Identity Crisis

Season	Episode
1	18
Air date	March 29, 2012
Running time	43:21
Production code	2J6218
Written by	Amy Berg
Directed by	Charles Beeson
Viewers	14.59M
POI; Jordan Hester

Episode Overview

Summary

POI

Cast and Characters

Crew

Person of Interest — Season 1 (Flashbacks in parentheses) Season 2 →
101 “Pilot” (Reese)	109 “Get Carter” (Carter)	117 “Baby Blue”
102 “Ghosts” (Finch)	110 “Number Crunch”	118 “Identity Crisis”
103 “Mission Creep” (Reese)	111 “Super” (Finch)	119 “Flesh and Blood” (Elias)
104 “Cura Te Ipsum”	112 “Legacy”	120 “Matsya Nyaya” (Reese)
105 “Judgment”	113 “Root Cause”	121 “Many Happy Returns” (Reese)
106 “The Fix”	114 “Wolf and Cub”	122 “No Good Deed” (Finch/Ingram)
107 “Witness”	115 “Blue Code” (Reese)	123 “Firewall”
108 “Foe” (Reese)	116 “Risk”

“	Mr. Reese, you may have eyes on Hester, but I have ears on her.	”
— Finch

"Identity Crisis" is the 18th episode in season 1, and the 18th produced hour of Person of Interest. It originally aired on March 29, 2012.

Synopsis

The Machine's latest number presents a unique challenge for Reese and Finch since the person has virtually no digital footprint - and appears to be leading a double life.

Origin of the Title

"Identity Crisis" is a term used in the study of Psychology coined by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson.

Main Plot Points

Carter refuses to answer calls from Reese and Finch, beginning with a murderer who maintains that the police should have been there to stop him.
Previously CIA agent Mark Snow was leading an investigation into Reese, but now the FBI begins a separate investigation of the man in the suit.
Carter maintains a distance from Reese and Finch though she keeps her non disclosure policy with the FBI, as she had done with the CIA, and is conflicted by her inability to prevent crimes from happening due to the end of their alliance.

Transcript

Main article: Identity_Crisis/Transcript

Episode Notes

A late 50s episode of "To Tell the Truth"

One of Finch's lines is, "Will the real Jordan Hester please stand up". This draws from the American game show To Tell the Truth, first broadcast in the late 1950s. In the show, three contestants would claim to be the same person, and are questioned by a four-person panel of judges; the fakes may lie, but the real person must only tell the truth. At the end of the questioning period, the host would say, "Will the real (name) please stand up?", revealing the real person.

Trivia

Finch and the female Jordan Hester eat at Robert, a restaurant atop the Museum of Arts and Design at the south corner of Columbus Circle.
According to the press release, Brett Cullen (Nathan Ingram) was to have appeared in the episode.
Finch claims to have invented social media as a way of helping the Machine get access to personal information.

Production Notes

Music

"Amongster" by Poliça - End of episode.

Quotes

"I didn't realize it was my job to make yours easier, Lionel." (Reese)
"Ever work an identity theft case?" "Every arrest I ever made. They all say I got the wrong guy." (Carter)
"So we're dealing with the two most ordinary people on the planet." (Finch)
"I found a guy who can tell us what's going on, but he's not in a talking mood right now." (Reese)
"Well, you better be prepared to talk them to death." (Reese, to Finch)
"Once a suspect, always a suspect. Isn't that the official NYPD motto?" (Kyle Morrison)
"Come on. Ask me anything." "Goodnight, Harold." "Goodnight, Nathan." (Finch, in reply to Reese)
"Carter's issue isn't with you, Mr. Reese. It's with your methods. Our methods." (Finch)
"I might need a little help cracking his... never mind... laptop's not password protected" (Reese to Finch)
"She made it for me. It's some kind of Flambé." (Finch about a microwave chemical bomb while high)
"Wanna hack the Pentagon?" (Finch while on Ecstasy)
"Good night, Nathan."(Finch's respond to John while being high (John doesn't hear him)

Clips

Person of Interest - Person of Interest - Preview Identity Crisis