Person of Interest (TV Series)

Prisoner's Dilemma (2013)

Jim Caviezel: John Reese

Photos 

Quotes 

• Byron : You know, this is the bastard that stole my dog.

  John Reese : Be honest. He wanted to leave.

• John Reese : Are you going to turn me in, Elias?

  Carl Elias : And lose Harold as a chess partner? I was pissed for a while, but the truth is, John, you'll always be the man who came out of nowhere and saved my life. I want you to think of me as a friend, and when I see my friends in trouble I want to help, so...

  [extends his arms] 

  John Reese : Well for starters, don't protect me. Donnelly used to think I was working for you.

  Carl Elias : Hey, well, it's not for lack of asking on my part.

  John Reese : See that guy over there?

  [Points to Hersh] 

  Carl Elias : Yeah. You want us to kill him?

  John Reese : I'm not so sure you could. I've got a hunch he's a lot like me. You want to help? Get a picture of him to Harold. If there's another player at the table, I'd like to know who we're dealing with.

  Carl Elias : You and me working together. Very exciting, John.

• Detective Joss Carter : Why did you leave the military?

  John Reese : It was time.

  Detective Joss Carter : Yeah, but a lot of people who felt that way wound up re-enlisting right after 9/11, but not you.

  John Reese : There's a point where if you stay a soldier any longer, you won't know how to be anything else.

• Detective Joss Carter : Do you have any enemies?

  John Reese : Well, I'm pretty sure the guy behind that mirror isn't a fan.

• Detective Joss Carter : Ever been in love?

  John Reese : Once. Allison West. There's your answer, by the way.

  Detective Joss Carter : To what?

  John Reese : Why I left the military. When the planes hit the towers, I was with Ally in a hotel room in Niagara Falls. I had just gotten out of the service. But as we sat together on that bed, watching it all go down, I knew I had to go back. And I looked at her. She was quiet, trying to be strong. I don't know, I - maybe I was scared. But when I looked at her, I saw this whole other life. A life I knew I'd never have if I went back. So I stayed.

  Detective Joss Carter : What happened?

  John Reese : I was an idiot. Let her slip away. I instantly regretted it, but it was too late. It's funny how the choices you make change who you become. Pick one path or the other. Hear an explosion at a bank and try to help, and suddenly -

  [Holds up his cuffed hands] 

  John Reese : All these years later I still wonder if I had re-upped when the towers came down who would I be now?

• John Reese : I just want to say thank you. I couldn't have got through this without a friend to talk to.

  Detective Joss Carter : So was any of it true?

  Special Agent Nicholas Donnelly : [Appears behind them]  Oh, I sincerely doubt that. Congratulations, Carter. You just caught the man in a suit. Drop your gun. Hands in the air. It's over, John. Got your bracelets, Carter? Put them on your friend here. See? I told you we'd catch him. But I'm afraid that's the last collar you'll ever make. I trusted you, Carter, and you threw it away along with a very promising career.

  John Reese : [to Carter]  I'm sorry. It was my fault.

  Special Agent Nicholas Donnelly : Actually, John, it's not. This little game you two have been playing, you didn't give it away. She did.

• John Reese : [after John is released]  Looking for someone?

  Detective Joss Carter : No one in particular.

  John Reese : Fusco didn't want to celebrate my release?

  Detective Joss Carter : Finch has him tied up with something.

• John Reese : Can we just do this and go?

  Kara Stanton : Okay, John. If we're gonna be partners, you're going to have to lighten up.

  John Reese : It's my first triple-homicide. Didn't know I was supposed to prepare jokes.

  Kara Stanton : These aren't murder victims. These are enemy combatants. But yes, we are killers, John. That is our job. And if you want to be good at your job, you're gonna have to learn to love your work.

• John Reese : [Observing a French couple]  What did they do?

  Kara Stanton : Who cares? Orders are orders.

  John Reese : Just making sure we have the right target. They just look like two people in love.

  Kara Stanton : Maybe they are. Or maybe they're just better at playing their cover than you. Would it kill you to kiss a girl every once in a while?