Person of Interest Season One Report Card: A-
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Person of Interest became one of the few bona fide hits of TV's 2011-12 freshman class.
With an intriguing premise and a pair of outstanding leads in Michael Emerson and Jim Caviezel, it delivered on all fronts. What were the high points? What do hope to see in 2012-2013? What would we change?
Read on as we grade Person of Interest's first season in TV Fanatic's Report Card series.
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Best Character: While I truly think the characters are entertaining in their own rights and even have Detective Fusco up on the list, I have to go with John Reese. It might seem predictable because he's the series lead, but the guy knows how to kick ass with such a cool swagger that it never gets old watching him do it every single episode.
Plus, there's plenty of backstory and humanity, so he's not just a walking Terminator.
Worst Character: I'd say towards the beginning part of the season, Detective Carter was the worst character mainly for the fact that she felt too-one dimensional and merely served as the cop trying to catch Reese.
After bringing her into the fold, she's been able to hold her own with more purpose, but I'm hoping season two can flesh her out even further like it has done with Reese, Finch, and Fusco. I want to know what drives her!
Best Episode: This one is tough mainly for the fact that there are actually plenty of really great episodes to choose from. And while I think the final three episodes are a fantastic cap to the season with a great combination of story, action, and character, I have to give it to "Root Cause."
Not only did this episode bring back Zoe and give both Finch and Reese something significant to do, but it introduced us to another enemy in the show's rogues gallery that would reappear for a fantastic payoff in the finale, "Firewall." Certainly the show was ramping up and finally getting me really hooked at this point too.
Worst Episode: No episode of the season was awful, but the first batch hadn't caught the rhythm and excitement the latter half of the season drove with solid force. With that in mind, "Mission Creep" would probably be the one I might be least like to watch again mostly because it was rather boring for the episode.
Don't get me wrong, there were good moments, but it doesn't come close to the quality of the more recent airing episodes like "Many Happy Returns."
Best Guest Star: Paige Turco nailed it as the smart, sexy, and fiendishly clever Zoe Morgan. She not only had a great rapport with Jim Caviezel, but having her character pop up in a few episodes was always a treat.
She fit right in with the team and I hope she comes back.
Most Underused Character: I would have at first said Nathan Ingram's son, Will, because he seemed so promising and then left, but at least he has the opportunity to come back.
As for Alicia Corwin, while a shocking death, we never really got to learn much about her aside from the fact that she wanted to defeat Finch. Maybe flashbacks for next season might give us more insight?
Hopes for Season 2: There are many directions it could go and I hope that it follows a similar pattern to Person of Interest Season 1 in utilizing closed-ended episodes while at the same time laying in bits and pieces of an overall story arc.
I'm really hoping we explore more of Nathan Ingram and the Machine as well as a variety of unique ways John Reese gets to beat up and take down his enemies. I can only imagine what new bad guys await.
It's just unfortunate we have to wait until fall to find out where the show is headed next!
Overall Grade: A-.
Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.