TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST 1.5, 'Judgment'

This episode has a much lighter feel then last week which is refreshing, because last week it got seriously dark, and I’m not just talking about the subject, virtually every scene was set at night.

By Emile Lewis / October 21, 2011

rating: 4.5

Every week Im getting more and more impressed with CBSs Person of Interest. As a rule of thumb, I much prefer serialised dramas as apposed to procedural (shows where the story continues week after week instead of singular weekly plots), the reason being; the one-off stories and characters have a tendency to meld together in my mind, most becoming forgotten or meshed together. You start referring to episodes as the one with the a death trap for any show by my reckoning. So far, I havent found this to be the case with Person of Interest. I suppose I owe credit (or blame) to Executive Producer J. J. Abrams. His other show Fringe is a mix of serial and procedural and I guess this has slowly worn down my rejection of the procedural format. Of course it doesnt help when each week this show just gets better and better. This week the machine spits out Judge Samuel Gates (David Costabile), who has a reputation for ruthlessly following the book. Once again the ambiguous nature of the machine comes into effect when son Sam Jr. (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) is kidnapped while Reese is tailing Gates. Sharing the same name, there was no way to discern whether the machine identified a threat to the father or the son. The kidnappers demand that a case Gates is hearing be thrown out; the People vs. Angela Markham (Meredith Patterson), a seemingly unrelated DUI hit and run. Its now a race against the clock for Finch and Reese to connect Angela to the kidnappers and rescue Sam Jr. before Angela walks. On the side, Detectives Carter and Fusco (series regulars Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman), now partners on the homicide unit, continue to trace Reese through the numerous crimes seemingly left in his wake. Of course Fusco, being in Reeses pocket, does his best to stall Carter. This episode has a much lighter feel then last week which is refreshing, because last week it got seriously dark, and Im not just talking about the subject, virtually every scene was set at night. This time, we get a lot more daylight and a racy plot, which naturally feeds a greater sense of urgency, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Reese is also back to doing what he does best; kicking ass and taking names, and Finch is involved to a greater degree as the fact-checking researcher. I should probably stop to clarify that I dont think child kidnapping serves for a light hearted subject but its certainly dealt with in a way that benefits action and suspense rather than mood. This weeks standout performance comes from David Costabile as Judge Gates who to my mind has been the best guest star so far. The evils that he gives Angela in the courtroom are absolutely priceless. One gripe, and the reason that I didnt give a full five stars, is that the kidnapping also leads to the murder of Sam Juniors nanny Christina (Adrianna Gaviria). This immediately struck me as a slight flaw in the shows premise. Why didnt the machine identify her murder as a threat? I would have thought that since the kidnapping and the murder were related, the machine would see that the murder was more imminent and obviously much more threatening, and therefore feed out her number instead of Gates. Reese and Finch would then still be put onto the kidnapping as a result of saving Christina. I suppose TV is telling us that a nannys life isnt as valuable as a Judge and his son. I wonder how a struggling writer stacks up?