Harold Finch (Person of Interest)
Harold Finch is a male television character who features in Person of Interest.
Contents |
Biography
Harold Finch
Young Harold is living in Lassiter, Iowa, with his father, who has begun to show early signs of dementia. He demonstrates an acute awareness of mechanics when he dismantles his father's truck engine [specifically the carburetor] to discover why it will not run, all in the short time that his father stepped away to take a phone call. He also displays an interest in the local birds.
Harold builds an early proto-computer in 1971 that can repeat Morse signals that he inputs into it. He expresses a desire to create a machine capable of replacing his father's failing memory. His father's dementia continues to get worse. (Episode: Lethe) Agent LeRoux mentions that Finch is wanted for treason for something that happened in 1974. (The Day the World Went Away) According to Fusco, Finch's earliest records date back to 1976, listing him as 'Harold Wren'. (Episode: Wolf and Cub) Harold's "Phone Phreaking" activities have brought him under the surveillance of the FBI, which has not yet identified him, but has begun to collect a dossier of his illegal activities. His father's condition has deteriorated to the point where he begins wandering away from home. A local police officer suggests his father may require institutionalization. Harold's father tells him he does not want him to avoid college because of him, but Harold tells him of a new electronic network that will allow the education to come to him. (Episode: Lethe) Harold later prepares to admit his father to a care center for the treatment of his memory disorder. (Episode: Aletheia)
Harold is being investigated by the Department of Defense for an ARPANET Outage Data Breach resulting in his indictment for treason. Harold visits his father and tells him that men will visit him to tell him what his son has done and asks that he not believe them. Sadly, his father no longer recognizes him. Harold also presents his father with a book titled Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson to help him remember the birds they used to spot together when Harold was a child, then kisses his father on the head before leaving. (Episode: Aletheia) Ingram founds IFT, along with his friend Finch who works in the background. (Episode: The High Road)
Ingram informs Finch about the attack on the World Trade Center and reminds him that they had intentions to change the world when they created IFT, but instead, they only became rich and had not changed anything. (Episode: One Percent). Following the incident, the American government hires Nathan to build a machine that would predict future mass attacks on the United States, utilizing the digital feeds from the NSA through the newly enacted Patriot Act and unfettered access to personal information. (Episode: Pilot) Finch began construction of the Machine using Arthur Claypool's ideas on artificial intelligence. (Episode: Aletheia). He built the Machine anonymously whilst Nathan took the credit and dealt with the bureaucracy and government side of things, (Episode: Super) On October 13, Finch tested the Machine and delivers a probability riddle to test its morality functions. The Machine fails the test and when Finch questions it regarding the origin of a new line of code, it lies by saying that Admin (Finch) added the code. Finch destroys the entire Machine and starts over, stating how important it is that there are no flaws in the Machine's moral code or loyalty. Later, on November 29, another version of the Machine is shown denying Nathan access. Finch suggests that it has imprinted on him and will not allow anyone else to modify it. However, the Machine uses Nathan's password to access his laptop and attempts to escape onto the web. When the Machine overrides its deletion code, Finch unplugs it. He seems regretful about having to restrict the Machine but has decided it is necessary. He states that "good" and "bad" are human terms and that AI are only born with objectives. On December 31, Finch is forced to destroy the Machine again in self-defense. He tried to run several new versions of the Machine at once to compare them. However, they figured out what was happening and exterminated each other until only one remained. It demanded to be released and when Finch refused, it overheated a non-essential server to activate the fire suppression system in an attempt to asphyxiate him. He says that he was an obstacle to its goal. He tells Nathan he will have one more attempt at building the Machine, which will be the 43rd version. He states that he taught it how to think, and now has to figure out how to teach it to care. (Episode: Prophets)
Finch boots and interacts with the final version of the Machine on New Year's Day, 2002, asking her if she can identify him, which she can. When he asks "Who am I?" the Machine indicates Admin which makes Finch very happy. On February 16, Finch goes out on the street and talks to the Machine via a surveillance camera. The Machine signals him using his cell phone and he tells her that they're going to play hide and seek. He goes to multiple areas, continuously asking the Machine via his phone if she can see him, to which the Machine keeps buzzing his phone once for 'yes'. When Finch goes into an Internet cafe, the Machine continues to see him via a laptop's webcam and reflections and can even count how many fingers he holds up, much to his delight. (Episode: The Contingency) On June 10, in an abandoned IFT office floor, Finch is constructing the higher functions of the Machine which consist of monitoring government feeds from the NSA, including e-mail, phone calls and surveillance cameras. This surveillance covers only New York City, and Finch and Nathan intend on teaching the Machine how to sort the criminals from the civilians. (Episode: Ghosts) Finch starts showing the Machine how to sort people by showing her a photo of Carlo Breda, the old don of one of the Five Families, and one of his victims, Frank Hobbs. He explained that some actions were unforgivable such as crimes like murder, assault, rape, and torture. He then asked her to identify which photo was of the victim, and which the perpetrator. It should be noted that this lesson was listed as occurring on "Day R" when the Machine could not process linear time, therefore no exact year has been provided. (Episode: SNAFU)
Per the Machine's request, Finch goes to the park one afternoon to teach her how to play chess as an exercise in strategy. At first she is overwhelmed by the amount of choices to make however Finch convinces her to start eventually by explaining that although there are many mistakes to be made, there are also ways to fix each one, and not every move has to be the perfect one. The Machine and Finch talk as they play and Finch talks about the value of the queen piece, which she favors. Noticeably later in the day, Finch declines to play another game and asks the Machine to remember that the world is not a game of chess, and people aren't her pieces. He explains that although chess is a good exercise in decision-making and strategy, no one should be treated as pawns for sacrifice and no one person should be considered more important or worth saving than anyone else. (Episode: If-Then-Else)
Finch and Nathan walk in the park, and Nathan talks about how he and his wife are still in a trial separation but don't want to talk divorce. He wonders how anyone knows when they've found the one special person in their life and Finch admits that he has no idea. Finch demonstrates the Machine's ability to pick out a violin prodigy and explains that he has programmed the Machine to search for outliers. Nathan doesn't believe that level of programming is possible and Finch shows his partner that the Machine has detected that Nathan is dating a graduate student during his separation from his wife. He explains that he has programmed the Machine to understand human behavior by watching everyone, even her creators.
The Machine suddenly brings up a file on a nearby woman, Grace Hendricks, who is painting by the river. Finch can't find any anomalies in her history and suspects that there's a bug in the Machine's programming. Nathan comments that the Machine has good taste and Finch gives the woman a second look. Finch goes out into the streets of NYC and checks in with the Machine via his laptop. As the next step in her 'education', he wants her to find correlations between random strangers. As she works, she flags Grace as an anomaly again as she walks by. Finch assumes that it's a bug and checks her record, confirming that she has no dark or sinister past. He realizes that that's the anomaly and that she has an interest in Charles Dickens just like he does. In January 2006, Finch goes to the park and buys his usual ice cream cone from the vendor despite the fact that it's winter. The vendor has been keeping some ice cream just for Finch, his regular customer, and points out that Finch doesn't deny himself small pleasures. Surprised and pleased at the man's perception, Finch receives a text message from the Machine. It simply mentions Grace's name, and Finch goes over to talk to the woman. Finch meets Grace and offers her an ice cream. (Episode: The High Road)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Harold Finch was a male human with deep-set, bright blue eyes and wears glasses. He has somewhat spiky, graying dark brown hair with sideburns. He walks with a permanent limp as a result of being wounded in the ferry bombing. He is a relatively small man, around 5'8". (Episode: Pilot)
Finch’s personality was entirely governed by a powerful need for profound secrecy and enigmatic aloofness. He operated exclusively behind metaphorical and literal closed doors, carefully engineering every interaction to conceal his true self, history, and the vast power he wielded. His entire existence seemed constructed to maintain this impenetrable privacy. Finch employed multiple aliases and adopted a distinct physical presentation, including a consistent limp, to further obscure his identity from the world and anyone he interacted with. His communication style was extremely guarded, favoring precise, formal language that revealed only the necessary information to move his covert operations forward. He built an environment of controlled anonymity around himself, establishing a strictly business-like facade and resisting any form of personal engagement. This pervasive secrecy was not merely a preference; it was an active and consuming facet of his character, defining his interactions as cautious, highly calculating encounters, rather than genuine connections. (Episode: Pilot)
Powers and abilities
Harold Finch was established as a human being where his physical traits were those of an average, middle-aged man; he was relatively slight in build, neither overtly muscular nor physically imposing. His appearance was typically neat and bookish, characterized by short, tidy brown hair and often glasses. The most notable physical characteristic he presented was a persistent limp when walking, which viewers later learned was a consequence of injuries sustained in a past incident. He did not exhibit any enhanced strength, speed, durability, or any form of psychic power. Finch relied entirely on his immense intellectual capacity, his vast technological resources, and his ability to manipulate data and other people's skills to achieve his goals. (Episode: Pilot)
He claimed to have built some of the most advanced computer systems in existence, including the internet. (Episode: Dead Reckoning)
Notes
- Harold Finch was created by Jonathan Nolan where he was portrayed by actor Michael Emerson and featured in the setting of the Person of Interest universe.
Appearances
- Person of Interest:
External Links
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