Tag Archives: Michael Emerson

Person of Interest

John Mayo, of ComicBookPage, and Kay Kellam, of PopArtsPlace, have a spoiler filled discussion about the Person of Interesttelevision series which recently concluded.

NOTE: There were problems with the audio recording for John’s side of the conversation which have been fixes as much as possible. While John can be heard, the audio isn’t that good.

Links:
Person of Interest television show @ IMDB.com:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839578/
Discount Comic Book Service: http://www.DCBService.com
Comics Podcast Network: http://www.comicspodcast.com
League of Comic Book Podcasts:http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league/

Email us at TheGuys@ComicBookPage.com

Join the discussion on our forum at: http://forum.comicbookpage.com

This podcast episode originated on the Comic Book Page website:http://www.ComicBookPage.com

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Forever vs. Person of Interest

The Tuesday night decision is rapidly becoming which to record (Forever or Person of Interest) and which to watch ‘by appointment’ as folks in the television industry like to refer to watching television shows when they are scheduled to air.

ABC's Forever, poster from the ABC.com Site

ABC’s Forever, poster from the ABC.com Site

Forever has great chemistry between the actors, and characters that continue to develop before our very eyes week after week.   The commercial for tonight’s episode of Forever shows a scene in which Police Detective Jo (Alana De La Garza) is sitting down over drinks or a meal with Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) and his roommate Abe (Judd Hirsch).  Now for those who have not been watching the show that may not sound like a scene with extraordinary comedic potential — but those who have been tuning in every week know that while Henry looks to be significantly younger than Abe, Henry adopted Abe when he was a newborn and is the only father Abe has ever known.  So when questions like “how do you two know each other?” come up, one can only imagine the awkward and entertaining conversation that will take place.

There have been several scenes where Henry, despite physically appearing to be clearly younger, has clearly been fatherly towards Abe, and these two talented actors have pulled the scenes off with such heart and authentic performances that the viewers find themselves willing to believe there just might be a universe in which this is possible.  By contrast there have been scenes where the indulgent son Abe has been picking up the slack for his somewhat absent minded professor dad, always in very minor ways, but in a subtle manner that says he knows when dad gets curious and intrigued, dad is going to get caught up in his lab experimenting, or go off investigating, and Abe just smiles, helps him on with his coat and like a proud son encouraging his father to keep on making him the most popular kid in school because his dad is the coolest on the block.

Person-of-Interest-poi-bannerAs for Person of Interest, last season took a serious turn away from the original premise.  It was that premise that fascinated and drew in so many viewers.  When given 1 single piece of information about a person, and told they need help, our lead characters set out to do what they can.  (That piece of information is a social security number that enables them to find their name, and from there hopefully more information.)  Reese, Finch, and now Shaw, Fusco and sometimes Root, do not know whether the person they are out to help is a victim who needs protecting, or a criminal who needs to be stopped — and usually set on a better path.  What they know is they are a Person of Interest (and irrelevant to those looking for terrorists and major national threats).

Person of Interest appears to be taking a turn back towards its foundation, with Fusco (a once corrupt cop who has had a spectacular arc over the course of the show as Reese stepped in and pushed him into helping people instead of working with other corrupt cops) now partnered with a new cop in the homicide division — Reese, instead of trying to hide from the system Reese finds himself trying to work within it, to a degree.  Most of our main characters are hiding from the evil machine Samaritan that came online at the end of last season, and as a result Finch is now a college professor by day, and reluctant team member by night, as he wrestles with his conscience trying to determine if all their efforts actually amounted to accomplishing anything good.  Did they truly save anyone?  Help anyone?  Or did just as many people get hurt despite their good intentions?

As an added bonus with Person of Interest, we get the occasional appearance of Elias — aka Enrico Colantoni.  His appearances are almost always a highlight.

Forever and Person of Interest are two very different shows, and yet they are both high quality programs that leave viewers like me with the tough decision every Tuesday at 10 PM (9 Central) do I tune into Person of Interest on CBS, or record it because I need to flip over to ABC for my weekly dose of Forever.

Returning Shows – Person of Interest and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Person-of-Interest-poi-banner
As the new season starts it is time to refresh your memory and recall where favorite characters were last seen.

As Person of Interest starts its 4th season on CBS Finch and Reese are back in the shadows, hiding now from Samaritan a competing machine using the very cameras that their machine had been relying on during the previous three seasons to help them.

Where Finch had set parameters within which his machine worked to protect people, then he closed the system, with hopes that would protect it from corruption, and abuse.  He never intended for his machine to evolve to the point it would choose one person over another, assign greater value to one person vs. another, but rather it was meant to place law and life above terrorism and crime.

At the end of Season 3 we were left with the belief that there was still hope, left in Padora’s Box (Finch’s Machine?) but Samaritan, the competing machine was now online, having targeted all those the machine thought might harm it, or run counter to it’s mission, the one who we hoped would control this great and powerful machine now turned to the machine and asked, “What are your commands for us?”

It served as a rather chilling end to a season that drifted further and further afield from the initial premise of people given nothing but a Social Security number, and based on that trying to figure out if this person they were interested in needed protection from someone, or needed help finding the right path and doing the right thing.

S.H.I.E.L.D.-logo-6Another show returning tonight is Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is a show that John Mayo, of ComicBookPage.com and I have on our list of shows we plan to do a podcast about, there is truly that much to say about it.  The first season was uneven from one month to the next, but over the course of the season, especially in the second half, an interesting arc unfolded, and gave me hope that the second season of this show will find its feet.

Some fans lost hope early in the first season, before the show started to really understand itself, and that is a shame, as the show does deserve a second chance in that case.  The tie-in with Captain America: Winter Soldier was interesting, and while that movie is not required viewing to understand the season, it does enhance the audience’s understanding of the plot in S.H.I.E.L.D.

Perhaps more to the point, in a great many ways the Captain America movie provided a focus for the television show, and a destination for the first season, and a launch point for the second season.  The show which had a basic concept when it first hit the air has a specific goal and mission as the second season begins, and I believe it can only benefit from this.

As so often happens these days on television, several of the characters ended the first season in peril, and there is a lot to be said for re-watching the season 1 finale (available on the ABC website) before season 2 begins, to refresh your memory about who is healthy as can be, who is suffering in the wake of recent events, who has been dealt with, and who we may still need to deal with — I know I plan to re-watch the Beginning of the End today before prime time starts up.

If you don’t have time to watch Season 1 episodes before Season 2 begins tonight, wikipedia has brief recaps of each of the episodes, and the ABC website has more in-depth recaps available (click the word recap to the right of any episode).

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