Person of Interest

Person of Interest is an American television crime drama broadcasting on CBS. It is based on a screenplay developed by J. J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan. The series revolves around a former CIA agent (Jim Caviezel) recruited by a mysterious billionaire (Michael Emerson) to prevent violent crimes in New York City. Season two premiered on September 27, 2012.

Plot

"You are being watched. The government has a secret system: a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it. I designed the machine to detect acts of terror, but it sees everything. Violent crimes involving ordinary people, people like you. Crimes the government considered irrelevant. They wouldn't act, so I decided I would. But I needed a partner, someone with the skills to intervene. Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret. You'll never find us, but victim or perpetrator, if your number's up... we'll find you".

Season one opening voice-over by Mr. Finch

John Reese (Jim Caviezel), a former Green Beret and CIA field officer, is living as a derelict in New York City after the death of the woman he loves, and is presumed dead. He is approached by Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), a reclusive billionaire computer genius who is living under an assumed identity. Finch explains that after September 11, 2001, he built a computer system for the government which uses information gleaned from omnipresent surveillance to predict future terrorist attacks. However, Finch discovered that the computer was predicting ordinary crimes as well. While the government was not interested in these results, Finch is determined to find a way to stop the predicted crimes. He hires Reese to conduct surveillance and intervene as needed, using his repertoire of skills gained in the military and CIA. Through a back door built into the system, Finch receives a Social Security number for someone who will be involved in an imminent crime, at which point he contacts Reese. Without knowing what the crime will be, when it will occur, or even if the person they were alerted to is a victim or perpetrator, Reese and Finch must try to stop the crime from occurring.
They are helped by NYPD Detectives Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman), a corrupt cop Reese coerces into helping them, and Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson), who had originally been investigating Reese for his vigilante activities. Although Reese arranged for Carter and Fusco to be partners in the NYPD early in the series, for the entirety of the show's first season, neither was aware that the other was also working with Finch and Reese. Periodically, the team also enlists the aid of Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco), a professional "fixer" who applies her skills to particularly difficult tasks. The series features several subplots, including "HR", an organization of corrupt NYPD officers in league with budding mob boss Carl Elias (Enrico Colantoni) in which Fusco is forced to go undercover, as well as Root (Amy Acker), a murderous female hacker who is determined to gain access to the Machine.