You’ve heard us talk about Person of Interest on the podcast… er… well, you’ve heard me talk about Person of Interest on the podcast. I started watching the show from the start, and I’ve been telling my co-hosts as well as you, the listeners, that you should all be watching it now as well. Read on to find out why…
While it is true that at the start, Person of Interest was not squarely in the genre that we like to cover on Tuning in to Sci Fi TV, it was a genre that I personally enjoyed: Spy Action Adventure. That drew me to the pilot. And I’ve been excited by the ride ever since. And if the show had remained in that genre, I would not be talking about it on our podcast, nor would I be writing this article encouraging you to check it out.
From its earliest episode, the series had what some believed was a science fiction element at its core: A super artificial intelligence capable of observing and predicting human behavior world-wide. Personally, I didn’t think this was far-fetched enough to be hard-core science fiction, so I dismissed that argument and continued to enjoy it as an action adventure spy drama.
But by mid season two, it started to become clear that there was something else going on with “The Machine” (the name used to refer to the super AI). It’s at this point, that inklings of some real science fiction started to enter my personal analysis of Person of Interest. And by the final episode of season two it was clear: The Machine had become sentient and acted in secret to move and preserve itself from an enemy organization intent on controlling or destroying it. Person of Interest had become a hard-core science fiction program.
Without spoiling the rest of the series to-date, let me just say that this was just a baby step into the world of real science fiction for Person of Interest. By the time of this writing (the middle of season 4), the series has gone deep sea diving in the realm of speculative fiction. Concepts of right and wrong, good and evil, morality and immorality, independence and control have all been approached head-on… and not as it applies to humans, but as it applies to artificial intelligences. Yes, you read that right. Intelligences. Plural.
A war has started. Can The Machine win? Humanity will surely depend upon it.
You in? If so, then let me offer some advice about where to start. If you’re a purist, then start from the first episode, obviously. But you don’t have to do that if you just want to enjoy the science fiction goodness. It’s probably good to watch the pilot in any case. But whether you do or not, if you want to jump right into the speculative world of Person of Interest, then start with season two’s episode 21, Zero Day.
And, hey, let us know what you think by using our feedback options or posting on our forum.