“Person of Interest”: The Complete Third Season is another good, even great, run for the Jonathan Nolan-created series. The acting is nearly top-notched but most of all, the stories are captivating and fresh, trying new things and presenting different antagonists (this year an organization named “Vigilance”) to challenge our heroes.
“Person of Interest”: The Complete Third Season
(2013-14)
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Crime, Mystery
Warner Bros. | NR – 1001 min. – $69.97 | September 2, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Various Writer(s): Jonathan Nolan (created by) Cast: Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman, Sarah ShahiDISC INFO: Features: Episode Commentary, Featurettes, Gag Reel, DVD Copy, Digital Copy Number of Discs: 10Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78 Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish Disc Size: Various Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A, B, C |
THE MOVIE – 4.5/5
“Person of Interest” is easily one of the best series on television right now, not only because the plots are fresh and interesting, albeit with a bit of “A-Team” flavor thrown in, but it’s not entirely predictable, especially this year as one major character’s, if you pardon the pun, number comes up too late. This third season also finds the addition of Sarah Shahi as a series regular.
Season three of the popular surveillance action suspense-thriller finds reclusive Harold Finch (MICHAEL EMERSON) and John “Swiss Army Knife” Reese (JIM CAVIEZEL) receiving numbers from The Machine with either the victim in danger or the person about to perpetrate a crime. Helping Harold and John are NYPD Detective Lionel Fusco (KEVIN CHAPMAN) and Officer Joss Carter (TARAJI P. HENSON) who was demoted from detective after the events in season two as she attempted to uncover the elusive and deadly group known as “HR”, comprised of corrupt cops who dabble in all sorts of crimes. Also aiding is arms expert and all around badass Sameen Shaw (SHAHI).
This year, despite Carter’s disadvantages, she continues her quest to find the head of “HR”, responsible for the death of narcotics Detective Cal Beecher. But as she digs, “HR”, whose second-in-command is Officer Patrick Simmons (ROBERT JOHN BURKE). We get some of the best hours of television during the “HR” investigation including amazing camera work, sharp writing and utterly tense scenes.
But not to be boxed in with one storyline, creator Jonathan Nolan (co-writer of The Dark Knight), we also get not only standalone cases but also the dangerous and perplexing woman named Root (AMY ACKER) who has formed an “intimate” relationship with The Machine that prefers speaking with her rather than the creator, Harold. To that end, and because of her actions, she’s first locked in a mental institution (voluntarily and at the behest of The Machine), and when she forces Shaw to do a job, is eventually captured by Harold and caged in his mansion where we get some good psychological play between the two.
The acting on this series is top notch from Jim Caviezel as the main character to “Lost”-alum Michael Emerson, Michael Chapman as the dirty cop turned good, Taraji P. Henson playing an officer trying to take down a corrupt police organization and newcomer Sarah Shahi is a bonus addition and works so well with the group yet keeps that edge when we first met her. The dynamic between them is what oils the machine (no pun intended) and makes us want to care about the various, and often integral, plotlines.
“Person of Interest”, the brainchild of creator Jonathan Nolan, is brilliant television from start to finish that even the more mundane episodes are far and away better than most everything else on network TV and the best are on par with the likes of, and don’t yell at the screen, “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.” What’s also special that the quality from the get-go in season one was great and has only increased, it’s only unfortunate it doesn’t get more acknowledgement as some might assume it’s merely a criminal-of-the-week type procedural when it’s so much more.
Episodes:
- Liberty
- Nothing to Hide
- Lady Killer
- Reasonable Doubt
- Pa3tobop (Razgovor)
- Mors Praematura
- The Perfect Mark
- Endgame
- The Crossing
- The Devil’s Share
- Lethe
- Aletheia
- 4C
- Provenance
- Last Call
- Ram
- /
- Allegiance
- Most Likely To…
- Death Benefit
- Beta
- A House Divided
- Dues Ex Machina
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.5/5
This 10-disc set (4 BDs, 6 DVDs) comes housed in a double-wide HD Keep Case which slides into a matted slip cover. Inside is also a redemption code for the Digital Copy.
Episode Commentary – Michael Emerson provides commentary on the season finale, ‘Deus Ex Machina’.
“Person of Interest”: The Future of A.I. (26:02; HD) – Show runners Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman discuss the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, its use in the show and how it affects creative choices.
Saying Goodbye to a Friend (6:16; HD) – *Name withheld for spoiler reasons* along with creator Jonathan Nolan and various cast members discuss the loss of a key character. Interesting enough, there’s an alternate take shown where other character dies, though as a smoke screen.
Gag Reel (3:03; HD) filled with line flubs and other on-set hijinks, including Caviezel’s spot-on Christopher Walken impression.
Bear on Set (2:10; HD) is a day in the life of Boker, the dog who plays “Bear” on the show.
2013 Comic-Con Panel Q&A with Cast and Creators (25:02; HD) – Executive Producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman are joined by the series stars (Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Kevin Chapman, Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker) in San Diego to answer questions.
Last, each episode comes with a Digital Comic One-Shot where a scene from that episode is done in comic form; it’s a way to advertise DC’s digital comic line.
VIDEO – 4.25/5
“Person of Interest” gets its number on Blu-ray shown in its original televised 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. The show looks quite brilliant in HD with good clarity, no major signs of artifacts, pixilation or even banding and the darker scenes are nice and stark. It’s probably one of the better TV on Blu-ray transfers around.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track meanwhile is decent enough with clear dialogue coming from the center speaker and the music making up the bulk of the depth while some of the more action elements, although not bad, don’t quite have the depth in comparison with feature films. That being said, this lossless track is above average and most certainly better than the original airing.
OVERALL – 4.5/5
Overall, “Person of Interest”: The Complete Third Season is another good, even great, run for the Jonathan Nolan-created series. The acting is nearly top-notched but most of all, the stories are captivating and fresh, trying new things and presenting different antagonists (this year an organization named “Vigilance”) to challenge our heroes. The Blu-ray released by Warner Brothers has a fair amount of bonus features while the video and audio transfers are both more than adequate.
The Movieman
Published: 09/10/2014