'TIL DEATH (2.08)

Reese and Finch must protect Sabrina and Daniel Drake, a married couple who own a very successful publishing firm. Initially, it appears that the Drakes are the target of an Appalachian militia group who were angry over a book their company published, but it's quickly revealed that the Drakes have taken out a hit on each other. Sabrina contracted a professional hitman by the name of Cyril to off her husband, while Daniel paid off a junkie and former friend to kill his wife. Reese tries to stay one step ahead of the couple's hired assassins, eventually taking both Sabrina and Daniel hostage to keep them safe and talk out their marital issues. Unfortunately, even when Sabrina and Daniel decide to call off the hits and try to reconcile, their hired killers won't take no for an answer. Using the Drakes as bait, Reese lures the hitmen to a Finchian safehouse and takes them down with the help of Carter and Fusco. Meanwhile, Carter and Fusco make slow progress in their own romantic arenas. During the course of the investigation into the Drakes' assassins, Carter meets Detective Cal Beecher, a handsome narcotics detective, and she eventually agrees to go out for dinner with him. Fusco is forced to take his date, a Jersey girl by the name of Rhonda, out on a stakeout at Finch's request. They end up bonding over his job and enjoying falafel. In a flashback, we see the early beginnings of Finch's relationship with Grace, the woman he was forced to leave to keep the machine safe. He plans an intricate scavenger hunt, which ends with a beautiful private dinner at the Guggenheim, where Finch shows her Chirico's "The Red Tower," which he anonymously bought and donated for her.

Air date: November 29, 2012
Written by Amanda Segel and directed by Helen Shaver.

CRITICAL (2.07)

Reese and Finch pay a visit to their latest POI, Dr. Maddy Enright, one of New York's best heart and trauma surgeons. Initially, it appears that Maddy might be the target of a hit, but it's later revealed that she's being forced to become the perpetrator. Alistair Wesley, a former British special ops agent, informs Maddy that her wife, Amy, will be killed by a sniper if she does not execute his plan to kill a patient during an operation. That patient is Oliver Veldt, a rich energy tycoon who personally selected Maddy for a top secret procedure. Reese goes off to see if he can save Amy from the snipers currently targeting her, while Finch stays with Maddy at the hospital and tries to find out more about Alistair and his team of hitmen. At the park, Reese takes out one of the hitmen, then engages in a game of high stakes cat and mouse with Alistair, who warns Reese that Amy will be killed if he interferes again. With some help from Fusco and a risky gamble, Reese manages to extract Amy from the park and take out all of the operatives except Alistair. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Alistair's planted a nurse, and that nurse manages to cut Veldt's artery before Finch knocks her out. Maddy rushes to stop the bleeding and, with some help from a very uneasy Finch, manages to save Veldt's life. Meanwhile, Carter follows clues left to her by Agent Snow, who is being forced to run a variety of mysterious errands for Kara Stanton under a threat of death. Snow leads Carter to what he thinks is a private area, but Stanton interrupts and has a shootout with Carter before vanishing with Snow.

Air date: November 15, 2012
Written by Sean Hennen and directed by Frederick E. O. Toye.

THE HIGH ROAD (2.06)

The newest POI takes Reese and Finch out of the city and into the suburban New York; Rockaway, to be precise. Graham Wyler appears to live the ideal suburban life: he has a wife and young daughter, a beautiful home, and his own small business. Finch does some digging into his past, looking for any possible threats to Wyler or his family. Eventually, Finch comes across his 15-year-old death certificate, which makes Reese think Wyler is 'ghosting,' or has taken on a deceased person's identity for his own. In order to get a better idea of potential threats, Finch purchases a home across from the Wylers, and Reese and Zoe Morgan move in, posing as a new couple in the neighborhood. Reese manages to get Wyler's prints at a barbecue and sends them to Carter, who runs them and identifies Wyler as Lloyd Pruitt, a safe cracker that was involved with a crew of guys from Philadelphia. The leader of those ex-cons, Chris Vaughn, is now out on parole, and Reese quickly learns that he wants revenge on his former friend and partner. Vaughn threatens Wyler's family and forces Graham to participate in one last robbery in the city. Reese, Finch, and Carter team up to monitor the heist, but Reese is forced to intervene to save Graham's life. Reese takes out the bad guys and Graham turns himself in to the police, but luckily only gets sentenced to house arrest. Flashbacks throughout the episode explain more about Finch, Ingram, and the creation of the machine. Finch walks the machine through some early rounds of 'threat identification' testing, which it passes with flying colors. The flashbacks also chronicle the beginning of Finch's relationship with Grace, whom he will eventually lose because of his involvement with the machine.

Air Date: November 8, 2012
Written by Nic Van Zeebroeck & Michael Sopczynski, and directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá.

BURY THE LEDE (2.05)

Reese and Finch have to get creative when their new POI turns out to be an investigative reporter tracking stories about a mysterious "man in a suit." The reporter, Maxine Cross, has made lots of enemies thanks to her hard-hitting brand of journalism, but her current obsession with identifying the head of HR could be the one story that gets her killed. In order to get close to her, Finch sets Reese up on a date with her via a matchmaking site, but that date quickly goes awry. Maxine received fault information and published an exclusive that "unmasked" the head of HR, but the man she accused wasn't the boss and she inadvertently helped an innocent man get killed. In talking to the FBI, Maxine and Reese learn that the man possessed a ledger with all the names of the crooked cops involved in HR, but he was killed before he had a chance to turn it over. Despite being reprimanded by her boss and nearly fired, Maxine won't give up on the story and tries to find the ledger before the HR goons can. Reese manages to keep up the dating charade and covertly keep her safe from HR hitmen until, with help from Carter and Fusco, they locate the ledger and turn it over to the FBI. Landon Walker, a mayoral candidate, is listed as the head of HR in the ledger, but it's revealed that his campaign manager, Andrew Walker, is the real puppet master. For now, the real head of HR remains at large. Meanwhile, Simmons threatens Fusco and demands that he find the ledger before the cops do, otherwise he'll do something terrible to Fusco's son. Fusco manages to get his hands on the ledger before the FBI and tears out the pages with his and Simmons' name on it, keeping the wolf at bay for the time being.

Air Date: November 1, 2012
Written by David Slack and directed by Jeffrey Hunt.