, uninterrupted episodes. Knock on wood. As for Last Call, it's a standalone "Crime of the Week" episode, but it sets up something "bigger" for future arcs. The 'Bad Guy' behind this weeks crime is never caught. Not only that, we don't even know what he looks like since he orchestrated everything from behind a Burner Phone. So, very curious to see who it is and exactly what his agenda is (other than retribution against Finch, Reese and Shaw for sabotaging his crime getting a 911 Operator to destroy call logs and using a kidnapped boy as leverage). Another interesting thing about this one was the introduction of what appears to be Fusco's "new partner". I smell a rat, er mole, sent into spy on Fusco.

We have gotten 'flashbacks' into the life of Finch in previous episodes, but in RAM, the entire episode takes place in the year 2010, long before the events of POI. With this one we see that Reese is not the first 'Soldier' that Finch worked with. Obviously we know what the story would become, but what wasn't clear was what fate his Soldier, Rick Dillinger (Neil Jackson) would meet. Really only two choices actually. Either wind up dead or he goes Rogue. Well, he went rogue.....then he wound up dead. This was just fascinating to watch play out. We get to see through the eyes of Finch the first time he see's Reese, who is actually an "enemy" of his since he was an obstacle to his main objective, protecting his target Daniel Casey (Joe Mazzello). Really cool to see this part of the story play out as Reese is still partnered up with Kara Stanton, who is just as sadastic as we all remember her to be.

We get to see Control (Camryn Manheim) and Counsel (Jay O. Sanders) who are on the hunt for Daniel, because he is the only person to have breached the Machine. Obviously he is a valuable commodity as this entire series is based on the premise of gaining control of said Machine. With sh*t hitting the fan, Council sends in the one person that can clean up the mess, which also presents Finch another first sighting of Shaw (Sarah Shahi). The epilogue takes place in Present Day (2014) with Root (Amy Acker) tracking down Daniel, who has been hiding out in Canada for the past 4 years. I love how this show continues to expand on the mythology and setting up fantastic story arcs for future episodes.

After one too many episodes where Root (Amy Acker) more or less goes AWOL, this episode had Root front and center. Amy owned this one and she came off even more bad ass than she has in the past. It really was like watching her transform into a female version of the Terminator. Give her two guns and watch her do her thing and it's.....sick. Even Fusco got in on the action of double barrel action, channeling Chow Yun-Fat. This show never disappoints me. Ever!

What I thought was just a typical 'Crime of the Week' episode turned out to be part of the huge story line regarding Samaritan. It makes sense that in order to take a Superior Computer like that online, you're gonna need some serious hardware. Enter 6 Generators. It was kind of weird seeing Nazneen Contractor pop up in this episode, which would be the 2nd time this week (the other being an episode of Bones). Prior to this week, I haven't seen her in anything since her final episode on 24 back in 2010. That's a long gap. Getting back to the episode at hand, I thought the best scenes involved Fusco and Shaw. I like they are kind of becoming "partners" in a roundabout way.

Kind of an 'odd' episode for POI because they were going to some genuine laughs. This isn't a show about laughs and yet, sending Shaw and Reese to a High School Reunion together proved to be exactly the way to get some good laughs. Also cool to see Nestor Carbonell appear on the show. It would have been a LOST reunion had he actually shared screen time with Michael Emerson. On well. Root has another kick ass Terminator moment. I will never get tired of seeing her shoot two guns at the same time. Hot! Overall, a decent episode that skewed just a little too much into the comedy zone.

The premise for the show and it's sole reason for existing is that the Machine spits out numbers of those that are in danger or are about to commit a crime. Finch and the gang races to its mark to right a potential wrong. That's it in a nutshell and it has always been compelling TV to watch. But in Death Benefit, the tables are flipped. The series itself is flipped once they realize that the mark they have been sent to protect is in actuality the Machine sending them to assassinate as the Congressman (John Heard) is someone that can pass a bill allowing Decima access to government surveillance, which in itself basically feeds the monster that is Samaritan. The ending is pretty cut and dry as Finch, Shaw and Reese can't condone assassinating anyone....for any reason. It's even more ironic that you have 2 former military ops that got paid to do just that, suddenly going against the Machine. Fantastic episode.

Added Episode 21: Beta