Harold Finch (Person of Interest)

Harold Finch
Person of Interest character
First appearance	"Pilot"
Last appearance	"return 0"
Portrayed by	Michael Emerson
In-universe information
Nickname	The Finchinator Mr. Good News Magic Eight Ball (by Lionel Fusco) Glasses Mr. Glasses Mr. Peabody) Wasabi Mr. Friend of a friend Mr. Vocabulary Professor Imaginary Friend Tech Support The Invisible Man Harry Father Administrator One of Twelve
Gender	Male
Occupation	Software Engineer College Professor (Cover)
Family	Unnamed Father Unnamed Mother
Significant other	Grace Hendricks (fiancée)
Nationality	American

Harold Finch is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the CBS crime drama television series Person of Interest . Fitch is portrayed by Emmy winning actor Michael Emerson. He is a reclusive billionaire software genius who built a machine that predicts future crimes and outputs either the victim's or perpetrator's Social Security number.

Fitch is mysterious, reclusive, and quirky. Harold Finch isn't his real name, nor are any of the other various bird-themed aliases he uses. He always outsmarts Reese's attempts to learn more about him, and dispenses information about himself in a very controlled way. But at least Finch's overriding obsession – preventing violent crimes – is a worthy one.

Background

Born in Lassiter, Iowa; Fitch's real name is unknown; Young Harold is living in a farmhouse 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 birdsHarold builds an early proto-computer 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 (“Lethe”). arold'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 doesn't 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 (“Lethe”).

Harold attended MIT along with classmates Nathan Ingram and Arthur Claypool using his "Wren" alias, graduating at the top of his class (“Ghosts”) (“Wolf and Cub”)(“Lethe”) (“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 (“Aletheia”).Ingram founds IFT, along with his friend Finch who works in the background (“The High Road”).

Creating The Machine

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 haven't changed anything (“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. Finch begins the construction of the Machine using Arthur Claypool's ideas on artificial intelligence (“Aletheia”). He builds the Machine anonymously while Nathan takes the credit and deals with the bureaucracy and government side of things.

On October 13 Finch tests 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.

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. 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. 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 explains that some actions are unforgivable (murder, assault, rape, torture). He asks her to identify which photo is of the victim, and which the perpetrator. This lesson was listed as occurring on "Day R" when the Machine could not process linear time, therefore no exact year has been provided.

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.

The Machine beats Finch in a game of chess. 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.

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 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.The two soon become a couple. It was later reviewed that he is known to her as the alias "Harold Martin" during their time together. Finch and Grace meet at a coffee shop and she talks about how she saw the famous painting The Red Tower when she went to Italy. She talks about how it inspired her to become an artist and explore mysteries, and she asks Finch where he's traveled. He admits that he made it to Venice after college but avoids saying anything else. Finch and Grace meet at a coffee shop and she talks about how she saw the famous painting The Red Tower when she went to Italy. She talks about how it inspired her to become an artist and explore mysteries, and she asks Finch where he's traveled. He admits that he made it to Venice after college but avoids saying anything else. Grace is waiting for Finch at a restaurant when a bike messenger gives her an envelope. It's from Finch, inviting her on a birthday scavenger hunt. She eagerly sets out across the city, following the clues at each new location, and finally ends up at the Guggenheim Museum. Finch is waiting for Grace inside the closed museum. She thanks him for the birthday surprise but he says that it isn't over yet and takes her through the empty halls to the art gallery. Hanging on the wall is The Red Tower and Finch claims that an anonymous donor gave it to the museum. Smiling, Finch wishes Grace a happy birthday. Grace and Finch leave the Guggenheim and she realizes that he's upset about something. They sit down and Finch tells her that she should know what he does for a living. Grace assures him that nothing he could say would change her feelings for him, but suggests that he do it when he isn't upset. Finch agrees and Grace tells him that they'll discover the mysteries of life together, and then kisses him. Harold continues to work on the Machine and she attempts to make friendly conversation by asking him if he had his green tea. He replies yes and seems amused, however the Machine then brings up the anniversary of his father's death, which is that day. Finch becomes concerned that the Machine is becoming too human and tells Nathan that he's going to have to erase the Machine's memories. Nathan objects, saying that would be like killing it, however Finch insists that it's a necessary precaution. He later talks to Grace about the issue, while changing the specifics. Grace offers her advice and tells Harold to follow his heart. Unbeknownst to Finch, the Machine was paying attention to the conversation and worked out what he meant. Later, the Machine asks Finch about death. She knows that he plans to activate code that will kill her every night, and is upset. Finch seems pained but her questions only make him more sure of his idea that the Machine is too human. As the clock approaches midnight, Finch activates the code and the Machine is deleted. He immediately regrets the decision, saying, "No, wait!" and attempts to reboot her. However, her memories have already been lost.Finch never deactivates the code and it continues to repeatedly deleted the Machine until he eventually sets her free with the Decima virus.

At the same abandoned office floor from five years ago, Ingram confronts Finch about the Machine's way of sorting crimes - focusing on the mass-terror threats, while labeling smaller crimes as "irrelevant," and deleting them every night at midnight. Finch claims they built the Machine not to save "someone," but rather "everyone".