Is it safe? Better be. Here comes "Entertainment on Jeff's Terms", once again ready to bring you thoughts and witticisms about the latest televisual entertainments to emerge in this, the Fall of 2011.
After a pretty dismal Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday brought this week back into the win column with their respective adorable comedic shenanigans and deliciously satisfying spats of justice.
Now, we come to Thursday, and our biggest glut of fresh options yet. You'll get my thoughts on NBC's two newest offerings (Whitney and Prime Suspect) shortly, but first let us jump back into America's #1 broadcast network with CBS' new Thursday night drama from the collaborative minds of J.J. Abrams and the Nolan Brothers, Person of Interest.
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THE GIST OF IT
I'm going to do something a little different here.
Over the past two weeks, I've brought you two of the most complex pilots in recent memory with last week's Ringer and this week's Revenge. Both of these shows however, I was able to pare the basic pilot premises into fairly comprehensive and yet pretty spoiler-free mini-recaps...but look up there. J.J. Abrams. Jonathan Nolan. It's not going to be that simple.
So, in the interest of information, I'm going to eschew my own take on the events and put you--just this once--in the capable hands of our good friend Wikipedia, who sums the show up thusly:
"Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson), a mysterious billionaire, has developed a computer program that predicts the identity of people connected to violent crimes that will take place in the future. However, the program has its limitations: for example, it cannot predict whether the person will be a victim, perpetrator, or witness, nor can it predict when or where the crime will take place. Unable to stop the crimes on his own, Finch hires John Reese (Jim Caviezel), a former CIA field officer who is presumed dead, to help stop the crimes from taking place."
...and that'll have to do you for now, because I'm not even going to wait to tell you...if you're interested in this show, GO WATCH IT before you read any further.
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MOVING FORWARD
Even beyond the scarcity of promotional materials we've seen this year, you must bear in mind the people pulling the strings here. As such, the information is minimal at best. What we do know is that next week, Finch and Reese face an error in the computer program that forces Finch to recall the origins of his creation and question its usefulness. Seriously, that's all I've got for you.
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IN ESSENCE, MY FRIENDS...
...hmm. Here's the thing. I can go ahead and tell you that I'm going to keep watching this show. What I can't tell you is that--to borrow a phrase from Doug Benson--it knocked my dick in the dirt...which it kind of didn't.
Truth be told, throughout the Pilot Inspektor experience, I've sort of been breaking one of my major rules of thumb in television, which was developed by a former acquaintance (or possibly co-opted from someone else and claimed by them; it's hard to be entirely certain...don't get me started) in a rare moment of pop cultural open-mindedness; that most shows take three episodes to become what they're going to be and that every show (to a fault) deserves those three possible strikes.
So, for the first time this season, I'm going to enact that rule as a direct reaction to Person of Interest. There's too much inherent potential here to just let it go at one episode. Now, this is not to say that it was a bad episode. It wasn't. It was just sort of "meh" when you consider the parties involved.
I'm optimistic though, especially with that admittedly paltry synopsis for next week's episode up there. Because as uncharacteristically procedural a show as this is from Abrams/Nolan, I also know neither camp will be able to resist slowly injecting a few Lostian questions in there along the way. There's always more to what we're seeing than just what's bubbling at the surface. (Unless it's Undercovers. Snip-snap, indeed.)
...and what of our cast? Jim "Jesus" Caviezel has the silent, slightly unhinged badassery down pat. Michael Emerson is as likably unnerving (if you will) as ever. Meanwhile, Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman are weirdly kind of reprising their roles from Date Night (as high-ranking NYPD Detective Carter and seedy, corrupt Detective Fusco respectively), and yet it oddly works. It's particularly pleasing to see Chapman in such a high-profile role after countless years of great character work.
...I really am sorry about how short this review is going to end up being. I just don't think Person of Interest has shown me enough to fully analyze just yet, and I actually mean that as a pretty big compliment. Wow me, show. I know you will.
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THESE ARE BLURBS
Scant remaining bitlets regarding Person of Interest...
- The actor who played white gangbanger Anton (who for some reason is IMPOSSIBLE to track down on either IMDb or Wikipedia) seems to have found his niche, having played almost the exact same douchey urban white boy on this episode of FX's Louie last season.
- Speaking of Anton and his gang, I highly doubt we've seen the last of them; his father in particular. You don't cast William Sadler just to get shot in the leg and ask "Who the hell was that guy?". If you hire Sadler, you've probably got some big plans for him.
- ...and speaking of that scene...MAGIC. One of my most loyal readers was partial to the car escape scene as the pinnacle of this show's badassery...I must kindly err on the side of taking out a room full of at least 7 gangbangers with a single pistol clip in a matter of seconds. Beautiful.
- There's part of me that cringed a bit at the flashback scene of Reese and his presumably long-dead lover watching the events of 9/11 unfold on television. Now, admittedly, they tied it in well with the explanation that the creation of Finch's system was a direct reaction to that day, but still...I look forward to a time when it stops being used as a plot device.
- PERSON OF INTEREST AIRS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9pm EST ON CBS!
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...and quietly yet promisingly, there went that.
Join me again later today for my look at NBC's new Thursday night comedy Whitney and their new Americanization of the beloved British drama Prime Suspect. Will there be laughter? Will there be dark police procedural-ness? You'll find out shortly.
Until then...you guys got any milk?
Very nice!
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