Person Of Interest "Pilot" Review

The trailers for Person Of Interest were exciting, especially with snippets of J.J. Abrams and Jonah Nolan explaining why they believe in the show. The pilot episode wasn't terrible or bad--just bland and boring. The series follows two characters who are considered deceased. Together, they work to stop crimes before they're committed by using a high-tech machine. Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson work well together. The concept's is intriguing. The script was tightly written. The procedural case-of-the-week was the bland and boring part of the episode. Of course, the case-of-the-week dominated the episode, thus the episode was bland and boring.

The Nolan brothers are very talented. Christopher Nolan revived the Batman franchise and made neo-noir relevant. Jonathan Nolan wrote the short story that Memento was based on. The brothers share an affinity for the same tropes, especially the 'loss of a spouse or girlfriend that completely transforms the man' trope. Reese is a former member of the army and CIA. He planned on living a life without the government but the 9/11 attacks changed his plans. Presumably, he joined with the CIA to track down terrorists around the world. During that time, his wife or girlfriend was murdered. For an extended period of time, Reese wandered the streets with long, greasy hair and a full suicide beard. According to Finch, Reese has been attempting to drink himself to death for the last three years. The men meet after Reese destroys a foursome of thugs on an unknown MTA subway line. Finch offers Reese purpose, direction, and an opportunity to use his skills for good. Reese accepts without asking many questions.

Finch, too, was driven to this morally good vigilante endeavor because he lost someone he loved. The men don't respond or recover well from lost in stories written by the Nolan brothers. The males are irrevocably damaged. Cobb in Inception plunged into the business of dreams in which he made powerful enemies who wanted him dead. Leonard Shelby accidentally murdered his wife, forgot that he did, and then murdered individuals who he believed murdered his wife. Reese is a person of interest in America because his fingerprints were found at over a dozen crime scenes; his past involves years of finding and murdering suspected terrorists; he had a death wish for the first five minutes. Character development is pushed to the back-burner for much of the episode. Reese doesn't actually demand any answers until halfway through the episode. The dude just blindly hacks into phones, installs cameras in a woman's house, and shoots gang members in the legs without bothering to question Finch about his magical machine.

The history of the machine isn't too interesting. Nolan tapped into America's fears when developing the idea. Finch created the device for the government to use in their hunt for terrorists post-9/11. The ability to read any e-mail or listen to any phone call wasn't enough for the government, so Finch built the machine. Simply, it scanned the billions of people on earth and found the most relevant threats. The irrelevant criminals were folk who murdered someone in a robbery or a jealous rage. The machine erased the irrelevant data and that haunted Finch through the years. Finch felt wrong to wipe away those who also need help. Crimes are no longer random acts that can't be stopped for Finch and Reese. They'll never shrug their shoulders because the machine's provided them with choice--the choice to stop crimes before they happen. Of course, there's a catch--the machine doesn't say whether the person of interest will be the victim or the criminal.

The case-of-the-week's confusing but it shows how difficult their vigilante endeavor can be. The woman is a supposed future victim because she's prosecuting the leader of a gang; however, the gang member's been framed by a mysterious group of powerful people. The mysterious group of people are cops. The woman's actually the leader. Fights happen, guns are shot, and people are wounded. Reese saves a life and puts the woman behind bars. The motivations of the woman eluded me. The lesson, though--vigilante justice isn't as simple as the machine implies it is.

The pilot's well written and structured. I know what the series' mission statement is. I know what a weekly episode of the series will be. The characters were decently defined in their introductions. There are depths to explore going forward. The NYPD is seeking information on Reese. Reese angered a Russian mob and that element won't disappear. Finch is a millionaire with seemingly no one else involved but I suspect he keeps skeletons in the closet. The series is packed with potentially interesting stories.

Jonah Nolan wrote the pilot. David Semel directed it.

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