Judgment (Person of Interest)

"Judgment" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American television drama series Person of Interest. It is the 5th overall episode of the series and is written by David Slack and directed by Colin Bucksey. It aired on CBS in the United States and on CTV in Canada on October 20, 2011.

Plot[]

Security cameras show a man getting hit by a van in a parking lot. Reese (Jim Caviezel) meets with Finch (Michael Emerson) in an attempt to get information from him, to no avail. He is then given the number of Samuel Gates (David Costabile), a judge known to be tough on crime, which is a reason why he received a lot of enemies throughout time.

Following Gates, he finds two men following the judge and then leaving him. He finds one of the follower's cellphones, discovering that they plan to kidnap Gates' son, Sam (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick). He shows up just when the men kidnap Sam but he fails to save him. The kidnappers contact Gates, telling him not to call the police for now. Reese meets Gates, telling him he needs to trust him in order to save his son. Reese finds the nanny dead, Finch hacks the phone service and finds one of the kidnappers, Leon Turski (Bill Tangradi). After knocking down Turski, Reese finds that the gang that kidnapped Sam is Szajka Pruszkeiw Dziewiec, also known as SP-9. The gang is originally from Eastern Europe and is also known for its kidnappings.

The kidnappers contact Gates; their demand is that he must dismiss the current case of Angela Markham (Meredith Patterson), a banker who killed someone for driving under the influence of alcohol in a parking lot. While Gates stalls the verdict, Reese tortures Turski for information and he finally gets the address of the location of the kidnappers. Arriving at the address, he finds that the SP-9 deals with money laundering, and that Angela is the inside woman who cleans the money and that she leveraged her position against SP-9 to get them to help her. Getting information from Carter (Taraji P. Henson), Fusco (Kevin Chapman) tells Reese the kidnappers' car belonged a company called Coldfield Holdings. Not managing to delay the trial, Gates has the verdict find Angela not guilty and released.

The SP-9 leader, Jarek Koska (Michael Cerveris) meets with Gates in a park for an exchange, but he plans to kill Gates and Sam. However, Reese arrives holding Angela at gunpoint, threatening to lose all the money they have laundered, which will also anger SP-9's clients and kill them. Reese manages to take down the SP-9 and has Finch plant more evidence into Angela's case so that a new trial can take place. Later, Fusco and Carter arrest Koska, Angela and more members after they find them with the laundered money.

Reception[]

Viewers[]

In its original American broadcast, "Judgment" was seen by an estimated 12.42 million household viewers and gained a 2.7/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.^[1] This was a 3% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 12.04 million viewers with a 2.8/7 in the 18-49 demographics.^[2] With these ratings, Person of Interest was the third most watched show on CBS for the night behind Rules of Engagement and The Big Bang Theory, third on its timeslot and fifth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Grey's Anatomy, Rules of Engagement, World Series Game 2 and The Big Bang Theory.

Critical reviews[]

"Judgment" received generally positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C+" rating and wrote "The procedural format is a good fit for this show, but right now, by leaning too much on generic cases of the week, POI is becoming less interesting with each new episode. I found myself wishing more than once while watching 'Judgment' that the series would die a quick death and let Michael Emerson move on to something more worthy of his talents, and that's pretty much the worst sign there is."^[3]

Keysha Couzens of TV Overmind wrote "What makes the show truly worth tuning into in the first place is not only the interplay between these two characters, but seeing how their partnership will ultimately attempt to heal two damaged men. I do look forward to exploring their back-stories again when the POI isn't the focus of the episode. There are still questions to be answered about both men and I'm excited to see how the season continues to disseminate this information as we go along on their journey to something resembling their personal redemption. Huh, I guess maybe those sappy ads aren't too far off-base after all."^[4] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy wrote "Another solid episode of Person of Interest - we get some nice development in Reese and Finch's relationship, plus there's a strong guest turn from David Costabile, who's been superb in everything from Breaking Bad to Damages to Flight of the Conchords."^[5]

Luke Gelineau of TV Equals wrote "This was yet another great episode of Person of Interest, and even though I was disappointed that we didn't get the resolution to last week's episode, I'm fine with that as long as the episode that we did get was as exciting and well done as this one."^[6] Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote "Overall, the episode was filled with a sense of closure, cool moments, the good guy winning and some great concluding music to bring it all together. The score featured a simple rhythm, but it complemented the emotions and tone of the show. It was upbeat and triumphant, as well as dark and mysterious. This series is on a gradual upswing and I like what it's becoming. Let's just hope its own number doesn't eventually come up."^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• "Judgment" at CBS
• "Judgment" at IMDb
• "Judgment" at TV Guide