What to Binge Watch: ‘Person of Interest’
Like its off-the-grid heroes, CBS’s provocative cyber-thriller Person of Interest has been maddeningly MIA all season long, stoking many conspiracy theories among an aggravated fanbase. Fret no more: A truncated 13-episode fifth season, now confirmed to be the show’s last, will finally begin May 3, with CBS airing the episodes on Mondays and Tuesdays until the June 21 series finale.
Not the most dignified exit, but at least the producers are promising us an actual conclusion to this labyrinthine saga of a mysterious Machine that sees everything and predicts crimes about to happen.
Whether you’re late to this intriguing party or need a refresher, all 90 episodes of the first four seasons are available for immersive binge-watching on Netflix. Few shows are better suited for a deep dive, given the dizzying density of executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman’s vision, which evolved from a takedown of a corrupt NYPD cabal called “HR” to a war between artificial intelligences, with the Machine matching wits with the sinister Samaritan.
PHOTOS: Underground Secrets of the Person of Interest Set
Machines aside, the characters who carry out the missions in Person of Interest are even more compelling reasons to watch, starting with the unlikely partnership of twitchy billionaire genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), who built the Machine, and the rugged vigilante John Reese (Jim Caviezel), joined by NYPD detectives Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson for the first three seasons, pre-Empire fame) and Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman), a reformed crooked cop. Latecomers to the team were especially exotic: cunning hacker Root (Amy Acker) and lethal assassin Shaw (Sarah Shahi).
Highlights not to miss: the episodes introducing Root (“Root Cause,” Season 1, Episode 13) and Shaw (“Relevance,” Season 2, Episode 16); Carter’s swan song (“The Crossing,” Season 3, Episode 9); and the dazzling “If-Then-Else” (Season 4, Episode 11), in which the Machine repeatedly simulates outcomes when the team is trapped in an impossible situation and not everyone escapes.
Person of Interest, Seasons 1–4, Netflix
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I've found that I can't really watch more than two, maybe three episodes of anything back-to-back. Of course, I've never really tried, but I don't think I'd like it. I'd probably start to dream about the show, and I don't want to do that. However, I do watch some shows (like POI) when WGN or Ion air them back-to-back-to-back. But that's different as I've watched them all before and I come and go, switch channels during commercials, etc.
DonMI, I think most people binge-watch on the weekend, when traditionally there isn't much else to watch. Either that or they don't have to get up during the week so they stay up all night.
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As I said, I've still got shows from Sunday and Monday to watch, and now something from tonight. I'll never catch up at this rate!
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I watch almost everything live. I don't have DVR capability so if I don't watch live I have to watch the show on the network's website online, which isn't as good as watching on my bigscreen.
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I don't mind watching online. My notebook has a 17" screen which looks pretty big when you're watching it from only 2' away. The guy who does my taxes got a 25"-30" monitor that's like watching an IMAX movie when viewed from that distance! I'll even pay the $1.00-$2.00 per episode to watch some shows without all the darned commercial breaks.
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I don't know where people find the time to binge watch whole seasons of shows. I can't even find time to watch everything I'd like to see that's on right now. I've still got one show from Sunday and two from Monday that I haven't seen yet!
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