Ghosts (Person of Interest)

"Ghosts" is the second episode of the first season of the television drama *Person of Interest*, and the second episode overall. It was written by Greg Plageman and series creator Jonathan Nolan, with direction from co-executive producer Richard J. Lewis. The episode first aired on CBS in the United States and on CTV in Canada on September 22, 2011.

In the episode, Reese saves a man from hitmen in an elevator and leaves. Finch directs him to a cemetery, where he learns their new number is Theresa Whitaker, a girl believed to have died with her family after her father’s business collapsed. Reese, with help from Fusco, investigates. He finds Theresa robbing an ATM, but she cuts his hand and flees. Finch, posing as an insurance employee, questions her aunt Elizabeth in Brooklyn Heights and gets the number of her ex-husband, Derek. Reese interrogates a hitman in prison who admits he refused to kill Theresa because he doesn’t kill children, but his reputation has reached those who hired him, leading to a new hitman. Reese and Finch trace Derek to Landale Financial and its owner, Jimmy Calhoun. Reese finds Theresa again when the hitman attacks; they escape to a hotel, where Finch stays with her. Reese forces Derek to confess that Theresa’s father had assets meant for Derek, and Calhoun ordered the murders to secure control. Derek is killed by the hitman after refusing to reveal Theresa’s location. The hitman tracks a call between Theresa and her aunt to the hotel, but Reese shoots him just as he corners Finch and Theresa. Reese meets with Carter, directing her to Theresa, whose testimony leads to Calhoun’s arrest. Carter does not turn Reese in. Theresa reunites with her aunt Elizabeth. Finch quits his insurance job to keep his personal life private.

Flashbacks show Finch in 2002 with colleague Nathan Ingram, showing him an early version of the Machine tasked with watching New York City. Finch says he is teaching it to track people. In 2007, Ingram questions the Machine’s focus on irrelevant crimes, and Finch insists it is meant to save everyone. In the present, Finch’s office has a memorial bust for Ingram, who died in 2010.

The episode was seen by an estimated 12.51 million household viewers in its original American broadcast, with a 2.7/7 ratings share among adults 18–49, a 7% drop from the previous episode.