Get Carter (Person of Interest)

In 2004, a prisoner named Yusuf (Anthony Azizi) is brought for questioning by a soldier. The soldier accuses Yusuf of being an Al-Qaeda bomb provider. When Yusuf refuses to talk, the soldier brings in his boss, Carter (Taraji P. Henson) to handle the matter. Despite being shown evidence of his actions, Yusuf refuses to talk in fear of getting his family killed. After consideration, he decides to tell them the location of the explosives. However, the soldiers return after destroying the explosives but state that Yusuf died. Carter is furious at having failed in her promise to Yusuf.

Carter visits Don Gianni Moretti (Mark Margolis), a crime boss, in prison to question him about Elias but he rebuffs her. However, he notes that as she is working alone against Elias, it's a matter of time before Elias places a hit on her.

Later, Carter and Fusco (Kevin Chapman) investigate a shooting outside a bodega. The victim was a witness half a year ago for a shooting but due to his change of mind, the charges were dropped against the shooter Hector Alvarez (Jason Manuel Olazabal). She suspects Hector shot him in retaliation and tries to get the bodega owner to testify for what he saw. Reese (Jim Caviezel) is watching the scene from a distance and is told by Finch (Michael Emerson) that Carter is their newest number.

While Reese clones Carter's phone, Finch installs a tracking device on her car. Besides, Reese has Fusco plant a doll with a camera on the NYPD station to watch Carter. Later, Carter confronts Hector in his car shop about the murder but he denies the claims. However, Fusco is contacted by Captain Artie Lynch (Michael Mulheren) to be told that all bosses agreed on Elias's permission to kill Carter and make it look like an accident, advising him to step aside. Reese later raids Hector's shop, shooting his men and taking both his car and weapons.

Thanks to a tip from Hector's mistress, Carter goes to a warehouse in Queens. Hector tries to escape but is gunned by Carter. However, Carter's informant (Francois Battiste) appears and shoots her in the chest, having turned her over to Elias (Enrico Colantoni). Reese kills the informant but Carter survives thanks to her bulletproof vest. Reese later contacts Carter, stating that even when she doesn't like it, he will be there to protect her.

In its original American broadcast, "Get Carter" was seen by an estimated 12.66 million household viewers and gained a 2.8/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was an 8% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 11.65 million viewers with a 2.6/7 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] With these ratings, Person of Interest was the third most watched show on CBS for the night behind Rules of Engagement and The Big Bang Theory, second on its timeslot and fifth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind The Office, The X Factor, Rules of Engagement, and The Big Bang Theory.

"Get Carter" received generally positive reviews from critics. Keysha Couzens of TV Overmind wrote "It's going to be interesting to see what Person of Interest pulls off before they go off the air for the holiday hiatus. This is the kind of show that has the guts to shoot a main character point-blank in the chest (even though you still felt she had to be wearing a vest) so I do wonder if they wouldn't go all the way and have a character we know truly fall victim to the corruption and violence of the city. One thing is certain: this is city belongs to Elias now, and it's going to take so much more than Reese threatening a dirty police captain to get that to change. Knowing Reese's more effective methods, I assume at some point it's probably going to take another sub-machine gun."[3]

Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy wrote "Person of Interest returns from a two-week break with another strong episode. We've complained in the past about the lack of character development afforded to Detective Carter - Taraji P Henson has felt wasted in previous weeks - so it's fantastic to see her take centre stage here."[4]

Luke Gelineau of TV Equals wrote "Oh, so this is the reason that we've had this annoying character on this show for the last nine episodes! It all makes sense now, kind of..."[5] Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 3.6 star rating out of 5 and wrote "All in all, "Get Carter" touched on a lot of things that I've been hoping for the show to reflect upon, specifically Carter. While not everything I had hoped for, it remained a relatively decent episode. I just hope as the season goes on, we get to learn a good chunk of information instead of tiny bits and pieces. I need slices, not crumbs, to keep me satisfied in watching these characters."[6]