Person of Interest (TV Series)

Ghosts (2011)

Michael Emerson: Harold Finch

Photos 

Quotes 

• John Reese : This was a professional hit. Muzzle impressions were made after the fact, made it look point blank, like the father did it. Cops missed it.

  Harold Finch : And you know that how?

  John Reese : That's how I would have done it.

• John Reese : And here I was thinking we were getting a little closer, Harold.

  Harold Finch : I told you I'm a very private person.

  John Reese : Well, you're gonna need to trust someone at some point.

  Harold Finch : Trust? That's not something I come by very easily. I have my reasons.

  John Reese : Are you ever gonna tell me those reasons?

  Harold Finch : Don't call me, Mr. Reese. I'll call you.

• Harold Finch : The police only see what they choose to look for. The machine sees almost everything. If the girl's number has come up, she must be alive.

• Harold Finch : Wait. Theresa. You know I can't keep up with you. Can I ask you where you're going?

  Theresa Whitaker : I'm better off alone.

  Harold Finch : And how's that?

  Theresa Whitaker : It's safer.

  Harold Finch : I don't think so. Please. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to trust someone.

• Harold Finch : You know, I went to see your aunt Elizabeth. She seems like a lovely person.

  Theresa Whitaker : You tell her about me?

  Harold Finch : No. Of course not. But she did mention how much she missed you. She even showed me an old photo. You know, there's no changing what happened to your family, but you do have someone out there that loves you.

  Theresa Whitaker : Yeah? What do you know?

  Harold Finch : I know what it's like to lose someone. And to feel the need to disappear. But, trust me, you don't want to leave people behind.

• Nathan Ingram : When were you going to tell me?

  Harold Finch : I wasn't gonna tell you, I guess. I'd rather I didn't know myself.

  Nathan Ingram : All these people. And this damn machine knew. *You* knew. That someone wanted to harm them, kill them... and you d nothing?

  Harold Finch : You knew what we were building here. This thing looks for plotters, for schemers. It looks for malicious intent. We built it to stop terrorists before they could act. But a machine doesn't understand the difference between those crimes that are relevant to national security and the ones that are... irrelevant.

  Nathan Ingram : Irrelevant? So you taught it the difference? You want to play God? Is that the deal?

  Harold Finch : No, I don't. That's the whole point. There are exactly eight people in the world that know that this thing exists. If anyone else ever found out, there'd be such an outcry. They'd turn it off. The intelligence the machine produces has already foiled a half dozen major terrorist plots.

  Nathan Ingram : How are we supposed to live with this, knowing that someone out there needs help?

  Harold Finch : Well, we don't have to. I've coded the Machine. Every night at midnight, it deletes the irrelevant list. We didn't build this to save somebody. we built it to save everybody.

• Harold Finch : I'm starting with the basics here. I'm trying to teach it to track people using cell phone location data, facial recognition. I'm almost ready to move on to the next problem.

  Nathan Ingram : What's the next problem?

  Harold Finch : Sorting them all out. Terrorists don't exactly stand out on street corners, you know? You have to teach the machine to sift through the emails, wire-tapped phones, bank transactions, looking for people that are hiding something, living double lives.

  Nathan Ingram : People like you, in other words.

• Nathan Ingram : I know our deal. I schmooze the board, I cash out the checks, I pick up the awards. You do most of the work. But, honestly, this is getting exhausting for me.

  Harold Finch : I'm perfectly happy with the division of labor. Always have been.

  [Gestures to the award] 

  Harold Finch : What's this one for?

  Nathan Ingram : This is for services to humanity. I didn't tell them that we laid off half the staff in order to build this Orwellian nightmare.

  Harold Finch : Said you wanted to make a difference, give something back.

• Harold Finch : The number we've received is for a girl named Theresa Whitaker. Some disciplinary trouble, but basically a good kid.

  John Reese : Well, the machine did spit out her number, so she must be caught up in something. Where can I find her?

  Harold Finch : As I told you, Mr. Reese, this situation is somewhat unique. You see, Theresa Whitaker should be right here.

  [Shows him a grave stone] 

  Harold Finch : She was murdered, along with the rest of her family. Two years ago.

  John Reese : So we're looking for a ghost?