Season 3's antagonist Peter Collier (with Vigilance) is... far from my favorite villain. Mostly because he gets manipulated the whole time by Greer, because he's self-righteous, because his arguments are shitty in that they barely work with his actions when you actually think about it, because he's so fucking angry he doesn't give a damn if he makes others angry with his own actions because THeY deSerVe It bECAUse ThEy'RE MeaN anD I knoW BetTER thAn EvERYone Else!

I mean, he's interesting, and he's a good character. I just don't like him as a (fictional, I know) person. I mean, I don't like Greer either, but Collier just gets on my nerves.

I guess I'll get to expand on that in the other episodes he appears in.

NOTHING TO HIDE

John Reese: "He does that. The man likes his privacy."

He's not going to blame Shaw for shadowing Harold, for trying to reveal the man's secrets. John did the same, at first – and it lasted almost a year, up until just before Root first abducted Finch. It had allowed John to actually trust Finch, in the end – not only his dedication, his motives, but also his willingness to adapt, to actually work with someone else, to change his decisions depending on the situation. For all that John had gradually become used to Finch, to his ways, he would never pretend he'd always been that trusting, since the beginning. So no, he can't begrudge Shaw her paranoia, not when he did the same – not when she needs it. Still, it wouldn't be kind – though Shaw doesn't seem the kind to appreciate kindness – not to tell her what he'd noticed, back when John was the one tailing – or, delegating that to Lionel – their boss. That's how you make friends, right? By sharing inconsequential intel which they may not appreciate right now but will recognize as truthful later on. Honesty and all that.

Harold Finch: "A principal difference would be that the Machine never reveals any of its information, beyond a social security number."

Eh. Same work, different goals, different work ethics. In some ways, some people might argue that data brokers and a Machine that spies on absolutely everything are the same, because to them, the means matter more than the ends – because higher means are an open door to many kinds of abuse, because even if you limit the means you've still broken a trust, even if you can and will do nothing with the results. Because some secrets are not meant to be shared. It's a point of view John mostly doesn't share, because not knowing something allows just as much abuse as knowing too much – because others might know and manipulate those who don't, because not knowing means you are more likely to make mistakes. It's not so easy as to say "intel makes life easier" or "stolen knowledge is dangerous". Both are true, and both are false. Maybe there are no good principles – maybe there are only good applications of those principles. And where there are good applications, there are also bad ones.

John Reese: "You doubt her ability to be discreet?"

Shaw can be discreet, that's a given with her old job – just like John wouldn't have lasted had he not been able to stay unnoticed – but she's probably less willing than John is. Which is already not much in some situations, so.

John Reese: "Things are escalating with Kruger, Finch. We any closer to finding the perpetrator?"

Oh, Kruger certainly deserves what's happening to him, and John is almost keen to just let whoever is doing this to him kill the guy, considering how aggravating and uncaring Kruger acts, but. His job is to save lives – John won't deny he sometimes plays fast and loose with the terms of that – and most importantly, he's worried about the fact that there are people out there able to do what's happening to Kruger – to just anyone – and that they don't know those people's motives, their limits. What they would do with those skills, outside of targeting a data broker who deserves it? John won't stop now, not until he knows for sure.

Sameen Shaw: "I gotta ask, though, is this guy even worth our time?"

Eh. the thing is – aside from the whole "is the perpetrator trustworthy or not?" issue – what warrants death? Is it voluntary manslaughter? Is it negligence? Willful ignorance? Honest mistakes? Where do you draw the line? That's a question many a lawmaker has had to battle with, John is certain – and that's a question they've taken upon themselves, when they decided to act of their own accord and not by a superior's order. Shaw will have to solve that one for herself, too – just like John does, and even if Finch is their boss, the older man's answer cannot become hers just because he pays the bills. So, in the meantime, they save the assholes – even when they're assholes. Moreover, there's also the fact that offering turnkey revenge on a platter to people who've been wronged is all fine and dandy, except these people don't know the endgame. They are being used to lead up to a murder, and John doubts they would all agree with this if they knew. So, in a way, it's also saving them from being manipulated, and that? That John will never go against.

John Reese: "Bet you could use a lift."

Definitely not to where Kruger expects, but hey, cooperation is always great, even if it's gotten through misdirection.

Harold Finch: "Mr. Reese... Kruger's gone. I made the mistake of turning my back on him."

...He really wants to punch the asshole, right now. Can't even be accomodating with his protection detail – however unexpected that protection detail happened to be – and on top of that Kruger wounded his friend?

Stu Sommers: "Exactly. See, her ex-boyfriend found her three times – three times, using your Lifetrace. And every time he found her, we asked the company to take her information down, and they didn't do it, and so he found her again, and again, until the last time when he killed her. All because you and your company didn't do anything."

John wouldn't say Wayne Kruger is as guilty as the murderer is, but he is guilty. Guilty of not doing anything. Guilty of not listening. Guilty of having allowed the situation to happen, again and again and again. Oh, he isn't guilty of murder, no – that one is only on the murderer – but he is guilty of negligence. And Kruger can't pretend no one knew – they'd been warned, they'd been called, several times.

Wayne Kruger: "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

He didn't care to know, more like. The information didn't get to him, maybe – the specifics, the details – but he could have looked. He could have asked the ones dealing with it to be more diligent – but he didn't ask, and they didn't tell him, because they knew he didn't want to know. So yes, Kruger is sorry, now. Now that he knows.

(Peter Collier): "This wasn't a game, Mr Kruger, this was a lesson, the first. We were just gonna scare you, but... that wouldn't change anything, would it?"

...Probably true, he thinks – in between two bursts of pain, because a shot to center mass is never a good thing, even with a vest – and yet, it doesn't excuse anything, does it? This man – whoever he truly is – doesn't seem all that torn up about the change of plan, and the fact that he just shot John with a kill shot even though he has no idea who John is – just that he's protecting his target, and we can't have that, can we? – well. It does put Mister-Collier-who's-probably-not-Peter-Collier's ethics into question, doesn't it?

John Reese: "I need to get to Collier."

Because "Collier" won't stop there. It's obvious, it's glaring John in the face – and in his current chest pains – that this is a case of "I know better than you and I will burn the world in my wake to prove it" and for all that John is very interested in the idea of following your own principles to a T, he's much less enthusiastic about people who force their own principles on others and then deem those who don't agree fit only for death. Nothing about this is self-defense, not much of it can count as defense of others, and Collier manipulated a lot of people without giving them a real choice, and he also shot someone he considered "in his way". Not to pretend John never met or worked with people like that – but even in the CIA, there was a limit, if only because no one likes paperwork and because taking too many liberties on the field got you noticed in all the wrong ways. This? This sounds like a self-righteous and murderous bastard in the making.

John Reese: "It wasn't just about killing Kruger. It was about giving the people he hurt a chance at retribution."

Which is perfectly fine, except the participants were never told where it might end – in death – and it's going to break people – he thinks of Megan, of how her would-be victim might have deserved it, but she wouldn't have walked out of it the same, it would have broken her – who don't know what they're getting in the middle of. Kruger's death will hit the news, possibly, and the police will be all over it. Maybe, right now, some will feel vindicated – until they realize they had a hand in it. And then, well. Either they'll break, or they'll turn into something darker – because they got away with it, because they feel he deserved it. Because if they can do it once, what stops them from doing it again? The first step to desensitization.