"Masquerade" is the third episode of the second season of the American television drama seriesPerson of Interest. It is the 26th overall episode of the series and is written by Melissa Scrivner Love and directed by Jeffrey Hunt. It aired on CBS in the United States and on CTV in Canada on October 18, 2012.
Plot
As Finch tries to readjust to life after his kidnapping, establishing a bond with Reese's attack dog Bear, Reese identifies the new number as Sofia Campos, the spoiled daughter of a Brazilian consul in New York. Reese creates a vacancy for her bodyguard, then secures himself for the job by stealing all the other candidates wallets. Despite her hostile attitude, Reese proves himself to be far better at protecting her than her previous bodyguards. After discovering that she has a secret American boyfriend called Jack, Reese earns her respect by keeping her secret from her father. Carter has taken over the Corwin investigation, using the evidence that Fusco secured. While at the morgue, she encounters Mark Snow, who claims that he has been reassigned. After learning that he was also interested in Corwin, Carter tries to call him using the phone number he previously gave her, only to get an unknown male inquiring about her encounter with Snow, then promising to be in touch. Reese takes Sofia to meet her friend Gabi at a club, but instead ends up saving her from assassins. Sofia explains that she and Gabi partied with Paul Romano at his penthouse on Saturday, before leaving when a thuggish-looking guy turned up. Finch discovers Paul died after he took a dive from his window later that night, Reese identifies the man as one of the assassins, and realises that Sofia is being targeted because she can place him at the scene of the murder. Carter locates Gabi at the morgue, and identifies the man as Monty, a leader of the 14th Street Mafia street gang. Reese asks Finch to keep Sofia company, but he finds himself unable to leave the library, so Sofia goes with Fusco to a party her Father is throwing for the Brazilian President. Reese learns that Sophia has become the target of a drug smuggling operation, who believe that she and a friend witnessed their operations. Analysing the video, Finch realises that the boyfriend, Jack, was the silent partner fronting the money to bankroll the drug operation, but by this time Sofia has snuck out of the party to meet with him; Jack then betrays Sofia by handing her over to Monty. After Reese, Carter, and Fusco rescue her, Sofia breaks up with Jack by having Reese hang him over the side of a building. In the end, Carter is approached by another CIA Agent asking about Snow, but Carter points out that if they've lost him it is not her job to find him: in reality, Snow is being held hostage by Kara Stanton. Reese then takes Finch out of the library for a drink.
Reception
Viewers
In its original American broadcast, "Masquerade" was seen by an estimated 13.93 million household viewers and gained a 2.8/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This was a slight decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 14.58 million viewers with a 3.0/8 in the 18-49 demographics. With these ratings, Person of Interest was the third most watched show on CBS for the night, beating Elementary but behind Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory, second on its timeslot and fourth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Grey's Anatomy, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory.
Critical reviews
"Masquerade" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "A-" grade and wrote, "Person Of Interest has even managed to add a faithful dog to its regular cast without making me gag. Considering how much talent goes into the average hour of television, and what networks pay people to exercise their talents, meat-and-potatoes genre fare as satisfying as Person Of Interest is now is really the least viewers ought to expect. But as anyone who's seen much of the current fall TV season knows, the networks have been managing to mostly serve up a lot less." Tim Surette of TV.com wrote "'Masquerade' was a perfect example of why Person of Interest is able to perform at high levels from week to week. The case was ho-hum, but the show's unique style of humor elevated it to a level of hypnotizing watchability. Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman have created a simple recipe that's hard to mess up, but then they add flourishes of complexity that reward those who are truly invested. Carry on, Person of Interest." Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.6 star rating out of 5 and wrote "It's hard not to gush over the return of Person of Interest, especially after being bumped by the debates last week, but the fact that it's in full form is fantastic. This episode certainly made me all smiles and even getting Reese to smile made things that much more fun. If you aren't watching, you're missing out on a great show."
