Penny Thoughts ‘13—Person of Interest, season 2 (2012-2013) **½

TV-14, 22 44-min. episodes

Creator: Jonathan Nolan

Directors: Richard J. Lewis, Jon Cassar, Jeffrey G. Hunt, James Whitmore Jr., Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Fred Toye, Helen Shaver, Clark Johnson, Stephen Surjik, Chris Fisher, John Dahl, Kenneth Fink, Tricia Brock

Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Denise Thé, Greg Plageman, Patrick Harbinson, Melissa Scrivner-Love, Erik Mountain, David Slack, Nic Van Zeebroeck, Michael Sopczynski, Sean Hennen, Amanda Segel, Ray Utarnachitt, Dan Dietz, Lucas O’Connor, Tony Camerino

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman

Guest starring: Amy Acker, Jay O. Sanders, Cotter Smith, Boris McGiver, Sarah Shahi, Terry Serpico, Ken Leung, Loudon Wainwright, Margo Martindale, Paloma Guzman, Michael Kelly, Nick Gehlfuss, Annie Parisse, Enrico Colantoni, Jonathan Tucker, Michael McGlone, Paige Turco, Robert John Burke, Gloria Votsis, Brennan Brown, Clarke Peters, Anthony Mangano, John Ventimiglia, Brett Cullen, Alicia Witt, Carrie Preston, Sharon Leal, Julian Sands, Mark Pellegrino, Francie Swift, Sterling K. Brown, Michael Irby, Reiko Aylesworth, Tony Plana, Jessica Collins, Brian J. Smith, Luke Kirby, Luke Kleintank, John Sharian, Karolina Kurkova, Creighton James, James Knight, John Nolan, Brian Hutchison, Charlie Semine, Chandler Williams, Brooke Bloom, Jimmi Simpson, Mía Maestro, Paul Sparks, Luke Macfarlane, Becky Ann Baker, Dan Lauria, Dennis Flanagan, Ron McLarty, Michael Rispoli, Morgan Spector, Jennifer Van Dyck, Tracie Thoms, Al Sapienza, Dennis Boutsikaris

In it’s second season “Person of Interest” is still less than what I would wish it to be. It’s still too formulaic from episode to episode. Its characters still lack dimension. It even still employs some pretty sloppy filmmaking and storytelling techniques sometimes. It’s fairly inconsistent in its quality.

Somehow, it’s still intriguing at times. In fact, this second season contained one of the best episodes of any show I watched this season. The episode is titled “Relevance” and introduces a new character in a unique way. It tells the entire story from her point of view. The main cast is relegated to supporting roles as this new character—who is only a recurring character, not a new lead—takes the spotlight.

Her name is Samantha Shaw, and she is a spy of the same variety that the show’s lead John was before he became a Good Samaritan. One of her missions goes wrong and the super computer that runs the show for the main characters gives them her name as the person of interest. Of course, she doesn’t know this and we don’t either. As a spy, she doesn’t trust anyone, including the strangers who appear out of nowhere to help her. She doesn’t really seem to need their help either. She seems to be better at saving herself than they ever could be. Perhaps the computer gave them her name just to create a new ally.

Anyway, if my wife didn’t watch this show, I probably wouldn’t. Yet, it occasionally intrigues me in unexpected ways. We’ve designated it our laundry show, the show we watch while folding laundry. This means we often put off watching the show just like we do the laundry. You never know. It might just take off next season. The producers are certainly good at season finales. Maybe they can stretch one of those out for an entire season, and then I can fully back this thing.