and Cole's death. Special Counsel allows her to leave, but later her old mentor (Hersh) surprises her on a crowded street, injecting her with poison. Leon Tao (disguised as a paramedic), Carter, and Fusco take charge of the apparently dead body and drive away. We learn in the next scene that Tao has, as directed by Reese, injected her with an antidote. Shaw, fully recovered after a sedative Tao had to give her, meets with Reese and Finch in a graveyard. While again refusing their aid, this time she accepts Finch's card. Reception Ratings "Relevance" received ratings of 14.22 million in the United States, including 2.9 million adults aged 18–49. Critical reception Upon airing, the episode received nearly universal critical acclaim, with critics regarding that this had been the best episode of "Person of Interest" thus far. In his review of "Relevance," Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A rating, and said that, with the directing debut of series creator Jonathan Nolan, "his work here has the confidence and verve of someone who understands the world he’s created, and the rules of the game his show plays with viewers, well enough that he can mess around with the formula a little" and "illuminate and expand on Person Of Interest’s series mythology." Annale Newitz at io9 also praised the episode, saying that it "delivers one of the best hours of TV you'll ever see." References 2013 American television episodes Person of Interest (TV series) episodes Television episodes written by Jonathan Nolan Television episodes directed by Jonathan Nolan