No Good Deed (Person of Interest)

In 2009, Ingram (Brett Cullen) and Finch (Michael Emerson) discuss the fact that the Machine will be turned over to the government in a few days. Despite Finch being proud of saving "relevant" lives, Ingram seems skeptic due to the fact everyone is "relevant" to someone. Later, Ingram meets with Alicia Corwin (Elizabeth Marvel) to discuss the future of the Machine, accidentally revealing that 7 people know about the Machine. Startled, Ingram meets with Finch, asking if he has a contingency plan in case someone tries to gain control of the Machine. Finch refuses to make a plan, so Ingram decides to do it himself under the program "Contingency".

Reese (Jim Caviezel) follows Finch in an attempt to extract information from him but he can't find anything. Later, they receive a new number: Henry Peck (Jacob Pitts), a security analyst. Reese fails to get into Peck's system in his cellphone and tries to surveillance him in his office but is denied access, discovering it's a SCIF, which makes Peck a non-official cover.

Peck meanwhile keeps getting rescued by (then escaping) Reese. Along the way, he ultimately realizes the Machine exists: "Our own government is spying on us, and they want to kill me for covering it up! I have to tell someone!" he yells during one of the rescue-escapes. Finch finally corners Peck while he's waiting to meet a journalist. He gives Peck a new identity kit, admits to creating the machine, then walks away, unaware that Alicia Corwin overheard his admission. Reese tracks down Finch's fiancée (Carrie Preston), and Finch later confirms that he faked his death to protect her.

In its original American broadcast, "No Good Deed" was seen by an estimated 12.96 million household viewers and gained a 2.6/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a 4% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 13.27 million viewers with a 2.5/7 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] With these ratings, Person of Interest was the third most watched show on CBS for the night beating The Mentalist, but behind Rules of Engagement, and The Big Bang Theory, second on its timeslot and fifth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Rules of Engagement, Grey's Anatomy, American Idol, and The Big Bang Theory.

"No Good Deed" received positive reviews from critics. Keysha Couzens of TV Overmind wrote "For those of you who watch Person of Interest and wonder about the ongoing mysteries surrounding the very nature of the Machine, this was a very important episode. Now that the season is winding down it's finally time for all of the elements that have been put into play in the present and in the flashbacks of Harold Finch's past to collide just in time for next week's season finale."[3]

Luke Gelineau of TV Equals wrote "Well, Mr. Peck is saved, but not without cost! No, in the very last scene we see that Alysha, the NSA agent who was going to inherit the machine back in 2009, is trailing Finch! Not only that, but she has his confession on tape that he built the machine and that it still exists! I’m interested to see how this pans out, and I can't wait to see what happens in the finale!"[4]

Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.6 star rating out of 5 and wrote "For a show about a super computer that watches your every move, to the point where you can't really hide any secrets, Person of Interest is steeped in mystery and layers of hidden truth."[5]