TRIGGERMAN (2.04)

The Machine leads Reese and Finch to their new POI: an enforcer for the Irish mob named Riley Cavanaugh. Initially, Reese suspects Riley to be the perpetrator when the boss, George Massey, orders him to kill Annie Warren, the widow of a former mobster. However, when Riley kills George's son to protect Annie, it's revealed that Riley and Annie are in love, and our heroes now have two people to protect from a vengeful mob boss. Carter runs interference with the cops at Reese's request, keeping them off of Riley's trail just long enough for him to figure out his plan. George then puts out a hefty bounty on the lovers, making them the target of every thug in the city, and Finch is forced to go to Elias for help. Elias calls most of the would-be bounty hunters off, save for one-a man named Ochoa, who tracks them down and takes Annie. Reese squares off with Riley, then convinces the mobster to accept his help if he wants to save Annie. They track Ochoa to one of the properties George uses for wet work, then engage in a massive shootout with a large number of mobsters. In the fight, Riley tells Reese to get Annie to safety, then he kills George, only to later be killed by Ochoa himself. After putting Annie on a train out west, Reese tracks down Ochoa and exacts revenge, removing one more killer from the streets.

Air Date: October 25, 2012
Written by Erik Mountain and directed by James Whitmore, Jr.

MASQUERADE (2.03)

It's Finch's first day back in the office after being rescued from Root's clutches. Reese goes undercover as a bodyguard for Sofia Branco, the daughter of a Brazilian diplomat with high political aspirations. Initially, it appears that Sofia could be the target of a political hit by some of her father's rivals, but Finch and Reese soon learn that it's her private life that's much more dangerous. Sofia got romantically involved with Jack Hughes, a trust fund brat turned secretive drug dealer, and wound up inadvertently recording evidence on her cell phone that linked Jack to another man's murder. Jack's violent counterpart, Monty, convinces him that Sofia needs to be eliminated. Reese enlists Fusco to watch Sofia as he and Carter go after Monty, but Monty gets the slip on them with Jack's help. After Finch gives them the heads up, Fusco, Reese, and Carter arrive just in time to incapacitate Monty and save Sofia from harm. Meanwhile, Finch struggles to deal with the PTSD-like symptoms he's experiencing after being kidnapped by Root. He tries to venture outside of the Library, but the intensity of the bustling city is too much for him. Eventually, Reese and Bear manage to get him outside, and his slow healing process continues.

Air Date: October 18, 2012
Written by Melissa Scrivner-Love and directed by Jeffrey Hunt.

BAD CODE (2.02)

Root brutally interrogates Denton Weeks over the location of the Machine, accusing him of having what she calls "bad code". To prove that Denton is "bad code" to Finch and that he entrusted the Machine to the wrong people, she allows Finch to help Denton temporarily escape and pretends to be subdued. Once Denton realizes that Finch was involved with the creation of the Machine, he tries to kill Finch, but Root kills Denton instead after he reveals the Machine's location to be somewhere in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, Reese continues to follow the trail of the missing girl supplied by the Machine in "The Contingency". Her name was Hanna Frey, a girl abducted outside a library. The one witness to the crime was Hanna's friend Samantha Groves, who informed the librarian what she saw, only for the librarian to accuse Sam of lying, as the man that Sam had accused of kidnapping Hanna was her husband. The experience started Sam down a path that would ultimately lead to her becoming Root. Now knowing Root's real name, Reese is able to track her movements through bank accounts, using government wiretaps supplied by Fusco to triangulate Weeks' location. He arrives in time to find Weeks dead and Root gone, having taken Finch with her to Washington DC's Union Station. Finch leaves a clue to where he is being taken by using a tap code on a telephone handset. Reese decodes the clue in order to follow and save Finch, but Root is able to escape before Reese can apprehend her.

Air Date: October 4, 2012
Written by Greg Plageman & Patrick Harbinson, and directed by Jon Cassar.