4 out of 5

Creator: Jonathan Nolan

Person of Interest is silly, and is nothing new, per se. Its got some police procedural elements, and has a slightly Dad-drama feel to it (like NCIS) thanks to its going-grey lead. It also inherits a slight “there’s something more over the horizon…” feel, which, who knows, we’ll contribute to the J.J. Abrahms involvement. But it’s the perfect blend of all these elements that makes the show something notable, and totally watchable back-to-back-to-back. A very sloppy first episode moves quickly through all of the elements that will become mainstays so we don’t have to worry about justifying them later – Jim Caviezel is ex-CIA and a badass, unsure how to apply himself until he meets reclusive genius Michael Emerson, who has a machine that spits out social security numbers of people who will be either the victims or perpetrators of acts of violence. Since Emerson ISN’T a badass, he hires Caviezel to do the dirty work to right these inevitable wrongs. Which they do, episode to episode, meanwhile building up a small cast of regulars and plot-lines who/that are excellently woven into week-to-week events to allow new viewers in but to reward repeat viewers. And that’s the something extra – the plot is limber enough to not stick to one concept every week, but focused enough that multi-part episodes aren’t required. The scripting slips into hammy now and then (and we’ll see where it goes), but that it maintains an overall dour “we can’t help everyone” feel keeps the show’s feet planted on the ground.