REASONABLE DOUBT

Harold Finch: "He won't eat. He sleeps all day."

It's funny, really: even their dog is a good actor.

Harold Finch: "He's due for vaccinations in a month. It might be nice to visit Dr Jensen when he's not participating in a covert operation."

They can afford to come back here, too, because John and Harold were being only slightly suspicious this time. John could be a heavily-armed dog owner who ended up here for no particular reason with his limping friend – or, as Finch said it, "a couple of concerned dog owners", though the older man probably didn't realize how that sounded. Just, you know, the exact right place at the exact right time with the exact right amount of deadly force. Of course, there was the fact that they'd lied about their dog feeling down so that they could in fact be here when shit went down, but Dr Jensen might ignore it on account of being very panicked during the facts.

Harold Finch: "Ms Watkins has already proven herself practiced at the art of deception. She's beginning to remind me of you, Mr. Reese."

John isn't entirely sure it should be a compliment to Vanessa Watkins' character, no matter how Harold actually means it, but he also can't refrain from smiling a little bit.

Sameen Shaw: "What's a former prosecutor planning to do with a kilogram of cocaine?"

Usually John uses those to frame people, so if Finch's observation remains true...

Joss Carter: "Think I'd be standing here in a uniform if the system always worked?"

Yeah, that's why she's working with them, too – even while she'd still been a detective. It doesn't mean the system never works – but sometimes, it fails, and then someone needs to step in. That's why John is here, why Harold is here, why Shaw – one day, maybe – is here. Oh, certainly, they are working the numbers because they have warnings the police can't have, because they can intervene before it's too late – but they could just pass on the warning, and sometimes they kind of do that, just telling Carter and Fusco ahead of time so that actual law enforcement can handle whatever situation is arising, but they also act where the law can't save the numbers in time, when the situation is so muddied a police officer would have to be cautious about their actions and therefore couldn't do as much as they can.

Vanessa Watkins: "I can name at least three felonies you're committing. Kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, coercion!"

Terrifying. John is properly scared, now. Imagine that, going to jail for crimes he did commit!

Vanessa Watkins: "I'm the Defense. Burden of proof lies with you."

And yet, even a real trial is still influenced by traitorous questions, so she'd rather try and convince them. An objection may be raised, but even if the judge says not to take what was said – implied, insinuated – into account, it doesn't mean the jury truly forgets. Just because John likes her style does not mean he'll believe her without even a justification, and the others aren't much more trusting than he is – especially as he does tend to have a blind spot around certain women...

John Reese: "They found the car."

Not that it's anywhere near, but it means that this false lead will soon be dismissed – and then they'll start looking again, and this time they might find something closer to the truth.

Vanessa Watkins: "Have you ever had to start over because someone was trying to kill you?"

O'Connor. The CIA. A couple of other instances, though maybe faking his death might not have been the only possible solution – but perhaps it had been the best solution for everyone else anyway – and he still chose it at least once. Yes, John has had to start entire new lives before, because someone wanted him gone. He knows what he talking about – and he knows Vanessa Watkins can do it too.

Harold Finch: "She knows her husband is still alive and that he framed her for his murder. She despises him. She's gonna kill him. Vanessa's been the perpetrator all along. She's been plotting her husband's murder since he framed her. Which means her crime is premeditated."

...And once again John let a woman's lies go undetected – the last time this happened, it was with Root, and see how that ended...

Vanessa Watkins: "He's not my 'someone else.' He's just someone I can't get rid of."

Sorry, he gets attached to people with convincing sob stories. Maybe she should have tried another lie instead – one he would have seen through, one which would have convinced him to let them deal with each other, like he's thinking of doing right now. That's what they want, after all.

John Reese: "You framed your own wife for murder. You deceived me to kill your own husband. I'm in the business of stopping bad things from happening. I'm not so sure what's about to happen is a bad thing."

He's going to leave them another gun, too, so that the game can be equal between both traitorous spouses. From what he's just seen, neither deserves to walk out – even if the husband started it. They both tried to deceive the world not to have to deal with their responsibilities – which, in itself, isn't so bad, given the amount of lying John does on a daily basis, he isn't going to judge – but then they couldn't even stay true to each other, if not to the rest of the world. It isn't so much the fact that they used deception he can't agree with, but the fact that that deception was used for nothing at all. He thinks of the Drakes – they made mistakes too, their choices were bad, but in the end they managed to figure it out. The Watkins? Their means were bad, and their ends were too. There was nothing to salvage out of this, and honestly? At this point, it might be better if the Watkins took each other out – or, if one managed to stay alive, for that one to go to jail. Vanessa Watkins can have her revenge – John won't begrudge her that – but she won't have his help, too. Not when she only ever acted for herself, not when she never looked for the justice she used to defend once upon a time. It's gotten to a point that John believes it might even be a good thing to let this happen – at least, this damned couple won't be deceiving others in their attempts at self-gratification.

John Reese: "Don't know. But you might want to call the Coast Guard. And you owe Shaw 100 bucks."

He doesn't care, in the end, about what happens to Vanessa and Jeremy Watkins. He had cared, but the truth was that their story didn't deserve any better than Shaw's bet on guilt or innocence. It didn't deserve any kind of respect. It'll be interesting, when the police hear of it, when Detective Cameron comes and sees the both of them, here, dead but not as they had made everyone believe. When his suspect turns out to have been innocent of what the detective thought, but not anymore. The ugly truth of this failed marriage and of the Wartkins' souls, exposed for all to see.