Tue 23 Jun 2020
A TV Episode Review: PERSON OF INTEREST “Pilot†(2011).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Science Fiction & Fantasy[10] Comments
PERSON OF INTEREST “Pilot.†CBS, 22 September 2011. Jim Caviezel as John Reese, Michael Emerson as Harold Finch. Guest cast: Natalie Zea. Seriescreated by Jonathan Nolan; executive producers: Nolan, J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Greg Plageman, Denise Thé, and Chris Fisher. Director: David Semel.
This series lasted for five years, but when it was first suggested to me that it was excellent and I really had to watch it, it was part way through the third year, and believe you me, I had no idea what was going on. Science fictional TV series like this one has a tendency to get that way, especially when the basic concept was so complicated to begin with.
To wit: A former government contractor named Harold Finch is the man who helped build a super computer program that… What the hell. I’m just going to quote Wikipedia:
“…that is capable of collating all sources of information to predict terrorist acts and identify people planning them. The Machine also identifies perpetrators and victims of other premeditated deadly crimes, but, because the government considers these ‘irrelevant,’ he programs the Machine to delete this information each night. Anticipating abuse of his creation, Finch created a backdoor into the Machine. Tormented by the ‘irrelevant’ deaths that might have been prevented, he eventually decides to use his backdoor to act covertly. To escape detection, he directs the Machine to provide only a tiny fragment of data: the social security number of a ‘person of interest.’ The person may be a victim, a perpetrator, or an innocent bystander caught up in lethal events.â€
In the pilot, the social security number is that of a successful female prosecutor. What kind of problem is she having, or will she have? There are many low life characters in her life every day. Is she in danger? To help him find out, Finch recruits John Reese (Jim Caviezel) – and quoting Wikipedia again, he is “a former Green Beret and CIA agent now presumed dead.†Finch needs him as a leg man to investigate.
It’s a great concept, and this the first episode is slickly done, with a twist or two that brought a smile (or several smiles) to my face.. It’s no wonder the show went on to great success.
I’m not sure, though, whether I want to invest the equivalent of five years’ worth of episodes, especially, as I said the outset, I think the show went off in directions that even those who made this pilot had no idea of that far in advance. Fringe was another series that I enjoyed for maybe two years before the plots became way way too complicated, at least for me.
I welcome any advice you may have to offer on this.
June 23rd, 2020 at 6:26 am
I can’t offer any advice as I’ve never seen one episode, but the whole premise of this show sounds like a takeoff on the movie “Minority Report” way back from 2002 starring Tom Cruise. Based on a story by Philip K. Dick, I believe. But the movies storyline was to stop all crimes before they happened. Great movie by the way, for anyone who has never seen it.
June 23rd, 2020 at 8:11 am
No, way better than MINORITY REPORT. True, it’s hard to sustain a show over five years, but this was always Must See TV for us. I have never cared for Caviezel and his whispering ways, but he was perfect here, and Emerson, so awful in LOST, was great here. Additional characters joined the team along the way, for periods of time, or popped in and out, but the two of them (and the dog) ran from start to finish. I don’t know if I can advise you to watch all of them – it is time consuming and you have so many other things to watch – but I would definitely keep it on the list and watch them once every week or two.
June 23rd, 2020 at 8:19 am
In the picture on the bottom, other characters are (on the left) Taraji P. Henson as one of the few honest cops in New York, who starts out hunting Reese, but ends up helping them often, for three series. Right of Caviezel is Kevin Chapman as the sleazy crooked cop turned reluctant helper turned (eventually) trusted if reluctant assistant Det. Lionel Fusco. Somehow you always hope Fusco will survive. Right of Henson is Amy Acker as Root, the genius hacker obsessed with The Machine, who guests in the first two seasons, then becomes a regular. And far right is Sarah Shahi as the extremely tough Sameen Shaw, an ISA assassin who becomes an ally of Reese and Finch the last three seasons.
June 23rd, 2020 at 8:21 am
Enjoyed the show. I always thought that Caviezel would make a great Jack Reacher.
June 23rd, 2020 at 9:04 am
In my list of my favorite TV series of the 2010 decade (https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=65490 ), this series made the list at number one.
Every time I listened to its soundtrack I had to check that this series was really on CBS and not HBO. It amazed me weekly that POI existed on CBS, the old folks network that rarely takes risks such as POI.
After 9/11 Harold creates an AI powerful enough to know of every crime be it a terrorist plot like 9/11 to a holdup plan for a local 7/11. The first season the series focused on crime of the week, sometimes the Social Security number belonged to the victim other times to the criminal. By the second season the series was taking on corrupt cops to an evil conspiracy by a part of the American government to use Harold’s AI to oppress American citizens and beyond. I can’t think of a better conspiracy TV series than POI.
This series did not dumb down the drama centered around our government plans to strip us of our freedom, criminal world in today’s dark society, and the threat of AI to the future of mankind.
The series was running down towards the end and they had the integrity to end at the right time rather than churn out same old junk for as long as they make money that most broadcast network series air (looking at you NCIS, LAW AND ORDER SVU, to name just two).
Steve I suspect you will make it to season 4 when it doubles down on the conspiracy. But where the characters end up was not a disappointment and made the viewers journey well worth the entire trip.
June 23rd, 2020 at 10:05 am
One of my favorite shows during its run. Never missed an episode. Felt the same about FRINGE.
June 23rd, 2020 at 11:22 am
Thanks for the comments, everyone! All very interesting, informative and useful. I will be sure to watch a few more, especially while the series is still in its “crime of the week” stage, which I find I prefer, most of the time, unless it’s a mini-series with one story being told over a well-defined beginning and end.
Even after watching only the episode, I too agree that it does not seem to be a show on CBS. It is a wonder that they kept renewing it. Ratings must have been better than just OK.
As for Caviezel as Jack Reacher, I didn’t get the feeling, at least not yet, but Chuck I can see where you’re coming from. Lee Child must been paid a lot of money for the use of the character to go along with the gag that Tom Cruise was right for the part.
Maybe they’ll do Reacher again some day and do it right.
June 23rd, 2020 at 11:46 am
Fun trivia about Jim Caviezel. He played Number 6 in the AMC remake of THE PRISONER.
He was convincing in POI but his Batman voice annoyed me at times.
June 23rd, 2020 at 9:03 pm
This one, remarkably pays off in the end, and while I won’t claim there aren’t a few doldrums or times when it wanders afield a bit, even those moments ultimately tie together like a novel.
This isn’t LOST. It does not let down, and the the ending is so pitch perfect regarding what came before only the world’s biggest grouch could complain.
It is well worth investing in. Characters grow and change, sub plots go in unexpected directions, and just when you think it is going to slip into the crime of the week as a sort of high tech EQUALIZER it takes a turn into conspiracy thriller then SF, then something unique about one man’s, and not the one you might think, rebirth as a human being.
I won’t claim every episode is a gem, but the accumulative effect and that ending made five years of loyalty feel well rewarded, which is something few continuing arc series ever manage.
Just don’t discount the SF element regarding the nature of the Machine. It is not just a gimmick to frame crime stories. At heart it is another character seeking enlightenment on its own.
On another note, if you ever wonder how an agent such as the one portrayed here handles himself, the trade craft, the violence, the ruthlessness, this series is very accurate. Caviezel isn’t a superman, he’s is just realistically dangerous and skilled. There is little of the silliness so many series descend into with such characters trying to turn them into “heroes.”
Five years later John Reese may have found a mission, but he still pursues it with the same cold efficiency.
June 24th, 2020 at 8:04 am
Thanks, David. I have decided to stick with the series, at least for now. I think TWIN PEAKS was the show that made me very wary of shows getting LOST and wandering around with no particular goal in mind. (I am glad that I watched only one episode of LOST.)