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This week's Number is a guy named Joey, a veteran of the war in Iraq and a current doorman. JC tails him and finds his life to be totally boring. Then Joey joins up with some friends and robs a bank. Not quite so boring anymore. Since JC's in the bank when it happens, and stops a guard from drawing his gun and getting himself killed, JC's prints end up on the guard's weapon, putting Carter on the trail of the gang of robbers. While she tries to track them down, JC begs his Daddy Warbucks to help him infiltrate the gang. And -- poof! -- he's got a backstory and everything else he needs to convince the ringleader, Latimer, that he's worthy. JC's still all about saving Joey, though, so he won't let Finch turn the gang in quite yet. See, Joey's got a girlfriend, Pia, who waited for him a long time. This makes JC remember -- and flash back to -- his own girl, Jessica. So he's got a soft spot for the guy, and follows him to a bar. Joey ends up sharing that a friend died in the war when he filled in for Joey's patrol, so now Joey has to do this "work" to make sure the guy's daughter can go to college. After he's taken care of this obligation, he swears he'll settle down with Pia.
The problem, as JC's quickly figuring out, is that there are a lot of shady types in the gang with Joey. One guy, Straub, has a gambling problem and sneaks around with Latimer on his own, making threats about killing the others so it can be a true 50-50 split. And Latimer himself is working for a bigger master, who ends up telling Latimer to kill everyone after this latest assignment. The gang is told it's worth $400K, and it's at an NYPD evidence lockup. They break in, steal an envelope from a box labeled, "Elias, M." but Finch shows up (after Straub made JC get rid of his cell phone and earpiece, Finch needed to tell him that Latimer's set them up and plans to kill them all). JC tells the others, and they flee (though Straub doesn't believe JC). Straub gets to the van first, where Latimer's waiting. When Straub gives him the envelope, Latimer thinks him by killing him. In the middle of the street. In broad daylight. Then Latimer jumps out and kills the fourth guy, Teddy. Joey tries to shoot back, but his weapon doesn't work. Luckily, JC's got his own weapon stashed, and he shoots at Latimer, who jumps back in the van and flees. JC convinces Joey to run away. Like, now. And tells him that he should ask his girl to go, too. Tell her it will finally just be the two of them. So Joey leaves. Meanwhile, Carter's made it to the crime scene and finds the radio the gang's been using on one of the dead guys. She radios JC and tells him she's looking for him, and he suggests she stop. She says that's not an option. It's a very cute back and forth. Too bad they can't see each other in person again. They have a lot of chemistry. She does walk right by Finch, though, but thinks nothing of it.
When JC goes to take care of Latimer for killing everyone, Latimer's already dead. What we see and JC doesn't is that Latimer gives the envelope to his boss (whose face we never see), who opens it and looks through it. There are pictures of a grisly murder scene, and a weapon, all evidence, apparently. JC tells Finch the only key to knowing who killed Latimer is the name "Elias." Finch says he'll look into it, and another ongoing mystery begins. That's to go along with the mystery of what happened between JC and Jessica (all we see in this episode is them bumping into each other in an airport in 2006. She waited for him, but is engaged to someone else. But she's still carrying a torch and asks him to tell her to wait. She cries and leaves, then he whispers, "Wait for me. Please.") and who exactly Finch is.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!No previouslies. Either this show is so procedural it's not necessary, or Finch's wordy intro makes it moot. Anyway, said wordy intro. "... Victim or perpetrator, if your number's up, we'll find you." (That is, if you live in New York. They're not much for traveling to save people.) First, I have to mention one thing I failed to even notice last week: Some astute forum posters pointed out that during the scene last week where Finch and his business partner bicker about the Machine in 2007, JC's girl Jessica's image flashes on the monitor, which I guess means her number was up, and she would die soon after? Nice continuity. Okay, onto this episode.
Surveillance images (which are getting more tolerable somehow) flash before we open on Finch, asleep on his desk. (About Finch: Because he really is Ben 2.0, I've decided to slightly modify forum poster April May June's name suggestion (Ben + Finch = Binch), and call him Bench. It fits, not just because it's a mashup of his two characters, but also because he's often the guy benched back at the Library while the studly JC gets to shoot, punch, ninja, and otherwise badass his way around New York City saving people. Like now: Bench is asleep when JC slips in and leaves a coffee on his desk. JC, deadly serious, manages some humor this morning. He's brought Bench the classified ads: Since he feels bad for blowing Bench's cover at work, he's been looking for a new job for him: "Dog walker, maybe? Or concert pianist?" Bench is not amused. He snits that he has a job, and so does JC, and the Machine has sent them a new number.
It belongs to Joey Durbin, a soldier in the 107th infantry just back from Afghanistan. He has commendations, including the Purple Heart. A good soldier. Not to put too fine a point on it or anything, but Bench points out that makes him "just like" JC. Hmmm. I wonder if they'll use that to get at JC's backstory this episode? JC says he fought side-by-side with the 107th, most of whom were just kids who enlisted after losing family or friends on 9/11. They grew up fast, or died. Bench says now JC can make sure Joey -- who's a doorman at a building in Midtown -- stays alive. JC says he'll do all the usual things he does when becoming a stalker: phone cloning, follow him, the works. He leaves with a little more humor at Bench's expense: "If you're going to work all night, you should try getting some exercise."
Stalking time. JC's set up across from Joey's Midtown building watching Joey do what a doorman does: stand at the door and help people in. Joey gets a text then -- that JC can read, too, thanks to the phone cloning -- that says, "ANCHOR D0.GG-GG.IE. 1630." Then he tells his fellow doorman he has to take off early. Very suspicious. JC fills us in on Joey being engaged to a girl named Pia, who waited six years while Joey was deployed. He watches them kiss in front of a restaurant where Pia's a waitress. Then he follows Joey to a toy store, where Joey gazes in the window like a kid craving a toy. JC talks to Bench -- although JC has no need for a phone at this point, using an earpiece instead -- who we see is doing pushups back in the Library while he reads a book. JC asks what he's doing, and Bench lies that it's nothing. JC's onto his surreptitious exercising, though: "I thought you said you'd never lie to me." JC says he's been tailing Joey for eight hours and he's completely boring. Bench tells him to be patient; the Machine knows what it's doing. JC forwards the text over for Bench to figure out. Bench wonders if "Anchor D Zero" is supposed to mean something, and JC snarks, "I don't know. You're the genius."
Then he follows Joey into a bank. Joey puts on a ski mask (uh, aren't you supposed to do that before you head into the bank) as some other masked guys come in and start shooting guns into the air, telling everyone to get down. They all do, including JC. One of the masked men is counting down one minute as another cleans out whatever money he can find. One of the masked gunmen stops a guy from hitting the emergency button under the teller desk. And JC stops a guard lying to him from getting the gun out of his leg holster by putting his hand over it and shaking his head no. The masked man finishes his countdown and yells at "Sierra" to "Let's go!" They all run out. Bench comes back into JC's earpiece then and tells him he's deciphered that text: It's the street address for a bank. JC's got that all figured out, though, and he also takes back what he said about Joey being boring. Bank robbers may be many things, but boring isn't one of them.
2006. Jessica runs into JC in the airport, calls him "John," and says she didn't know he was back from over there. He says he's not, actually. He's just heading back. She asks where his uniform is, and he says he got a new job. She asks if it's one of those jobs he can't talk about, and he smiles. Surveillance images cut us back to the present, where Bench reminds us that Joey's a bank robber. He says the Machine wouldn't find anything other than lethal intent, but he suggests they gift wrap him and give him to the NYPD before someone winds up dead. But JC's already invested in the good soldier with a waiting girl storyline, so he tells Bench to let him at least see how Joey got into this mess. Bench agrees, but tells JC not to let personal feelings warp his judgment since no one forced him to go rob a bank. JC watches as Joey meets a woman (not Pia), and gives her an envelope full of money. He snaps a picture for Bench.
JC's spying on Joey at his doorman job again, as Bench wonders who the other woman is. He thinks a bank robber and a cheat is unlikely to be a heartwarming story. And he asks JC if he thinks Joey's targeting one of the women. JC thinks he could be, but the only way to find out is to get closer to Joey, but it won't be easy: These guys are organized and ultra-cautious so it won't be easy to make contact. A cab pulls up then, and Joey leans in and takes an envelope of cash. JC notices the cabbie was also at the bank, and sends the cab number -- 5V80 if it matters to anyone -- over to Bench to run a check.
At the Library later, Bench fills JC in: The cab driver's name is Willis, and he's also an ex-soldier in the 107th. And he's also a bank robber. Bench hacked the taxi company website and determined Willis stopped at a Coney Island bar called the Green Zone before stopping to give Joey money. The bar is owned by former Master Sgt. and Gulf War veteran Sam Latimer. JC figures it's the ringleader, and he wants to get close to him, and to join the gang. So he needs Bench to give him a cover story and create a vacancy in the bank robbery club. Bench is all about spoiling his new baby boy rotten, so he's on all of those things.
We can only assume it's all been taken care of, since thing we know JC's showing up at the Green Zone asking for Latimer. The bartender -- Ruben Santiago-Hudson, whom you might recognize as Beckett's former boss on Castle -- is Latimer, turns out, and JC's got a good backstory about being told to find him if he ever needed money. He even has a Marine buddy who supposedly suggested he seek out Latimer, and it's someone Latimer remembers. And someone dead, so Latimer can't check out the story. Phew. JC pretends he's on the run from someone he was working for in Tijuana, and then he doesn't have to pretend when he tells Latimer he's got skills and points out all the hidden guns that JC can get to before Latimer can. Latimer plays tough, and says he won't work with a man whose only reference is a dead Marine. But then he laughs, pours JC a drink, and says there are no job openings at the moment but he'll call around.
Bench is busy creating a job opening for JC at the moment, though. He's in Willis's taxicab. When he leaves, he plants weapons in the trunk and apparently has called it in to police. They show up as Bench limps away, and Willis gets arrested for the crazy arsenal in his trunk.
NYPD. Some detective from robbery shows up asking Carter if she's been seeking out some mystery man, and she gets sassy with him, all "Yeah, what's it to you?!" Instead of returning her sass by leaving and not helping her out, he tells her that her guy's prints were at a robbery scene yesterday and shows her footage of JC grabbing the guard's gun -- saving his life. She notices the robbers are carrying military radios, and says they're Special Forces. Which means her mystery guy fits right in, and could be their inside man. She asks the detective if she can keep this DVD. She's so obsessed with JC, she'll settle for black and white security footage of the back of his head as he lies on the ground.
JC lets Bench know he gets to meet the team tonight. He shows up at Latimer's bar, which is hopping this night. Latimer nods his direction, and Joey leads him outside. The others put a bag over his head, throw him in a chimo van and drive away. They take him somewhere more private, and run down what they've found on him. JC's prepared, because his ID apparently checks out, and his cell phone calls are all to takeout places, a couple from Jarheads in San Diego, and his last call is from Latimer. Joey points a gun at JC's head, and he wonders what this is about since Latimer told them to make him part of the team. Joey says they were also told to put a bullet in his head if they didn't trust him, and right now they don't. JC says that's fine, but the 107 trusted him back in 2005 in Tikrit, and he trusted them. They ask how he knows they were 107, and he says the big fella's got it tattooed all over his arm. Joey drops his weapon, and they all nod at each other. After this hazing, JC gets to join the frat. They give him a new phone, since they smashed his old one, and tell him he doesn't call them; they call him. And, after that, he loses that phone.
JC's with Bench at the Library pontificating about what it takes to kill someone in battle versus killing someone back home and up close. It takes a different sort, and Joey isn't one of them. If Joey's the target, Bench wonders who's gunning for him: one of the gang, one of the women. And Bench wonders why Joey's such a mess anyway, since he's got a job, a great service record and a pretty woman. But he's throwing it all away and could end up in prison or dead. JC acknowledges Bench is right, but adds with the slightest hint of a grin (and a personality) that, "Not every ex-soldier meets a reclusive billionaire." I'd wager most don't, in fact. Bench grants him that, but wants to know who's going to be firing the bullet that Joey's bad choices are leading him toward.
JC spies as Joey surprises his girlfriend while she's waitressing, just to tell her how much he loves her. Pia wants him to look at some apartments with her, but he says things are kind of difficult right now. She gets that -- I mean, being a doorman can be so stressful; they're always bringing their work home -- but she just wants them to do stuff together and be a happy couple again. He tells her he's really trying, then gives her a kiss, and leaves. JC watches with his searing glare, and then flashes back into that memory of bumping into Jessica in 2007. She asks him again about his uniform, and he tells her again about the new job. She asks again if it's a job he can't talk about, and he smiles again. Then he notices a ring, and she awkwardly tells him she got engaged to someone named Peter. JC says he's a lucky guy, and Jessica looks wistful. She chokes up a little as she says she waited for him. But JC says he didn't ask her to. No, he didn't, she says, he just left, because he thought he'd get killed over there and that would hurt her. But she thinks it was truthfully easier for him to be alone. He tells her one of the things he learned over there: "In the end we're all alone, and no one's coming to save you." How very Malcolm Reynolds of him. (That's not a complaint.) He tells her to be happy with Peter, and starts to walk away.
NYPD. Carter asks the robbery detective, Molina, about the robbery gang. He fills her in: They've done more than a dozen robberies, even though gangs like this usually implode after four or five. But not these guys. Carter fills him in on the 148 radio they saw on the security camera, which she knows all about from Iraq and Afghanistan. And you can't get one; you have to steal them from the military. She checked with every base on the East Coast, and Fort Drum had one stolen case of them a few months ago, but no idea who took them. She tells Molina to crosscheck guys who left the service out of Fort Drum in the past few months with the physical descriptions from the twelve robberies. ... And I'm practically asleep. This Carter-trying-to-catch-JC storyline is getting really old really quickly.
JC's watches from behind a building as Joey watches from across the street as the woman Joey gave money to earlier picks up her little girl from school. JC phones it in to Bench, and tells him to look up the little girl, who goes to Sunnydale Kindergarten. Bench tells JC to arrange a little face time with Joey while he looks into it. JC plays it really perfectly by being at the bar and ordering before Joey even gets there (how does he do it?). He even accuses Joey of following him. Joey says he lives here; what's JC's excuse? JC says he's staying in the neighborhood. He buys Joey a drink, but says he's running a little low on funds and hopes they get some action soon. Joey says that's up to Latimer, and they just follow orders. Joey says all he dreamed about for six years was coming home, but when he got home there was no money or jobs, since the bankers lost it all. A couple of eavesdropping suits butt in, and tell them to stop complaining about bankers. JC's all, "We got it. Now please go away." But the suits keep pushing, telling them it's the knowledge economy now, and it's time to use "this, my friend," as he pokes JC in the forehead. Uh-oh. Big mistake. JC does what the guy told him, though, and uses his forehead to butt the guy in the head. Joey punches the other one, and now it's all solidarity and bonding.
Joey and JC walk down the street, and Joey explains why he's in this: He doesn't have a debt, but more like an obligation. JC asks if he has kids, but Joey says no and wonders why JC asks. JC shrugs it off and asks if the others have debts, and Joey says Straub has gambling debts. JC checks in with Bench, who says the girl is Amy Myles, daughter of Stacy Myles, with no father listed. He's checking hospital records. JC says he's going to check on Straub. He stalks him to Latimer's bar, where luckily they're chatting outside so JC can hear. Straub complains about how he's not getting enough money, but Latimer says this is how it works. Straub says the people he owes will take away his mom's apartment if he doesn't get more money. Latimer tells him there's a big score tonight if they do it right. It's $400 grand: $200 for Latimer, and $200 for the guys. Straub's not thrilled at dividing that four ways, so they step inside, and Latimer tells him he can pay off his debts with this, and join Manny and Danny in the land of margaritas. He shows Straub a picture of Danny Platt and Manny Santos, who worked hard and are enjoying their retirement. Straub wonders what happens if there are casualties; is the split still 50-50 with Latimer? Latimer says it is, but they'll make it out since they're a unit.
NYPD. Molina's found a guy who was discharged six months ago: Teddy Dalloway. He's a big guy, but that's not what gave him away. He shows her a security picture and she notices he's left-handed. So they put a GPS lock on his phone, so they can follow him if anything comes up.
JC let's Bench know the gang's picking him up tonight, but Bench doesn't want him going in with them. He dads it up, telling JC he did not understand infiltrating the gang to mean "join them in their robbery." He refrains from asking JC if the gang jumped off a cliff, would he do it too -- but you know he's thinking it. JC has no choice, because he doesn't trust Straub and needs to keep Joey safe. JC asks him to monitor the police band for him. They're in their chimo van heading toward some place where they'll need heavy artillery. Straub passes out machine guns. Carter and Molina are already in the area, since Teddy's GPS is here. The guys mask up and break into a mafia gambling place. Carter and Molina call for backup, and Bench hears the call. He tells JC, and then gets even pushier about it. JC tells the gang the police are coming. They ask how the hell he knows, and he says he's got a police band earpiece and the cops have the address. They load up some money, but Straub doesn't want to go. A mobster pulls a gun, so the gang finally flees. In the alley, Straub snots that he doesn't hear any cops, and they left $100 grand up there. Sirens blare, and Joey tells Straub they're damn lucky JC was listening in. Carter and Molina show up, and just find a bunch of gamblers and mobsters. Carter practically cries.
Straub's in Coney Island filling Latimer in on the close call with the cops. He says that Joey and the new guy said to leave the money. Latimer's not pleased, and says they let him down. Straub promises to make it up to him, so Latimer gives him one more chance, and it's a big one. He tells him to keep an eye on the new guy, who he might need going in but not coming out. JC and Bench are listening, and Bench wants to wrap this up before someone gets killed. JC wants to talk to Joey first, to find out what his guilt trip is and try to cure him of it. Bench says it might be complicated. He's paid nearly $10,000 for the past four months into a savings plan for Amy Myles to go to college. JC says it must be his kid, but Bench says she's not. Her daddy was Frank Stephens, and was killed in Afghanistan, in the 107th, the same unit as Joey.
JC meets up with Joey in Coney Island. They discuss their meet, which is coming up. JC says he understands Straub needs the money, but Joey doesn't. Joey says he already told him about his obligation. JC asks if he left someone behind, and Joey says it was his friend, who took his part on patrol and got killed. He tells him that this guy Frank went to guard a visiting politician for him, right after his girl had had a baby back home. Then an IED ripped him to pieces, and that became Joey's debt. He says Frank was going to give his girl money for college, and he would have. So now Joey's going to do it. Joey says he hasn't told anyone else, not even his girlfriend. JC tells Joey that he's still fighting the war, and his girlfriend's still waiting. Joey swears he'll be with her completely as soon as this is done. JC tells him to be with her now; don't do this job. But Joey says his friend got killed and he has to take care of her kid. It's a tale as old as time, folks: He's a bank robber with a heart of gold. I mean, they almost always have good reasons, right?
JC's eating at Pia's restaurant, and tells her she's even prettier than Joey said. He says he's an Army friend, just in New York for a few days. He tells her Joey's crazy about her, but she says all his friends know more than she does. She's starting to wonder if he's going to let her in, since she waited six years and it's like he's still there. Then she apologizes for crying all over the customers. JC tells her she's beautiful, and if Joey doesn't come to his senses, there are plenty of fish in the sea. But she says she's stuck; she's loved him since she was young, which is just the way it is. Bench asks if JC got anywhere with Joey, but he says he didn't, so they'll call the cops as soon as they find out what the job is. Bench says JC did what he could, and JC agrees. But he's not exactly jumping for joy.
Carter shows Molina some "retirement" photos of Danny Platt and Manny Santos. They're dead, you see, which is what Latimer's planning for Straub and the rest, duh. Carter says that's why the gang doesn't fall out: Someone bumps them off after a few jobs and recruits some new guys. In other words, Willis the cabbie is the lucky one. Latimer's tossed the photo of Danny and Manny in the trash back at his bar, already ready to replace it with the crop, I guess. He's on the phone with someone as Bench listens in. Latimer calls whoever's on the other end "Sir," and says the gang knows the target is the long-term evidence lockup under Center Street, with the cage number and precise instructions to recover the item. In the chimo van, Straub fills them all in on the target. He says the cage is crawling with cops and feds, and they're stealing just one item, which will be easily concealed. He doesn't know what it is, but it's worth $400 grand. Back on Latimer's call, Bench hears "Sir" tell Latimer to leave "no loose ends," and Latimer understands. He says the team was cracking up anyway, and it's time to refresh. Bench panics a little. In the van, Straub gives everyone new, clean weapons from Latimer, then asks for everyone's cell phones and pagers to be thrown into his five-gallon bucket of water. As Bench dials JC's earpiece, Straub tells JC (at gunpoint) his earpiece needs to go in, too. JC dumps it in the bucket, and Bench's connection goes dark. Um, what happened to calling the cops as soon as they knew what the job was? Was that plan made so long ago that both Bench and JC have forgotten? Because I thought it was, like, one scene back.
Evidence locker. Someone knocks, and the cop on duty checks the peephole, where he sees a NYPD badge. He opens up, and the masked gang busts in, knocking both guards out. As Bench shows up at the evidence cage with a cover story, the gang heads down to where he is. They force everyone down on the ground, and JC's obviously eyeing Bench. Good thing for him, they put JC in charge of guarding Bench. As Straub and Joey hunt for the cage that contains their $400,000 object, Teddy and JC guard the hostages. JC tells Bench to stop staring at him, then tells Teddy to "Leave him!" Teddy somehow gets what he means and doesn't have a problem with it, replies "Not a problem," and turns away. If you understand what just took place, please email me because I'm at a loss about that exchange between JC and Teddy. I understand why the show wanted it to happen, though, because it gives JC a chance to pull Bench close and Bench to whisper sweet nothings in his ear. Oh, wait. Wrong show. He whispers that Latimer's set them up. JC pushes him back down, and tells Teddy to wait here. He heads into the cages to warn the others. One of the NYPD guards on the floor pulls out a gun and hides it under him. Bench sees it happen.
JC catches up with Straub and Joey and tells them Latimer set them up. Straub tells him not to pull that crap again. He finds the evidence box, and takes an envelope that says, "Elias, M." Straub turns, points his gun at JC, and says maybe he's the trap. JC awesomely pushes the gun down, and tells Straub if he points that thing at him again, JC will shoot him with it. He towers over Straub, too, which helps with the intimidation factor. They all run out, past Bench, who motions at JC to go on with them. JC tells Teddy, "Let's go," and they head out. The cop on the floor shoots at them on the way out, and gets Teddy in the leg. Just like in war, JC won't leave a man behind.
NYPD. Molina lets Carter know there's been a shooting at an evidence locker. Someone who saw four guys go in, heard shots, then saw four guys come out five minutes later called it in. Back on the street, Joey and JC help a hobbling Teddy as Straub runs ahead to the chimo van. JC tells Joey to take Teddy to the van, and he'll cover him. It seems like JC's making his get-away before they all get caught (or killed), but I'm confused why he doesn't keep at least Joey safe and with him. Straub opens the van, where Latimer's waiting inside. Straub gives him the envelope, and Latimer tells him he's a good soldier. Then he shoots him in the chest. All the others turn attentive. Latimer comes out gun blazing at the others. He shoots and kills Teddy. Joey tries to shoot back, but his weapon won't fire. He hides behind a car as JC pulls out the weapon he has stashed in the back of his pants. He shoots back at Latimer, who jumps back in the van, which speeds away. JC tells Joey that Latimer must have ground down the pins so his weapon wouldn't fire, then tells Joey they've got to run as sirens blare. Carter and Molina show up and find the two dead guys, one with one of the military radios on him.
On the other side of the building, JC tells Joey they'll be onto him as soon they ID Straub, and he's got to get out of the city. He tells him to go South or West, but he can't stay here. Joey says he can't leave with someone here, but JC gets urgent. He tells him if he stays here, he'll be looking at her from behind bars for twenty years. He tells her to call her and ask her to go with him. "She loves you, Joey. Just tell her it's going to be you and her now. Just you and her." Joey takes off, and Carter starts coming through on JC's radio. She asks if he can hear her, and says she thinks he can. She guesses he's out there, hiding in plain sight. She's on the same side of the building he's on now, looking around for him. She tells him she keeps looking for him, but finding herself in bad situations. He replies that she could always stop looking for him, but she says it's not an option. She says she has two more bodies now, and she doesn't think he killed them but she thinks he knows who did. He says he'll take care of him. She says he's playing a dangerous game, but he says he has his reasons. She's sure he does, but says every killer she locks up thinks he has reasons. And this is how this will end, she threatens, with her locking him up or finding him bleeding out somewhere. He grins and tells her he'll take his chances. You can actually see her on the steps in the background as he walks through the park and away.
She heads down to the evidence locker and past Bench, who's finishing up being questioned by investigators. She doesn't give him so much as a look, but he notices her. She heads back into the cage with Molina. The officers on the scene show them what the robbers took: It's just an empty evidence box that says, "Elias, M." It also says "H73-36" to "Case" and "58-1278" to "NYSID No." For those J.J. Abrams fans obsessed with numbers.
Bench asks JC why he let their bank robber get away. JC says he paid his dues and deserves a second chance. But they're not quite done. Latimer's meeting with Sir Elias, whose face we don't get to see. I still think this is Latimer's big boss, despite some objection by forum posters who think he's just a client. I don't think a client can make him kill off his team at the end of a mission, but maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe it is a client, and the kill-off was just part of the deal. I'm not sure it really matters, though, because this is the last we'll see of Latimer (but I sure hope it's not the last we see of Sir Elias). Latimer asks if they're done as Sir Elias looks through the envelope. It's a picture of what looks like a dead woman, and a picture of a bloody knife. There's also a wrapped-up knife and the case paperwork. Latimer tells Sir Elias they better talk money. Surveillance images cut to JC walking into Latimer's place, where he finds him dead. He tells Bench someone else got here first. Bench asks if he has any idea who, and JC says the name on the box said "Elias." Does that mean anything to Bench? He says no, and he better look into it.
JC goes back to stalking Joey, just long enough to watch Pia show up at the bus station to head off into the fugitive future with her man. JC flashes back to 2007, and tells Jessica they're all alone in the end again. He wishes her happiness with Peter and tries to walk away. But she turns and tells him he doesn't believe that, really. She asks him if he wants to be brave, and tells him to take a risk: "Ask me to wait for you. Say those words, and I will." He doesn't say anything, so she gets teary. She says that would take real courage, wouldn't it, and walks off in tears. He watches her go, his own eyes fill with tears, and he whispers -- even more whispery than his usual whisper-talking - "Wait for me. Please." I know we only get tiny doses of their backstories each episode, but those are definitely the pieces keeping me hooked. This show's doing a pretty excellent job balancing CBS's need for procedural dramas with smart TV fans' need for an interesting mythology. Let's just hope they can sustain it, and that they don't take forever to give us a few bigger glimpses than we've gotten in these first few episodes.
week: Lindsay Weir's here as Megan Tillman, who goes to Columbia Medical School. She has a dangerous, double life because she's apparently attracted to a sexual predator. That never goes well.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, is developing a fondness for surveillance images as a between-scene mechanism. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.