Person Of Interest's first season was an entertaining start to the series, but it was fairly procedural. Its second season on the other hand is the point at which the show gets really good.
Season 2 starts right where the first one ended with Finch having been kidnapped by the hacker Root and Reese asking The Machine for help. After a two episode-long arc where Reese tries to save Finch, the first half of this season goes back to the show's standard procedural format, but halfway through, Reese is arrested for his vigilantism, shifting the series into nearly full serialization and introducing us to two more major players: Decima Industries, the antagonist of the series that wants to take over The Machine with a virus, and Sameen Shaw, a field operative who joins Team Machine throughout the last third of the season. Needless to say, there's a lot here, and most of it is really great. The opening story arc with Root is a lot of fun, and she ends up becoming a reoccurring player for the rest of the season. The standalone first half has some fun episodes like Bury The Lede and Critical, the Reese in prison arc is one of my favorite storylines of the series, and the final arc about the virus is just plain excellent. Season 2 does a good job of raising the stakes compared to the first season, along with demonstrating just how much the presence of AI changes the show. Season 2 is way more sci-fi heavy than the first, especially in the final two episodes, but it all feels perfectly paced.
However, the place where Season 2 absolutely excels is in its characters. Reese and Finch's backstories are explored to a much greater extent. Reese learns more about his time in the CIA along with the dramatic events at Ordos, and the bombing that killed Finch's partner is revealed in the season finale. Carter and Fusco's fight with HR is put more into the backdrop this season, but their new partnership led to a ton of fun moments between the two. And then there's Root and Shaw, who are phenomenal additions to the cast and add a great sense of fun to the show, between Root's affable attitude and Shaw's excellent snark. It helps that Root is played by Amy Acker who, between this show and Angel, is easily one of the most underrated actors in TV. This season also introduces Bear, a pet dog that Reese adopts and is absolutely perfect in every way. Frankly, Season 2 is nearly perfect aside from one structural issue. While I love the second half (Shadow Box onwards) where the storyline becomes more serialized, the first half is standalone to a fault. Season 1 at least had its reappearing plot threads, but Season 2 didn't have much of a storyline until Reese got arrested.
This is the point at which Person Of Interest's seasons are so packed with banger episodes, it's hard for me to list all of my favorites:
The Contingency: This was a great season premiere and a strong followup to the Season 1 finale. I really like the concept of Finch using Reese as a contingency in case something happened to him, and the scene where Reese blackmails The Machine into helping him find Finch was incredibly impactful. We also get to learn more about Root, and we get to see Reese adopt Bear, probably one of the show's greatest decisions.
Prisoner's Dilemma: This episode was just plain outstanding in every way. Carter was at her absolute best here as she worked to free Reese from prison and stop him from being identified, and it's filled with emotional sequences where Reese is forced to face his past. But it's not all intense, Fusco has one of the funniest subplots in the series where he gets into an insane off-screen adventure to save the next number. When Reese got freed from prison, there were ten minutes left in the episode, resulting in a stunning ending where Stanton appears, kills Donnelly, and kidnaps Reese.
Dead Reckoning: And to think Prisoner's Dilemma was just the first part. Dead Reckoning is easily one of the show's most important episodes, with several game-changing reveals. Snow and Stanton are killed off, Decima Industries makes its first appearance, the virus that the second half focuses on is released, and we get the crazy reveal that Finch is responsible for the events at Ordos. It's not as personal as Prisoner's Dilemma but it moves the show into a greater focus on technological warfare.
Relevance: Shaw's first appearance is easily one of the most creative episodes in the series. Unlike most episodes which focus on Reese and Finch as they try to save the number, this episode focuses entirely on Shaw as she finds herself on the run, with Team Machine appearing only sparingly. It's a fun and relentless action-focused episode that even gives us our first Shaw and Root scene, trust me, this is gonna be important in the future.
Trojan Horse: The final arc of the season starts with this incredibly lore-heavy episode. Shaw finally learns of Reese and Finch's working place, The Library, we learn that Decima is responsible for Stanton's virus and that it's targeted for The Machine, and Beecher learns that HR framed Szymanski only to be killed off (in an incredibly devastating scene for Carter). There's a lot of exciting set-up here that I just found so enjoyable.
Zero Day: This penultimate episode was just plain stunning, it was frantic, relentless, and it left me absolutely breathless from start to finish. There is so much to love here. I love that Root and Finch team up again, I love that Reese and Shaw team up, I love the final train station scene where Root and Reese get access to God Mode, I love Carter finally deciding to take the battle to HR no matter what, and I love just how chaotic most of this episode is. Zero Day is easily one of my favorite episodes in the series and a great continuation of Person Of Interest slowly becoming a sci-fi show.
God Mode: While it's not as good as Zero Day or Firewall, for that matter, this was another strong finale with a ton of really fun moments. Reese using God Mode led to a ton of fun and exciting Equilibrium-esque shootouts, Shaw finally learns about the machine, the reveal of how Ingram dies is predictably emotional, and the twist about The Machine having moved itself was one of the biggest mind screws I've ever seen in a show. It wasn't perfect, Carter's storyline was left hanging and the lack of a cliffhanger like Season 1 was a bit disappointing, but otherwise, I really liked this final episode.
Overall, Season 2 is a general improvement on the first with some memorable storylines, stunningly great episodes, excellent character development, and a strong second half, even if its more episodic first half is one of the show's weaker stretches.
4/5 Stars
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