One Percent (S2x14)
Airdate: 7 February 2013
Written by: Denise Thé & Melissa Scrivner Love Directed by: Chris Fisher
Running Time: 44 minutes
Person of Interest has consistently demonstrated a strong desire to avoid procedural monotony, striving to ensure that each new episode of the series feels distinct from the last. To achieve this, the creators have introduced unusual characters that serve as the targets for Reese and Finch to save. While many numbers represent the downtrodden or ordinary citizens, the figure who serves this function in Season 2 episode One Percent is arguably one of the most extraordinary and memorable to date. This individual is Logan Pierce, a character who brings a unique flavour to the show’s usual dynamic of the anonymous saviours versus the desperate invisible.
Logan Pierce is played with charismatic intensity by Jimmi Simpson, who portrays a self-made billionaire currently serving as the CEO of friendczar.com, a social media site he had founded with his best friend Justin Ogilvy (Charlie Semine). The two met at CalTech ten years ago and have built an empire together. However, the Machine has churned Pierce’s number mere days before friendczar.com shares are scheduled to go public, signalling that his life is in imminent peril. It quickly becomes apparent that protecting Pierce will not be a straightforward task, as his bottomless pockets have rendered him reckless and arrogant. Reese attempts to infiltrate his circles by posing as a large investor and outbidding Pierce at a charity auction, but these attempts to follow Pierce ultimately fail. Consequently, Reese is forced to take a direct approach, confronting Pierce to inform him that his life is in danger and that he intends to protect him. Pierce, intrigued by the offer, calls Reese to his apartment, an action that allows Reese to save his life when it is revealed that his drink was poisoned. This incident occurs just as his board of directors has removed him from the position of CEO. Later, after following Reese, Pierce meets both him and Finch, expressing his admiration for their ability to remain anonymous for so long. They offer him a safehouse, but instead, he calls Reese to follow him to St. Petersburg, Russia. There, in a bunker that has been converted into a social club, Pierce finally confronts his attorney, Jeremy Campbell (Chandler Williams), who had left his fingerprints on the glass of the poisoned drink. The motive for the assassination attempt was Pierce’s intention to drop Campbell as his lawyer.
With Campbell presumably arrested for attempted murder, Pierce feels a temporary sense of safety. However, it turns out he had brought his former rival, Emily Morton (Brooke Bloom), a software engineer who had created the social media site alchementary.com, to St. Petersburg with him. Pierce, having been ousted from his own company, intends to start a new site and desires Emily’s help. Pierce calls his friends to St. Petersburg to celebrate, but one of the guests is Ogilvy. In that moment, the Machine again churns Ogilvy’s name. Ogilvy, seemingly having a change of heart or seeking control, orders his thugs to throw Pierce into the river, but he is saved once again by Reese.
Back in New York City, Pierce is grateful to Reese and Finch for saving his life once more, expressing his gratitude by gifting them a US$ 2 million watch. Finch, however, smashes the watch to the ground and discovers a GPS tracking device inside. Reese and Finch realise that they now have to worry about an extremely wealthy person who would stop at nothing to learn about them.
A side storyline, which is barely noticeable amidst the main plot, shows how Fusco struggles to admit his problematic past to Carter when she begins investigating the disappearances of two NYPD detectives. This subplot adds a layer of personal conflict for Fusco but remains secondary to the Logan Pierce narrative.
The flashbacks in the episode also seem almost perfunctory. They primarily serve to show the moment Finch was told about 9/11 by Ingram and how they decided to build the Machine. Later, in 2009, Ingram, unhappy over the Machine not being used to help ordinary people, decides to act on a churned number by trying to protect a woman in danger. These moments, while pivotal to the series mythology, feel tacked on rather than integral to the pacing of this specific episode.
One Percent is in its essence a weak, by-the-numbers episode that serves as some sort of procedural “filler” between episodes that continue the general story arc. The script by Denise Thé and Melissa Scrivner Love describes typical corporate intrigue that is complicated with plenty of “red herrings” and Pierce being targeted by not one but two factions with different agendas. The finale, in particular, is rather confusing, showing a quality of scriptwriting that was below the usual standards of Person of Interest.
What ultimately makes this episode watchable is Jimmi Simpson, who delivers great work playing the role of an arrogant “tech bro” who is obviously modelled on Mark Zuckerberg. Simpson describes Pierce as an eccentric who nevertheless, at the end of the day, wants to do the right thing. However, being someone as close to Finch’s skills and financial resources, represents a potential danger or adversary for the protagonists. It is this potential that makes the episode justifiable in the grand scheme of things, providing a compelling foil to the show’s usual dynamic.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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