Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Season 1 – Person of Interest

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – Person of Interest Sep 2011 Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 38 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Former CIA agent Reese (Jim Caviezel) -- now presumed dead -- and billionaire software genius Finch (Michael Emerson) join forces as a vigilante crime-fighting team. Using Finch's program, which employs pattern recognition to determine individuals who will soon be involved in violent crimes, they combine Reese's covert-operations training and Finch's money and cyberskills to stop crimes before they happen. Former Army Intelligence Support Activity operative Sameen Shaw joins the pair in their quest.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Person of Interest — Season 1

Person of Interest — Season 1

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Person of Interest is a well made and well acted espionage procedural, though its characters aren't terribly well developed and its intriguing premise yields mixed results.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
June Thomas Slate 09/22/2011
This is stalking, not detective work: There are no clues in Person of Interest, nor are there any mysteries to tease out. Go to Full Review
Brian Tallerico HollywoodChicago.com 09/22/2011
3.5/5
Person of Interest re-works the mystery genre that has becomes such a staple (particularly on CBS) in a fresh way. Go to Full Review
Joanne Ostrow Denver Post 09/22/2011
An over-arching mythology will be helped along by a case-of-the-week structure, to give the audience a regular payoff. Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand 04/14/2023
The mystery twist is a clever touch, the ambivalent heroes are wonderfully enigmatic, and the sleek action scenes have a brutally direct punch to them. Go to Full Review
Adam Sweeting The Arts Desk 07/23/2018
Person of Interest is playing a blinder. Go to Full Review
Jessica Johnson Time Out Chicago 07/02/2018
The convoluted nature of the premise would be easier to overlook, if the cast seemed remotely interested in the story. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Mike W @RT06826469 May 20 Couldn't get into it, required too much suspension of disbelief. One of the few shows I have ever thought moved too fast. Felt rushed, acting was weak, characters fuzzy. Too superficial for my tastes but then again it is advertised as "action" so much of that is to be expected. See more Cavanşir G @drgadimov Apr 24 I loved Person of Interest from the first episode and felt sad when it ended. The show cares about ordinary people—Finch and Reese save individuals the government ignores. Every single life matters, a message that reminds me of the Qur'an (5:32). The Machine is an AI that watches everything, and years later with AI in our daily lives, this show feels more relevant than ever. The cast is unforgettable. My rating is 10/10. Totally rewatchable. See my honest review: https://bookimov.blogspot.com/2026/04/person-of-interest-20112016-ai-thriller.html See more Dave C @RT09838700 Apr 19 Interesting premise, with some quirky characters, and the beginnings of an intriguing story arc See more James M @RT78573208 Apr 2 Well, for the first episode, I couldn’t quite buy into the unlikely premise that the whole series, and the many that follow, is based on. However it sort of drew me in. There are some creative storylines and the main two actors do a decent job with the script they’ve been given. However, what made me give up is two things. One is the dialogue. I find myself willing them not to say what is completely obvious. " Let’s get to (whoever this weeks victim is) before the bad guys do". "I’ve got company" etc etc. the last straw is when our hero had an ex Stasi agent covered at a respectable distance with his gun. Despite his years of training and always coming out on top so far, he inexplicably walked right up to him to make a point. I switched off just as he was being disarmed. See more Andrei D @RT74856639 Mar 19 It could be smarter at times, but it has the idea, the actors, the intrigue, and mainly solid action bits See more Tony S @TOzzie Mar 12 Very impressive series. Very relevant even in 2026. Blends AI/Data centres/facial recognition, super computers, crime and corruption, geek billionaire tech bro who wants to save the world with a black ops "dead to the world" Jason Bourne type. The acting is excellent, plots proceed very well, crisply directed, very watchable. And on Netflix in 2026 means no commercials for five whole series which I’ve just started binging. Love it See more Read all reviews
Person of Interest — Season 1

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Sep 22, 2011 Pilot Reese and Finch must figure out whether a young prosecutor is a victim or a suspect. Details Episode 2 Aired Sep 29, 2011 Ghosts Reese and Finch question the machine's reliability when it prompts the investigation of a teenager who was killed years earlier; Finch recalls the origin of the machine. Details Episode 3 Aired Oct 6, 2011 Mission Creep Reese infiltrates a gang to get closer to a former Marine that the machine tagged. Details Episode 4 Aired Oct 13, 2011 Cura Te Ipsum Reese and Finch try to unravel a threat to a promising young doctor (Linda Cardellini). Details Episode 5 Aired Oct 20, 2011 Judgement Reese and Finch must investigate a judge known for his tough sentences, who wants nothing to do with their vigilante justice. Details Episode 6 Aired Oct 27, 2011 The Fix A new person of interest, a beautiful and resourceful woman, leaves Reese captivated. Details Episode 7 Aired Nov 3, 2011 Witness Reese and Finch rush to save a schoolteacher who witnessed a mob hit. Details Episode 8 Aired Nov 17, 2011 Foe After learning the latest person of interest (Alan Dale) has connections to Cold War Soviet espionage circles, Reese and Finch learn how covert operations used to be handled. Details Episode 9 Aired Dec 8, 2011 Get Carter Things get complicated for Reese and Finch when the machine names Detective Carter as the latest person of interest. Details Episode 10 Aired Dec 15, 2011 Number Crunch Detective Carter faces fallout from her encounter with Reese and Finch; the machine comes up with not one, but four Social Security numbers. Details Episode 11 Aired Jan 12, 2012 Super Finch investigates a building super who is overly involved with his tenants; Detective Carter's pursuit of Reese and Finch may finally pay off. Details Episode 12 Aired Jan 19, 2012 Legacy When Carter finally meets Reese, he asks her to help with their latest person of interest, a feisty woman who turned her life around and became a lawyer. Details Episode 13 Aired Feb 2, 2012 Root Cause Reese and Finch call on a former POI and Zoe to help when they learn that the latest POI may have been pushed to his breaking point by a string of bad luck. Details Episode 14 Aired Feb 9, 2012 Wolf and Cub A teenager (Astro) whose brother was recently murdered is identified as the latest person of interest; Finch fears that his ex-partner's son is getting close to discovering the machine. Details Episode 15 Aired Feb 16, 2012 Blue Code Reese infiltrates a smuggling ring in pursuit of the latest person of interest. Details Episode 16 Aired Feb 23, 2012 Risk Reese and Finch pursue young trader at a major investment bank who is caught up in a multimillion-dollar financial scam. Details Episode 17 Aired Mar 8, 2012 Baby Blue Reese and Finch are puzzled when the machine names a 6-month-old baby as the latest person of interest; Detective Carter questions her allegiances when Elias resurfaces. Details Episode 18 Aired Mar 29, 2012 Identity Crisis The machine directs Reese and Finch to a person who has almost no digital footprint and seems to be living a double life. Details Episode 19 Aired Apr 5, 2012 Flesh and Blood When the machine names the dons of New York's crime families, Reese and Finch suspect that Elias is targeting his competition. Details Episode 20 Aired Apr 26, 2012 Matsya Nyaya To track the latest person of interest, Reese goes undercover as part of an armored truck crew; throughout the case, Reese is reminded of tough decisions he was forced to make during his last CIA mission. Details Episode 21 Aired May 3, 2012 Many Happy Returns On Reese's birthday, Finch gives him the day off in hope of keeping him away from the latest person of interest. Details Episode 22 Aired May 10, 2012 No Good Deed A person of interest winds up in the middle of a dark government conspiracy that Finch is all too familiar with; Reese makes a discovery about Finch's past. Details Episode 23 Aired May 17, 2012 Firewall Reese becomes trapped with his POI in a heavily surveilled part of the city and must rely on Finch, Carter and Fusco's help. Details
Limitless 58% 85% Limitless Watchlist Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour 42% 31% Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour Watchlist Ransom % 78% Ransom Watchlist Eleventh Hour 35% 67% Eleventh Hour Watchlist Instinct 54% 62% Instinct Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Season Info

Director
Stephen Williams, Charles Beeson, Frederick E.O. Toye, Richard J. Lewis, Dennis Smith
Executive Producer
J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Jonathan Nolan, David Semel, Greg Plageman
Screenwriter
Jonathan Nolan, David Slack, Amanda Segel, Patrick Harbinson, Denise Thé, Nic Van Zeebroeck, Greg Plageman, Sean Hennen, Erik Mountain, Michael Sopczynski
Network
CBS
Rating
TV-14 (V)
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date
Sep 22, 2011