ROOT CAUSE

John Reese: "Hello, Finch. Billick and I just came to an understanding."

Actually, Mr Billick wasn't willing enough to get to a verbal understanding, so they skipped ahead to a physical one. But, good enough.

John Reese: "You ever crave a more conventional life, Finch?"

He doesn't, not really. He doesn't want a house in the suburb and a white picket fence... But he would appreciate a wife, children, even, whom he could trust with what he does, without having to tell them too much, for fear of endangering them. What he wants, in fact, is to be able to live all the identities he has had, to speak to the few people who matter, without it being dangerous for them. To be allowed to be himself, no matter how many himselves he has, into one person.

John Reese: "Judging by the way he was acting with his family, they have no idea."

He wonders if that's what he'd look like, if he was living conventionally on the side.

Pawn Broker: "Look, pal, take your junk and clear out, all right?"

Bad move here. No one likes their personal stuff being dismissed like that, and for a man who's forced to let it go... Not that he'd know. John's personal stuff is locked away, out of reach. Safe.

Harold Finch: "What about Detective Fusco?"

It's almost endearing, the way Finch has to try and keep Carter out of their business as much as he can, when you think he was doing the same thing with Fusco... until Carter started working with them. Oh well. Finch will get used to her too.

Harold Finch: "Can is made of aluminum. Its dimensions are perfect for capturing wi-fi radio waves."

So stake-outs with Finch involve fabricating tech equipment from scratch... John guesses that's fair, considering he can cook up a weapon with almost anything in a matter of seconds.

John Reese: "Looks like Powell's fortunes may be turning around."

He wonders if, one day, they will have a number who will just fall out of the list on their own, because... Because he won the jackpot, because the situation surprisingly resolved itself, and there would be no more danger. It would be nice – if a waste of time – to see that sometimes, things go well.

Harold Finch: "Carter said he applied for a firearms license – a rifle."

Stupid to ask for a license only to kill someone afterwards, but John knows that desperate people don't care about what comes after – they may have thought about it, but still won't try to hide it.

Gala greeter: "Sir, you need to come through the main line."

He can appreciate a proper security, really, but it does tend to make his job more difficult when the security isn't enough for all that...

John Reese: "You'll think of something, Finch."

He trusts Finch's ability to find a way. Simple as that. Also, someone needs to be here anyway.

John Reese: "Fooled us... And your Machine."

He's allowed, he thinks, a small measure of doubt. The Machine might be great, but it certainly can't be perfect... And even if it wasn't fooled, John needs Finch's reassurance, if only because no one knows how the Machine works better than its maker.

Harold Finch: "Different skill set than our hacker, so... Different people?"

Not necessarily, but the odds are this is a team. One can be a proficient hacker and a skilled marksman, of course... But it's rare, and they usually aren't as good in both domains as they could be, even if they can be very good nevertheless.

Joss Carter: "You. I thought I could trust you. Your partner said I shouldn't worry about Powell. Then he goes and shoots a congressman. And now the feds brought him in to my precinct."

And there it is, the relentless accusation. The way Carter complains when they ask for her help, and blames them when they don't. If there's one thing that makes him cringe about the detective, it's the fact that she seems convinced she could have done better, that they should have done better – but she's only started working with them, and John understands. She doesn't trust them yet. It's normal.

John Reese: "In frame jobs, the decoy usually doesn't make it. If they're not taken out at the scene, they're eliminated soon after... Staged to look like a suicide or accident."

The CIA wasn't that keen on using innocent civilians as decoys, of course, especially as they might have to explain it to someone higher up at some point, but the Agency was hardly averse to using a less innocent person to take the fall. Besides, it's always easier to make someone look guilty when their hands aren't clean to begin with. And well, if you take out a bastard after the frame job, who's going to feel bad about it, right?

John Reese: "Wait a minute. Specialist? She? Finch?"

Bringing someone in at this point... Then again, the way Finch said it, it sounds like he should know... Like the fact that the specialist is a "she" should tell him more... But for now he has to focus on keeping Powell alive.

Scott Powel: "Why would anyone want to do this to me?"

Oh, they don't. They have nothing against Powell himself. They simply don't care that he doesn't deserve any of what's happening right now – but John feels it would be cruel to say that out loud.

John Reese: "Yeah, I know what it's like to live inside a lie. I've lived there for so long, it feels like there's no way out. But there always is."

At least there is when it's only the first level, like where Powell is. People like John, they can't back out without involving the people from the previous levels, without endangering them. There's still a way out, of course, but it comes at a great cost. Powell doesn't need to know that, though.

Scott Powell: "Are you going to promise me that they won't kill us too?"

John doesn't make promises he can't keep. Which is mostly why he doesn't make promises at all, because no one can ever be sure that they will be able to change things. You can promise to try your best. But that's about it if you still wish to be honest.

John Reese: "Actually, I do. Of course, in my case, it was true."

Jessica never knew, no. But there were others – few, but important nonetheless. People he left behind with the memory that he was a killer. It isn't important that he isn't only a killer – all that matters is that in spite of everything else, he is a killer.

John Reese: "He needs this, Carter."

It's not that Powell wants to talk to his wife, or that he's sulking. It's that if he doesn't, the man will probably break down, and then John won't be able to guarantee his safety. He literally needs it.

Zoe Morgan: "Glad I could help. Although there is a matter of payment. Buy me a drink?"

That's what he likes with Zoe; she doesn't need him to speak to know his answer. And even if she pretends everything is for sale, she still knows what's really worth it.

I've seen Careese shippers disregarding John's relationship with Zoe ( and I'm not saying it's a romantic one either ) because he didn't answer her invitation, and I was like, what? Since when does John say things out loud? Since when do you have to speak up to do something? ( Also, one of the reasons I can't see Careese as something romantic is that John always needed to spell things out for Carter or else she ended up concluding he was going to do something stupid or bad 50% of the time. Like she couldn't even consider he might not be about to murder someone as a way to solve a problem )