Person of Interest Season 5 Premiere Date Announced (and There’s a Twist)

CBS is making up for lost time where Person of Interest‘s long-delayed fifth season is concerned. The Eye network has announced that POI will air twice a week — Mondays and Tuesdays at 10/9c — beginning in early May.

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The J.J. Abrams drama will launch Season 5 on Tuesday, May 3, with Episode 2 airing the following Monday, May 9 (and then Episode 3 on Tuesday, May 10, and so on). The show’s season finale is slated to fall on Tuesday, June 21.

CBS is still not declaring Season 5 POI‘s swan song, but all signs are pointing in that direction. UPDATE: CBS is now confirming that POI will end at the conclusion of Season 5.

“My guess is [Season 5] is the final season,” executive producer J.J. Abrams admitted in January at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “The only heartbreak there is how much good story there was to come if it were to have continued.”

Although Abrams said “the goal” was to craft a finale that could serve as a series finale, “Obviously things can be adjusted if [there’s] a miraculous [ratings] performance. But I think the idea is that this would be the finale.

“[Showrunners] Jonah Nolan and Greg Plageman have done such an amazing job on the show,” Abrams continued, “and I know what these episodes are that they’ve done, wrapping it up. We don’t yet have a schedule, but I know these episodes will see the light of day. People will get to see these episodes.”

Speculation about the series’ sad fate was first born of its shortened, 13-episode order for Season 5. Its absence from CBS’ original 2015-16 schedule — and then any subsequent midseason announcements — only added fuel to the fire. The final nail in the show’s coffin appeared to come late last month when co-star Sarah Shahi snagged the title role in CBS’ Nancy Drew drama pilot.

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