RISK

Harold Finch: "No. The cuff should shiver on the shoe, not break."

Amen. The Finch has spoken. Seriously, though, the older man seems to enjoy dressing him up a bit too much.

Harold Finch: "Here's a start although it doesn't really matter. Banking is mostly looking clever and wearing the right clothes. And we've managed the second part."

It's wonderful how Finch can compliment someone and insult them at the same time. He's basically saying he trusts John to be able to "look clever", but that for now, it's not the case.

Harold Finch: "He's also not fond of heights. I thought rooftops were your domain, Mr Reese."

And here John thought playing with money was Finch's domain... If he is going to exchange roles, Finch might as well get a taste of it too.

Harold Finch: "You're a quick study, Mr Reese."

That's why he was so good at his job for the CIA: he doesn't only manage to look comfortable in almost any skin, but he also learns enough to actually get what the people he's about to infiltrate are talking about, in no time. He's not an expert, of course, not after one night, but he actually gets it.

John Reese: "I'm familiar with the case."

Like, you know, he is one of the people behind Virtanen's fall. Not that Saunders needs to know.

Harold Finch: "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Someone like that, the win doesn't concern him. It's the rush."

John never really understood these people, who lived for the adrenaline. Of course, he had learned how they reacted, how to deal with them, and he understands that they see it as an incentive, he can even appreciate the rush, but he doesn't intellectually understand why. It's not his reason to act. Never. He's more of a necessity guy, himself. He does things because no one else will.

Adam Saunders: "You ever play Russian roulette?"

He can't say he has, not exactly. People usually played it for him. Either because Kara was the one threatening someone, or because the enemy had him at gunpoint and wanted him to talk. But yeah, he knows how it works.

Harold Finch: "The rent on this place must be staggering. Maybe that's why he doesn't have any furniture."

That's rich, coming from him. Finch can be surprisingly cheaper at times, considering how wealthy he is.

Paul Ashton: "Adam here prefers to keep his wits about him at all times. I hate that."

That, on the other hand, is a state of mind he can fully understand. He's quite fond of it too – except when his employers try to kill him and the woman he loved is dead because he didn't get there in time and he doesn't have a reason to go on anymore, but that's different.

Victor: "There he is, Mr Big Shot. You know how many clients I had to apologize to today when they found out I put them in a stock you shorted?"

And here comes the drunken idiot who wasn't clever enough to understand something and so starts blaming those who did... John really wishes some people could stop being morons about the responsibility of their own actions, sometimes.

John Reese: "This looks like a little more than sleeping your way to the top, Finch."

As the other man said, Adam Saunders is in it for the rush. And that, that's not what an adrenaline junkie does. Acting without a care for the consequences, on the other hand... It's more that the young man is sleeping with his boss even though she's his boss, than because she's his boss.

John Reese: "Hope you got a receipt, Finch."

Then again, the man can probably spare the hundred and so of millions he gave to Baylor Zimm. His bank account doesn't seem to have a bottom.

John Reese: "We have $150 million on the line. We'd like to know everything, Adam."

That line is easy to deliver. Reason aside, that's exactly the mindset of the CIA: with what is on the line, we have to know everything, and we'll be the judge of whether or not what we discover matters to us. An approach John can understand – even though he never said absolutely everything to the CIA.

John Reese: "We were almost roadkill last night. I'm getting tired of playing around."

Going undercover is fun enough, but traders can be a pain in the ass, and he'd really like to have someone to shoot at if there's a new attempt on Adam's life.

John Reese: "No, but I did save your life."

Which should buy him some good will, even over his initial lie, right? Good will which would enable him to save the kid's life, again. Adam Saunders: "Yeah, but he was family. I didn't think anything of it." He understands, kind of. Him, he always thought about the consequences when he did something for his family. He just never cared more for the consequences than for his family.

Harold Finch: "Mr Reese, we have many safe houses in the city where Adam could be taken."

But the kid needs to be reminded that with his attitude, he can fall fast, hard, and low. If he's even still alive. Moreover, whoever is after Adam certainly won't come looking for him here.

John Reese: "Oh, uh, just don't touch anything in her cart."

You never know what lurks in there. And it's private.

John Reese: "Adam's friend."

What a friend. With friends like that, the young man doesn't need enemies.

Adam Saunders: "See, how did – how did it get to this? I mean... I earned everything that I achieved in my life."

Because life is hard, and not always fair. Because people don't always get what they deserve, both for the bad and for the good guys. Because some people don't care about who they crush in their quest for power and / or money. Because even without human greed in the equation, things still don't always happen for the best anyway. You can be a good person and terribly ill. You can try to save others and die in the situation you were trying to resolve. Things aren't always perfect... Yet they aren't always bad either.

John Reese: "And you found one... An uncle who spent his life slaving over a food-truck counter... for you."

You don't always get the attention of the people you want, even if they should pay attention to you. But the others, those who do care about you, you can't dismiss them just because it's not their attention you want. You have theirs, at least. The best thing to do is to appreciate it.

Harold Finch: "Ever try to catch a falling knife, Mr. Reese?"

He's pretty sure he's not supposed to answer "yes" at this one. Even if he actually did catch the knife that one time. Not the point here. The point is that it's possible... if you have the skills and enough time to use them. Or, in this case, enough money to cushion the fall, which Finch obviously does have, and someone who knows what to do with it.

John Reese: "John Rooney, Assets."

Currently, the assets he really, really wants to use are his muscles. If the guy who ruined entire families gives him the slightest reason to...

Joan: "Who's looking after you these days?"

John knows Finch is listening. But that's not much of an admission anyway, it is?

Carl Elias: "Hello, John. It's been a long time."

Someone who's ready to ruin so many lives just for money is disgusting. Someone who does it only to be able to conduct their revenge... It can be terrifying. John needs to know how far exactly Elias will go for his vengeance. How much potential damage control he's looking at.