No story, just analyses on my favorite fictional characters (plus the occasional real person). Will also feature song lyrics I think fit them because music is my life and there's a song for everything. Multi fandom (duh) Will feature all manner of m...
"If I let go of rules, who knows how dangerous I'd be?" - Dangerous to Dream, Frozen the Musical
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From the moment he stepped onto the screen, Harold Finch was my favorite Person of Interest character. Of course, I know I'm a bit biased, considering the fact that I loved Michael Emerson so much on LOST was the reason I started watching this show in the first place. But over five seasons, Finch became every bit as dear to my heart as Ben was. Where to start with why I love this incredible character?
First off, Finch is smart. Like REEEEAAALLLLY smart. He's a freakin nerd, and he makes it look GOOD. You got a problem with a computer? He could probably fix it in seconds, plus add some insane new thing just because he can. He's created entire apps. Not to mention a massive omniscient supercomputer that drives the entire story. Plus his vocabulary could kick everyone's butt. But Finch isn't just book smart. He's wise. He displays a profound amount of emotional intelligence over the course of the series. Here are some of his best words of wisdom:
"If you really need a good mystery, I recommend the human heart." - No Good Deed
Your mistakes, like mine, are a part of who you are now. You can't move on from that. Believe me, I've made a sizable number. But... sometimes your mistakes can surprise you. My biggest mistake, for instance, brought me here. At exactly this moment when you might need some help."- 2piR
"People who think the world is like a game of chess deserve to lose." If-Then-Else
Finch can, when you first meet him, seen aloof and detached, but once you get to know him, he's actually very kind and caring, and a real gentleman. He's steadfastly loyal to what he believes in and those he loves, and, despite being an incredibly reclusive person, would risk his exposure, and even his life, in a heartbeat for them. He has a deep respect for the value of life, and is even able to convince characters like Root of it- it's part of what makes their complex relationship beautiful. Harold Finch makes people better. He's really the heart and moral center of the show.
However, Finch isn't quite a paragon, and, like most of my favorite characters, has his fair share of flaws and personal demons. His biggest mistakes basically come from his fear of the Machine and his reluctance to accept that he cares for it. When he first created the machine, he had it delete the numbers that were irrelevant to national security. But everything changes when his partner and best friend, Nathan Ingram, was killed by a bomb. Harold was also left physically, mentally and emotionally traumatized; he had a severe limp leaving him in a perpetual state of pain, he was left with a crippling fear of bombs, and he was forced fake his death in order to protect the love of his life, Grace Hendricks. Heartbroken, hurting, and alone, he finds out that Nathan was one of the irrelevant numbers. Overwhelmed with guilt, he dedicates his life to saving the irrelevant numbers himself.
Throughout the show, Finch struggles with his desire to keep the Machine a machine in order to serve its original purpose versus the Machine's growing sense of humanity and his own growing sense of fatherhood towards it, and his personal morals and pacifism end up inhibiting the team's goal of defeating Samaritan. This comes to a boiling point in the Season Five episode "The Day the World Went Away," when Finch's own number comes up. After both Elias and Root are killed trying to protect him, a seething Finch decides that his rules have been biting him in the back all this time, and that he is not going to let any more friends die for his sake. And in the single most chilling and glorious monologue of the entire series, he vows that he will do whatever it takes to destroy Samaritan once and for all. The finishing touch? He gets the Machine, now an open system, to break him out of prison.
Just like his role in LOST, I don't believe anyone could have played Harold Finch better then THE LORD AND SAVIOR OF AMERICAN TELEVISION, Michael Emerson. He imbues Finch with so much wisdom, warmth, and at times a nervous, trembling vulnerability that just makes me what to give him a hug, and his chemistry with the cast, especially Jim Caviezel as Reese and Amy Acker as Root, is just wonderful. His trademark deadpan humor is put to very good use here; Finch gets some of the funniest lines and he makes the :\ face so often it's practically stuck that way (no kidding, it's literally just how Michael's mouth is). And he absolutely NAILS the darker aspects of him too- once you've seen him in Tranquil Fury mode, YOU WILL BELIEVE that this tiny, 5'8", 50-something-year-old is fully capable of raining death on you.
Harold Finch is truly one of the best-written and most underrated characters in any show I've watched. There's just so much to love about him. He's wise, clever, witty, kind, charming, loyal, determined, brave, broken, desperate, lonely and brilliantly acted. I ADORE this man. Please watch this show so I can have someone else who appreciates him like I do.
WOOHOO IT'S FINALLY DONE IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG
