Number Crunch

"Number Crunch" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American television drama series Person of Interest. It is the 10th overall episode of the series and is written by Patrick Harbinson and directed by Jeffrey Hunt. It aired on CBS in the United States and on CTV in Canada on December 15, 2011.

"Number Crunch"
Person of Interest episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 10
Directed byJeffrey Hunt
Written byPatrick Harbinson
Produced by
Featured musicRamin Djawadi
Cinematography byTeodoro Maniaci
Editing byMark Conte
Production code2J6210
Original air dateDecember 15, 2011
Running time44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

Security cameras show a car crashing in the street. Later, Finch (Michael Emerson) shows Reese (Jim Caviezel) a new case. The Machine has produced four numbers: Claire Ryan (Helen Coxe), Matt Duggan (Jeremy Beck), Wendy McNally (Bridget Regan) and Paula Vasquez (Melonie Diaz). Meanwhile, Carter (Taraji P. Henson) is questioned by detectives about the shooting but she refuses to talk about it, later being sent to desk job following her shooting.

Reese poses as a forensic scientist and arrives at Claire's house, finding her murdered. He hides just as Fusco (Kevin Chapman) and many detectives investigate the scene, finding Claire has bought many things recently. Finch investigates Matt, Reese follows Wendy and Fusco investigates Paula. Reese follows Wendy to a salon where she attends him as a customer and leaves him alone with her cellphone. However, he discovers she left the salon. Fusco, meanwhile, watches Paula buying a gun but fails to catch her. Finch watches Matt but he sees as a woman leaves a bomb in a stroller in front of him. He tries to save him but the bomb goes off, killing Matt.

Finch gets traumatized after failing to save Matt but Reese tells him to move on from the event. They then find that the four victims were in a road at the same time for four minutes after seeing a car crash, seemingly containing cocaine. Fusco and Carter later find that the person driving the car was the son of Congressman Jim Hallen (Michael Murphy). Reese finds Paula and Wendy at Wendy's house. He enters the house and confronts them about the incident, they explain that they are foster sisters. However, they are intercepted by an assassin named Dayne (J. Bernard Calloway) but they manage to escape although Reese loses track of Paula and Wendy.

Finch later finds that Hallen's son planned to leave the country with money he got from dealings. Later, Carter meets with a CIA operative Mark Snow (Michael Kelly), who claims to have known Reese. He explains that the CIA thought he was dead and framed Reese for Kara Stanton's death until Carter's investigation prompted them to investigate further. They want to use her to catch Reese. Reese finds Wendy in the hospital, taking care of her ailing mother. She explains that they saw the crash and found the money, the fact they all got debts propelled them to split the money between them.

Dayne kidnaps Paula and holds her hostage in the hospital parking lot, demanding the rest of the money. However, Reese is attacked by more hitmen but manages to take down the hitmen and Dayne as well as freeing Paula. He then has Paula and Wendy escape with the money. However, Reese is confronted by Snow and Carter. He is then shot twice by a sniper (Darien Sills-Evans) and escapes. He calls Finch to say goodbye but Finch ignores this and arrives to save his life. However, they are confronted by Carter at gunpoint. After thinking, she decides to let them go.

Reception

Viewers

In its original American broadcast, "Number Crunch" was seen by an estimated 12.93 million household viewers and gained a 2.8/8 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a slight increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 12.66 million viewers with a 2.8/7 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] With these ratings, Person of Interest was the most watched show on CBS for the night beating The Mentalist and Rules of Engagement, first on its timeslot and third for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind a rerun of The Big Bang Theory, and The X Factor.

Critical reviews

"Number Crunch" received generally positive reviews from critics. Keysha Couzens of TV Overmind wrote "As Person of Interest unfolds during its first season, it's continued to impress with how they lay out their story each week, and how they manage to use the procedural elements to push the overall arc forward."[3]

Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy wrote "'Number Crunch' starts out as a fairly standard PoI episode, but eventually develops into a fine midseason finale. We learn a little about Reese's past, meet the enigmatic Snow and Carter finally meets her quarry (and Finch too) face-to-face!"[4]

Luke Gelineau of TV Equals wrote " Now that Carter knows who both Reese and Finch are, I'm hoping her relationship to them will change in the rest of the season so we don't always have her on Reese’s case. We'll see when Person of Interest picks up in 2012!"[5] Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.3 star rating out of 5 and wrote "I know Person of Interest is far from perfect, but it's moving in a positive direction as it continues to evolve and change for the better. Ultimately, it's an entertaining hour of television that combines a bit of science fiction, super-heroism, action, mystery, procedural, drama, and over arching stories. Let's hope the show can keep it coming."[6]

References
  1. Gorman, Bill (December 16, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The X Factor,' 'Prime Suspect' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  2. Gorman, Bill (December 9, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Parks & Rec' Adjusted Up; 'Big Bang,' 'Rules,' 'Person Of Interest,' 'Mentalist,' 'X Factor,' 'Bones' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  3. Couzens, Keysha (December 16, 2011). "Person of Interest 1.10 "Number Crunch" Review". TV Overmind. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  4. Jeffery, Morgan (December 16, 2011). "'Person of Interest': 'Number Crunch' recap". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  5. Gelineau, Luke (December 15, 2011). "Person of Interest "Number Crunch" Review". TV Equals. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  6. McKenna, Sean (December 9, 2011). "Person of Interest Review: Number Crunch". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
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