Why I Watch ~ Person of Interest

10/28/2011

I started watching Person of Interest solely because of Michael Emerson. I will continue with it because Emerson has a talent for moving me with a single tear or a few trembling words, a talent which has been subtly hinted at a few times so far in this fledgling series. Need evidence? I give you his best scene from Lost. Here he has just escaped from digging his own grave. Fun times.


The fact that the show is a J.J. Abrams idea wasn't a turn off, even though I found the end of Lost disappointing, to say the least. Star Trek and Fringe (certainly Abrams' finest creation) buy him a lot of good will with me. I love the idea: a big brother computer system that its billionaire genius inventor is secretly using to save people along with the hired muscle, a stoic former CIA agent. I haven't really warmed up to Caviezel's nearly expressionless face, but he's on the side of good, kicks a lot of ass, and creates some great tension, so I'll cut him a little slack. On a side note, these two keep bringing to mind a Bruce Wayne who can no longer directly fight crime, somehow extricates Batman from his psyche, and sends Bats off on missions, minus the suit and all the cool toys.

Each week is a new case, as is standard for procedurals. I can tolerate this if a show is good enough, and it's what Fringe seemed to be until it started showing how gorgeously layered it was. What I always gravitate towards are the little pieces of character backstory, and that is slowly unfolding here. There is no friendship as of yet, but we do have a building trust. Now that the show has been picked up for a whole season, it'll have the necessary time to build those layers it's going to need to be truly memorable.

Edit, 11-4-11: Found this video last week, but I didn't get to watch until just now. Here Emerson mentions the possible friendship between the two main characters.