These days it is rare to see TV show-runners deliver on promises of "Game Changing" arcs or episodes where "nothing will ever be the same". It's also rare to see a series which has managed to pull off a Genre Shift successfully and remain intact. Person Of Interest has managed to do both. Its third Season for better or worse was willing to take drastic actions which would have made a TV executive faint from fear of lost ratings.
Starting as another quality CBS crime drama but with the unique twist of predicting and preventing violent crime, it's been a pleasure to see POI evolve over three seasons into one of the most relevant science fiction series in recent memory. From beating Ed Snowden in revealing the true scale of the US Intelligence communities surveillance efforts while giving all sides of the surveillance debate a fair hearing, to delving into the uncharted waters of artificial intelligence, POI has become one of the more topical and relevant dramas on network television.
While exploring topics such as cyberwarfare and the corruption of modern politics hasn't hurt, Season 3 of POI distinguished itself with masterful Character Development of the protagonists. From Taraji P Henson's Joss Carter deciding to finally drop the Conflict Ball when conducting a well executed Roaring Rampage of Revenge, her partner Kevin Chapman's Dirty Cop Lionel Fusco deciding to fight back against the men who made the previous 2 seasons a misery for him and Amy Acker's Root getting knocked down several pegs and rediscovering her humanity, the already formidable cast and writers threw POI's Team Machine into situations where they were forced to make critical choices and adapt like the show itself in order to survive.
Its detractors claim that it's become too complicated, the new characters are unlikable/smug/cold and that it should have stayed with the "case of the week format". I disagree. In the crowded CBS lineup consisting of shows such as NCIS LA and Hawaii Five-0, POI needed to find a way to stand out and define itself. By changing into a Post Cyber Punk drama albeit one based in a real world setting, it succeed in doing so.
Overall, by embracing change, POI has shown that it's destined for great things. We may not know what Season 4 will bring but it will most certainly be interesting.
Change We Can Believe In.
These days it is rare to see TV show-runners deliver on promises of "Game Changing" arcs or episodes where "nothing will ever be the same". It's also rare to see a series which has managed to pull off a Genre Shift successfully and remain intact. Person Of Interest has managed to do both. Its third Season for better or worse was willing to take drastic actions which would have made a TV executive faint from fear of lost ratings.
Starting as another quality CBS crime drama but with the unique twist of predicting and preventing violent crime, it's been a pleasure to see POI evolve over three seasons into one of the most relevant science fiction series in recent memory. From beating Ed Snowden in revealing the true scale of the US Intelligence communities surveillance efforts while giving all sides of the surveillance debate a fair hearing, to delving into the uncharted waters of artificial intelligence, POI has become one of the more topical and relevant dramas on network television.
While exploring topics such as cyberwarfare and the corruption of modern politics hasn't hurt, Season 3 of POI distinguished itself with masterful Character Development of the protagonists. From Taraji P Henson's Joss Carter deciding to finally drop the Conflict Ball when conducting a well executed Roaring Rampage of Revenge, her partner Kevin Chapman's Dirty Cop Lionel Fusco deciding to fight back against the men who made the previous 2 seasons a misery for him and Amy Acker's Root getting knocked down several pegs and rediscovering her humanity, the already formidable cast and writers threw POI's Team Machine into situations where they were forced to make critical choices and adapt like the show itself in order to survive.
Its detractors claim that it's become too complicated, the new characters are unlikable/smug/cold and that it should have stayed with the "case of the week format". I disagree. In the crowded CBS lineup consisting of shows such as NCIS LA and Hawaii Five-0, POI needed to find a way to stand out and define itself. By changing into a Post Cyber Punk drama albeit one based in a real world setting, it succeed in doing so.
Overall, by embracing change, POI has shown that it's destined for great things. We may not know what Season 4 will bring but it will most certainly be interesting.