So I actually thought that I can actually post every single day without missing. But I was seduced by a succubus called procrastination; she’s a sexy demon, I tell ya.

I don’t have anything to talk about therefore I am writing this without anything particular in mind. I am basically just talking to myself at this point. Maybe I’ll just state what I like about life in general.

I used to watch a lot of TV shows going back ten years, mostly police-procedural. I think the first ones that I watched are Arrow (because I’m a DC fanboy, and it’s such a revolutionary step to take a comic book character to modern TV) and House MD (because I attended medical school).

Arrow wasn’t great. Frankly now that I have the time to rethink things, it was only good because it’s DC. It’s trying so hard to be Batman, which is weird because Green Arrow is an entirely different character with its own unique persona. I stopped watching after Season 5 because there were plenty missed opportunities, and I hate that they destroy my beautiful Deathstroke.

I hope I bore you already because I’m going to endlessly rant about the best TV Show I’ve had the pleasure to encounter: Person of Interest. First of all, it’s way ahead of its time. And I mean, waaaaaay ahead. An enigmatic billionaire hired an ex-CIA to do his legwork, saving people. The billionaire in question is portrayed by Michael Emerson, which if you’ve watched Lost, you must have understood Reese’s apparent distrust towards him. You will also understand Reese’s skepticism and his eagerness to learn his employer true identity, or at least uncover deeper layers to an extreme measure. To the point of employing the work of a corrupt NYPD detective to keep tabs on Harold Finch, the billionaire in question. In this work, I would like to delve deep into each psyche of the main character, starting from their backstory to relationships with other characters and maybe a glimpse of their philosophy.

John Reese

An ex-CIA operative in Special Activities Division (SAD). Before CIA, he enlisted in US Army, and rose to the rank of a Sergeant before he decided to settle down with Jessica Arndt. During their weekend together, the 9/11 happened. As a soldier, he felt obliged to protect his country therefore postponed, and in time, broke his engagement with Jessica. He returned to serve and being assigned to CIA National Clandestine Service. There, he met two pivotal characters Mark Snow, as his CIA handler, and Kara Stanton as his partner. John was forced to leave his old life behind. His whole military career is redacted, he lost every bit of identity except his first name: John. “Reese” was proposed by Kara Stanton to be his last name.

Mr. Reese. Mysteries. Clever, I know.

There was one chain of events that send shivers down my spine whenever I watch it. A scene where Snow professed that they are currently operating in a hostile country, only to be revealed in the next scene that they are, in fact, home, in the United States. John went out for a drink, purposefully picking a bar where Peter Arndt, Jessica’s current husband, frequents. Before he meet Jessica, Kara came up to him and told him to leave the past behind. That they no longer exist in the world. To which John replied “We’re walking in the dark. I know this speech.”. Kara explained about how she also missed her family on her first rotation back home, but she can’t really tell her anything. She close the statement with “This isn’t some speech. We are not walking in the dark. We are the dark.”.

His last mission in the clandestine service was to retrieve a computer virus in Ordos, China along with Kara. Snow gave an order to “retire” Agent Stanton during the op because she was compromised. Unbeknownst to him, Kara was given the exact same order. It was not until he get shot by Kara that he realized that they got played by the organization he swore his life for. He managed to escape the blast of a missile strike and returned home. Not for a one-man crusade against the CIA, the agency that burned him, but to see his old lover: Jessica.

His journey back home did not end well. Jessica died in a car crash. A man with no identity, no home, not even a single scratch in human history because there is nobody to remember him by. A man, with no meaning. His single purpose in life was to investigate what truly happened with Jessica. It was then proven that his intuition was still sharp; Jessica did not die in a car crash. The car crash was a cover up from his husband. The best part about the ending of this saga is not clear whether he murdered Peter Arndt, or throw him in a hell-hole somewhere.

And then comes the opening scene, where he became a hobo, defeating armed thugs in subway for self-preservation purpose. He was detained by Detective Joss Carter, who immediately recognized his background in special force. Before she got far enough to uncover his identity, a lawyer came in and paid for his bail. Someone is watching over Mr. Reese. He eventually met his future employer, Harold Finch, who then become his other part of The Batman if that makes any sense.

This is where the boring character study starts. Since the beginning of Season 1, it is quite apparent that John Reese, or whatever his last name is, already lost. His life ended right after he became a covert operative. He is a cold-blooded killing machine, designed only to follow orders that are mostly assassination. After Jessica, he spiraled down the rabbit hole, drinking his life away. Finch even suggested that he might’ve consider a more efficient way to end his life. As it’s very common for people that has a tragic major event in their lives and lost a sense of purpose, it’s not a farfetched deduction. Furthermore, a man of his caliber can obviously find work in darker corners of the world. Yet, he did not.

Throughout the series, John has always portrayed as having very little self-interest. From giving out most of his salary to the homeless community–his home, before Finch–, ready to give up his life for complete strangers, to saving Finch in the hand of a lunatic hacker/mercenary. He is in no way reckless, as every step he take is calculated (as Finch suggested later, John Reese is a “surgical scalpel”). From the very little that we know about his past, we know that John’s adopted father died during his fourth tour in Vietnam and that he was posthumously regarded as selfless and even heroic. This might also be the basis of John’s interest in joining the military, and in turn, the CIA. That all he ever wanted was to die a hero. Under a psychological review later on, he was diagnosed with having a hero complex (to which I surmised, might have been messiah complex). But I personally don’t think it’s quite accurate to describe him as such. He lost a good friend at the end of season 3, a friend we all know and love for her dedication to the cleansing of the police force. Though it has been well-stated since the beginning of the show that he lives in borrowed time, he is not doing very good at coping with the death of a close friend, which in turn makes him, for lack of a better term, suicidal.

Above all heroism and patriotism, John longs for personal connection the most. His cold, distant persona does not make it easy for him to make friends, especially in his line of work. Being in a covert group fulfills his sense of belonging. His savior complex does not necessarily spans through the whole general population, it’s restricted to the lovable bunch he is in. This is also true because in the start of season 2, when Harold was kidnapped, he made a deal with The Machine. He wouldn’t do the whole saving people fiasco without Harold. He lost too many people; he’s just ready to die for a cause.

In summary, this character is perfectly build. There are very little character developments, since he’s kind of well done from the start. He’s still secretive, keep every bit of information close to his chest, but has very little self-interest. The only notable development is that when he realized he can’t save everyone, he can still save people he cared about. The ending is so fitting to this character development: he sacrificed himself for a greater cause his other half started. He died with a meaning, a purpose, hell, a job.

Note: I was going to make the whole main cast as one long-ass article. But even John Reese took me a week to write. If I continue at this pace, I’ll probably need a month to finish and I don’t like that. Consider this an introduction to the show, and I think one character is enough.