Harold Finch

Lore & Background

Finch's journey began as a visionary technologist whose work was co-opted by the government for mass surveillance, leading to tragic consequences that haunted him. After constructing The Machine with the intent of preventing future atrocities, he went into hiding when the system became too powerful for public control. His life changed forever when he met John Reese, a former CIA operative who had been discarded by his agency; Finch realized that Reese was the perfect field agent to act on the numbers The Machine provided.

Reader's Guide

Harold Finch is the intellectual heart of the team, serving as the mission's architect and moral compass. While John Reese provides the physical force, Finch supplies the strategy, resources, and technical support necessary to intervene in crimes before they occur. His arc transforms him from a fearful, guilt-ridden recluse into a courageous leader willing to sacrifice everything for his cause. Over time, he sheds his initial hesitation, learning to trust his team and even engaging directly in combat when the stakes are highest. Key relationships include John Reese, with whom he shares a deep, father-son-like bond; Root, who challenges his worldview and eventually becomes a trusted ally; and Shaw, whom he protects like family. His journey is defined by the struggle to balance the ethical implications of surveillance with the urgent need to save innocent lives.

Origins of a Visionary

Harold Finch's journey as a technological pioneer is deeply rooted in his childhood experiences with his father, who suffered from memory loss. As early as 1969, young Finch (Parker Brightman) helped his father (Tuck Milligan) fix his truck engine. When his father left for a moment and returned, he found Finch had removed part of the engine. When his father mentioned he shouldn't remove everything, Finch stated that someone should've built the engine to resist being taken apart.

In 1971, Finch's father started to suffer from memory loss. Finch then worked a homemade system that could help him remember things and even intended to build a machine with his father's memories. But his father told him that not everything can be fixed and even if he built a machine with his memories, it still wouldn't be himself. In 1979, a teenager Finch (Chris Bert) showed his friends a technique where he could make a phone call from Iowa to Paris.

They were then interrupted by a police officer arriving with Finch's father in the backseat, who was walking disoriented in the streets. Finch's father did not want his son to stop his future by taking care of him but Finch stated his intention to get all information needed from every single university to himself.

The Samaritan Revelation

In the episode 'Lethe,' Finch is forced out of his self-imposed isolation when John Reese departs for Colorado. Despite Finch's insistence that he has not received any numbers from the Machine, he is actually ignoring its calls to avoid receiving the numbers. After a talk with Root (Amy Acker), Finch decides to work on the next number: Arthur Claypool (Saul Rubinek), an IT consultant whom Finch seems to recognize. Claypool has been admitted into the hospital after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor, and his memory often fails to remember certain things.

Shaw (Sarah Shahi) poses as a doctor and discovers Claypool has a Secret Service security detail. She later overhears Claypool telling his wife (Camryn Manheim) that he needs to fix something called 'Samaritan.' Shaw and Finch find that Claypool worked for the National Security Agency and that 'Samaritan' was one of its cancelled projects. After evading Vigilance's hitmen, Finch and Shaw take Claypool and his wife to a safe house.

Claypool explains he worked on 'Samaritan,' a program that detects acts of terrorism through an extensive database and suggests countermeasures. Samaritan works autonomously and is able to upgrade and adapt by itself, basically becoming an artificial intelligence. However, Claypool claims that Samaritan was destroyed in 2005 for fear of violating civil liberties. At the safe house, Claypool remembers something crucial: his wife died years ago, which explains why he is unable to remember her.

The woman identifies herself as Control, Shaw's former ISA employer. A group of hitmen led by Hersh (Boris McGiver) enter the room and subdue the team. Control then demands Finch reveal the location of the Machine or Claypool reveals Samaritan's, threatening to kill either Finch or Claypool unless one of them talks. The episode ends as the Machine starts analyzing threats to its assets and itself, changing Samaritan's status from 'Deactivated' to 'Unknown.'

Mythological Resonance

The title 'Lethe' draws directly from Greek mythology, referencing one of the five rivers in the underworld of Hades that causes forgetfulness. This thematic choice perfectly mirrors the episode's central conflict regarding memory loss and identity. Both Harold Finch's father and Arthur Claypool struggle with dementia, losing pieces of their pasts to neurological decline. The narrative explores whether a person can truly exist if their memories are erased or manipulated.

Furthermore, the concept extends to the artificial intelligence entities; Samaritan represents a form of digital amnesia where its creators believed it was destroyed, only for it to resurface as an unknown variable. The episode suggests that forgetting is not merely a biological failure but a strategic tool used by powerful organizations like Vigilance and Control to hide truths. Ultimately, Finch's battle against these forces is a fight to preserve the integrity of memory in both human and machine forms.

Critical Reception and Impact

Aired on December 17, 2013, 'Lethe' marked a significant shift in the series' narrative focus, drawing an estimated 12.4 million household viewers in its original broadcast. Critics widely praised the episode for deepening the 'Samaritan' storyline and delivering compelling twists that elevated the stakes of the show. The performances, particularly those highlighting Finch's vulnerability when facing his past connections, received high marks. However, the subplot involving Reese's journey to Colorado garnered a less favorable response from reviewers, who felt it detracted from the main tension.

Despite this mixed feedback on specific character arcs, the episode solidified its place as a pivotal moment in the series' third season. Its strong ratings and critical acclaim underscored the audience's investment in the complex interplay between human memory and artificial intelligence, setting the stage for future conflicts with the resurgent threat of Samaritan.