Trama

Root reappears and kidnaps Shaw. Finch helps an estate investigator who looking into the death of his step brother. A new vigilante group (Vigilance) makes it presence known. Carter's young partner has his loyalty to HR tested.

Reese and Finch go on separate missions. Finch has noticed that Shaw has been less responsive than she even usually is and he sends Reese to go find her. Reese initially discovers evidence that Shaw was abducted, but later finds more evidence that she may have gone willingly with her abductor: Root. He has to find what Root is up to, she who has been in contact with the Machine, which is feeding her information for her latest mission requiring Shaw's assistance. In the meantime, Finch works on their latest number, that of Timothy Sloan, an estate investigator for the New York Public Administrator. Finch is pretty sure that he is the target because of what he has found during one of his investigations. Finch will learn that that investigation is of Jason Greenfield, who died two weeks ago of a heroin overdose and whose case file is not Sloan's. It is Sloan's personal connection to Greenfield and Greenfield's activities as a computer hacker that are the key. And Carter learns a little more about the workings of HR when Laskey voluntarily reveals a bit of himself to her.—Huggo

Root abducts Shaw, but convinces her to work together, saying that she is in contact with The Machine that asked for Shaw's assistance. Reese investigates the disappearance of Shaw and finds in the surveillance cameras that she was kidnapped by Root. But then he discovers that Shaw may have team-up with Root. Meanwhile, Finch is working with the estate investigator Timothy Sloan, who is the next target indicated by The Machine. Finch follows him and in the apartment of Jason Greenfield, who died two weeks ago of heroin OD, he learns that Sloan was his half-brother. Further, Jason was a hacker and did not use drugs. Root and Shaw go to a CIA hideout and Shaw poses of an agent, following the instruction of Root. They head to a prison, where Root meets Jason Greenfield, who was supposed to be dead. Laskey is forced to bury a body to HR and discloses his real name to Carter.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Finch sends Reese to Shaw's place to check on her. He hasn't heard from her for eight hours and is concerned.

Meanwhile Finch is undercover as an assistant to the latest number, an estate investigator named Timothy Sloan. Finch finds a box filled with pictures in the apartment of Sloan's most recent case, a hoarder named Marsha.

Reese finds taser confetti and realized something terrible has happened to Shaw.

Elsewhere Shaw wakes up with her hand tied to a steering wheel. Root tells the machine has given her a mission. Root makes references to a 1988 trip Root took with her father to a football game. Root says that if Shaw doesn't help her and the machine, innocent people will die. Shaw seems willing to help.

Finch follows Sloan to the site of an old case involving a man named Jason Greenfield who died of a heroin overdose.

Using some security camera footage Reese sees that Root is responsible for Shaw's disappearance.

It turns out Jason was Sloan's foster brother and he's investigating what he believes to be Jason's murder. Sloan's parents fostered Jason after his parents burned down their house cooking meth. Jason had had an obsession with hacking. Sloan doesn't buy that Jason's cause of death was overdose, since he hadn't sold off any of his possessions. What was missing from Jason's place was any computer or tablet. He did find a badly damaged flashdrive in the microwave. Finch pops the drive into his laptop and is able to retrieve a scrap of an email. In it Jason references being in danger from "them" if he tries to leave. Sloan finds an address for a storage unit.

Carter has Laskey continue making his HR payments and drop-offs. One is a Russian grocery that Laskey and his family have known his whole life. He and the owner are friends.

Fusco tells Reese he's found evidence that Shaw is working with Root. Reese tells Finch it looks as if the women are partners, which Finch doesn't understand.

Sloan learns that Jason and some other men had been visiting the storage unit at all hours. The day after Jason died those same people came by and emptied it out, scrubbing it with bleach. Using the name attached to the storage facility Finch locates another one that was rented the day Jason died.

Root brings Shaw underground and has her blowtorch her way through a gate.

Finch and Sloan break into the new storage unit and find it empty.

Sloan and Shaw break into an apartment. A man comes out of the bathroom. After they team up to take him out Shaw realizes they're at a CIA pick-up site. Root calls the agency and makes arrangements to have herself picked up.

Using black light Sloan and Finch find random letters and numbers written all over the walls of the storage unit. As Finch starts taking pictures they spot a strange sprinkler system and follow it with their eyes to a camera. The door slams shut and gasoline begins raining down on them. Moments before a flame sparks Reese breaks into the door and saves them.

Finch thinks the code from the walls reminds him of the work of Peter Collier. Jason must have been involved with him some how. On a hacker site Finch finds reference to a well-respected hacker named Atlas 7 who had targeted government and military operations. This must have been Jason and how Collier found him. Finch says they need to find the key to decipher the code on the storage unit wall, likely something in Jason's apartment. Sloan begs Reese to let him help search Jason's place.

Two agents arrive at the apartment and Shaw pretends to be the agent in charge of Root. She walks Root out covered with a hood and joins them.

Simmons meets with Laskey and tells him the Russian grocer was skimming. Simmons has killed him and orders Laskey to bury the body.

Shaw brings Root to an interrogation site.

Sloan finds a history book Jason had hidden away in his apartment. It is a match and Finch starts working on it. At this moment men break into Jason's apartment and pull out Sloan. Reese follows them to the street and sees the men stick Sloan into a van. Collier is there. Finch tells Reese he's deciphered enough of the code to realize the plan is to kill Jason that night. He's not really dead.

Jason is brought to the interrogation site and stuffed into a cell right next to Root. Root tells Jason she knows he cut a deal with the feds after getting freaked out by Collier's violent designs. Root proves to him she's an accomplished hacker herself and Jason opens up, telling her the CIA faked his death after he gave them information on Collier's crew, which is called Vigilance

Root and Jason are transported together, with Shaw on the detail.

Finch tells Reese that Collier went to the CIA and Collier wants to kill him for giving the organization up. The assassination is supposed to happen within the hour.

Collier tells Sloan he knows too much about Vigilance to let him live. Collier asks about Reese and Finch, but Sloan doesn't know anything. Sloan is then told his brother is still alive, but only temporarily.

Root picks her cuffs in the back of the transport vehicle, which Shaw is driving. She frees Jason as well and tells him to brace himself.

With Reese watching from the street a man shoves a shopping cart filled with explosives in front of the truck. It crashes into a parked car and Shaw seems to be knocked out. Collier and his men jump out of their car with masks and guns.

Root wakes up and kicks out the back door. She walks over to a folder she had planted the previous day and grabs an ear piece for the machine and a gun. She helps guide Jason through the gunfire. On the way Jason spots his brother.

Root gives Jason access to several million dollars and a new identity. She tells him only that she's helping him because he's "necessary." After he leaves Root finds herself surrounded by Vigilance operatives. Shaw arrives to help her, then after taking out the men knocks Root unconscious.

Reese has a standoff with Collier, who is able to escape by shooting Sloan in his femoral artery and forcing Reese to save him.

Laskey tells Carter he's a Russian, one of 12 on the force. He tells her that HR is stockpiling cash. Laskey is shaken by having to bury a friend. When Laskey is told (at 23:12) to bury his friend, the sign in Russian in the background says "Try Russian Breakfast, Dinner, Supper".

Sloan thanks Reese and Finch for saving him and allowing him to see his brother, if only for a moment. Jason calls him through a secure data stream and they have a brief conversation.

Reese and Finch decide this may only be the beginning of their issues with Vigilance.

We see that Finch has secured Root in a library, preventing her from any electrical contact. He's effectively separated her from the machine. Root warns Finch that he's making "her" angry and it would be dangerous to upset such a powerful being. Finch responds that Root has no way of knowing whether she is in fact exactly where the machine would like her to be.