Blu-ray Review: ‘Person of Interest: The Complete First Season’ Offers Every Way to Watch

CHICAGO – J.J. Abrams and the team at Bad Robot are debuting their latest attempt at TV dominance tonight when “Revolution” debuts on NBC but their previous hit just came out on Blu-ray and DVD in “Person of Interest: The Complete First Season,” a modest Blu-ray/DVD/Digital combo set that lacks in bonus material but certainly offers fans a variety of ways to watch their favorite show.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Perhaps it’s because of the show’s focus on technology that Warner Bros. has decided that fans of “Person of Interest” want to be able to watch it on every device in their house. For one purchase price, you get four Blu-ray discs of the season, six DVD discs, and a digital copy that can be streamed Ultraviolet through Vudu or downloaded to your hard drive. That’s TEN discs in one season set. It’s an unusual choice and one we don’t often see in Blu-ray TV sets. I like the variety although the bulkiness of the package is a bit extreme.

The size of the “PoI” package could be because the studio is trying to make up for a lack of actual special features. There’s an extended version of the pilot with a commentary and that’s the best special feature but the show actually got better from its starting point. Extended or broadcast version, the first episode of “Person of Interest” is not the show at its best and so having the bulk of bonus material related to it is a bit lackluster. The only featurette — “Living in an Age of Surveillance” —- isn’t half bad but only runs fifteen minutes. Other than that, there’s nothing but a gag reel.

As for the show itself, “Person of Interest” didn’t work for me at the beginning but when I checked in later in the season I found the program had worked out some of its growing pains. Audiences caught on too as the show actually increased in the ratings in the Spring, which is rare for a new program. In the Winter, it seemed like the show was unlikely to see a second season but by the end of the TV year it was one of those shows that felt popular enough like it could be on for years. In future seasons, let’s choose Blu-ray OR DVD. We don’t need ten discs every year.

Person of Interest was released on Blu-ray on September 4, 2012
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Synopsis:
A supercomputer developed by reclusive billionaire and software genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) analyzes data patterns in surveillance for the U.S. government to identify impending acts of terrorism. But the computer, known only as “The Machine,” can also identify ordinary people who are about to be involved in violent crimes. Can those crimes be stopped before they take place? Secretly tapping into The Machine, Finch and ex-CIA agent John Reese (Jim Caviezel) use vigilante tactics and state-of-the-art technology to identify the soon-to-be victims and prevent the crimes from occurring. Meanwhile, two NYPD detectives (Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman) are drawn into the cases and the mystery surrounding the two covert crime fighters. From The Dark Knight’s Jonathan Nolan and J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot Productions (Fringe, Lost) comes all 23 heart-pounding and through-provoking Season 1 episodes of the edge-of-your-seat thriller series Person Of Interest.

Click here to buy “Person of Interest” [12]

Special Features:
o Original Broadcast Pilot With Executive Producer Commentary
o Extended Pilot Episode (Unaired) with Executive Producer Commentary
o Featurette: Living In An Age Of Surveillance
o Gag Reel

[13]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [14] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [13]