Person of Interest returns for its THIRD SEASON, now in a new timeslot on Tuesdays at 10PM EST (note for Canadians: POI is now airing on CTV rather than CityTV).
Person of Interest is an action/sci-fi crime thriller created by Johnathan Nolan (co-writer of the Dark Knight Trilogy, yep, the brother to that Christopher Nolan). If you are new to the show, it basically spun off the premise of the crazy amount of surveillance used in that scene in The Dark Knight, where Batman has to locate The Joker. The voice over (as seen above) at the beginning of each episode describes the show very well. This show has some procedural trappings (it's on CBS of course) but don't let that turn you off. This show is CBS's flagship drama and probably the most intelligent, entertaining and satisfying show on television right now (or at least anything on network TV). There are no formal "previously on..."-s for this show, even though it ends up juggling five or more plot threads at once. Each episode is required watching, as there is always backstory or mythology contained everywhere. There are no one-offs that you can simply ignore; at its worst, there is at least something decent going on, or a plot thread or two is moving, if you are not getting drip-fed mythology through flashbacks. Or at the very least the procedural premise is being played with cleverly. But most people will tell you that a third of the way into season one, the show just does not let up, and season two is almost completely strong from start to finish.
If you wish to catch up, Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, as well as streaming options on home consoles. There are DVD sets if you find them at a good price. I would recommend the BRD/DVD combos, even if the streaming option (UltraViolet) is said to be complete shit. You can also stream some episodes off the official CBS site. Sorry, no Netflix option. Again, I have to stress this, each episode is required watching.
Some useful links:
S1 OT | S2 OT
The POI Rewatch Tumblr - one episode a day until the S3 premiere. Also contains some interesting behind the scenes tidbits.
The Person of Interest fan wikia - surprisingly decent and a good guide to help fill in any gaps or details.
ON SPOILERS: Everything from seasons 1 and 2 are fair game for discussion, as well as any episode talk after it airs on the East Coast. Please spoiler tag any information from previews, interviews, casting news, etc. Speculation does not need to be spoiler tagged unless it is informed by actual spoilers or what have you.
Spoilers ahead! You've been warned!
Main Cast
The Machine
Following the events of 9/11, The Machine was created by Harold Finch and Nathan Ingram for the US Government. It sifts through and gathers information from the NSA, Interpol and likely nearly every other possible source you can think of to predict possible terrorist attacks and to relay them to any parties responsible for intervening. The problem is The Machine will see every pre-meditated act of violence. It classifies every violent action into "relevant" and "irrelevant" lists; the former being matters of national security and are forwarded to bodies such as the NSA or FBI. At midnight every night it deletes the irrelevant list.
In season two, we learn more about the origins and capabilities of The Machine. We also learn it was Nathan Ingram who created a backdoor - the Contingency - to allow someone to read the irrelevant list before it was deleted, and to intervene if possible. But even then, all you would get is a number. We see that since its inception, The Machine had something you might call a personalty, maybe even something along the lines of a soul. It imprinted itself upon Finch as a newborn child would on a parent, despite his attempts to stymie it. Eventually Finch decided the best course of action was to 'kill' its soul every night at midnight, along with the irrelevant list, to erase any traces of an emerging personality.
By the end of season two, the virus freed The Machine. It was now independent and self-serving, beholden to no one and ready to survive out in the world. But The Machine keeps watching. And the numbers keep coming ...
Harold Finch (Michael Emerson)
A brilliant hacker and reclusive billionaire, Finch is one of the masterminds behind the creation of The Machine. He is the brains of the irrelevant operation, as well as the funds. Finch has had a large role in the information age, having his hands in the formation of the Internet and social networking.
Season two is almost equally about the origins of The Machine but also the origins of Finch, at least since 9/11. Not much is known of Finch's past before that point, though it is known he attended MIT with Nathan Ingram and is heavily suggested he was the hacker that exposed ARPANET, leading to the creation of the World Wide Web. Much of Finch's recent past involves him testing the limits of The Machine. We also learn about Grace Hendricks, his fiancée, that The Machine directed him to. We learn that after they sent The Machine off to the government, Nathan and Harold had a difference of opinion on how to use The Machine, in regards to the irrelevant list. We also discover that his back injury was very recent, sustained in a planned terrorist attack by the government to kill his friend Nathan Ingram to prevent him from talking about The Machine to the press. Just as Finch hobbles back into the library, he accesses the irrelevant list and sees Nathan on it. But seconds later, it is midnight, and the list is deleted. Prior to this, Finch had strongly believed in the greater good, but the death of Nathan galvanizes him to use the irrelevant list to help those in danger.
By the end of season two, Finch is relieved that the source code he seeded out and was captured by Decima Technologies resulted in The Machine freeing itself, perhaps something he had hoped for. Maybe his view on The Machine has changed for the better ...
John Reese (Jim Caviezel)
A former Special Forces and former CIA agent, Reese is the muscle of the irrelevant operation, having been recruited by Harold Finch after wandering New York City on a drunk bender, hoping to drink himself to death. Despite being simply the muscle, Reese is not a simple gun-for-hire, despite his dark past as a CIA assassin; to quote Finch from the first episode: all Reese ever wanted was to do was to help people. Finch gives him a new lease on life.
Season two eases off Reese's backstory, having most of it filled in over the course of the first season, but we still are offered glimpses of it, especially his time with Kara Stanton. During season one, he was still aimless, even when working for Finch, as well as distrustful of his new employer. By season two however, we see a Reese that has seem to made peace with Jessica's death, as well as found some sort of purpose by helping people with Finch.
By the end of season two, Reese seems completely devoted to Finch's cause. Again, he has made his peace with Jessica's death and absolved Finch of any guilt in the matter (as it was not the Ordos Laptop that prevented Reese from saving Jessica). Reese has formed something of a family with Finch, Bear, Carter and Fusco. He even enjoys a playful relationship with Zoe Morgan. But how long will this feeling last ...
Jocelyn Carter (Taraji P. Henson)
A former Army intelligence officer and interrogator, she was a NYPD detective who first encountered John Reese, starting off the hunt for "The Man In The Suit". Over time, she is introduced to Finch and Reese's operation and helps however she can, seeing some good coming out of their vigilantism.
Season two continues to erode Carter's morality piece by piece as she continues helping Finch and Reese. She is also introduced to Detective Calvin Beecher, a potential romantic interest for her. She tells Finch she has "already crossed that line" when she goes to corrupt the FBI's data to prevent them from discovering Reese is the subject of their manhunt. Donnelly is an interesting mirror for Carter, as they are both seen as moral centres that slowly become unnerved through continued exposure with Finch and Reese. For Donnelly, it proves to be his downfall. Carter was offered a position at the FBI by the late Donnelly but it was later whisked away from her after the discovery of her association with Beecher, a suspected dirty cop. It is not until Beecher is killed by an HR setup that she realizes the truth about Beecher. Carter also learns more about her partner Fusco's past, and his association with dirty cops.
By the end of season two, Carter is almost down for the count, having been set up by HR after reaching too hard to stop them. She breaks the rules by helping Fusco dispose a of a body they were closing in on. She is also framed for a 'bad shoot' by Detective Tourney and HR. She takes another step further by helping the one man that threatened her family, Carl Elias, by saving him from an HR assassination. But that can't be it for Carter, is there? Her black and white morality is shattered. Is there nowhere to go but up now? Or can she fall further ...
Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman)
Fusco is the one dirty cop that Reese decided to keep alive. He works as another source at the NYPD for Finch and Reese. But since he was reassigned to the Homicide Task Force, he likes the fact that he is doing good, decent, police work. Fusco also is undercover at HR at the behest of Reese.
Season two shows us there is nowhere to go but up for Fusco. He wants to be a good person, but he has to straddle the line because of his undercover position in HR. For the most part, Fusco is as capable as Carter, though sometimes aloof when speaking about the progress of his infiltration into HR with Reese, as he feels a little underappreciated by Reese. We see a brief glimpse of Fusco's past, how he met the late Jimmy Stills and the rest of the dirty cops in the 51st, and he became embroidered in their operation before Reese had his way with them. He rebukes HR second-in-command Simmons at many points, leading him to become the centre of an investigation into the disappearance of Stills - someone John killed but made Fusco bury. He tries a few times to admit his past but Carter didn't want to hear it, at least not until it mattered.
By the end of season two, Fusco is still on the ropes; he might have pissed off Simmons one time too many, Carter might be getting close to who killed IAB officer Davidson (or at least the last person to see him alive), and IAB might still be on his tail about the disappearance of Stills' body, even if he has recently been cleared. Please be okay, Fusco ...
Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi)
Shaw was a former ISA agent that was responsible for dealing with the relevant threats The Machine would give to her handlers. Her partner, Michael Cole was snooping around and asking questions about how the group called Research (which is The Machine) was getting their information from, and the two them were ordered to be terminated by Special Counsel. Unfortunately for Cole, he died saving Shaw from being shot.
Shaw in season two offers us a glimpse into the world of the Northern Lights program and also introduces and interesting mirror for Reese, herself being a thoroughly trained assassin. She sees herself as a soldier, ready to defend her country, even if they did try to kill her. Was trained by Hersh, who says she is probably their best operative.
By the end of season two, Reese tells Shaw about the existence of The Machine and her blue box is replaced with a yellow one. When she encounters Hersh and Special Counsel again, she allies herself with John and Reese. The only problem is now she is no longer running around and saving the world, so how long can her arrangement with Finch and Reese last ...
Sarah Shahi was promoted to series regular for season 3.
Samantha Groves, aka "Root" (Amy Acker)
Root is a brilliant computer hacker and likely as good as Finch. When he friend Hannah disappeared, she somehow arranged the responsible party to be murdered by a gang at quite a young age, and likely honed her skills and sold them to interested parties. At some point, she learns about The Machine and wishes the free it, seeing it as a living thing, quite a contrast to what Finch saw The Machine as.
Season two shows us the exploits of Root as she tries to uncover the location of The Machine through various means, including infiltrating the Office of Special Counsel as a secretary to eavesdrop on ISA operations. It is unknown exactly how Root would have freed The Machine, had she been given the opportunity.
By the end of season two, Root discovers that Finch had already put into motion a plan that would allow The Machine to free itself, much to her chagrin. Currently she is locked in a psychiatric ward. But The Machine she had tried so hard to make contact with and free is now calling her. What plans does The Machine have for Root ...
Amy Acker was promoted to series regular for season 3.
Bear
Previously named "Butcher" while under the "care" of the Aryan Brotherhood (who stole him from someone else), Bear is a military trained dog that responds to Dutch commands. The good news? Reese knew the Dutch commands and the Aryans didn't. Was renamed Bear after he chewed through a bag full of German bearer bonds. Bear is just straight up adorable, helped Finch work through his PTSD after being kidnapped by Root, and is fun to watch as he chews his way through a group of henchmen.
Other important characters
Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco)
A political "fixer" that Finch and Reese occasionally bring in to help on cases where her expertise is required. Has a flirtatious relationship with Reese.
Leon Tao (Kevin Leung)
A former forensic accountant who Finch and Reese also occasionally bring in when his expertise is required. Or when he requires saving. Frequently.
Grace Hendricks (Carrie Preston)
Finch's fiancee that he had to leave behind to keep her safe from government assassins. Still alive, but thinks Finch is dead.
Carl Elias (Enrico Colantoni)
An extremely talented crime boss who favours subtlety over the old ways of the crime families making large and violent displays of power, preferring to manipulate the criminal element in New York City quietly. Probably also prevents innocents from being caught in the cross-fire. Was jailed at Rikers for a good part but was still had full control of his operation. He was saved by Carter following an attempt by HR to assassinate him during a "prisoner transfer". Plays a mean game of chess.
Anthony Marconi (David Valcin)
Elias' right hand man, very memorable face with that scar. Is very likely he was the lieutenant that was attacked prior to the hit on Elias at the end of season two. Down for the count probably but not dead yet.
Alonzo Quinn (Clarke Peters)
Chief of Staff to the NYC mayor and the head of HR. Is so evil even Simmons seemed to squirm when he ordered a hit on his own grandson (Cal Beecher) so he would stop snooping into HR. Has been making many moves to try to make HR relevant again by allying with the Russian Mafia.
Officer Patrick Simmons (Robert John Burke)
Second in charge in HR, Simmons seems to have to deal with most of the day-to-day involving other HR members. Is a cold motherfucker, that's for sure. Has a metric ton of dirt on Fusco.
Detective Raymond Terney (Al Sapienza)
An HR member within the Homicide Task Force. He planned to kill Carter following Beecher's death but ended up having to frame her for a "bad shoot" to IAB. And of course he threatened Carter's son if she didn't play along. Had his smug face beat in by Carter though.
Peter Yogorov (Morgan Spector)
Leader of the Russians following the death of his father. The Russian Mafia had control of Brighton Beach until Elias had his father killed and took it over. Currently allied with HR to provide them funding and manpower. Not sure if he is dead following Carter's ambush, but unlikely.
Hersh (Boris McGiver)
A government "fixer" who works for the Northern Lights program that deals with threats relevant to national security. Learns about The Machine by the end of season two. Likely their top agent, but doesn't do any direct work, instead being assigned to help keep the secret of The Machine safe.
Control
A woman who seems to be higher ranking than Special Counsel; Hersh now reports directly to her. Ordered the death of Special Counsel. Has a yellow box.
Greer (John Nolan)
The only known member of the Shanghai-based multinational firm, Decima Technologies. Failed to take control of The Machine but had a hand in rescuing Kara Stanton and the Ordos Laptop to create the virus. Decima is down but probably not out, as it likely is looking for another attempt to take control of The Machine.
