Person of Interest

by Vrinda » Fri Jun 24, 2016 1:15 pm

Did anyone watch the series finale of Person of Interest on Tuesday? What are your thoughts on it?

by Mr. Mike » Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:58 am

I have never seen this show, so I borrowed it from the library (season one). I watched the first show, and I cannot buy the premise of this show at all. In case you are unfamiliar with this show, this is the blab from the DVD box:

"A supercomputer developed by reclusive billionaire and software genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson [who played the creepy Ben Linus on Lost]) analyzes data patterns in surveillance for the U.S. government to identify impending acts of terrorism. But the computer, known only as "The Machine," can also identify ordinary people who are about to be involved in violent crimes. Can those crimes be stopped before they take place? Secretly tapping into The Machine, Finch and ex-CIA agent John Reese (Jim Caviezel) use vigilante tactics and state-of-the-art technology to identify the soon-to-be victims and prevent the crimes from occurring."

Sounds to me like a lot of things about this show are very similar to Five-Zero, especially the use of a "supercomputer." Without watching any more episodes, I am sure they also get into stuff typical of modern "crime solving" shows like instant DNA analysis, as well as facial recognition, voice recognition and so forth -– except where the machine's inability to do these things is essential to developing the plot for a particular episode.

As well, Caviezel's character sounds very much like the new McGarrett, i.e., someone who was in a "government" job with a classified aspect (CIA versus US military) and who dispenses "justice" without any consideration for the normal rule of law. Reese has seen hard times, basically turning into a bum and thinking of killing himself, whereas the new McGarrett is totally messed up with PTSD and other issues (never yet explored on Five-Zero, though there are constantly rumours that this might happen).

I sure don't understand how they managed to drag Person of Interest out for five seasons!

by ringfire211 » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:58 pm

POI is actually quite a good show. Possibly the best one out there right now (I don't watch cable shows). Yes the premise is far-fetched (it is a bit sci-fi in that regard) but if you can accept the premise then it's pretty exciting. I think the show only gets better as you go on. I'm around the middle of season 1 and it has really picked up steam.

One thing is for sure - it's better scripted and much better acted than Five-Zero. Caviezel runs circles and then some around O'Loughlin. And no carguments in sight! I'll take Michael Emerson over Scott Caan any old day (and night!)

Also the Machine theme (by Ramin Djawadi, who also scored PRISON BREAK and now does GAME OF THRONES) is a really cool theme! You can hear it in all its glory as the pilot episode comes to a close.

by Mr. Mike » Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:22 pm

I have made it up to episode four of season one of Person of Interest. I will agree with you that it is well written, though that is no great statement comparing it to Five-Zero. There are still things that annoy me, especially the premise of the show which is that the surveillance system (The Machine) was developed years ago and has cameras and microphones virtually EVERYWHERE and you can hear conversations of people across the street and you can find out virtually anything about anybody. I find it really inconsistent that The Machine's cameras are omnipresent, but when Caviezel's character pulls out a gun and shoots some guy in broad daylight in a laundromat and then manages to get away totally undetected, there are no other surveillance cameras anywhere recording this. As far as the acting of the two leads is concerned, Michael Emerson was geeky and annoying in a creepy way on Lost and he is the same here. Jim Caviezel's acting is soporific, so you have to ask which is worse -- this or Caan's hyperactivity?

by Mr. Mike » Sun Jul 31, 2016 8:40 am

I have given up on Person of Interest after watching a couple more shows, despite the fact that various reviews on IMDB and elsewhere suggest that "it gets better as it goes along."

It seemed to me like the same thing over and over, and if I want to watch something like that, I will watch Columbo. I just don't have the time to devote to five seasons of this.

What I particularly did not like about the show was the use of pop songs as some of the episodes came to a close. I >HATE< this. This is basically the people behind the show telling people what to think with some "message" in the songs. Five-Zero has employed this technique on occasion as well.

by ringfire211 » Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:02 pm

Different strokes for different folks, Mike. While I enjoy the show (though I don't watch it during its prime time run) it's certainly nowhere on the level of something like "24" or classic Five-O. With "24" you were literally chomping at the bit to find out what happens in the next episode because you really never knew where it was going to go and were prepared for the unexpected (especially during the earlier seasons). POI is not quite on that level of intensity (or that level of writing or acting or music).

As for Reese not being recorded on cameras when he pulls his gun and does his bit of mayhem I'm sure some cameras do spot him but you have to remember that Finch (Emerson) has pretty much access to any cameras in the city (thanks to his genius and the "back door" that he built into the Machine). Certainly the machine sees everything but you'll also recall that the authorities only see that which is filtered by the Machine (only "relevant" crimes related to terrorism and such). In any case since the show is borderline science fiction it doesn't make sense to dwell too much on this. But if you really want to those are some of the explanations.

As for Caviezel vs. Caan I certainly prefer the former's soporific acting to the latter's sugar-induced 10 year old tantrums and nonsensical ramblings. Since Reese is a very somber type of individual with a haunting past I think Caviezel plays him just right.

Oh, and the pop music never really bothered me. To be honest I don't even recall any of the songs or when they played. It's not too often to be distracting. I'm fine with it. Let's remember that MIAMI VICE was basically a 1-hour MTV music video show and it worked perfectly fine there. Admittedly the pop songs on that show were actually awesome! Songs these days are absolute trash - just generic crap. Still, POI is nowhere near the music show that MV was so it's not too distracting if a pop songs pops in (hehe) from time to time.

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