Although Finnick seemed to have a lot of screen time for his character, there are still some things viewers don't know about him from a reader's perspective. Small details, changes, and moments many would enjoy knowing.
He & Katniss Pranked Peeta
During Catching Fire, Katniss and Finnick had a moment of bonding that wasn't shown in the film. Their poisonous fog sores were scabbing and itching, a danger for infection.
They received ointment from Haymitch and put the unsightly goop all over their bodies and faces while Peeta slept. It was a look of decomposition, a joke they shared as they made fun of their appearances. Katniss went to wake Peeta and it was Finnick's idea to put their faces close to his and scare him. The two laughed for a long time after.
He Wasn't The One To Remind Katniss About The Enemy
Although most people think it was Finnick who reminded Katniss of the true enemy, he didn't do it in the book. Instead, Katniss is crouching ready to aim an arrow at Enobaria, hoping her shot will cause Finnick to duck near the tree as the lightning strikes.
She hears Peeta yell for her. She wants to give him his best chance at surviving. She hopes to put it down to one enemy for him to fight, and then she re Haymitch's last words to her before she left for the arena. "You just who the enemy is."
He "Never Wanted For Anything" In The 65th Hunger Games
The films don't say much about Finnick's Hunger Games victory except that he was fourteen years of age, skilled at water combat, and the Capitol's darling. The books give a little more detail. "Being from District 4, he was a Career, so the odds were already in his favor, but what no trainer could claim to have given him was his extraordinary beauty."
Because of his allure, "Finnick never wanted for anything, not food or medicine or weapons. It took about a week for his competitors to realize that he was the one to kill, but it was too late."
He Was Gifted A Trident
The final nail in the coffin for most of Finnick's 65th Hunger Games competitors was when Finnick received "a silver parachute with a trident." Katniss describes it as "the most expensive gift I've ever seen given in the arena."
Before receiving the gift, Finnick was using the weapons from the Cornucopia, but the trident was the end-all. "He wove a net out of some kind of vine he found, used it to entangle his opponents so he could spear them with the trident, and within a matter of days the crown was his."
He Swam Out To Peeta
When Katniss and Finnick team up on the Cornucopia, Katniss finally spots Peeta. He's stranded on his tribute podium. She goes to get him, removing knives from her belt, but Finnick says he will get him. "Better not exert yourself. Not in your condition," he says, and reaches down and pats my abdomen."
He swims out to Peeta with ease. "Finnick has reached Peeta now and is towing him back, one arm across his chest while the other propels them through the water with easy strokes. Peeta rides along without resisting."
He Agrees With Katniss About Peeta's Goodness
When Katniss climbs the tree to get a better look at their surroundings in the Quarter Quell, she sees bodies fighting and bodies bleeding. Finnick asks her, "What's going on down there, Katniss? Have they all ed hands? Taken a vow of non-violence? Tossed the weapons in the sea in defiance of the Capitol?"
When Katniss responds that they haven't, Finnick says, "Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He eyes Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta." Katniss then thinks of how Finnick understands the same as her and Haymitch, that Peeta is "truly, deep-down better than the rest of us."
He Spends Time Training With Katniss
During training, Peeta and Katniss decide to spit up. In a deleted scene of the Catching Fire film, Katniss goes over the knot tying station and is alone for some time before Finnick s her and finishes the knots she has been struggling to complete. "I watch for a minute while he picks up a length of rope, makes a noose, and then pretends to hang himself for my amusement."
In the novel, Finnick also introduces Katniss to Mags. After Katniss's shooting is seen by the other tributes, Finnick gives her "an hour of trident lessons in exchange for an hour of archery instruction."
Finnick & His Hospital Gown
Losing Annie and Peeta to the Capitol takes its toll on Finnick and Katniss. They are able to relate to one another's pain. "I worry about that with Annie. That she'll say something that could be construed as traitorous without knowing it." They alleviate each other. When Finnick, who is in hospital, wants to go down to where Beetee has his new trident, Katniss tells him to wear some tros. "He looks down at his legs as if noticing his outfit for the first time. Then he whips off his hospital gown, leaving him in just his underwear. "Why? Do you find this" - he strikes a ridiculously provocative pose - "distracting?" He makes Katniss laugh and Boggs uncomfortable.
He & Katniss Watch Peeta's Broadcast Together
Finnick and Katniss eat dinner together in Katniss's room and watch the newest propo. It's at that time when Peeta appears on-screen completely transformed from the healthy person he was days before. Finnick sees the panic in Katniss and helps conceal her emotions from Plutarch and Fluvia.
"We didn't see Peeta. Only the propo on Eight. Then we turned the set off because the images upset you. Got it?" The next day, Katniss gets permission for her and Finnick to go to the woods where they talk about what they saw the previous night.
Katniss Sees His Life Flash Before Her Eyes
While in the tunnel, chased after by mutts, Katniss can't accept that many of them have died. From the top of the ladder, she tries to go down, hearing screams and believing someone to be alive, only to be stopped by Gale who tells her no one else is coming.
"Far below, I can just make out Finnick, struggling to hang on as three mutts tear at him. As one yanks back his head to take the death bite, something bizarre happens. It's as if I'm Finnick, watching images of my life flash by. The mast of a boat, a silver parachute, Mags laughing, a pink sky, Beetee's trident, Annie in her wedding dress, waves breaking over the rocks. Then it's over."
