MATSYA NYAYA

John Reese: "What's wrong?"

People don't call him when nothing's wrong – he made it that way.

Jessica Arndt: "You said that, in the end, we were all alone."

These are not words he wants to hear in her mouth. He left her so that she wouldn't have to understand – at least, not before a very, very long time. He left her because she deserved better. She shouldn't be saying these words – his words.

Joss Carter: "It all comes down to a matter of trust, the foundation of any healthy relationship. I just need to know where this is headed."

Trust is also believing in the other, even when they don't tell you everything. Believing that, perhaps, there's a good reason. He has a good reason not to tell her everything. That, and he doesn't know where this is headed either, so he'd have a hard time telling her.

John Reese: "We are. You're taking care of the shooter, and I'm making sure the cheating boyfriend doesn't get hurt. Looks fine to me."

Well it's not like he could have gone back in time to be able to tell her about the case before the cheating boyfriend got roasted by his actual girlfriend, is it? Also, doesn't this work nicely as a reverse situation? Usually he's the one doing the aggressive part of the job, while she berates him for not being protective enough.

Harold Finch: "And after all that talk about honesty."

Pot. Kettle. Besides, Carter is the one who talked about honesty first, not him.

Harold Finch: "Did I mention what our number does for a living? Tommy Clay works for Grayling Armored Services. You'll be a trainee working under him, and today is training day."

Oh Joy.

Tommy Clay: "You almost look like you know what you're doing."

He certainly does know what he's doing, way better than this amateur. He probably protected a few things that were worth ten times what they're driving around with, in the past.

Tommy Clay: "Hey, relax, Johnny. That's not a toy, you know. You could kill somebody with that thing."

Yeah, that's exactly the point. That's why the guy shouldn't be doing things this stupid. Clay is lucky John is the one doing this job, because he's past the "shoot first, ask later" stage. Most people who know how to use a gun don't have the discipline to stop themselves from firing when put in a seemingly stressful situation. Also, he could kill them without a gun, no question asked... but he doesn't think they'd like hearing that.

Mark Snow: "You don't have any family, Reese."

Not that Mark knows of, that's for sure – and, in a way, he really doesn't have a family left, but that's another thing altogether.

John Reese: "You're telling me to kill my partner?"

Obvious problem aside, he's mostly asking for confirmation, not because he doesn't get what Mark means, but because he knows how the CIA tends to be very vague in their orders, and it can come and bite you back in the ass later, because you didn't ask for clarification – he's almost certain it's also a way to guilt the operatives, by reminding them that they didn't actually need any help getting to that conclusion, by making them saying it out loud. But he could be wrong.

John Reese: "I care about HR, Fusco, not the money. What you do with it is your business."

Lionel does risk his life in this business, after all. And there's no better way to keep an asset happy – enough – than by not being a tyrant about unnecessary things.

John Reese: "Something like that."

Clay probably doesn't want to know what kind of experience John actually has, as it is.

Kara Stanton: "And I thought you weren't listening."

He's always listening. Questioning doesn't make him unable to do what's asked of him. He's the kind of person who questions the thing, but still does the thing – in spirit, at least – if it needs to be done. Sometimes you have to act.

John Reese: "It's okay, Harold. I'm still ticking."

Like a device. Like a tool that does its work, without asking questions, without questioning its purpose – who still acts even when questioning. Why? Because someone – something – has to. It goes on working, until it can't anymore. And then it gets repaired, and it goes back to working. John wonders how many times he can be repaired, before he breaks into pieces – one more, at the very least.

Kara Stanton: "He said he wanted something for the pain."

It's during moments like that that John remembers that Kara does have a conscience. He might not always agree with the conclusions she gets out of that conscience, but he can't deny she does care. In a way.

John Reese: "Well, at least you got your nice Louis Vuitton bags."

She might not have been the one to pull the trigger, but she still agreed to go with a man who killed his friend for money – a friend she knows too. John guesses that's what irking him about the girl – that she acts as if she is innocent of everything, when she isn't.

John Reese: "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

These wannabe criminals... Always thinking they got the upper hand. As if being cleverish did it all. There's such a thing as experience, to begin with, and they don't have it. Tommy Clay doesn't have that. He thinks he saw the true face of humanity, just because the world is unfair, but he's so naive...

John Reese: "I think we're still here."

No matter the changes, some jobs just never die out. Just like prostitution is sometimes called the oldest profession, assassination – and any other kind of doubtful missions – will never run out. Why? He's not sure. But if he had to guess, it would be because technology can always be switched off; that's when you call in human workers.

Ashley: "Shut up."

The usual answer of those who don't want to hear the truth. As if them not hearing it would change the way the world works.

John Reese: "First time you shot someone? First one's hard."

He doesn't remember his first one. That is, yes, he remembers, but not really. What he really remembers, is that he hadn't felt anything – none of the things he should have felt at that moment. No guilt, no remorse. It had been necessary, and he hadn't needed to justify it to himself. And that... That had scared him more than anything else.

John Reese: "We stopped Tommy from getting away with murder."

Sometimes it's the best you can do. That way, at least, Murrey's murder wouldn't be silenced. That way, at least, Clay's wife and child wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that their husband and father was a criminal and still out there. Tommy Clay would still be a criminal, of course... But he wasn't out there. They wouldn't have to worry about him – for him, or because of him; probably both.