John Greer is the alias of a former British Army officer turned MI6 agent working for a shadowy, international Private Intelligence Agency, Decima Technologies that appears to be based in China, and is conducting Cyberwarfare. His purpose seems to be to serve Samaritan and to destroy the Machine in order to let the world be ruled by Samaritan.
Greer was raised in London, from which he was evacuated as a young boy during the Blitz. His early experiences with the war would shape his later life profoundly and made his will to become an MI-6 operative.
MI-6[]
By the mid-70s, Greer was a field officer with the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6). In 1973 Greer was given an order by his superior at MI-6, Blackwood, to kill a Russian spy in London named Oleg Luski. While trying to capture Luski, Greer’s partner, Jacob, is shot and killed. Greer wounds Luski and later interrogates him to discover that Blackwood is a KGB double agent who ordered Luski’s death to cover up his own involvement. Disillusioned by this betrayal, Greer kills Blackwood before telling him that political boundaries have no meaning now and that one day all boundaries will be erased and there would be no need for an organization like MI-6. He then destroys his own dossier and disappears (“The Cold War”).
Early Activities with Decima[]
Between his time 1970 and 2010, Greer ether started or was recruited into a Private Intelligence Agency called Decima Technologies, named for one of the 3 mythological fates that control the treads of life. It is likely he was heavily involved in the day to day operations of the company as he eventually became or was their Director of Operations. It is likely he met Jeremy Lambert, Zachary, and Martine (although she could just be a Samaritan Agent), or recruited them into Decima and also hired or Decima provided dozens of skilled agents and operatives (who were probably ex mercenaries) for his disposal. Greer could have set up Decima's "insurance policy" for their agents next of kin to ensure the nobody spilled any of the companies secrets. It is also implied that he set up Decima's front company: Greenglade Strategists, Inc, in case business needed to be done by Decima without anyone knowing they were involved. Greer likely set up Decima's shell company to smuggle weapons, computers, and any other resources needed into New York secretly to complete his mission, and he could have also forged documents to acquire various buildings across New York to further his and or Decima's plan.
Further activities with Decima[]
Greer re-emerges in 2010, now working for a international Private intelligence Agency using the cover name Decima Technologies as their Director of Operations. The shadowy organization targets Daniel Casey, a programmer nearly killed by the government for learning secrets about the Machine. Greers right hand man, Lambert, unsuccessfully tries multiple times to recover Casey following a failed meeting, and later meets with Greer at an alleyway. Lambert informed Greer that the CIA had captured one of Decima's agents and suggested he divert operatives to recover him, but Greer refused stating "our people can take care of themselves." Greer then gives Lambert the task of retrieving Casey's laptop and warns that he will find someone else to do his job, implying that he will have him killed, if he fails.
Greer in 2010 as Decimas Director Of Operations.
The laptop that Casey used to hack into the Machine is later recovered by Decima and placed in a secure facility at Ordos, China (“RAM”).
Greer visits Kara Stanton at an unknown hospital in Dongsheng (“Dead Reckoning”), China after she is injured in the Ordos mission (“Matsya Nyaya”). Stanton assumes he works for China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), but he responds by joking about his tailor, indicating he has more things to offer her. He tells her that she's in a sort of post-CIA "afterlife" before teasing her with the laptop in an attempt to fuel her desire for revenge. It's clear Greer wants Kara to execute an operation.
On a subsequent visit, Greer attempts to connect with Stanton by discussing how the people she worked for betrayed her. He uses her study of the classics, and the mythical Titans as an analogy to manipulate and brainwash her to ask the one question on her mind: who was behind the attempt on her life. He offers her the chance to operate for him and his organization, and in return will give her the name of the person truly responsible for her mission in Ordos, who sold the laptop in the first place (“Dead Reckoning”).
2012[]
Having planted the virus in the Department of Defense computers at the D.O.D facility Stillwater Imports, Stanton calls Greer at the end of the mission. Greer confirms that the malware is spreading through its target network and Kara demands to know who betrayed her. Greer tells her that a name is all that he has for her because the person doesn't exist in any known database. He gives her an unheard name, which she writes down. After the car explodes, a burned piece of paper with Harold Finch written on it sits in the wreckage (“Dead Reckoning”).
2013[]
Greer updates someone (possibly his employers) on the larger project. Trojan Horse
After Martin Baxter and Rylatech are exposed, he calls Baxter and convinces him to kill himself to cover Decima's involvement. Now in New York, Greer, on a Chinese Smartphone, talks to an unknown second person about the impact of the fall of Rylatech. He offers assurances that the U.S. government is focused on China, but unaware of his group's other illegal activities. Greer reports that the breach of their network was the work of one person, who he will "render irrelevant", but that their larger project is on schedule. After finishing the call, he looks down at his smartphone, smirking where is is revealed that thousands of devices are infected by Decima's Virus.
As he does, Finch and Reese discuss Finch's tracing of code Finch saw while at Rylatech to a company called Decima Technologies. Finch believes that Decima has developed the virus Stanton uploaded with one purpose: to infect The Machine(“Trojan Horse”).
Shortly before the Decima virus counts down to midnight, Greer, along with a team of Decima agents, headed to Thornhill Corporation to check on a piece of code printed out earlier by the Machine. A few minutes later, Reese and Sameen Shaw meet Greer at the Thornhill office. He explains that he knows everything about them before refusing to stop the virus, since he is invested in the outcome. However, he describes that Harold Finch created the virus, not Decima, but was not able to modify it's code without accessing the Ordos laptop first. He then reveals the name of the man that sold the laptop and the one responsible for all "this" to Reese: Harold Finch, suggesting Reese to tell Finch that Greer is looking forward into meeting him in the future before having his agents open fire on them. Later, a Decima agent informs Greer that there operatives are stationed at every payphone in New York but Greer rejected this and informs the agent that the Cignus Virus had identified where the call would happen, The New York Public Library and that he was on his way there(“Zero Day”).
Search for Samaritan[]
After 2 failed attempts to gain access to the Machine, Greer and Decima turn their attention to a second machine developed by Finch's old classmate at MIT, Arthur Claypool. One of Decima's operatives is able to infiltrate the bank vault holding the Samaritan drives and later brings them to Greer. He thanks her before shooting her dead to cover his tracks, and he plans to use Samaritan for Decima's own needs (“Aletheia”).
2014[]
Greer and Decima target Cyrus Wells, a former millionaire turned janitor who has retinal access to a room belonging to a company called Maxwell Limited - the room stores a processor chip of sufficient speed to run Samaritan. Greer and Decimas operatives arrive for Cyrus at the same time the organization Vigilance attacks, and Cyrus is saved.
Greer overseeing the break-in of Maxwell LTD.
Decima operatives later ambush Cyrus and Root in Central Park. Greer orders them to deploy a countermeasure device to prevent Root from communicating with the Machine. Despite Reese's efforts to stop them, Cyrus is kidnapped.
Later that night, Greer oversees Decima agents break into Maxwell Limited and take out their security guards from a office building across from Maxwell Limited. After Cyrus's eye is used to bypass a retinal scanner in the room, Greer orders Cyrus killed - Reese and Fusco arrive to save him. Root arrives, and in the ensuing gunfight, rescues Cyrus. The Decima operatives still take the chip. After they secure the chip, Decima Technicians on Greer's orders, burn their computers with gasoline to eliminate any evidence (“Root Path (/)”).
Greer escapes Root.
Greer later hires Ken Davis, the corrupt CEO of energy company HydralCorp, to request the shipment of six generators to the USA, thus derailing their original shipment to Iraq. At a subway terminal, Root follows Greer through a hallway, and Greer, knowing he is being followed, uses voice commands to tell Samaritan to employ counter-surveillance tactics. He informs Decimas asset that he is going dark and to rendezvous in 2 minutes then places his phone in the pocket of a man resembling himself, and disappears. Root later uses Bear to follow Greer. She watches him meet with Davis, who reports that the generators have been delivered. Greer compliments Davis for his work and then has his agents place a black hood over his head, knock him out and take him away presumably to be killed. Root follows Greer through the same subway terminal and this time uses Bear's searching skills to sniff out Greer, resisting his counter-surveillance measures. Greer meets her in a vacant hallway and commends her for her tracking skills. He says that it's human nature to control things and information is the new currency, offering Root a position on Decima. Root wonders why he's negotiating, and two Decima agents aim their guns at Root. Greer declares their meeting a draw and walks away, allowing her to leave (“Allegiance”).
In Washington D.C, Greer meets with Senator Ross Garrison in front of Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. They discuss how the Machine failed to protect itself from Vigilance and how Greer can help the country. Greer tells the senator that he has an alternative to the machine and proposes to green-light the program. At a later time at the same location, Greer asks Garrison if he will help him or not. He then tells him that if Samaritan has access to the government feeds, it will find a terrorist for him. After Samaritan receives the government feeds by Ross Garrison, Greer meets with Decima technician Virgil in an unknown location, telling him to find Harold Finch (“Death Benefit”).
At a later meeting Greer tells Garrison that in the time Samaritan has been active, Samaritan has found many possible targets and assures that a terrorist will be found soon. Virgil tells Greer that Samaritan cannot find Harold Finch but says that he could search the name for any connections. After Samaritan finishes the search, Greer tells Virgil to bring Grace Hendricks to him. After a failed attempt from a Decima operative to abduct Grace, Greer tells agent Zachary to find Grace and kill Reese and Shaw. Once his men locate the Precinct, Zachary wanted to send in his agents, but Greer tells them to hold off and decides to send in Agent Maybank instead. He then tells Virgil to tell Decima's agents to position themselves where there is no surveillance coverage as the Machine and Root could see them. After their car was rammed by Zachary, Greer orders him to get Grace. After a small shootout between him and Reese, Zachary escaped with Grace and takes her to their warehouse.
Greer interrogates Grace.
After Grace is kidnapped, Greer interrogates her, then finds out that she was engaged with Finch four years ago. After the interview, he contacts Zachary again to check on the status of the Machine's operatives, and after figuring out they were on their way, ordered Virgil to destroy the Beta Test computers as their warehouse had been compromised. Shortly after Reese and Shaw arrive at the location, seizing Virgil but not finding Grace, Greer shows up on a screen telling them that Virgil cannot be questioned, which prompts him to kill himself. He then tells them that he will be willing to return Grace in exchange for Finch. Finch hands himself over to Greer in place of Grace and is taken to an abandoned building, where Greer finally meets him and tells him that he has been a very hard man to find (“Beta”).
In the building, Greer discusses with Finch about The Machine and Samaritan and how Finch damaged the machine. Finch tells him that he can never understand and that it is hubris to think he could control Samaritan. After a blackout that affects the city, Greer is reminded of his youth and talks about The Blitz. He then tells him that he wants to live under a more just rule by bringing Samaritan online. He meets Senator Garrison and tells him how Decima will retain ownership of Samaritan, Garrison challenges Greer's proposal but he says that it is his terms. Greer's hideout is breached by Peter Collier and other Vigilance members and everyone is taken captive. Greer is held alongside Sen. Garrison, Finch, Control and Manuel Rivera in a Kangaroo court (“A House Divided”).
As Collier prepares to execute them for crimes against the people of America, a Decima team led by Lambert break into the courthouse and execute the Vigilance members and wound Collier. Greer then reveals that he created Vigilance, and that it was he who was controlling Collier without his knowledge. He has the rest of the Vigilance members and other witnesses killed in an explosion in the court house and later has Lambert execute Collier. Finch is rescued by Reese but Greer uses the explosion at the courthouse to trick Garrison into giving him unlimited access to NSA surveillance feeds so that Samaritan may be able protect the nation against such "terrorist acts". After gaining access to the feeds Greer order the death of all remaining Vigilance members as well Reese, Finch, Shaw and Root, forcing them to go into hiding. As Samaritan fully comes online, Greer voluntarily relinquishes his command to Samaritan and waits for its instructions (“Deus Ex Machina”).
The New Regime (2015)[]
Greer and Senator Garrison discuss Samaritan.
After Samaritan comes online Decima Technologies is dismantled as a viable business entity with Greer reporting only to Samaritan. He meets with Sen. Garrison and discusses the effectiveness of Samaritan's methods. After Garrison questions Greer's accountability, he proposes if the Senator should be eliminated but Samaritan disagrees (“Panopticon”).
Samaritan rigs the New York gubernatorial race to place Nick Dawson in the governor's chair and Greer later recruits him (under the allyis of Philip Hayes of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs) into becoming one of their top government agents. In the Command center, Greer informs Samaritan Agent Martine Rou that they had 58 Congressmen assets across the US and government. After Martine asked what to do about the (“Prophets”).
After Samaritan becomes interested in Elizabeth Bridges' algorithms it has one of its representatives invest in her company. Greer remains unsure of what Samaritan sees in Elizabeth's algorithms (“Pretenders”).
Greer sends agent Martine to kill Shaw after Samaritan captures a partial picture of her during one its missions (“Honor Among Thieves”).
Though Samaritan is unable to deduce Shaw's identity Greer figures out she is working with Finch and is somehow hiding in plain sight (“Point of Origin”).
After Greer discovers that the Machine is blocking all relevant data about Finch and his associates, he proposes to bypass it by relying on human intelligence and expands Martine's capabilities by providing her with a team of Samaritan agents to hunt down Shaw (“The Devil You Know”).
Greer oversees Samaritan's operatives including Lambert and Martine as it takes over New York for a day to force the Machine out of hiding. He later informs Lambert of Samaritan's plan to launch a cyber-attack on the stock exchange for the whole world to see. After Samaritan informed Greer that the collapse had begun, Greer smiled awaiting the destructive results (“The Cold War”).
Reese, Finch, Root and Fusco infiltrate the basement of the stock exchange and try to install a software in the exchange's servers to prevent further market collapse. Even without any surveillance Greer once again oversees Lambert, Martine and their agents. He guides them as they hunt for Finch and his team (“If-Then-Else”).
"I'm wondering, would you like Mr. Travers to put the key back in the ignition?"
Following a conflict between Control and Travers, one of Samaritan’s representatives, regarding Samaritan’s intel about a terrorist attack, Greer calls Sen. Garrison and reminds him of their previous arrangement which prompts him to force Control to back down (“Control-Alt-Delete”).
Greer is present alongside Shaw when she wakes up at one of Samaritan’s facilities, he tells her to get some rest because she is going to need it soon (“M.I.A.”).
Greer sends Claire Mahoney to lure Finch out of hiding and bring him over to their side. She nearly succeeds but Root rescues Finch and wounds Claire even as she manages to escape. Greer praises Claire for her commitment to Samaritan's cause and explains that if she had died on the mission it would have been for a good cause. He later meets Lauren Buchanan, the CEO of Fetch and Retrieve, to acquire their company (“Q&A”).
After Samaritan hacks into the software developed by businessman Sulaiman Khan to look for the Machine, Khan is captured by Martin and a few Samaritan agents and taken to Greer, who confirms the existence of both the Machine and Samaritan. Khan demands to "look in [Samaritan's] eyes", prompting Greer to shoot him dead and leave Martin to watch coldly with his corpse looking at Samaritan's emblem on the computer screen (“Search and Destroy”).
While infiltrating Samaritan's secret Base of Operations inside Steiner Psychiatric Hospital, Root and Finch are captured by Martine and her agents and brought to Greer for questioning. When Root kills Martine by snapping her neck Greer nonchalantly has her body removed from the scene much to Finch's surprise. After the Machine gives up its location to Samaritan in exchange for Root and Finch, Greer sends an army of his agents after it (“Asylum”).
Greer later meets with Zachary in his Mercedes who informs him that a quarter of the power grid has been taken offline by Samaritan. Greer informs him to "Burn down the tree." Later that night, Control tracks down Greer and holds him at gunpoint to question him about "The Correction". Control figures The Correction is an attack on the Supreme Court but Greer proves to be one step ahead of her and states that The Correction is actually a list compiled by Samaritan comprising criminals, disruptive outliers and disloyal people to be eliminated at the right time. As the subsequent deaths flash on a screen before them, Greer tells Control that this was a test of loyalty which she has failed and that she will be taken to a place she deserves. She is then captured by Samaritan agents and taken away as Greer continues to watch The Correction taking place all over the world (“YHWH”).
Greer is later seen ordering experiments on Shaw, plunging her brain into virtual realities to reveal the whereabouts of the Machine and the Team, and forcing her to kill her friends. In the 6741st test, After Shaw escaped captivity, she engaged a distraction lauring Samaritan Agent to her location and one informs Greer they located her, but Root and Reese knock them out and trace the call to Greers location. After infiltrating their base, Greer attempts to shoot Shaw, but hits Root instead. They take him to a church, and Greer confessed there was no head to Samaritan. In the churches basement, Greer informs the team his days in MI6 were long gone and suggests to kill him. Shaw locates a scar on Greer and cuts it upon to reveal a USB containing a code built by Claypool as a kill switch to Samaritan. Finch and Root depart, but Shaw and Reese stay behind to keep an eye on Greer. After Samaratin operatives located Greers location, Reese leaves to hold them off, while Shaw stays with Greer. Greer then taunts Shaw, informing her that it was her idea to install the USB in him and that the USB was actually a kill switch for the Machine. Shaw kills Greer and Reese but keeps never killing Root, making suicide thus terminating the simulation without having revealed anything about the team. Greer remains stoic, saying "We have all the time in the world", plunging Shaw back into more simulations until a potential result (“6,741”).
After more than 7000 tests and failures, Greer tries a different kind of simulation to recruit Shaw within Samaritan's assets. He seemingly takes her in the outside world for a walk to show her how Samaritan would radically prevent murders, bombings and other atrocities way before the Machine would even warn her team of the existence of a threat. The simulation ends up with Gabriel Hayward making up an apocalyptic vision of a third world war, without Samaritan's actions to protect mankind. Greer then greets an awoken Shaw (“A More Perfect Union”).
"History will revere us!"
As Finch infiltrates Fort Meade to destroy Samaritan with the ICE-9 virus, the Machine gives Reese and Shaw a new number, Philip Hayes, the alias Greer used at the Office of Intergovernmental Studies. After uploading the virus but before he can unleash it, Finch is apprehended and brought before Greer who reveals that Samaritan wants to rule the world alongside the Machine. Finch refuses to cooperate, but in doing so, reveals that the Machine lacks knowledge of the password that would unleash the virus. Greer then locks himself and Finch in sealed room and has the air sucked out, planning on sacrificing himself to kill Finch and protect Samaritan. Greer dies of suffocation from lack of oxygen, but Finch survives long enough for Reese and Shaw to enable the Machine to rescue him. Finch later tells them of Greer's death in a failed attempt to kill him (“.exe”).
Victims[]
Presumably killed numerous people under the employ of MI-6.
A number of Vigilance members, NYPD officers, journalists and civilians were killed in the post office explosion carried out on Greer's orders (“Deus Ex Machina”)
Schiffmann: Killed by a Samaritan operative on Greer and Samaritan's orders as part of The Correction (“YHWH”).
Devon Grice: Shot and killed by a Samaritan operative on Greer and Samaritan's orders as part of The Correction (“YHWH”).
Dominic: Shot and killed by a Samaritan sniper on Greer and Samaritan's orders as part of The Correction (“YHWH”).
Elias: Shot by a Samaritan sniper on Greer and Samaritan's orders as part of The Correction (“YHWH”).
Control: Captured and imprisoned by Samaritan agents on Greer and Samaritan's orders as part of The Correction (“YHWH”).
A number of criminals, disruptive outliers and dissidents killed under Greer and Samaritan's orders as part of The Correction (“YHWH”).
Harold Finch: Locked in a room with Greer and the air evacuated to kill Finch. However, Reese and Shaw enable the Machine to rescue Finch before he succumbs (“.exe”).
Himself: In an attempt to kill Harold Finch, Greer traps the two men in a room and has the air evacuated. Greer suffocates to death as a result (“.exe”).
Greer's title at Decima Technologies is only Director of Operations, witch suggests that there is someone else at Decima secretly running the company. (CEO, Board of directors, etc) However, they and their names are never revealed, nor do they appear in the show.
At Panopticon and Point Of Origin, Greer is labeled as ADMIN, by Samaritan. However, in The Cold War and all episodes after it, he is labeled as PRIMARY ASSET.
Greer is the most frequently appearing recurring character on the show, having appeared in 28 episodes.
In “Zero Day”, we can see that the car Greer rides in is assigned a white square. It is unclear whether he still does not know about the Machine or if the box is assigned to one of the Decima operatives in the car.
Greer uses a Mercedes Benz S-63 AMG and a 2014 Mercedes Benz S550 as his personal vehicles. They are driven by a unnamed Decima driver. It is unknown what happened to these vehicles after his death.
In the flashbacks in “Dead Reckoning”, the Machine has assigned Greer and Stanton white boxes, indicating they do not represent threats to it. By the events of “Trojan Horse”, the Machine has assigned a red box to Greer, indicating he now poses a threat to the Machine.
In “RAM”, Greer's name is mentioned for the first time. The Machine displays his name as "[REDACTED]" suggesting that it might be an alias. The alias is confirmed in the opening sequence of “Root Path (/)” and his title with Decima is listed as "Director, Operations".
In “Dead Reckoning”, while talking to Stanton, Greer says, "My employers have an inkling of what happens next." It remains unknown who these employers are.
Greer appears to be from London, England as he told Finch about experiencing German air raids when he was a child, which mainly targeted London, and that he sought shelter in the London Tube network (underground railway) (“A House Divided”).
In the episode “The Cold War”, it is hinted Greer's first name initial to be "M".
During their final encounter, Finch tells Greer that he's gone insane given his beliefs in Samaritan as a digital god. (“.exe”)
Trivia[]
Greer is the most frequently appearing recurring character on the show. His first appearance was in the thirteenth episode of the second season. His last appearance was in the twelfth episode of the fifth season. He has appeared in 28 episodes.
John Nolan, who plays Greer, is the uncle of showrunner Jonathan Nolan and his brother, film director Christopher Nolan.
Greer uses a Chinese Huawei M835 smartphone as his personal smart phone to communicate with Decima's Agents/Operatives and later receive orders from Samaritan while not in it's base of operations.
"The man who sold the laptop that took you on your unfortunate trip to China. Or fortunate, depending on ones view. I'm afraid a name is all I have for you. For someone who seemingly does not exist on any known database. Perhaps you'll have better luck in your search than I did."- To Kara Stanton about the Ordos Laptop.
"The man who sold the laptop in the first place the man who's to blame for all of this, that man's name is... Harold Finch. Ah, I see you know him. I've not yet had the pleasure. In fact I can't seam to put a face to the name, witch makes your Mr. Finch very interesting indeed. Please tell him I look forward to making his acquaintance."- To John Reese and Sameen Shaw about the Ordos laptop and Finch.
“To quote Benjamin Franklin, ‘Three may keep a secret, as long as two of them are dead’.” - John Greer created Vigilance he would use the Civil War reference to drive home the point that he was in fact the one in charge and crease the group.
“The world has only ever been made a better place by violence. You know that. Every leader who ever preached peace did so guarded by armed men. One thing we can agree on: Kill a few people at random, nothing changes. But kill the right people...“ - the irony of Greer quoting Benjamin Franklin to Collier - and that it was pretty apparent that it was a deliberate choice on Greer's part.
"Do you really think Samaritan would use such crude tactics? You don't take over the world with gaudy display's of violence. Real control is surgical. Invisible. It interferes only when necessary. No one will question Samaritan because no one will ever know when it has acted."-Greer ordered the correction to bring about a new world order.
"Men have gazed at the stars for millennia and wondered whether there was a deity up there, silently directing their fates. Today, for the first time, they'll be right. And the world will be an undeniably better place. Pity you wont be there to see it."-Greer to Control before his men pull a black bag over her head and drag her away.
"The queen's sacrifice. So be it! Be at peace, Harold. We have created a new world. With our lives and now with our deaths, Samaritan's survival is ensured. As is life's evolution. History will revere us!" - Greer to Finch before his death by Samaritan. His final words.
