All In (Person of Interest)

"'All In" is the 18th episode of the second season of the American television drama series Person of Interest. It is the 41st overall episode of the series and is written by Lucas O'Connor and directed by Tricia Brock. It aired on CBS in the United States and on CTV in Canada on March 14, 2013. The title refers to "All in", a poker term which consists of wagering one's entire stake.

Plot[]

After saving Leon Tao (Ken Leung) again, Reese (Jim Caviezel) is sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey to investigate the new number: Lou Mitchell (Ron McLarty), an old gambler who has lost $320,000 for the past 6 months and wonder how, as just a watch repairman, could get that amount.

Finch (Michael Emerson) and Reese find out that he and many other elderly gamblers are victims of a drug-money laundering operation headed by the casino's owner Dario Makris (Michael Rispoli). To learn more about Makris, Leon Tao poses as a billionaire with Reese watching over Lou playing and earning $20 million. Finch breaks into the casino server room and gathers the needed evidence, but the team is captured by Makris, who discovered their facade.

Meanwhile, Detective Raymond Terney (Al Sapienza) arrests Detective Szymanski (Michael McGlone), who was incriminated by HR so the head of the Russian mob, Peter Yogorov (Morgan Spector) can be exonerated and give financial support to HR's boss, Alonzo Quinn (Clarke Peters). Carter (Taraji P. Henson) questions her relationship and connection to Cal Beecher (Sterling K. Brown), given that it was he who told IAB that Szymanski was corrupt, acting on information from one of Beecher's informants.

Makris holds Reese, Finch, Lou and Leon hostage and has them play Russian roulette but Lou manages to take the bullet out and knock Makris out. Makris is arrested and Finch asks Lou to fix Logan Pierce's present watch while both talk about Finch's relationship with Grace. Carter manages to get enough evidence to clear Szymanski's name and Terney releases him and Yogorov is taken back to prison. Quinn meets with Szymanski and the ADA (Jennifer Van Dyck) in his office and kills them, then has one of his henchmen, Terney, to shoot him to give him an alibi and avoid suspicion.

Reception[]

Viewers[]

In its original American broadcast, "All In" was seen by an estimated 14.34 million household viewers and gained a 2.9/8 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This means that 2.9 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 8 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.^[1] This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 14.57 million viewers with a 2.8/8 in the 18-49 demographics.^[2] With these ratings, Person of Interest was the second most watched show on CBS for the night, beating Elementary and Two and a Half Men but behind The Big Bang Theory, first on its timeslot and fourth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind American Idol, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory.

With Live +7 DVR factored in, the episode was watched by 17.55 million viewers with a 3.8 in the 18-49 demographics.^[3]

Critical reviews[]

"All In" received positive reviews from critics. Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "It would be way premature to declare that Person Of Interest is going through a crisis, but the show does seem to be twiddling its thumbs while trying to fully refuel after a couple of Lollapalooza episodes. Maybe that's as good a way of getting through the post-sweeps slump, when a casual viewer is as likely to tune in and get a rerun as not, as any other strategy."^[4]

Tim Surette of TV.com wrote "'All In' worked as both a standalone and a mythology episode, splitting the episode between fun and serious business. It was certainly a better episode than last week's, but I'm still grouping into the big middle pack of Person of Interest episodes. Entirely satisfying, but my brain is still intact."^[5]

Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.3 star rating out of 5 and wrote "Although, I have to say that the real standout moment was the Reese and Finch talk about Finch not being able to be with Grace. It was such a sad scene and you could really feel Finch missing his love and Reese knowing there's not much more you could say. It's good that at least Reese and Finch have a friendship and purpose, but the price of being the hero is certainly a painful one to pay."^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• "All In" at IMDb