General review

[Anthony G Williams]

Some good news - Person of Interest is back on UK TV for a second season! I really enjoyed the first season, in which the geeky inventor of an all-embacing computer surveillance and analysis system (Michael Emerson) recruits an action man (Jim Caviezel) to save people identified by the system as being at extreme risk of being involved in a violent crime - whether as the victim or perpetrator is not always clear. The contrast between the odd couple plus the two NYPD detectives who reluctantly become involved with them is the source of much entertainment, providing light relief from the action scenes. I didn't review it at the time as it seemed to me to be more of a technothriller than SF, but the second season starts with a new and more science-fictional development: the computer system has developed its own form of intelligence, and can be bargained with. I'm looking forward to the next twenty-two episodes.

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)

 

[Anthony G Williams]

Person of Interest was also losing its focus (and worse, its sense of humour) at the end of the third season and I lost track of what was going on. So I wasn't feeling too optimistic about the fourth season, but fortunately it started off very well – it's got its mojo back! The usual team – including the Machine, the AI which identifies people of interest to the investigators – have been forced to go underground by the emergence of Samaritan, a dominant rival AI. At the start of the season, the Machine reactivates the team and they set up in business again, very much under the radar. The deadpan repartee between the very diverse characters is top-notch with more smiles-per-minute than many comedies – even their ferocious dog is funny. Very promising so far, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)