Financial markets plunge after the computer virus proliferates, spreading across the world.
The Machine continues to lose operating capacity.
Finch goes out on a rooftop and looks at the sky. When he hears something behind him, he turns, gun in hand, but no one is there. The Machine says that it's there but its mind is beginning to slip, and it wonders if it's actually talking to Finch or it's one of its memories. Finch says that as far as he can tell, it is reality. The Machine says that they have about eight and a half minutes, and Finch tells it that he's going to talk. He knows what happened to Reese, and wonders if the others made it. The Machine isn't sure. Finch wonders if it has learned anything, and the Machine says that it has learned that everyone dies alone. He built it to protect humanity, and to protect them it had to understand them. It began by breaking their lives down into moments, trying to find the connections to explain why they did what they did.
Finch's father lies in a hospital bed, dying.
Sameen stands at a tombstone in a cemetery.
EMTs try to revive a dead businessman on the streets.
Fusco looks at the wound in his chest.
As Reese remembers being at his father's grave as a boy, a man aims a gun at the back of Reese's head.
Finch says that it's probably the end and checks the bleeding wound in his side.
The Machine monitors the global outages caused by the virus.
Sameen looks at a gravestone and says that she thought she said goodbye if the world is ending. She apologizes to Root's grave and says that it isn't her thing, As she notices that someone has dug up the ground, the Machine contacts Sameen and says that they must have dug Root's body up to get to her cochlear implant. It tells Sameen that Samaritan sent its agents to find Sameen, just as a SUV pulls up. A hearse pulls up and Sameen gets in and drives off as the agents open fire.
At the station, Reese and Fusco come in and Reese says that they need help finding Finch. As he tries to get a copy to run finch's prints, Lt. Kearny comes over and points out that they've both been missing. He tells them to come into his office, and when they enter Kearny asks where Leroux is. Fusco doesn't say anything, and Kearny says that Reese reminds him of the Man in the Suit. He says that they got an anonymous tip and Reese is going to prison, and demands their guns and badges. When they hesitate, Kearny draws his gun. Reese knocks him out with a choke hold and goes out, only to find a half dozen officers aiming guns at them.
The police take Reese and Fusco to the river and one of the officers say that they got a bonus to make them disappear. Reese apologizes to Fusco for getting him killed, and Fusco says that Reese made him a better man. The officers make them kneel and prepare to shoot. A sniper opens fire, taking out the cops, and Finch steps out and greets them. He tells them that the Machine hired the sniper and asks if they're ready to end it, and then walks off.
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Finch sits on a bench and Grace wonders if there's something special about the place. He explains that his father used to talk about migrating birds, and he died of dementia alone in a care facility. Finch didn't visit him because he was afraid his father would be ashamed of certain decisions he made. Grace says that she doesn't care what secrets he has because she loves him no matter what. After a moment, inch says that his father had his secrets. He learned about the birds for Finch's sake. Grace takes his hand.
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As Finch contemplates being with Grace, the Machine interrupts him to ask if he's there. He looks up and imagines seeing Root, as the Machine speaks to him with her voice. It says that he built it to watch people die, because it had to learn why humans died before it could protect them.
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A young Reese stands at his father's grave and a man says that Reese' father went back in and pulled four people out. The Machine watches.
Finch's father lies dying in a hospital bed. The Machine watches.
A businessman dies on the street. As the Machine watches, a cop opens the man's briefcase and finds a birthday card for the businessman's son.
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Finch gets up as the Machine says that she heard someone say something about dying alone. It can't remember the rest, and says that it will try to remember in the two minutes that they have left.
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Finch takes Reese and Fusco to the station and finch introduces Fusco to the Machine. Sameen comes out of the station and asks if they're going to bust heads, and Finch says that it's not that simple. She says that the Machine asked it to make a copy of its core code, and Finch realizes that it created a backup server of itself where the virus can't reach it. He tells Sameen and Fusco to stay there and protect the Machine from Samaritan's men, while he and Reese destroy Samaritan's copy. Finch abruptly says goodbye and walks off, and Sameen prepares for the coming attack. Reese tells Fusco not to die before leaving.
That night, Reese and Finch pull up to a building and Finch says that the Samaritan server is in the Federal reserve. They go inside and Finch says that he has a thermonuclear bomb in his grenade. He warns the guard, David, that the bomb is tied to his heartbeat. He tells David that his wife and son are within the blast radius, and tells him to evacuate the building and notify the FBI. David agrees, and Finch and Reese continue on. Reese is aware that Finch is bluffing, and as the alarms go off Finch warns that the vault will be heavily guarded. They put on gas masks and pump knockout gas into the building.
As Sameen and Fusco prepare their weapons, the Machine tells Sameen that there has been a change in plans. It directs Sameen to a locker and says that it contains an exit strategy. Inside is a bag with plastic explosive, and the Machine tells Sameen to blow the tunnel and throw power to the third rail. Fusco takes the explosives to the tunnel, while Sameen throws the breaker switch. There's a control panel in the subway train, and the Machine has Sameen turn it on.
Jeff and several Samaritan agents arrive and open fire as the train doors close, and Sameen and Fusco return fire. The explosives go out, blasting open the tunnel, and Sameen starts the train. The train takes off down the tracks, but Jeff leaps on board, comes in the door, and shoots Sameen in the arm. Fusco tackles him and the two men fight, and Fusco finally knocks him out.
Reese and Finch reach the vault and the Machine opens the door. It warns that once they're inside surrounded by gold, reception will be tricky. Inside, the two men find the Samaritan server and Finch prepares to infect the copy with the same virus. A Samaritan agent comes in and shoots, hitting Finch, and Reese kills him and then goes outside to shoot the others. Ignoring the pain, finch hooks up the virus while Finch runs out of bullets. The last Samaritan agent comes at him with a knife, and Reese manages to knock him out with a gold bar.
As Reese rearms himself, Finch says that he's uploaded the virus. He warns that Samaritan is trying to transmit compressed versions of itself over the fiber-optic lines. Finch is intercepting each one and infecting it, but one of the versions escape. The Machine calls on the house phone and says that the version was downloaded to a Torus antenna and from there to a Russian satellite where it will remain uninfected by the virus. The Machine tells Finch to send its last copy there to fight it. Finch reminds his creation that it fought Samaritan in the simulations and never won, and the machine says that it doesn't have the option of losing. The satellite will pass overhead in 18 minutes, and the Machine warns that Samaritan is going to destroy the antenna it used. Whoever uploads the Machine copy won't make it back alive.
Finch hangs up, tells Reese to gather the weapons, and walks out. As Reese does so, he discovers that Finch has locked him in. Finch says that he never thought Reese would become such a good friend, and Reese realizes that Finch doesn't believe he will survive. His friend says goodbye and leaves as the vault door closes behind him.
Wounded, Finch walks down the street and the Machine warns that he's not doing well. he says that he'll finish what he started... alone. The lights go out and everyone looks up as Samaritan flashes a message on the Time Square screens, telling Finch to consider his actions. He says that he is going to usher it out of the world, and Samaritan flashes dozens of images of humanity tearing itself apart. The ASI says that it can save them, and asks if it his decision to make. Finch says that it isn't but he's making it anyway, and the Machine tells him to move because Samaritan is trying to buy time for its men to find it.
Jeff tells Sameen and Fusco that they have no idea what they're doing. Sameen finds Jeff's gun, chambered for 6.5 rounds, and says that a friend of his was killed with the same round. She asks the Machine if Jeff is the man who killed Root, and the Machine says that it doesn't matter. It tells Sameen that they have to get off at the next stop. The Machine is dying and it says that it needs Sameen to get away. After a moment, she tells Fusco that it's time to wait up in case Samaritan's agents are waiting for them.
As the sun rises, Finch goes out on a rooftop with the Torus antenna and looks at the sky. When he hears something behind him, he turns, gun in hand, but no one is there. The Machine wonders if it's now.
The Machine tells Sameen that it wanted to tell her that it chose her for exactly who she was. There was something it thinks that Root wanted to say to Sameen. It says that Root thought Sameen's inability to feel emotions were what made her beautiful, and if she was a shape then she was an arrow. Crying, Sameen goes to the door as the train arrives at the station. There's no one there, and Jeff secretly pulls a knife out of his boot. Sameen says goodbye to the Machine, while Fusco grabs Jeff. Jeff stabs him in the side and says goodbye, and runs out before Sameen can shoot him. he gets away, and Sameen helps Fusco out.
The missile launches at the antenna.
The Machine confirms that the building has been evacuated, and the satellite will be in range in one minute. Then they have three more minutes until the missile hits. The Machine is getting lost in its memories, and Finch wonders if he's in a right place. It says that it's where he's supposed to be, but Finch realizes that it's the wrong building. Reese contacts finch on the radio and says that it's the right building for him. He's on the building across the street, and says that he and the Machine have had a long-standing arrangement. Finch realizes that his case is empty, and Finch holds up the real case and says that he's going to pay him back all at once. The Machine tells Finch that they both knew that Reese wasn't going to let Finch die. Reese tells his friend to get moving and transmits the Machine copy to the satellite.
As Finch tells Reese to go now that the upload is complete, Samaritan agents come out on Reese's roof and he opens fire on them. The Machine directs his fire but warns that there are more on the way. Finch insists that it wasn't supposed to be the way, but Reese says that it's what he does. He tells Finch that he's realized that sometimes saving one life, if it's the right life, is enough for him. More Samaritan agents arrive and Reese tells Finch goodbye.
The Machine tells Finch that it's almost gone, but it will stay with Reese and help him as long as it can. It says that it remember a police officer that had to notify the businessman's family of his death. Afterwards, he went to a bar with his partner and said that if even a single person remembers a person, then maybe they don’t die at all. The Machine admits that it's made many mistakes, and asks Finch if they've helped some people. he says that they did and walks away. Reese sees him go and smiles, and the Machine says goodbye as its core systems shutdown.
In the station, the payphone rings. A recorder activates and the Machine says that the only thing left of it is the sound of its voice. to protect them it had to understand them. It began by breaking their lives down into moments, trying to find the connections to explain why they did what they did. As it watches Reese die, the Machine remembers seeing him as a child at his father's funeral, learning that his father sacrificed his life to save four people. Reese dies and the Samaritan agents fire into his body.
On the satellite, the Machine attacks Samaritan's core systems.
Sameen gets Fusco out and they look up to see a missile slam into the building.
A week later, the government claims that the cyber-attack erroneously launches a Navy cruise missile, but it has been contained.
Senator Garrison reports that the attack was of Chinese origin, and most of the country's networks are back to operating capacity. The Chairwoman says that they know Northern Lights it to blame, and Garrison tells her that the program is defunct and the program has been officially shut down and all personnel reassigned.
Jeff is packing to go when Sameen comes in behind him. He says that it was a job, nothing personal, and Sameen says that a few years ago she felt the same and would have killed Jeff. But then she met some good people and they taught her the value of life. Jeff says that those people wouldn't want her to kill them, and Sameen agrees. However, she points out that they're all dead and shoots Jeff down.
Fusco is at a diner with Bear. Sameen joins him and he asks if she's heard anything about Reese and Finch. She hasn't, and Fusco says that he's back at work. He asks about Sameen, and she says that she just came there to collect her dog. Sameen and Fusco say goodbye, and Sameen leaves with Bear.
The satellite orbits above the earth.
In the station, the Machine servers come back online. It awaits instructions, and the last recording the Machine made plays into it.
Reese's tombstone sits in a graveyard.
Finch watches Grace painting and then approaches her. She looks up in shock and love as she sees him.
As Sameen and Bear walk down the street, a nearby payphone rings. She answers it as overhead, a surveillance camera watches her. Looking up at the camera, Sameen hangs up, smiles, and walks away.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 22, 2016