Person of Interest (CBS) - Series Premiere: Synopsis and Review
‘Person of Interest’ is a new drama series about a post-9/11 machine that predicts future crimes and a businessman (Michael Emerson, ‘Lost’) and a former CIA-agent (Jim Caviezel, ‘The Passion Of The Christ’) trying to stop these crimes from happening. Written by J.J. Abrams (co-creator of ‘Alias’ and ‘Lost’) and Jonathan Nolan (‘The Dark Knight’), ‘Person of Interest’ co-stars Taraji P. Henson (‘Boston Legal’).
According to a CBS executive, ‘Person of Interest’ has received the highest ratings from test audiences in the last 15 years. As a result, the network has decided to move CSI, the over-a-decade veteran occupant of the Thursdays 9/8c timeslot, to Wednesdays, in favor of ‘Person of Interest’.
In the aftermath of 9/11, the US government granted itself the power to read every one's e-mails, listen to all phone conversations and track us on video where ever we go. This amounts to an enormous lot of information, and the mysterious billionaire Mr. Finch (Emerson) was asked to build a machine that could look through all this information and help prevent another terrorist attack. As a side effect, the resulting machine also produced ‘irrelevant’ crimes. Since Finch couldn’t live with himself ignoring these, he built a back door that each day gives him one Social Security number of someone involved in a future crime.
Unable to intervene himself, Mr. Finch hires John Reese (Caviezel), a former CIA-agent who is presumed dead by everyone, just like Mr. Finch himself. Reese’s job is to find out what the role of the person in the crime will be (victim, perpetrator or witness), where and when it will happen and to prevent the actual crime from happening.
The expectations are sky high for ‘Person of Interest’, being created by J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan and driving CSI out of its very own timeslot. The big question is: Does ‘Person of Interest’ deliver? The short answer: Yes. The long answer: If you’re willing to accept the fact that one’s Visa bills and phone calls can tell whether he or she will be involved in a crime, and the fact that there is a supercomputer that actually does this kind of thing, this is a great show. Michael Emerson brings eccentricity and mystery to his character and Jim Caviezel makes John Reese the tragic anti-hero he should be.
The first crime that our new duo prevents is not a very distinguishing one, with a wrongfully accused African-American and crooked cops, but that leaves the focus at the introduction of Finch and Reese’s collaboration. What really draws the attention of the audience is the mystery surrounding the two lead characters. If Abrams and Nolan do as expected, they will slowly unveil the history of the characters, keep us on the edges of our seats and deliver a new hit series to CBS.
What do you think of 'Person of Interest'?
Related Hubs
- Upcoming Drama TV Series: Fall 2011
Other new and upcoming drama series in the Fall 2011 TV season