So this week, we have come upon Person of Interest (ahhhh I’m actually running out of tv shows….how is that possible? It’s okay, I still have k-dramas and c-dramas to talk about.) I’m not sure what to say of Person of Interest other than the fact that I can’t wait for the new season to come out. I actually really like it even though I’ve mostly moved past crime shows.
The premise of the show is that there is a machine that can tap into any camera and microphone in the USA and using it’s super computer brain, it analyzes potential terrorists. However, it’s not just terrorists the machine finds. It also finds people who are about to be harmed or about to inflict harm. Unfortunately, since that is not the machine’s purpose, the creator, Harold Finch programmed it to delete irrelevant information. The show basically revolves around the irrelevants. Finch created a back door so that he can get the social security number of the irrelevents. With his partner, John Reese, they save lives and prevent crimes.
I suppose what I find most amusing is the fact that this show was technically supposed to be science fiction. But then the American government happened and it turns out it wasn’t science fiction after all! Still, it doesn’t take away from the show. The great thing about Person of Interest is that even though it’s overall serious, there are these flashes of humor that lighten the mood. And also, there are no lawfully evil characters. No one is bad just to be bad. They all have motivations and when you find out about them, it sways your view. What is morally correct? What do you do when it’s the individual versus the overall collective? Which is more important? Is the sacrifice worth it?
The characters are great on the show as well. They are distinctly different from each other and meld together to form interesting tensions. First is my favorite, Harold Finch. He’s the computer genius that created the Machine. No one knows what his real name is, but he really likes using birds as last names. He’s secretive, but likable. He’s sarcastic and you can tell he has a dark, heavy past that the writers are now slowly revealing. He’s absolutely precious because even though he likes to pretend he doesn’t care, he has a heart of gold.
Then there is John Reese. Reese is a former Special Forces member who now works for Finch. Reese is kind of just hilarious. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, there’s usually something sharp on his tongue. He also has this odd raspy voice like he remains mute for days at a time before speaking. He had a tragic past too, but he’s healing. It’s actually touching to see the friendship between Reese and Finch because both of them have trust issues. Yet somehow they’ve ended up trusting and depending on each other.
Agent Carter is in a way a moral compass. She’s the idealist, the one that says the law should be this way and only this way. She is a detective at the NYPD. She’s had great character development throughout the seasons. As you continue to watch, you see this set idea start to falter as worse and worse things start to happen. When she’s surrounded by crooked cops, can she really help people without getting her hands dirty? She’s beginning to see that the world is less black and white and more varying shades of gray.
Fusco is both hilarious and sad as a character. True he was a crooked cop in the beginning, but he has been working hard to reform. He often ends up as the butt of their jokes, but his situations is actually really sad. He’s also a detective in the NYPD. He’s had great character development as well, trying to rebuild his reputation and risking it all to take down the corrupt cops.
Overall, Person of Interest is definitely a show to check out if you like crime dramas. Even if you don’t, the characters are compelling and worth a few episodes at least. Not to mention Bear the German Shepard absolutely steals your heart.