When the drug gang the Brotherhood was introduced in the season premiere, I figured it was more of a one off thing with their only purpose being to propel the plot forward and provide Finch (Michael Emerson) with phones to create a private cell network away from the eyes of Samaritan. Little did I know they would show up again so soon. Not only that, after tonight’s episode, it appears they may be here to stay at least for the time being.

The focus this week is on Malcolm Booker (Amir Mitchell-Townes) and his little sister, Tracy (Kaci Walfall). They are Finch’s new numbers, and upon tailing them, Finch can already tell they have gotten themselves into something bad. They ditch school, they go shopping for clothes on 5th avenue, and they pay for them from money in a big bag of cash. Of course, the real tell is they flee when Finch tries to approach them.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait long to find out what these kids did to get themselves on the Machine’s list. The big break comes at the scene of a drug deal gone wrong between the Brotherhood and the Armenians . There are heavy casualties on both sides, and of course, Reese (Jim Caviezel) as our friendly homicide detective, John Riley, is one of the first on the scene. Also on the scene is DEA Agent Lennix who has been following the Brotherhood’s activities for quite some time.

There is only one survivor — presumably one of the Brotherhood’s lieutenants — Mini (Winston Duke) who is severely injured, and while all of the drugs are accounted for, the money is missing. It doesn’t take long for Reese and Agent Lennix to connect the dots and realize that the two kids stole the money. But, what would they want it for, and why would they go buy clothes and a cell phone as soon as they find the money?

Reese and Lennix do finally catch up to the kids, but by then, the Brotherhood knows they have the money and so, the price on these two poor kids’ heads is pretty high. To keep them safe and to regroup and figure out what to do next, Reese makes a brilliant move of taking them to a closed homicide crime scene he worked earlier in the week (Ha! Absolutely loved this). Here we learn the kids are in foster care because their mother is in prison for a gun possession charge, and Malcolm’s plan is to use the money to hire a “an Ivy League, Dream Team” lawyer to get their mother out so they can be a family again.

Of course, Reese emphasizes that he understands their plight but this isn’t the way, and it’s only going to get them both killed. He promises them that if they turn over the money, when this is all over, he will help them and it will be done the right way. After some nudging, Malcolm finally turns over the location where he hid the money, and Agent Lennix leaves to retrieve it.

 

In the meantime, we haven’t forgotten about the survivor at the crime scene, Mini, and Shaw (Sarah Shahi) is sent in undercover as an EMT to try and find out who the Brotherhood’s leader, Dominick, is and where he’s holing up at. We all know that Shaw is tough as nails, but so is this Mini, and so her beat downs and threatening tactics really make no impact. So, on to Plan B, which is to allow Mini to “escape” and then just follow him using the tracking device she planted (and, it turns out she also planted tracking devices on Reese, Finch and the rest of the team. Ha! Love this girl).

This is where things get really interesting, and it all hits the fan. Agent Lennix had talked about moles for the Brotherhood in the NYPD and the DEA, but it turns out that she was the actual mole and had already passed on the location of Reese and the kids to Link (Jamie Hector, The Strain) and the Brotherhood. However, she isn’t done and ends up double-crossing the Brotherhood and try to keep all of the drug money for herself. How stupid. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how that is going to turn out. Meanwhile Mini leads Shaw to a laundromat where they have a good deal of their drugs stored. It doesn’t appear to be their base of operation, but it is a pretty good start.

In the end, everything works out — at least sort of. Fusco (Kevin Chapman) finally shows up and between him and Reese, they are able to get the kids to safety. Reese also finds an attorney willing to help the kids’ mother pro bono, and so, it looks like they may be a family again soon but without resorting to using bad drug money. And, Agent Lennix gets exactly what she deserved with a bullet between the eyes.

Agent Lennix being the mole wasn’t too surprising, and I actually suspected it as soon as it was mentioned that they had a mole. However, the revelation of who the Brotherhood’s leader was really threw me for a loop, and I honestly didn’t see it coming. In the last few minutes of the episode, we learn that Mini isn’t just a lowly lieutenant but is the boss-man, Dominick, himself. Holy crap! I actually had Link pegged as possibly being Dominick, and so, this was a shocker for me. What’s more, he’s interested in Malcolm and plans on springing his mother from prison as the first step in trying to recruit him into the Brotherhood. And, to make matters worse, Reese and Shaw are officially on this guy’s shit list with everything that went down. You can bet this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these guys.

Besides the big Dominick twist at the end, we are also re-introduced to fan favorite, Elias (Enrico Colantoni), who just like the Brotherhood was also in the season premiere. He meets Finch (and we should recall that Elias likes to play chess with Finch and does seem to really be fond of him) and inside the library book “The Invisible Man” by H.G. Wells is the address of the laundromat that Dominick led Shaw to.

I know you like to stay close to your enemies and so, I figured you’d want this — Finch to Elias

So Elias is now officially in the middle of the war between Finch’s team and the Brotherhood that is brewing. However, the more interesting part is how much Elias is prodding Finch for what has caused everything to change and why they now have these new “jobs.” Of course, Finch says nothing but will he eventually trust Elias to clue him into the Machine’s existence?

All in all, a really good episode. There were a few predictable parts, like the Agent Lennix traitor arc, but there were enough real surprises in the episode to balance it. Plus, I am loving the possibility of Elias coming back with a potentially bigger role. His character has been with the series since season 1 but I don’t think he has been used to the fullest potential. With the threat of Samaritan and now the Brotherhood, as well as the potential for a new Elias arc, I am intrigued and really looking forward to seeing where the season goes.

Person of Interest airs on Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

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