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Notes for season 1 episode 19, “Flesh and Blood” 05:29 Reese calls Carter on his cellphone, and you hear the rapid tone sequence of a speed-dial. In my experience the smartphones of this era didn’t actually do that. It’s been added in to convey he’s making a call (already obvious visually) but on relying recognition…

Notes for season 1 episode 18, “Identity Crisis” 02:00 The joke about Finch inventing social media to provide information for The Machine mostly lines up with the timelines of major social media sites in the real world. 09:00 The female Hester is played by Sarah Wynter, who is recognisable as Kate Warner in 24. 11:14…

Notes for season 1 episode 17, “Baby Blue” 11:24 Fusco clearly tells Simmons “Bite me” – but the easily offended captions transcriber instead offers “[responds unintelligibly]” 19:30 Reese follows the man he believes is the child’s father, sees him kiss another man, and immediately concludes he’s not the father. While technically correct, this is clearly…

Notes for season 1 episode 16, “Risk” 10:45 Finch runs a “GPRS reroute” to stop the target’s calls being monitored – which I assume from context is putting a reroute entry in the cellphone provider’s database – ie the mechanism used for number portability. Except later we still see that he gets text messages, so…

Notes for season 1 episode 15, “Blue Code“ 02:00 The gurning blond is familiar, it’s Robin Lord Taylor who played Penguin on Gotham. 06:16 Flashback Reese casually listens on a Grundig S450DLX to a German Numbers Station broadcasting on 17898kHz, presumably as a meditation. A few weeks after this episode aired in 2012, you could access the…

Notes for season 1 episode 14, “Lone Wolf and Cub” 01:43 It’s not clear what Finch is waving about when he re-enters the library. We can assume he’s using an RF scanner to check for hidden transmitters. The flashing red LEDs suggest he might be using something like a cheap CC308 RF detector. 04:52 911…

Notes for season 1 episode 13, “Root Cause” 02:51 Finch’s background searching includes a screenshot of what is clearly Facebook but without a logo, rather than some in-universe site. 06:50 Finch constructs a waveguide antenna out of a tube of potato chips. “Its dimensions are perfect for capturing wifi radio waves.” Pringles Cantennas are one…

Notes for season 1 episode 11, “Legacy” 02:36 Carter finally sitting opposite Reese. Like that one single scene in Heat where De Niro and Pacino are onscreen together. 15:10 Sending phishing emails containing malware feels like it’s something that should feel dated a decade later, but sadly not. 16:57 Carter identifies the steroid in the…

Notes for season 1 episode 11, “Super” 01:26 Finch finds a morgue attendant who was a talented surgeon in Iraq, but unable to perform that role in the US due to the cost of a medical license. Tapping into the cultural idea that America has skilled immigrants doing comparatively menial work, because they can’t overcome…

Notes for season 1 episode 10 “Number crunch” 14:20 The bomb in the baby-carriage was wired to the radio. It seems like such a movie-plot assassination device, but apparently exploding prams were considered a real threat in post-9/11 New York. 15:46 The thing about phones constantly looking for the wifi networks they recognise is usually…