'Person of Interest' at Comic-Con: What's in Store for the Possible Final Season
Time may be growing short for Team Machine, but the cast and creators of Person of Interest are ready to make the most of the time they have left. CBS only renewed the series for a 13-episode fifth season, and it will likely be the last. Stars Jim Caviezel (Reese), Michael Emerson (Finch), Kevin Chapman (Fusco), and Amy Acker (Root) and executive producers Jonathan Nolan, Greg Plageman, and Denise Thé spoke with reporters at Comic-Con about what fans can expect.
Things Are Going to Happen Fast
A final decision hasn’t been made as to whether or not this is the final season, but everybody’s preparing for a possible end regardless, says Plageman.
“We have a lot of story we want to tell. There’s not going to be a lot of filler this year! It’s pretty much going to be a straight shot through. There are some things we wanted to tell a little bit later on that we’re going to have to pull up, but I think it’s going to be all for the better. We’re going to tell a really heightened, exciting narrative this season.”
Related: ‘Person of Interest’ Finale: Michael Emerson and Winston Duke on What’s Next for Finch and Dominic
There Are a Lot of Imitators
There are a number of shows that have taken up PoI’s fasicnation with technology and the surveillance state. But, says Caviezel, they’re missing the thing that makes this show unique: the human element.
“The difference between Samaritan and our Machine: The fascist machine Samaritan sees us as a means to an end. These people are being used to keep us alive; that’s it. The Machine doesn’t see us as a commodity: The queen is as important as the plumber. There’s more invested in the show than just people flat-out contending with technology.”
Drawing the Line
The devastating scene from last season’s finale, where the Machine speaks directly to Mr. Finch, has rattled beliefs we have seen him hold since the show began, says Emerson.
“I think Finch — despite himself — is drifting toward giving the Machine a kind of personhood or sentience. As much as he’s always trying to draw the line between tools and humans, the line is kind of blurry now. Blurrier than I think he thought, until that moment came upon him. So he has that to puzzle on as we move forward.”
He won’t be making that decision alone, Nolan adds.
“Here’s a fresh challenge for Finch and Root in particular: to figure out how to build the Machine. If you could make God over again, would you make it a wrathful God? How much Old Testament or New Testament would you dial into it? They get an opportunity to argue that out a little bit at the beginning of the season as they try to put this thing back together again.”
What Does Season 5 Hold for the Characters?
Is it possible that Reese and Iris may make things work? Caviezel says his character is still carrying baggage.
“You go back to Jessica: the possibility that he could have a real relationship — a second one. With Carter, he missed it and there’s a great fear there.”
Chapman says his days of being in the dark may finally be over.
“Fusco’s going to really start asking questions in Season 5. I think he’s going to start conducting some investigations of his own, really looking into exactly what’s going on. He knows something’s up, but he’s not really sure what it is.”
Acker says Root is torn between two loves: Shaw and the Machine.
“That’s been a struggle because they are both priorities to her. At the end of last year, she ultimately had to decide that if she didn’t do everything to save the Machine, there’s no purpose to saving Shaw. That’s kind of what point we’re at: Without the Machine, there’s no happiness in the world anyway.”
Happy Ending?
If this is the end, where would Chapman like Fusco to end up?
“Police commissioner of New York, godammit!”
And Root?
Acker: “I hope her, Machine, and Shaw have a nice happy little…”
Thé: “A nice, happy little family? With Bear?”
Acker: “With Bear! And Shaw’s twins.”
Season 5 of Person of Interest premieres in early 2016 on CBS.
