Person of Interest (TV Series)

Deus Ex Machina (2014)

John Nolan: John Greer

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Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Harold Finch : I take it your plan to stop Samaritan was unsuccessful.

  Root : Any chance we had of stopping it ended when we didn't kill the Congressman. This was never about winning. It's just about surviving.

  Decima Tech : [Cut to Decima lab]  Higher functions online, sir. Searching for targets now.

  John Greer : Good. Eliminate them all.

  Decima Tech : Yes, sir.

  Root : [V.O]  The Machine and I couldn't save the world. We had to settle for protecting the seven people who might be able to take it back. So we gave Samaritan a blind spot: seven key servers that hardcodes it to ignore seven, carefully crafted new identities. When the whole world is watched, filed, indexed, numbered, the only way to disappear is to appear, hiding our true identities inside a seemingly ordinary life. You're not a free man anymore, Harold. You're just a number. We have to become these people now, and if we don't, they'll find us, and they'll kill us. I'm sorry, Harold. I know it's not enough. A lot of people are going to die. People who might have been able to help. Everything is changing. I don't know if it will ever get better... but it's going to get worse. But the Machine asked me to tell you something before we part. You once told John, the whole point of Pandora's Box is that once you've opened it, you can't close it again. She wanted me to remind you how the story ends. When everything is over and the worst has happened, there's still one thing left in Pandora's Box: hope.

  John Greer : [to Samaritan]  Good morning.

  Samaritan : [as individual words flashing on screen]  WHAT ARE YOUR COMMANDS?

  John Greer : I assure you, it's quite the other way around. The question is, what, my dear Samaritan, are your commands for us?

  Samaritan : CALCULATING RESPONSE.

• Peter Collier : Sooner or later, the truth will come out.

  John Greer : To quote Benjamin Franklin, "Three may keep a secret, as long as two of them are dead".

  [Collier is shot. Gunmen turns to Finch] 

  John Greer : I'm glad that you've lived long enough to see the dawn of the new world you created, Harold, but the time has come for your god and mine to do battle, and regrettably, our paths diverge here.

• John Greer : What a piece of work is your Machine, Harold. "In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a god." In 20 years time, life on earth will come to resemble the myths of the ancient Greeks. A pantheon of super intelligent beings will watch over us using human agents to meddle in our affairs.

  Harold Finch : Or they may simply destroy us all.

  John Greer : One could argue we've done a fair job of that ourselves. Besides, someone has to be in charge, but as you well know, gods are not easily born. In order to bring mine into being, I needed a Devil.

• Peter Collier : Go ahead and kill me. Damage is already done. Everyone in the world heard the testimony in that courtroom tonight.

  John Greer : Mr. Collier, who do you think makes the equipment that you used to transmit? Your trial was broadcast to a single office on the other side of town where a handful of computers led you to believe that the whole world was watching. It's high time you and I had a talk about the true nature of Vigilance.

  Peter Collier : You don't know anything about us.

  John Greer : Oh, I know a great deal more than you think. After all, tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. You didn't really believe this was a democracy, did you? Your grassroots movement has been meticulously planned from the beginning. In fact, I recruited you myself.

  Harold Finch : Decima created Vigilance? Why?

  John Greer : our machine did its job too well. I had remind Senator Garrison and his ilk of just how bad things could be. And what better way to remind them than a fresh atrocity on American soil?

  Peter Collier : What atrocity? In all our dealings, we never killed one innocent person.

  John Greer : [Ominous]  Not until now.

• Jeremy Lambert : Receiving the government feeds now, sir.

  John Greer : Then by all means, let there be life.

• Senator Ross Garrison : I told you, I had nothing to do with the development of Northern Lights. Damn thing was up and running when I was read in. I just got stuck with cleaning up the mess.

  Peter Collier : Hardly seems fair that your life should be in danger for someone else's misdeeds. So if you're not the guy, who is?

  [Garrison tries, and fails, to avoid glancing at Control] 

  Peter Collier : It never was a guy that was in control, was it? You may step down, Senator. You care to join us, ma'am?

  John Greer : [Whispers to Harold]  Well, this should be fun.