I learned a lot from the Person of Interest press room interviews about the actors and how they view their characters. Michael Emerson is as intriguing as Mr. Finch. Kevin Chapman loves Fusco’s failed hero ambiguity. While Taraji P. Henson loves her character, she wouldn’t mind if Carter rocked a tight-fitting dress every now and again. And Amy Acker is the mischievous sprite we all expected.

It was nice talking to actors and writers that I always respected. I’m surprised you don’t hear me hyperventilating geek-girliness in the audio clips. I never expected in a million years I’d sit across from Amy Acker. But, after talking to Jonah Nolan and Michael Emerson, I realized that the Person of Interest staff greatly respect intelligent women and enjoy casting strong actresses in the lead roles. So, for my overall thoughts on the Person of Interest interviews, additional press room photos, and mini-reviews of the most recent episodes, come on in!

What else did I learn at NYCC? I learned that all men love Taraji P. Henson. If you hear my voice slightly more than the others in the interviews, there’s a reason for that — I call it the Taraji factor. My table initially consisted of five men and two women. All throughout Michael Emerson and Kevin Chapman’s interview they remained relatively quiet. Then, Taraji P. Henson appeared and 80% of the men at the table stood and applauded. No joke. In fact, I only managed to throw out one question when Taraji arrived before the table’s male bloggers/journalists took over. If you don’t hear many male voices after Taraji’s interview, there’s a reason for that — Taraji wasn’t there.

I also learned that the Person of Interest writing staff is incredibly careful regarding what they release to the cast. Taraji didn’t know her character’s name (or that her character had a son) until “Get Carter.” The same went for Amy Acker; she still doesn’t have all of Root’s backstory. Despite that, the cast creates such fully fleshed characters you wouldn’t realize they only received part of the equation. Then again, the casting board chose excellent leading actors. The actors are clearly fans of the work and notice patterns about other characters and themselves.

I learned that I respect the cast and Jonah Nolan has a good head on his shoulders. I also learned more about myself as an interviewer. Last year when I did NYCC, I utterly shook in my boots sitting next to Shane West’s casual handsomeness. This year, I viewed the actors as people and felt comfortable entering into casual conversations with my favorite actors. Is it because CliqueClack’s finally growing on me or because I spent the summer hanging with actors? Maybe a little bit of both.

Did I enjoy last week’s Person of Interest episode because it was well-written or because I met the actors in reality? Honestly, I just loved last week’s show when the crew returned back to business as usual, saving the person of interest with teamwork and emotions thrown in. I loved that the Reese and Carter relationship continued. I enjoyed watching Finch’s post-traumatic stress disorder manifest, Reese’s concerns for Finch, the mini Carter-Finch moment, Carter pulling a Reese, the return of Cara and Snow, and Fusco showing that he isn’t just a pretty face. I love that both Carter and Fusco have their individual strengths on Team Machine, but still come together as a crime-fighting cop duo to assist Reese, when necessary.

I enjoyed this week as well. I didn’t like the first half until I realized what they were doing. Like Jonah mentioned, they’re quietly fine-tuning the formula while pushing in hints of humor here and there.  I liked the Easter Egg of Fusco as an undercover spy drinking at the mob boss’s bar. I like that the show continues to maintain threads from pre-existing episodes including Finch’s mention of “bad code” and his continuing PTSD. Poor Finch, each season’s supervillain is increasingly attracted to his brilliance. My biggest fear is that Finch’s chess game will help Elias learn more how his mind works. But, I definitely liked this week’s match-ups that placed like with like including pretty cop Szymanski with pretty cop Carter, CIA enforcer Reese with mob enforcer Riley, and, of course, big brain Finch with big brain Elias.

One thing I didn’t learn from the interviews is why Reese only counted the F-men, Fusco and Finch, as his friends and not Carter. I’m slowly getting over CaReese, but not really. Last season I loved the tension between the two and didn’t understand why we didn’t see their friendship grow. But, this season, watching the two interact in the initial two episodes sated my need to see more. Of course, this week, I reverted to normal. And, while Taraji could totally fit into Reese’s pocket, Carter is definitely the cop on Reese’s back. While I found myself watching both last week and this week for hints of what Michael Emerson, Kevin Chapman, Taraji P. Henson, Jonah Nolan and Amy Acker discussed during our individual press room interviews, for the most part I just enjoyed watching the show.

So, what else did I learn? I learned that I love Person of Interest and I hope it keeps on trucking.

Check out all of our New York Comic Con press room interviews and posts!

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