CRITICAL
Leon Tao: "Hey, pal. You won't believe this."
Of course it's Leon. The guy doesn't learn. He doesn't stop doing stupid shit, and he doesn't start doing it smarter either.
John Reese: "We know anything more about Alistair Wesley?"
He recognizes that tone, that manner of delivering orders. He doesn't know who Wesley is, but he's quite certain of the man's occupation – past or present, that's another story. A magnate's death sounds like private work, but Velt might have something one government or another wants.
John Reese: "No ID, Finch. Superglue on his fingertips. Classic black ops trick.
Private or official, what's certain is that they're all pros."
Pros against pro. Not good news, that. Some people would claim John had been one of the best, but even then going against a team of pros when he doesn't know how many they are or where to find them is complicated.
Alistair Wesley: "You're good on your feet, and you know your way around an asset. Ex-CIA?"
Great. So he was right, and the man saw it too. It's been a long time since he last had to deal with colleagues – he remembers being shot by Mark's new partner. It wasn't a good thing that time either.
John Reese: "Amy, we don't have a lot of time, so I need you to listen. I know your wife, Maddy. She's a great surgeon. I know you two love each other, and I know you love pastries from a French bakery on the West Side. Personally, I think they use too much butter."
Of course, it's dangerous to say so much. Amy might get scared. But if he doesn't, then she might not believe he knows anything at all. That it's a practical joke – and they can't afford that.
Leon Tao: "What if I was collecting for UNICEF?"
He doubts UNICEF would ever get any penny of whatever Leon would get in their name, then.
Alistair Wesley: "I just had to call and congratulate you on a game well played."
One of them, then. Fairplay, accepting of adversity, but at the same time completely disconnected from the consequences of his occupation. Murder is not a game – and it wasn't, it has never been for John, not even when he was a CIA agent, not even when Kara kept telling him it had to become one – and that alone takes all the savor away from the competition.
Joss Carter: "I saw him fleeing the scene of the crime wearing a bomb vest. He looked desperate, helpless, like someone was holding him on a string. Said to tell you that she is planning something. Something big."
It's funny, really. Mark still trusts him, despite everything – to do the right thing, to go against something following which innocents would pay the price. Mark may be an asshole who put himself first, but he's also here because he believes in the ends – which always justify the means, to him. They have that in common, John and him – except Mark's threshold for what is acceptable is terrifyingly low.
John Reese: "But you already know quite a bit about me and Finch, and you may know we both had people who once cared about us. Not anymore. But you... You still have your son, your life is still yours. So I think the real question you have to ask yourself, Detective... is how much more do you really want to know?"
It's not that he doesn't trust Carter. He does – on some points, and a bit less on others, but that's more a matter of differing principles. But the truth isn't always the salvation some people think it is. Sometimes, it is only a way of endangering people – and if Carter knew, if she decided she was against the invasion of privacy, then she might attract unwanted attention onto them. Maybe she'd change her mind, later, with some time to reconsider – but it would be too late, then.