Person of Interest
CBS | Release Date: September 22, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Person of Interest separates itself from the gimmick pack, not only because of superbly nuanced characterization and writing but also because of how it engages a post-9/11 sense of paranoia in its viewers. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert BiancoSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: They may not enchant you, but they and their series, the best new hour this year, are unlikely to bore you. Would that every new show could say the same. Read full review
83
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: [Caviezel] and Emerson make for one of fall's most formidable odd couples. Read full review
83
NewsdayVerne GaySep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: A gritty, almost plausible winner, and distant reflection of Stephen Spielberg's "Minority Report." Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerSep 16, 2011
Season 1 Review: The show can simultaneously unsettle, comfort, excite, and amuse its viewers--something for everyone, if you, like Mr. Finch, like to watch. Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan StormSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Of course, it all sounds preposterous, but so did a movie about a guy who remembered everything backward, and Jonathan Nolan was nominated for a writing Oscar for Memento. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: This is the rare crime drama that revels in actual mystery, its dark, paranoid tone embodied by two damaged heroes. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Some viewers won't buy the premise of the Social Security numbers. Its beauty, though, is that you don't have to. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineAaron RiccioOct 17, 2013
Season 3 Review: Person of Interest is at its best when sticking to cutting-edge topics, be it Root's philosophical extremes or ethical discussions of surveillance (as in "Nothing to Hide," which introduces a group of privacy-seeking terrorists), and in demonstrating the limitations between what the Machine can accomplish on its own (hacking just about anything) and what only someone like Shaw can manage (infiltrating a trophy wife's boozy bookclub). Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoNov 29, 2011
Season 1 Review: This could grow into a show of more than ordinary interest. [28 Nov 2011, p.57]
75
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: The first episode unfolds nicely with plenty of suspense and tension. If they can keep it up week after week, they should have no problem holding viewers' interest. Read full review
75
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Together they'll be the brains and brawn of this operation in times when the broadcast networks aren't particularly interested in take-charge men with acquired tastes for pounding the hell out of bad guys--or shooting them in their thighs. Thanks. We maybe needed that. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Both Emerson and Caviezel are compelling and the way Nolan and Abrams have constructed the look (lots of nourish far-away shots in crowded streets, a sense of contained doom in an urban city) bodes well. That alone is worth the investment. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowrySep 19, 2011
Season 1 Review: The show is a shrewd if not terribly exciting bet on upping the network's hip quotient without straying far from its procedural wheelhouse. Read full review
63
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesChuck BarneyDec 1, 2011
Season 1 Review: So far, though, it has mostly kept its ambition in check, preferring to follow the playbook of a typical crime procedural, with a little more darkness and a little less energy. Read full review
60
The New York TimesMike HaleMay 2, 2016
Season 5 Review: With 13 episodes to go, the producers appear to be leery both of spending time on cases and of setting up their climactic showdown too soon, and the plots have a neither-here-nor-there quality. In the fourth week, however, the reintroduction of some favorite characters begins to bring the story into focus. Read full review
60
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GraySep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Clever but somehow not very absorbing, Person might provoke the paranoid while leaving the generation who's grown up on camera wondering what all the fuss is about. Read full review
60
PopMattersChris ConatonSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: From a storytelling standpoint, though, the real juice of the show is going to lie in its long-form arcs. It's a delicate balance to maintain, and it will be interesting to see if Person of Interest is up to the challenge. Read full review
58
HitfixDaniel FienbergSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Despite the presence of Nolan (who's co-written most of his brother Christopher's films, including "Memento" and "The Prestige") and producer J.J. Abrams, this is very much a CBS crime procedural, one that could fit comfortably alongside "The Mentalist," et al. But it would help an awful lot if Caviezel had a few Red Bulls first. Read full review
58
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 12, 2011
Season 1 Review: With J.J. Abrams as an executive producer, this tech-driven "Early Edition" is shockingly lifeless. Caviezel's Clint Eastwood impression is flat, and Emerson is too darkly eccentric to keep the drama afloat. Read full review
50
Zap2it (Inside the Box)David EcksteinSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: The characters aren't terribly deep and the dialog doesn't take advantage of Emerson's and Caviezel's acting chops. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Ultimately, Person Of Interest is built on too cockamamie of a premise to be taken seriously. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Beneath that glossy sheen, it seems like it will be a procedural crime show like so many other programs on CBS. Read full review
50
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: If Person of Interest can calibrate the relationship between the leads in a way that makes their interactions more compelling, and if the show finds ways to answer Nolan's questions in creative and unexpected ways, it could be CBS' next addictive drama. If it ends up being a post-9/11 version of 'The Equalizer,' then this person will quickly lose interest. Read full review
50
Washington PostHank StueverSep 16, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's a whole lot of techno-hooey, relying on screenwriter-friendly leaps of logic. Emerson turns out to be a one-note actor, but Caviezel is appealing in a particle-board sort of way. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: When the only real tension is one character telling another to hurry and the most emotionally involving scene lasts 30 seconds and involves the cop who may not engage with the principals again all season, it's difficult to remain an interested person. Read full review
40
The New York TimesMike HaleSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: The result is that the twin aspects of the show, fighting each other for screen time, both end up a little vague and underwritten. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineAaron RiccioSep 16, 2011
Season 1 Review: There isn't a single interesting person in CBS's dud-on-arrival Person of Interest; at best, there's only a single interesting idea. Read full review
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