Review Tuesday: PERSON OF INTEREST (The Complete Series)

PERSON OF INTEREST

2011 - 2016

Seasons 1 - 5

(The Complete Series)

In a post-9/11 world, there is a demand for security, but at what price? 

PERSON OF INTEREST is a show that I didn't see during its initial five season run, but was exceedingly aware of it. Since it takes place, mostly, in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, I found myself stumbling over their film sites more often than any other series during its course. However, I never got around to actually watching the show until this tax season. A friend wanted me to see it, and I agreed it would be a good distraction from the stresses of my first tax season as my own boss. And so it began. 

 

The show starts in the NYC subway. John Reese (convincingly played by Jim Caviezel) is former-CIA / Special Ops, down on his luck, and looking for someone to punch his ticket since there's nothing left living for. That was when he was recruited by Harold Finch (expertly played by Michael Emerson), a paranoid tech genius with a huge secret. Finch had created a massive AI to help protect the United States from another terrorist attack by wading through ALL data. Cameras. Phones. Email. There is no privacy from THE MACHINE. However, to prevent the abilities of The Machine from being abused, it would only provide a number. A person of interest. It was up to the receiver to investigate and act. However, while looking for terrorist activity, the machine was detecting other premeditated crimes. Since these were considered "irrelevant" for National Security these people were ignored. Finch disagreed that these lives were irrelevant and assembled a team that would track these number the Machine would provide through a back-door. 

 

Initially, the show seemed like a mystery / drama to see who we save this week, why and how? However, there turned out to be deeply seated conspiracies that would surface time and again.  

 

The story is very intertwined, so binge-watching and paying attention to the characters will help down the line. The characters are developed perfectly. The plot is excellent. In fact, for a series that ran from 2011 - 2016, it seemed to almost predict some issues and concerns that would come up years after it's finale. And yes, this show ran a full cycle and had a proper ending. I won't go into anymore detail because I highly recommend that YOU should take the time and watch this series as well. Do you ever feel like you are being watched? Ever feel like the government is over-reaching for power? Ever feel like your privacy has evaporated? Only the paranoid survive...

Get it on AMAZON