When Person of Interest first began, I certainly thought the premise was unique, garnered a solid cast of actors and had the potential to do big things. It wasn't necessarily my favorite show and even the subsequent episodes that initially followed didn't blow me away.

Except the season continued to adapt itself, melding two genres of procedural and serial, seemingly testing the boundaries of what worked and what needed a sharp turn in the opposite direction.

Even the reveal of Reese and Finch to Carter was meant to wait until the end of the season before it wound up being moved to an earlier episode to get the detective into the mix and avoid her floating around endlessly, searching for the guy in the suit.

The move certainly paid off and Carter's character along with Fusco, and, of course, Reese and Finch began to grow into something more. And the same can be said for the cases they encountered week by week.

And to top that off, the introduction of a big baddie in Elias provided a larger story that often intertwined with the cases of the week. There was so much going on but somehow the show had soon found the right snowball it needed and it's been rolling forward with entertainment, action and drama ever since. Right now, there doesn't seem to be anything slowing down this breakout hit.

"Flesh and Blood" continued to keep things moving with Elias' never-ending quest to eliminate the mob families, take control of the city and revert organized crime back to the way it used to be. He's just really obsessed with change.

His own familial ties with Moretti were further exposed through flashback, although they didn't add too much beside the fact that his crusade began at a rather early age. I guess having your mother murdered, rejected by your father and then attempted to be murdered by that same father cuts really deep and not just through the hands. Revenge is a powerful thing.

The episode started out somewhat slow and a little cheesy with Carter trying to round up the mob bosses. Just telling them that they had no choice in the matter while pointing a gun at them just made me laugh.

Things instead got more interesting when Carter was placed under a rather similar circumstance that Reese had been in before. Elias had captured her son in the hopes she would give up the mob bosses to keep him alive. Unlike Reese, she was unwavering in her decision.

Surprised that she was willing to risk her son's life at the hands of a ruthless, albeit calm, criminal bent on taking over New York? Was that simply a part of her no nonsense character or because she trusted that Reese would end up saving the day?

Whatever her motivations to stay true to her plan of protecting the mob heads, a very cool parallel sequence of Reese filling his action quota and Carter and Fusco holding down the fort even with not knowing who to trust ensued.

And clearly that's something that's been heavily discussed throughout the season, with characters never falling into a black and white camp of good guy or bad guy. There are certainly morals attributed to each, but sometimes circumstances allow them to teeter along the line.

Even the corrupt police - known as "HR" - managed to leave Elias' side before he was captured because of his deep-seeded manipulation of everyone. Unlucky break, but I got to hand it to the guy; he's thorough, intelligent and persistent, without being overly cocky and brash. Checking in on your own allies? Genius.

Which of course meant that even with Reese and Carter essentially saving the day, Elias still managed to have the last laugh in blowing up his father and step brother while in prison. I don't expect Elias to remain behind bars long because with his extensive reach of power and persuasion, he's bound to either break out or walk right through the front door. Season finale perhaps?

On a side note, with all of the story, action and the character interaction, I have to say that I love the Person of Interest music that accompanies the show. Not only does it fit in perfectly mood wise, especially at the end of this episode, but it adds that extra punch of quality and completeness. It really does feel at times like you're watching a mini movie.

This was a great episode that hit on all the marks that really makes Person of Interest stand out. I could gripe about a few smaller things like Carter's campy lines, the simplicity in which Elias got to everyone, or even him going in person to see Carter - but the show has done a fantastic job in making its characters and the overall story compelling week in and week out. It's just proving that this is a show whose numbers won't be up for a while.

Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.