Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Person of Interest: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie Review

"Calculating Response..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 4, 2014

Person of Interest continues to prove itself throughout its third season, culminating rather breathtakingly in an edge- of-your-seat finale that's as tense and thrilling as it is daring and game-changing. Not that the last leg of the season is the only thing worth watching. Over the full course of the series' latest run, Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman ratchet up the suspense and the stakes, inviting everything from betrayal to death, shock and awe to Harold Finch and John Reese's door. The intrigue is more intriguing, the social commentary more biting and timely, the character beats more affecting, the action fiercer and the fallout of every twist, turn and wrong move that much greater. It doesn't always amount to a better show, mind you -- the 23-episode haul features a bit too much filler and redundancy -- but the series remains one of the more addicting big-network dramas, episode after episode, week in and week out. (Or season by season, if Blu-ray binges are more your speed.) Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson only make it that much more enticing, as does a supporting cast that finally seems to be getting storylines worthy of their investment.

Will Person of Interest continue to entertain? I've little doubt. I walked away from the finale more anxious than ever to see what bombs will drop in Season Four, where our heroes will go, and what A.I. nightmare scenarios Nolan and Plageman will dream up next. It's going to be one crazy ride, I know that much.

The team suffers a devastating loss and confronts staggering challenges in the hit series' most explosive season yet. Adapting to the evolution of The Machine, now completely self-governed and hidden from all, technical wizard Finch (Emerson) and ex-CIA operative Reese (Caviezel) team with rogue agent Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi) to save lives and seek justice. But their missions now threaten to tear them apart. NYPD Detectives Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Fusco (Kevin Chapman) finally unravel the criminal police conspiracy "HR," but at a tragic cost. Meanwhile, former enemy turned highly-tuned confederate of The Machine, Root (Amy Acker), becomes an uneasy ally when the team learns a second surveillance apparatus to rival The Machine is on the verge of activation.

I enjoy a good binge-session as much as the next guy, I do. (House of Cards, anyone?) But I have to say there's something crucial lost, or perhaps minimized, when binging a series like Person of Interest and a season like this. That building tension. That itching suspense. That burning madness. That insatiable desire to leap forward in time. That thing that brings you back eager and excited after six days of wondering what, oh what happens next. You can plow through all twenty-three episodes in a weekend, if laziness or a twinge of the hermit flu compels you. But there's something to be said for digesting each case, mulling over the arc of the season, and returning for more without risk of growing bored or oversaturated.

Season Three is easily the leanest, meanest and most cerebral yet, pushing The Machine and its machinations down fascinating new paths even the most imaginative sci-fi series rarely travel. Person of Interest has always been smarter than your average network production, but its intelligence is still evolving, transforming each season into something more compelling than anyone suspected in 2011, when The Machine first came online. (In our world anyway.) It's also moved past its procedural roots; still beholden to genre convention, yes, but willing to play with expectations, subvert tropes and deliver a more unpredictable mystery overall. At the same time, the series never ceases to ask difficult questions, pitting fiction against non-fiction to thought-provoking, at-times frightening ends. The action is secondary to the themes and cautionary fuel that drives the show, and those are secondary to the characters fighting to make sense of the all-seeing computerized demigod well-intentioned Finch has unwittingly birthed into reality. What follows is a tightly wound web of dark possibilities and scary futures, with power players who aren't nearly as enamored with the good of The Machine as its creator. So hold onto those seats, PI fans. The ride is already wild, and only looks to grow wilder in coming seasons.

The Blu-ray release of The Complete Third Season includes 23 episodes spread across 4 BD-50 discs:

• Liberty: The Machine, now completely self-governed with its whereabouts unknown, resumes giving Finch its “irrelevant” numbers for people in danger, which include a U.S. naval officer in town for Fleet Week. However, with so many sailors flooding the streets of New York City, finding the officer in time presents an even bigger challenge for Reese and Shaw. Meanwhile, Carter has been demoted to a patrol officer as a result of her being set up by the corrupt police crime organization HR, and sets a plan in motion to eradicate them for good. Also, Root tests the boundaries of her new asylum surroundings.
• Nothing to Hide: The number comes up for an Internet entrepreneur in the business of eliminating people's privacy, but finds his own being rapidly stripped away. As his life spirals out of control, Reese tries to protect him while Finch calls on Shaw, Carter and Fusco for help finding whoever is after him. Meanwhile, Carter finds herself unexpectedly paired with new rookie partner, Mike Laskey.
• Lady Killer: Reese and Finch enlist the help of Carter, Shaw and Zoe Morgan, who use their feminine wiles to bait a chameleon playboy who is either a predator or someone else’s imminent prey. Meanwhile, The Machine helps Root to plot an escape from her psych ward confinement before a dangerous enemy can track her down.
• Reasonable Doubt: The team gets the number of a prominent New York lawyer and has to determine whether she orchestrated the death of her recently murdered husband, or if she is being framed. Meanwhile, Carter faces an issue with her new partner, Laskey, after he spots her with the Man in the Suit.
• Razgovor: When Shaw is tasked to stay close to a 10-year-old identified by The Machine, she grudgingly develops respect for the young girl's skills in surveillance and realizes it could be the very reason why her number has come up. Meanwhile, Carter's mission to bring HR to justice risks exposure.
• Mos Praematura: Freed from her psych ward confinement, Root receives a directive from The Machine that requires Shaw's assistance – by any means necessary – and takes extreme measures to gain her compliance. Also, Reese and Finch look for clues as to why a mild-mannered estate investigator’s number has come up.
• The Perfect Mark: The number of a hypnotherapist comes up whose life, upon investigation by the team, suggests he is more than just a master of the mind. Meanwhile, Carter tracks an antiquities dealer whose business is connected to HR.
• Endgame: The POI team’s war with HR nears a boiling point when Finch receives 38 numbers at once from The Machine. He discovers they are connected to an unknown player who is inciting an all-out war between the crime organization and the Russian mob. Meanwhile, a window into Carter’s past is seen through flashbacks with her son’s father.
• The Crossing: Danger closes in when the battle to bring the crime organization HR to justice reaches new heights. Also, when The Machine suddenly gives out Reese’s number, the POI team faces their greatest threat yet as every dirty cop, gangbanger and hired thug in New York comes out to stop Reece and Carter from turning HR head Alonzo Quinn over to the FBI.
• The Devil's Share: As the POI team seeks justice for a friend's murder, Finch realizes one of his team members may go one step too far in order to end the war with HR. Also, the Machine gives out the number for NYPD Officer Patrick Simmons, one of the crime organization’s key players.
• Lethe: Flashbacks to Finch’s adolescence provide insight into his creation of the Machine. Also, the team receives the number of an already dying man, and Reese leaves the POI team behind in the aftermath of the war with the crime organization, HR.
• Aletheia: Multiple enemies converge on the POI team as they protect a dying man whose number has come up. They struggle to keep their enemies at bay but without Reese, who has left them and their mission behind following the tragic war with HR, being down one man could have catastrophic repercussions for the team.
• 4C: Reese boards an international flight in an attempt to put the team and the past behind him, but is angered when he realizes his travel plans have been manipulated.
• Provenance: Reese rejoins Finch in New York, but when the team receives the number of a highly skilled antiquities thief, a surprising turn of events finds them planning a heist which could land them all in jail.
• Last Call: Finch goes undercover in an emergency call center to protect a 911 operator, but it soon becomes clear that the threat reaches further than the team could have anticipated.
• RAM: In a flashback, Finch's first employee and Reese's predecessor, Rick Dillinger, an ex-soldier with an attitude, is assigned the rescue of a computer hacker tasked with trying to breach The Machine.
• Root Path (/): The Machine assigns Root to seek out a janitor with a mysterious past, but when her very presence puts his life in danger, Finch also receives his number.
• Allegiance: Finch and Reese must delve into the murky waters of international politics when they are given the number of a former government contractor who is stalking a UN diplomat. Also, an enemy attempts to gain an upper hand on Root.
• Most Likely To...: Reese and Shaw pose as alumni at a high school reunion in order to keep eyes on the latest POI. Meanwhile, Finch and Fusco travel to Washington, D.C., to investigate the motivations behind Vigilance’s latest attack.
• Death Benefit: Reese poses as a Secret Service agent to get close to the latest POI, a U.S. congressman who may hold the key to derailing Decima’s plans to bring a second Machine online.
• Beta: As Decima uses Samaritan’s feeds to hunt Reese and Shaw, Greer exploits Finch’s greatest weakness in an attempt to lure him out of hiding: his love for his former fiancée, Grace Hendricks.
• A House Divided: When an unknown entity prevents the Machine from seeing the full picture of an impending catastrophic event, it sends the team five separate numbers to help them piece together the bigger picture. Meanwhile, Root’s team of hackers arrives in New York.
• Deus Ex Machina: The team takes desperate actions in its race to prevent the malevolent AI program Samaritan from coming online and making them its first targets. Meanwhile, the months-long battle with the anti-surveillance terrorist group Vigilance comes to a shocking conclusion.

Person of Interest: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Person of Interest: The Complete Third Season features a strong 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation, although a few notable issues crop up, all of which seem to be slightly, slightly more prevalent in this season's Blu-ray release than its predecessors. While by no means severe -- or really cause for any concern -- I did notice a bit more problematic crush, ringing, noise and smoky black levels having their way with the image. Again: a bit. Nothing more. Otherwise, the series looks as good as ever. The show's overcast cityscapes, dark interiors and starkly lit day and night exteriors are still home to plenty of nicely saturated, sometimes smartly stylized colors, lifelike skintones and deep shadows. Detail is excellent too, with crisp edge definition, revealing close-ups and pinpoint fine textures. Moreover, artifacting, banding and other irritations are either kept to a bare minimum or nowhere to be found. Were I able to more precisely score the presentation, I'd probably go with a 4.25.

Person of Interest: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track doesn't disappoint in the least, nor does it deviate from the high expectations set by the Blu-ray releases of the series' first two seasons. Dialogue is clear, intelligible and perfectly prioritized at all times, even when guns are drawn, explosions rock buildings, chases ensue or general chaos erupts in the streets. Carefully coordinated rear speaker activity helps to create a convincing soundfield as well; one as effective and exciting as it is immersive and enveloping. Directionality is engaging and accurate, pans are slick, and dynamics are excellent. LFE output adds plenty of oomph to the experience, throwing the full force of its support into gunfire, explosions, car wrecks, breached doors and every other element that might require some heft or low-end kick. All told, Person of Interest sounds fantastic. Maybe not $100 million dollar summer blockbuster fantastic, but as network TV series go, fantastic.

Person of Interest: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary: Unfortunately, The Complete Third Season set only offers a single audio commentary: the finale, "Dues Ex Machina," with Michael Emerson. The actor is soft-spoken but engaging, although he tends to either drift into anecdotal territory or get caught up in the episode and the characters' plights rather than in sharing more relevant behind-the-scenes details.
• The Future of A.I. (HD, 26 minutes): Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman discuss the ever- broadening horizons of artificial intelligence, the sometimes frightening realities it entails, and the manner in which technology, modern advances and more topical concerns inform Person of Interest.
• Saying Goodbye to a Friend (HD, 6 minutes): The cast and crew bid farewell to a beloved character and colleague, which I wouldn't dare spoil here. Emotions bubble over, of course, and provide a fitting send-off to a hard-working performer who certainly left a mark on the series.
• 2013 Comic-Con Panel (HD, 25 minutes): A fun Comic-Con Q&A with creator/executive producer Jonathan Nolan, executive producer Greg Plageman and actors Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Kevin Chapman, Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker.
• Digital Comic One-Shots (HD): Each episode includes a short digital comic.
• Bear on Set (HD, 2 minutes): A throwaway day-in-the-life of the series' resident canine.
• Gag Reel (HD, 3 minutes): The actors try to hold their game faces.

Person of Interest: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Person of Interest would be a sharper, stronger series with fewer episodes per season, but even with a bit too much case-of-the-week filler, it holds its own, twisting the genre knife with bold, ever-evolving sci-fi elements and game-changers. It's not only coming closer and closer to earning the coveted "must-see" label with each passing season, it's actively trimming its own fat and becoming a more agile killer. Warner's Blu-ray is excellent too. The third season's supplemental package leaves a lot to be desired, but with a fully capable video presentation and a terrific DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track in tow, it hardly matters. Fans will be pleased.