Person of Interest

Last night was the conclusion to "Person of Interest", pretty much the only TV show I watch (well, watched) that wasn't what passes for news on TV.

I'm sad now.

I truly enjoyed POI. The premise was a fun procedural (billionaire recruits CIA badass to help him save lives) that mutated into some cool, subversive sci-fi(?). Topics such as mass surveillance, the good of the many vs the good of the few, and artificial intelligence were all introduced as the show expanded to a fascinating cast of characters.

The last two seasons revolved around the AI used by the good guys (known as "The Machine") in its battle against the seemingly-malign and totalitarian AI known as "Samaritan".

Throughout the five years, I found myself truly invested in the characters. I loved the many layers of the morally-tormented Harold Finch as he wrestled with being the creator of one of the ASIs ("artificial super-intelligences"). I enjoyed the wry tough-guy humor of John Reese, the former CIA killer. I fell more than a little in love with the emotionally-stunted badass killer, Samine Shaw. I loved how the ever-awesome Amy Acker went from psychotic villain to psychotic hero. I fell a little in love with Detective Joss Carter and was pissed the hell off when she died in one of the more ridiculous deaths in a show full of weird deaths. And I have to say I grew to consider Lionel Fusco, the bad cop turned good, as my favorite. I still consider him the most heroic character in the show.

I loved the slow-burning intensity of the five seasons of the show and the sinister growth of Samaritan's power into this season.

If I have a complaint at all, it's that the last two episodes felt waaaaaay too rushed. After such a slow build-up, there were some jarring reversals and hand-waving to get the story to its otherwise satisfying conclusion.

I'm going to miss you, POI. You were a fairly intelligently-written show, overall.