PILOT REVIEW: Person of Interest

PERSON OF INTEREST

Starring: Jim Caveizel, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman, and Michael Emerson
Created by Jonathan Nolan
Written by Jonathan Nolan, Directed by David Semel

Person of Interest is a new thriller on CBS that takes the place of the long-standing CSI as CBS's tentpole Thursday show. It has all the elements of being a great show but didn't have it all put together in the pilot. It takes place in a paranoid post-9/11 world in New York City where mysterious billionaire Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson) enlists the help of former CIA agent John Reese (Jim Caveizel) to stop crimes before they happen by finding out the name of someone who will be involved. Also in the cast is a cop (Taraji P. Henson) trying to find Reese and another cop (Kevin Chapman) who is blackmailed into helping Reese.

THE GOOD: There are a lot of elements here that can make this show a terrific series. The setting is a grim and dark version of New York City and the pilot does a great job of painting that picture. Michael Emerson is great as the strange and mysterious Mr. Finch while Jim Caveizel seems like he will be a strong protagonist. Some of his back story they explored a bit will be interesting to further explore in future episodes. A show like this required a lot of introduction in the pilot so I'm excited to see an episode where they don't have to do all the set up and can focus immediately on the crime. The idea that the person they are tracking could be the victim or the criminal is a very interesting twist to the crime drama genre. This show has a lot of potential.

THE BAD: As I said, this show is filled with potential but they couldn't put it all together in the pilot. Maybe part of it was due to the setting up they had to do, but the crime itself for the week felt really rushed. I felt like they had barely done anything and it was over. The idea that they get a person of interest to track is great but the technology that makes that happen forces us to suspend disbelief to a pretty far extent. That technology almost made it like a campy sci-fi show for awhile. I also felt like I didn't quite know what was going on in a lot of the episode. Maybe the second episode will feel more coherent.

BOTTOM LINE: This was one of those shows where I didn't particularly like the pilot but I liked what they were setting up. It needs some work but the plot, the acting, and the tone are all there. It just needs to come all together. My only concern with a show like this is that it might be hard to weave the procedural crime of the week with long running mysteries. Hopefully they can do it though.