The first season of the American television series ''
Person of Interest
"Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
'' premiered on September 22, 2011, and ended on May 17, 2012. The season is produced by
Kilter Films,
Bad Robot Productions
Bad Robot is an American film and television production company founded on May 27, 1999 and led by J. J. Abrams and Katie McGrath as Co-CEO. Under its Bad Robot Productions division, the company is responsible for the television series ''Alias' ...
, and
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
, with
Jonathan Nolan
Jonathan Nolan (born 6 June 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, producer, director and author. He is the creator of the CBS science fiction series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016) and co-creator of the HBO science fiction western s ...
, Greg Plageman,
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...
, and
Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk (born December 30, 1968) is an American film and television producer.
He is mostly known for producing movies in collaboration with J. J. Abrams, including the ''Star Trek'' reboot series, the ''Mission: Impossible'' films '' Gh ...
serving as executive producers and Plageman serving as showrunner.
The series was ordered to series in May 2011 and stars
Jim Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...
,
Taraji P. Henson,
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's '' Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's ''Mystic River'' ...
and
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
. The series revolves around a mysterious reclusive billionaire computer programmer,
Harold Finch
Sir Harold Josiah Finch (2 May 189816 July 1979) was a Welsh Labour Party politician born in Barry, Glamorgan. He was a miners' agent in Blackwood after the First World War, Finch was a contemporary of Aneurin Bevan and accompanied him ...
, who has developed a computer program for the federal government known as "the Machine" that is capable of collating all
sources of information to predict terrorist acts and to identify people planning them. The Machine also identifies perpetrators and victims of other premeditated deadly crimes; however, because the government considers these "irrelevant", Finch programs the Machine to delete this information each night and programs the Machine to notify him secretly of the "irrelevant" numbers. Finch recruits
John Reese, a former
Green Beret
The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF wh ...
and
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
agent, now presumed dead – to investigate the people identified by the numbers the Machine has provided, and to act accordingly.
The season premiered with a 13-episode order before being given a 9-episode back-order in October 2011. In March 2012, one more episode was ordered, bringing its total to 23 episodes. The series premiere garnered 13.33 million viewers with a 3.1/8 ratings share in the 18–49 demographics, winning its time slot. The season ended with an average of 14.34 million viewers, ranking as the 13th most watched series of the season. The season initially received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its potential while some criticized its characterization and lack of character development. Reception grew more positive as the season went on, with critics highlighting the exploration of mass surveillance and repercussions of its actions, with the season finale particularly receiving acclaim. In March 2012, CBS renewed the series for a second season.
Season summary
John Reese (
Jim Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...
), a former
Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
soldier and
CIA operative, is
burnt out and
presumed dead
A presumption of death occurs when a person is thought to be dead by a group of people despite the absence of direct proof of the person's death, such as the finding of remains (e.g., a corpse or skeleton) attributable to that person. Such a pre ...
, living as a
vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He is approached by
Harold Finch
Sir Harold Josiah Finch (2 May 189816 July 1979) was a Welsh Labour Party politician born in Barry, Glamorgan. He was a miners' agent in Blackwood after the First World War, Finch was a contemporary of Aneurin Bevan and accompanied him ...
(
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
), a reclusive billionaire
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
genius who built a computer system for the U.S. government after
September 11, 2001
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
which monitors
all electronic communications and surveillance video feeds, in order to predict future terrorist activities. The computerknown informally as "the Machine", and funded under the
codename
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a Code word (figure of speech), code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may ...
"Northern Lights"also predicts other lethal crimes as well, but being irrelevant to
national security
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
these were deleted daily.
To prevent abuse of its capabilities, Finch had programmed the Machine to only provide an identity of a person predicted to be involved in an imminent lethal crime, in the form of a
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to ...
, but no details of the crime or whether the person of interest is a perpetrator or victim. Those involved in creating Northern Lights, such as Finch's best friend and business partner Nathan Ingram, have largely been killed by the authorities to hide the project's existence. Finch realises that knowledge of the victims deemed "irrelevant" would have saved his partner, and decides to act covertly on the non-terrorism predictions. He hires Reese to conduct surveillance and intervene in these cases. Finch and Reese attempt to understand the threat to, or by, people whose numbers the Machine provides, and try to stop the crime from occurring. They are helped by
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
Detectives Lionel Fusco (
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's '' Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's ''Mystic River'' ...
), a formerly-corrupt officer whom Reese coerces into helping them, and Joss Carter (
Taraji P. Henson), who initially investigates Reese for his vigilante activities.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Jim Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...
as
John Reese
*
Taraji P. Henson as Joss Carter
*
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's '' Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's ''Mystic River'' ...
as Lionel Fusco
*
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
as
Harold Finch
Sir Harold Josiah Finch (2 May 189816 July 1979) was a Welsh Labour Party politician born in Barry, Glamorgan. He was a miners' agent in Blackwood after the First World War, Finch was a contemporary of Aneurin Bevan and accompanied him ...
Recurring
*
Enrico Colantoni
Enrico Colantoni (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian actor and director, best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom ''Just Shoot Me!'', Keith Mars on the television series ''Veronica Mars'', Louis Lutz on the short-lived sitcom ''H ...
as Charlie Burton/Carl Elias
*
Elizabeth Marvel
Elizabeth Marvel (born November 27, 1969) is an American actress. Her most prominent roles include Det. Nancy Parras on ''The District'', Solicitor General of the United States, Solicitor General Heather Dunbar on ''House of Cards (American TV se ...
as Alicia Corwin
*
Susan Misner
Susan Misner (; born February 8, 1971) is an American actress and dancer. She has appeared in a number of TV series as a guest star, as well as several recurring roles.
Career
Misner portrayed Grace Davidson on the ABC soap opera ''One Life t ...
as Jessica Arndt
*
Brennan Brown
Brennan Brown (born November 23, 1968) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He currently plays Dr. Samuel Abrams on NBC's ''Chicago Med''. He played Robert Childan on Amazon's ''Man in the High Castle''.
Career
He received his MF ...
as Nicholas Donnelly
*
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in '' RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...
as Patrick Simmons
*
Michael Kelly as Mark Snow
*
Anthony Mangano
Anthony J. Mangano is an American actor. He has guest starred in a number of notable television series, including ''Diff'rent Strokes'', '' Who's the Boss?'', ''227'', ''Charles in Charge'', '' Step by Step'', ''Murder, She Wrote'', '' Party of ...
as Kane
*
Al Sapienza
Al Sapienza is an American actor who has had numerous roles in television, stage and film productions. He is best known for his role as Mikey Palmice on the HBO series ''The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television ...
as Raymond Terney
*
David Valcin as Anthony S. Marconi/Scarface
*
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen (born August 26, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dan Fixx in ''Falcon Crest'' (1986-1988), Sam Cain in '' The Young Riders'' (1989-1990), Governor Ray Sullivan in ''The West Wing'' (2005-2006), Go ...
as Nathan Ingram
*
Mark Margolis
Mark Margolis (; born November 26, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alberto "The Shadow" in '' Scarface'', Antonio Nappa in '' Oz'', and Hector Salamanca in '' Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''. His performance in ''Break ...
as Don Gianni Moretti
*
Michael Mulheren
Michael Mulheren is an American actor from Middletown, New Jersey.Van Benthuysen, Gretchen C"Local actor lands part in Broadway’s ‘Spider-Man’"''Culture Klatch''. Aug 20 10. Best known for ''Law & Order'', '' Rescue Me'', and '' Royal Pa ...
as Captain Artie Lynch
* John Fiore as Captain Womack
*
Darien Sills-Evans
Darien Evans, better known by his stage name, Darien Sills-Evans, is an American actor, writer, comedian, and director. He is best known for Darien in '' Cosby'' (1998-2000), CSU Tech Foster in ''Third Watch'' (2002-2005) and Andrew in '' The R ...
as Tyrell Evans
*
Annie Parisse as Kara Stanton
*
Paige Turco
Jean Paige Turco (born May 17, 1965) is an American actress, best known for her role as April O'Neil in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III''. Other notable roles include Melanie Co ...
as Zoe Morgan
* Sean McCarthy as Lee Fusco
* Kwoade Cross as Taylor Carter
*
Michael McGlone
Michael McGlone (born August 10, 1972, in White Plains, New York) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and comedian. He is perhaps best known as the film noiresque spokesman for GEICO insurance posing rhetorical questions in the vein of Robe ...
as Bill Szymanski
*
Michael Stahl-David
Michael Stahl-David (born October 28, 1982) is an American actor, known for his role as Sean Donnelly on the NBC drama series ''The Black Donnellys'' and his lead role as Robert "Rob" Hawkins in the J. J. Abrams-produced film ''Cloverfield'' and ...
as Will Ingram
Notable guests
*
Natalie Zea
Natalie Zea (born March 17, 1975) is an American actress known for her performances on television. Zea began her acting career in theatre. Her first major role was on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Passions'' (2000–2002), where she played the ro ...
as Diane Hansen
*
Chris Chalk
Christopher Eugene Chalk (born December 7, 1977) is an American actor.
Early life
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, studied at Asheville High School and graduated in 1996 and went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Career
Chalk ...
as Lawrence Pope
*
James Hanlon as James Stills
*
Brian d'Arcy James as James Wheeler
*
James Carpinello
James Anthony Carpinello (born August 13, 1975) is an American actor who came to national attention with his appearances in Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom ''So Notorious''. He also portrayed Stacee Jaxx in the Broadway production of the musical ''R ...
as Joey Durban
*
Linda Cardellini
Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama '' ER'' (2003–09), the drama thriller ''Bloodline'' (2 ...
as Dr. Megan Tillman
*
David Costabile
David Costabile (; born January 9, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for his television work, having appeared in supporting roles in several television series such as '' Billions'', ''Breaking Bad'', ''Damages'', '' Flight of the Conc ...
as Judge Samuel Gates
*
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: '' Assassins'', ''Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Pass ...
as Jarek Koska
*
Enver Gjokaj
Enver Leif Gjokaj ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Victor in the science fiction television series ''Dollhouse'' and as Daniel Sousa in '' Agent Carter'', a role he later reprised ...
as Lazlo Yogorov
*
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. Dale subsequentl ...
as Ulrich Kohl
*
David Zayas
David Zayas (born August 15, 1962) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his roles as Angel Batista on Showtime's series ''Dexter'' and Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama series '' Oz''.
Early life
Zayas was born in Ponce, Puer ...
as Ernest Trask
*
Cotter Smith as Denton Weeks
*
Astro
Astro may refer to:
Entertainment and media
* Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band
* Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40
* Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band
* Astro (Japanese band), ...
as Darren McGrady
*
Malik Yoba
Abdul-Malik Kashie Yoba (born September 17, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as NYPD Detective J. C. Williams on the Fox police drama ''New York Undercover'' and as Yul Brenner in the film '' Cool Runnings''. ...
as Andre Wilcox
*
as Vargas
*
Reg E. Cathey as Ian Davidson
*
Matt Lauria
Matthew Lauria (born August 16, 1982) is an American actor and musician. He made his television debut on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'' in 2007. He is best known for his roles as Luke Cafferty on the NBC/DirecTV drama '' Friday Night Lights'', Ryan ...
as Adam Saunders
*
Sarah Wynter
Sarah Wynter (born 15 February 1973)
movies2.nytimes.com; accessed 13 January 2016. is an Australian actr ...
as Jordan Hester
*
Rhys Coiro
John Rhys Coiro (born March 12, 1979) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He began acting on Broadway but is best known for on-screen roles such as Billy Walsh on the television series ''Entourage''.
Early life
Born in Santo Stefa ...
as Jordan Hester
*
Seth Gilliam as Des Franklin
*
Vincent Curatola
Vincent Curatola (; born August 16, 1953) is an American actor. Curatola is best known for his portrayal of the New York Mafioso Johnny Sack from the HBO drama ''The Sopranos''. He is also a singer and has appeared onstage several times with t ...
as Don Zambrano
*
Pablo Schreiber
Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on ''The Wire'' (2003), William Lewis on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2013–2014), Mad S ...
as Tommy Clay
*
Jacob Pitts
Jacob Rives Pitts (born November 20, 1979) is an American television, film and stage actor. His most notable performances were as Cooper Harris in the film '' EuroTrip'' (2004), as Bill "Hoosier" Smith in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'' (2010 ...
as Henry Peck
*
Carrie Preston
Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American actress known for her work on the television series ''True Blood'', ''Person of Interest'', ''Crowded'', ''The Good Wife'', ''The Good Fight'', and ''Claws''. Preston received critical acclaim ...
as Grace Hendricks
*
Jay O. Sanders
Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre.
Early life and education
Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...
as Special Counsel
*
Amy Acker
Amy Louise Acker (born December 5, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Winifred Burkle and Illyria on the supernatural drama series ''Angel'' (2001–2004), as Kelly Peyton on the action drama series ''Alias'' (2005 ...
as Dr. Caroline Turing
Episodes
Development
Production
The project started in September 2010 when
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
ordered a
put pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
for a series called ''Odd Jobs'' after winning a
bidding war
A bid price is the highest price that a buyer (i.e., bidder) is willing to pay for some goods. It is usually referred to simply as the "bid". In bid and ask, the bid price stands in contrast to the ask price or "offer", and the difference between ...
with
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
. The project had
Josh Appelbaum
Josh Appelbaum is an American television writer, screenwriter, showrunner and producer.
Biography
Appelbaum is from a Jewish family.[André Nemec
André Nemec (born 1972) is an American writer, showrunner and producer.
His screenplays include '' Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. He is also the co-creator of CBS's summer hit series ''Zoo'', as ...]
as writers,
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...
and
Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk (born December 30, 1968) is an American film and television producer.
He is mostly known for producing movies in collaboration with J. J. Abrams, including the ''Star Trek'' reboot series, the ''Mission: Impossible'' films '' Gh ...
as executive producer through their production company
Bad Robot Productions
Bad Robot is an American film and television production company founded on May 27, 1999 and led by J. J. Abrams and Katie McGrath as Co-CEO. Under its Bad Robot Productions division, the company is responsible for the television series ''Alias' ...
and would star
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
and
Terry O'Quinn
Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series ''Lost'', the title role in '' The Stepfather'' and '' Stepfather II'', and Peter Watts in ''Millennium'', ...
, both previously worked with Abrams and Burk on ''
Lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
''. Around this time,
Jonathan Nolan
Jonathan Nolan (born 6 June 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, producer, director and author. He is the creator of the CBS science fiction series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016) and co-creator of the HBO science fiction western s ...
was also working on an undisclosed series for
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
with Bad Robot Productions serving as executive producer. In January 2011, NBC announced that ''Odd Jobs'' would roll on the next season after delays in the production of the series.
In February 2011, CBS picked up Nolan's series, now titled ''Person of Interest'', ordering a
pilot order. A few days later,
David Semel
David Semel is an American film and television director and producer.
His television directing credits include ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', '' Person of Interest'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Public'', '' 7th Heaven'', '' No Ordinary Fami ...
was announced to direct the pilot for the series. In April 2011, Greg Plageman joined the series as executive producer and would also serve as showrunner. By May 2011,
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
reported that the pilot was "gaining momentum" compared to other drama series on CBS. A week later, the site reported that it was in a "frontrunner status" to be picked up. In May 13, 2011, CBS officially picked up the pilot to series, ordering a 13-episode season.
Casting
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...
was the first actor to join the series in February 2011, starring as a "mysterious billionaire who hires a special ops agent". Emerson dropped out of ''Odd Jobs'' and was also offered a role in ''
Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...
''. Emerson took the role to avoid being "
typecast
In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...
" as his previous role on ''Lost'' as
Ben Linus
Benjamin Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series '' Lost''. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flig ...
.
In March 2011,
Jim Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...
and
Taraji P. Henson joined as series regulars, with Caviezel playing the lead character,
John Reese, while Henson was set to play a homicide detective Joss Carter. Caviezel took the role as his character was "searching for a purpose. I think, like it hit me, it's going to hit other people there's something besides all the technology in the story."
By April 2011,
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's '' Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's ''Mystic River'' ...
also joined the series.
Release
Broadcast
On May 18, 2011, CBS announced that the series would take over the Thursday at 9:00 p.m. slot on the
2011–12 fall schedule, replacing ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'', which had the slot since 2001. The decision to take over ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''s time slot was questioned by many industry analysts.
Kelly Kahl
Kelly Kahl (born October 20, 1966) is an American television executive and film producer. He currently serves as the President of CBS Entertainment.
Early life and education
Kelly Kahl was born in Burlington, Wisconsin to Ronald and Barbara ...
, CBS Vice President, Scheduling, said, "To do that you have to have the big guns, and we do. Now we have stability at 8 and 10 PM and a great upside in the middle." The season ended on May 17, 2012.
Home media release
The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in
region 1 on September 4, 2012, in region 2 on March 18, 2013, and in region 4 on November 7, 2012.
In 2014,
Warner Bros. Television Studios
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
announced that it sold the off-network
SVOD of the series to
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. On September 1, 2015, the season became available to stream on Netflix. On September 22, 2020, the series left the service and was added to
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
on January 23, 2021.
Reception
Ratings
According to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, ''Person of Interest'' received the highest test ratings of any drama pilot in 15 years,
what one CBS executive called "crazy broad appeal you don't usually see", prompting CBS to move ''
CSI'', which was broadcast on Thursday for over 10 years, to Wednesday, opening up a slot for ''Person of Interest''.
The pilot episode won its time slot, drawing 13.2 million viewers.
Critical reception
The first season of ''Person of Interest'' received generally positive reviews, with the pilot episode drawing a favorable response from critics and later episodes receiving higher praise. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the season has an approval rating of 63% and average rating of 6.65 out of 10 based on 38 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "''Person of Interest'' is a well made and well acted espionage procedural, though its characters aren't terribly well developed and its intriguing premise yields mixed results." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the season scored 66 out of 100 based on 26 reviews.
Of the pilot, David Wiegand of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' said "''Person of Interest'' separates itself from the gimmick pack, not only because of superbly nuanced characterization and writing but also because of how it engages a post-9/11 sense of paranoia in its viewers." David Hinckley of the New York ''
Daily News'' gave the pilot four stars out of five, commenting on Caviezel's and Emerson's performances, saying Caviezel "brings the right stuff to this role" and Emerson "is fascinating as Mr. Finch." Mary McNamara of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' stated that in regard to the pilot, "the notion of preventing crimes rather than solving them is an appealing twist... The surveillance graphics are very cool."
The episodes "Many Happy Returns" and the finale "Firewall" were particularly acclaimed. Tim Surette of
TV.com
TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origin ...
called the former one of the series' "best episodes", commending Caviezel's performance and the episode's character exploration, while the latter was called "exactly what a season finale should be", with Surette concluding his review by saying "'Firewall' was a spectacular finish to what has been an incredibly surprising first season of ''Person of Interest''."
Accolades
References
External links
*
{{Person of Interest
Person of Interest seasons
2011 American television seasons
2012 American television seasons