21. Many Happy Returns

Flashbacks reveal that Reese's girlfriend Jessica was killed by her abusive husband Peter Arndt, who covered up the death as a car crash. Finch spots Reese in the hospital as the latter learns of Jessica's death, suggesting she was a POI Finch was unable to save. Reese later finds evidence of Arndt's abuse and apparently kills him in his home. In the present, Reese is given the day off, ostensibly for his birthday. Finch urges Carter to accompany agent Donnelly to New Rochelle, where Donnelly suspects Reese in Arndt's disappearance.

Finch and Fusco track POI Karen Garner, who is being pursued by U.S. Marshals for identity theft, but realize she is fleeing her abusive husband Brad, a marshal who framed her to trigger a manhunt. Reese realizes Finch kept him away from the case to protect him from the reminder of Jessica's death, and manages to find and subdue Brad as he attempts to kidnap his wife. Reese makes Brad disappear by arranging for him to be imprisoned in a Mexican penitentiary for drug smuggling. It is implied that Reese has done the same thing several times before as a way of making people disappear without actually killing them, possibly including to Arndt. During these events, Carter finds out Reese's true identity through his military record, but decides to keep it a secret; Finch gifts Reese his own apartment.