Blue Code (Person of Interest)

"Blue Code" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the American television drama series Person of Interest. It is the 15th overall episode of the series and is written by Denise Thé and directed by David Von Ancken. It aired on CBS in the United States and on CTV in Canada on February 16, 2012. The title refers to the "Blue wall of silence", a term to denote the unwritten rule that purportedly exists among police officers not to report on a colleague's errors, misconducts, or crimes, including police brutality.

"Blue Code"
Person of Interest episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 15
Directed byDavid Von Ancken
Written byDenise Thé
Produced by
Featured musicRamin Djawadi
Cinematography byTeodoro Maniaci
Editing byScott Kevan
Production code2J6215
Original air dateFebruary 16, 2012
Running time44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

Flashbacks

In 2008, Reese (Jim Caviezel) and Stanton (Annie Parisse) are working on an undercover operation when they are joined by Mark Snow (Michael Kelly). Snow advises them to take care of a prisoner who was convicted of selling secrets to the Chinese government and kill him if the situation worsens. Later, Reese goes to a bar where he meets Peter Arndt (Jonno Roberts), Jessica's fiancé but he remains unknown to him. While Peter leaves, he is joined by Stanton, who proclaims that Peter will take good care of Jessica. She convinces her to let it go and they leave just as Peter brings Jessica (Susan Misner) to meet them.

Present day

Reese is notified by Finch (Michael Emerson) of their newest number: Michael Cahill (Michael Aronov), a paramedical officer who is respected by a lot of people and seems to live a quiet life. Finch identifies that Cahill is a smuggler who works for a man named Vargas (José Zúñiga). Reese joins as a driver for the ambulance and they are nearly caught by a police officer until Cahill brushes him off.

Reese follows Cahill to a house he supposes it's breaking in, but is in fact living with his wife and son. He and Finch deduce that Cahill is infiltrating the gang in an attempt to take them down, works for a person only known as "L.O.S.", and that Cahill's real name is Daniel Tulley, a former NYPD officer. Cahill meets with Detective Byrne (Skipp Sudduth), his boss and gets him to meet with L.O.S. in their next pickup and tells him that Vargas has an inside man in HR.

Finch gets Carter (Taraji P. Henson) to provide information on the workings of undercover cops. Later, the gang go to a Chinese restaurant to meet with L.O.S. but they are attacked by the Chinese, who injure Ajax (Robin Lord Taylor), one of the gang. They flee to a warehouse where they destroy their phones to lose contact with their handlers. Vargas suspects one of them is a mole and sets to find out who is. While Vargas is distracted, Cahill takes a hidden phone from Ajax and calls Byrne to tell him his location. Finch has Fusco (Kevin Chapman) infiltrate the IA file room to dispose of Cahill's file but is caught by officer Ian Davidson (Reg E. Cathey) and put under arrest. Davidson then informs Vargas about the call, revealing himself to be his inside man.

Intending to save Cahill, Reese takes the phone from him and takes responsibility and is tortured by Vargas before being confronted by Cahill. Convincing him to trust him, Cahill makes it appear that he killed Reese. Then, the gang takes Reese and Ajax's corpse to a car and burn it down to dispose of the evidence. Thanks to Cahill slipping a flashlight, Reese escapes from the trunk before he gets killed and rendezvous with Carter. They are also informed of Fusco's state and hurry to a meeting between HR and Vargas's gang. Cahill holds L.O.S. (Michael Berresse) at gunpoint until Carter and Reese arrive and a shootout ensues. Cahill tries to arrest L.O.S. but Reese explains that he is from the CIA, remaining untouchable. Despite knowing this, Cahill arrests L.O.S.

Davidson takes Fusco to the woods, intending to execute him. However, Davidson is killed by Reese, who destroys the evidence that he was connected with Vargas as he needs Fusco to enter HR. Later, Finch tells Reese that Snow had L.O.S. released from jail. When L.O.S. is released, he is put in a van and presumably killed. Fusco contacts with a friend, Officer Patrick Simmons (Robert John Burke) to dispose of Davidson's body, officially becoming part of HR.

Reception

Viewers

In its original American broadcast, "Blue Code" was seen by an estimated 13.16 million household viewers and gained a 2.8/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a 14% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 15.14 million viewers with a 3.3/8 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 !Rob!, The Big Bang Theory, second on its timeslot and fifth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Grey's Anatomy, !Rob!, The Big Bang Theory, and American Idol.

Critical reviews

"Blue Code" received generally positive reviews from critics. Keysha Couzens of TV Overmind wrote "An undercover cop is in danger as he tries to bring down the crew of smugglers he's been on the inside of on last night's Person of Interest."[3]

Luke Gelineau of TV Equals wrote "I really had problems with the end of the episode. Finding out that the mysterious 'LOS' was actually working for the CIA just came completely out of left field. He's buying drugs to fund the war on terror? Uh...ok. Why couldn't it just be a drug lord? Instead we have this undercover cop going home feeling like crap for wasting his time chasing down a CIA agent? Lame."[4]

Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote "And while the flashbacks did illustrate Reese's longing for his loved one and difficulties in completely giving himself to his job, they and subsequent flashbacks haven't been as interesting as the present focus. Still, unraveling the mystery of the characters in small doses gives the series more than just the procedural aspects. Once again, Person of Interest delivers and it looks like the show is only going to get better."[5]

gollark: But that probably runs Android or something! It's certainly not safe.
gollark: I need that, though.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Newer stuff might be horrifically complicated, but at least it's kind of partly designed with security in mind and we have ASLR and Rust and MMUs and whatever.
gollark: Oh, because THOSE have VERY robust software.

References
  1. Gorman, Bill (February 17, 2012). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'American Idol,' 'Vampire Diaries,' 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Big Bang Theory,' '30 Rock,' 'Office' Adjusted Up; 'Person Of Interest,' 'Mentalist,' 'Secret Circle' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  2. Gorman, Bill (February 10, 2012). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory,' 'American Idol,' 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'The Mentalist,' 'Vampire Diaries' Adjusted Up; 'Rob,' 'Private Practice,' 'The Finder,' 'Up All Night' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  3. Couzens, Keysha (February 17, 2012). "Person of Interest 1.15 "Blue Code" Review". TV Overmind. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  4. Gelineau, Luke (February 16, 2012). "Person of Interest "Blue Code" Review". TV Equals. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  5. McKenna, Sean (February 16, 2012). "Person of Interest Review: Closer to Corruption". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
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