The Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows of All Time: Person of Interest (2011)

The Greatest Sci Fi/Fantasy TV Shows: Considering the case for the sci fi and fantasy television shows that should be counted among the greatest of all time.

What Is It?

A brilliant and wealthy programmer creates an AI system that can track and predict terrorist activity and that can also predict when an individual might be in danger or a threat to someone else. The government is not interested in committing resources to protecting the individuals, so the machine’s creator hires an ex-CIA operative to follow up on those leads.

Aired: CBS, 2011-16, 5 Seasons Totaling 103 Episodes

Starring: Michael Emerson, Jim Caviezel, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman, Amy Acker, Sarah Shahi

Created By: Jonathan Nolan

Argument to Count It as One of the Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows:

This series appeared on the CBS schedule in the Fall of 2011 with very little fanfare from the sci-fi community, but it slowly started to develop a reputation as a sleeper genre entry. When it began, the show was very episodic with case-of-the-week episodes focusing on people in need of help (1985’s The Equalizer meets AI). CBS is very genre-averse and probably dictated to the creative team that they had to limit the sci-fi elements and story arcs. But the show started to build up an audience, and that apparently gave it more leeway. By the second season, it was delving more deeply into AI themes, and later seasons would see it go full sci-fi at times, exploring both the dangers and possibilities of Artificial Intelligence.

Core to this series was its central cast, with Michael Emerson getting a rare turn as a (mostly) good guy and running with it, while Jim Caviezel did an excellent job as the troubled John Reese seeking redemption by helping those picked by the machine. Beyond the two leads, Person of Interest had a strong supporting cast with Taraji P. Henson, Sarah Shahi, Amy Acker, and Kevin Chapman all pulling their weight and contributing to the ever-developing storylines. The show also assembled a notable repertoire of secondary and supporting characters who made their mark throughout its run.

Person of Interest was essentially Jonathan Nolan’s testing ground for the AI concepts he would later explore in more depth with Westworld (more on that one at this link). And once the show hit its stride, it struck up a nice balance of procedural stories and sci-fi concepts, turning it into a sleeper genre entry. It is definitely a slow burn and takes time to unlock its potential, but the cast carries it, and ultimately this one deserves to be ranked among others considered to be all-time greats of sci-fi TV.

Argument Against:

Person of Interest definitely explored some interesting concepts relating to AI and technology getting out of control. But because it aired on CBS, it never realized its full potential. The entire first season was almost nothing but procedural episodes, with the leads chasing down the case of the week, and even after that the show was hampered by the network. It seems obvious that the creative team held back on the more interesting sci-fi concepts and just slipped them in from time to time in order to keep the show close to its Prime Time-friendly format.

There were so many interesting ideas that PoI touched on relating to AI and humans losing control of their own creations, but the show used that more as window dressing. It did attempt to delve into these concepts in later seasons, but never went all-in on its sci-fi elements. Emerson, Caviezel, Henson, and the others did a good job leading the show and turning it into a good drama. But it became all too formulaic, and ultimately it falls short when compared to other all-time greats of genre television.

Johnny Jay’s Take:

I recall watching the trailer to Person of Interest in the lead-up to the Fall 2011 season, and I was very intrigued. This looked like a show that would tackle some interesting moral dilemmas around AI and foreknowledge of crimes, and that could really challenge Prime Time viewers. Unfortunately, the broadcast networks—especially CBS—have little interest in challenging their audience, preferring the TV soma of formulaic procedurals and sitcoms that recycle the same stories over and over. I will admit that Person of Interest offered a nice twist to the standard procedural, but it still followed the case-of-the-week routine and made few attempts to dive into the moral quandaries of its premise.

I stuck with the show, though, because I liked the performances of Michael Emerson and Jim Caviezel, and it also had a vibe similar to The Equalizer from the 1980s, which I loved. By the time PoI got to its second season, it still wasn’t delving much into its moral dilemmas, but it was starting to explore its AI concepts. And by the time that Samaritan—a second, more sinister AI—became a focus of the stories, I found myself re-invested in the show. That is when it started to embrace its sci-fi roots and diverge from its formulaic approach, even though it still kept the case-of-the-week episodes going to satisfy network execs.

Person of Interest never quite lived up to my initial hopes for the series, but ultimately it did turn into a notable sci-fi entry. The creative team knew how to juggle the Prime Time-friendly format that the network wanted with more interesting stories about AI and technology run amok, and they kept that going over a five-season run. PoI was allowed to wrap up its storylines with its fifth season and provided a somewhat satisfying ending (though I believe it could have carried on), and it is definitely one that deserves to be considered when deciding which are the greatest sci-fi TV shows of all time.

Where Can You Watch It?

The entire series is available for streaming with a subscription to Amazon’s Prime Video. Note that the services now has ads, but you can switch to ad-free for an upcharge. You can also buy the series VOD from providers like Amazon, and it is available on DVD and Blu-ray, though the latter is out of print and fetching pretty high prices.

Do you consider Person of Interest to be one of the greatest sci fi/fantasy shows, or did it waste its premise by going too heavy on the Prime Time TV procedural formula? Chime in with your thoughts below or at our discussion thread at r/SciFiTV.

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