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| Technoheroes! The protectors of PERSON OF INTEREST arrive on Blu-ray and DVD. Images: WARNER BROTHERS. |
PERSON OF INTEREST – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
Starring Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson
Created by Jonathan Nolan
Now available on Blu-ray box set (4 discs)
Released by WARNER BROTHERS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Reviewed by Scott Weller
In his classic series The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan’s belligerent, stubbornly individualistic hero Number Six, in the ultimate act of proud defiance declared to his captors, “I am not a number, I am a free man!”
Back in the sixties, it was an indomitable statement to make against the march of the establishment and the rise of faceless computer technology in our lives. But now, in this age of terrorism and the events of 9/11, even that sixties icon hero would have a hard time fighting the system. The war for independence of the human condition, despite a world of surveillance and security cameras supposedly for our own good, is still being debated and waged, but the deck seems more stacked towards the microchip and the airless Wi-Fi than ever before: where numbers rule the world.
And it’s those numbers-specifically social security ones- that prove the key to CBS’s glossy, lightning paced action/adventure series PERSON OF INTEREST, out now on Blu-ray and DVD from WARNER BROTHERS HOME ENTERTAINMENT.
We’re all the subjects of a mysterious info consuming super computer, originally built to fight terrorism for a shady division of the NSA and Washington upper echelon figures, by the equally mysterious Harold Finch (played with fascinating, understated charisma by LOST’s Michael Emerson), also known as “Mister Glasses”, which, as a by product of its war on terror, also selects key persons of interest, whose important fates in the world are seemingly declared irrelevant by the government, investigated by Finch and his new-to-the–game ex-special forces soldier/covert spy helper, John Reese (Jim Caviezel). Together they must work out whether these discarded names ultimately need protection or stopping.
An intriguing format that couldn’t be more socially relevant, created by THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS co-writer Jonathan Nolan (brother to equally talented director Christopher), PERSON is easily one of the most consistently enjoyable and classy new TV series out there-a hot property that has deservedly garnered consistently high ratings States-side as it soon begins its third year. Nolan brings a welcome freshness to the TV action genre, aided by some of the most talented people in the J.J. Abrams BAD ROBOT dream factory, as well as the likes of experienced genre talents like 24’s writer/producer Patrick Harbinson.
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| An unlikely but memorable combo: Michael Emerson as Finch and Jim Caviezel as Reese. |
He hasn’t got a tropical beach to play on anymore like he did when portraying LOST’s scheming baddie Ben Linus, but Michael Emerson, as the decent, under the radar, tech oligarch with a heart certainly knows how to make the most of the big island that is New York. His inhabitation of Finch shows a very private, highly secretive man with a lot of hands in a lot of pies as he traverses the cyber world and the population around him in various different guises, hunted by the government but working in plain sight through various shell companies he secretly owns or has commercial stakes in.
Meanwhile, his brains and brawn associate, Mister Reese handles the heavy duty action with formidable aplomb-star Jim Caviezel doing the vast majority of it himself, handling the fights and weaponry in consummate ease (kudos to the shows terrific, highly polished and exciting stunt team, worthy of the best feature films), and capable of giving Daniel Craig a run for his money in the fearsome heroism stakes, with the occasional hint of cruelty and danger about him from time to time. As well as being Bond-like, Reese has an air of BATMAN’s vigilantism, too - often referred to by the many baddies he fells as “the man in the suit.”
Together, Emerson and Caviezel make a splendid team- there’s some enjoyably witty banter between them as the series develops, after a tense period of relationship building early on.
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| Detective Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson) wants answers... |
In this evolving, complex but always followable show, Nolan and his team of writers do lots of genre mixing-action/sci-fi and thrillers- whilst building style and character momentum for our two leads. They’re not afraid to change the format or bring in/revise supporting characters, either (like Taraji P. Henson’s streetwise cop, Detective Joss Carter, or Kevin Chapman as her shady partner, Lionel Fusco). PERSON also creates its own mythology, creating mini-plot arcs around the main format. There’s a group of corrupt cops working above the law that need to be stopped, the continued pursuit of our duo by the FBI and the CIA (Reese being notably in their sites for his past secret work for the so far faceless members of the government), and the emergence of a new gangland threat who wants to take over the seedy underbelly control of New York: the manipulative and very deadly Elias (played by Enrico Colantoni).
Over the course of the season we are tantalizingly shown pieces of the two heroes past (Reece’s aforementioned prior life as a top agent and the peoples and perils he’s involved in, whilst Finch, having made the ultimate snooping machine, starts to worry about the way his creation is being used), leading up to the fateful point where they originally joined forces, building momentum in its plot-building, highly enjoyable last quarter. There are also some flashbacks to the birth of that other all-important character of the series: “the machine”- described as an “Orwellian nightmare” and a star in its own right.
Getting off to a no time wasted, fast paced start with the pilot episode (slickly directed by David Semel), it’s the ultimate numbers game for our heroes to unravel, amongst the different scenarios and lifestyles of the various people they have to protect or stop, that continue to be intriguing each week, coming from all walks of life and age groups. Some selectees appear in some very well thought out stories, often quite ingenious. One episode involves a REAR WINDOW-esque apartment block whose caretaker may or may not the the target amongst a whole plethora of supporting characters, all of whom bear motives/alibis that Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud.
Later on, the duo even has to look after a helpless orphan baby, amidst much gun-play and explosive carnage.
Helping to generate atmosphere around the series, The Big Apple location filming is a major plus, giving the show a gritty, crowded air, with none of that backlot filming about it that hampers so many shows to this day, like CSI: NEW YORK.
Top league casts include Alan Dale, DEXTER’s David Zayas, ALPHAS Malik Yoba, 24’s Sarah Wynter (playing an intriguing identity theft baddie) and Paige Turco, who plays a sexy professional fixer, Zoe Morgan, turning up now and again to help our duo and ex-ROBOCOP Robert John Burke as a crooked cop for a hire.
Another face from LOST, Brett Cullen, now more known for playing seedy roles, adds to the mystery of Finch as his late partner in the creation of the machine, Nathan Ingram. Appalled by its later abilities when activated, his soon demise is shrouded in mystery and yet to be revealed. No doubt they’ll be more exciting developments to come here in later seasons.
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| Reese gets caught up in an explosive situation! |
The penultimate episode of Season One sees our heroes protecting a government NOC agent inadvertently stumbling upon the machine and it's program, putting him in danger from a lethal team of black ops assassins, whilst the gripping finale has the duo hunted down by enemies from all side when they have to protect psychiatrist Catherine Turing (DOLLHOUSE’s Amy Acker) from the season’s simmering plotline featuring corrupt members of the police department, whist old and new threats linked to the machines past and present technology finally catch up with Mister Finch in a satisfying mini-cliffhanger with a twist, taking us back full circle to the opening pilot, and making us all want season two to arrive that little bit more sooner…
Glossy, and exciting (with further slick directing from the likes of Charles Beeson, Fred Toye and Stephen Williams), often able to pull the rug out from under you in where you expect the stories to go, PERSON OF INTEREST is a more intelligent and sophisticated take on the kind of American series we all grew up watching in the seventies and mid-eighties. Long may it continue to be so intelligent and well made.
Sadly, despite the high quality episodes, there are very few special features on the Blu-ray to back it up. There’s an interesting audio commentary on the pilot episode and a short but intriguing documentary: Living in an age of Surveillance, talking to the cast, crew and scientists about the way modern day surveillance technology has evolved to become such an important, often scary part of our lives, whether we want it or not as a tool using and sometime abusing our civil liberties, and how PERSON OF INTEREST has managed to uniquely capture our phobias and anxieties about such technological advances-science fiction now very much science fact- in its key storytelling and format. Lightening the load, there’s also a far too short gag reel which shows how much fun Jim Caviezel is having on the series-nice to see.
KOOL TV OVERALL SERIES RATING: A superior slice of slick TV, and the best new show in a while from America –with lots more promise to comer. Well worth purchasing. 4 out of 5.
