Over the past five years, Person of Interest has established itself as an action-packed, thought-provoking ride in the same vein as The Dark Knight (no shock, since TDK writer Jonathan Nolan is the show's creator), WarGames, Philip K. Dick and George Orwell novels and more. If you're into shows and movies about the benefits and dangers of A.I., and also love thrilling action, POI is for you! With the fifth and final season debuting on May 3rd, we wanted to give you an updated list of essential episodes, for any curious to check out the show but feeling they don't have time to watch every single episode.

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Season 1

Season 2

Because as great as POI is, it's not exactly the easiest show to play catch-up with. Sure, there have only been four prior seasons, but these are network seasons. With 22, 23 episodes a pop (though Season 5 will only have 13). People are way more willing, and capable, of scarfing down a cable or Netflix-original show that's been recommended to them since those seasons only run about 8 to 13 episodes. And those shows are usually deeply serialized, with almost no fat or filler, driving the viewer to the next episode out of a desperate need to find out what happens next.By its third season, Person of Interest had reached that serialized point. Which is quite a feat for a CBS crime series in general. But it started out as a "case of the week" series (or in POI terms, a "number of the week") and folks just might not have time for that now in this Golden Age of TV. So below I've cherry picked the best and most vital episodes for you to watch if you're willing to binge.Of course, my ultimate recommendation is that you watch every episode of all four seasons. Because not only is there usually a lot of character backstory being dished out via flashbacks, part of the fun of the show has been the escalation of stakes. And watching things grow out from a very basic level to the world-threatening dilemma the show's currently presenting to us as we get ready for the final 13-episode bow.But here are the episodes you actually need to watch if you're going to try and join the endgame of Season 5.Every previous episode of Person of Interest is currently available on Netflix.(By the way, I've tried my best to be asas possible here. Which is why most of the photos are just of Jim Caviezel's Reese and Michael Emerson's Finch just staring off at things in the distance.)Of course you have to watch the first episode. Duh. It introduces us to former CIA killer John Reese (Jim Caviezel), mysterious billionaire Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), determined detective Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson), and crooked cop Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman). Watch as Reese is transformed from a self-loathing homeless drunk into a weapon for justice after Finch offers him a chance to intervene on behalf of the "irrelevant" little guy who a massively powerful government surveillance program - The Machine - deems to be in danger (or deems to be the danger).This is the follow-up episode, which helped set the pace for the series by demonstrating the "number of the week" format. It's not the best installment, case-wise, but it introduced us to the importance of flashbacks to the show. Like on Lost, this story device is an integral part of POI and here it was used to show us some backstory on Finch and The Machine.This was the first time I sort of sat up and took more notice of Person of Interest as Reese took it upon himself to personally protect a school teacher (Enrico Colantoni) who witnessed a Russian mob killing. Lots of twists and turns.(If you're willing) Also recommended: "Foe," "Get Carter," and "Number Crunch"At first glimpse, this chapter seemed like a standard "number of the week" episode, but it wound up introducing a series villain who would become extremely important by the end of the season, and in the seasons to come.(If you're willing) Also recommended: "Blue Code," "Flesh and Blood," and "Matsya Nyaya"This was a big Reese flashback episode, filling in a lot of gaps about how he got to be in the desperate and depressed state we found him in back in the pilot. It also shed some light on as to why Finch chose Reese as the one to help him save people."No Good Deed" and "Firewall" rounded out Season 1, as Reese once again found himself, like he was back in "Witness," surrounded on all sides by multiple enemies with a person he'd promised to protect."The Contingency" and "Bad Code" kicked off Season 2 with somewhat of a two-parter. Even though, I've found, the POI season premieres aren't exactly the best episodes, I'm going to recommend them since they directly answer the cliffhangers left by the season finales. And here we also got some juicy backstory on one of the show's antagonists.(If you're willing) Also recommended: "Masquerade," "Bury the Lede," and "The High Road"Season 2 -- while introducing us the growing threat of the corrupt cop legion, HR (along with HR's actual leader) -- took Reese out of the game for a few episodes as he was both hunted by both the FBI and by his old CIA cohorts. Here, in "Prisoner's Dilemma," things came to a head as an incarcerated Reese (imprisoned under a fake identity) became a lead suspect in the federal hunt for the "Man in the Suit" (his vigilante label).This was the exciting follow up to "Prisoner's Dilemma," in which Reese's past caught up with him and turned him, literally, into a human bomb. It also marked the first appearance of yet another huge series bad guy.An excellent episode that actually felt like a backdoor pilot of sorts - if there were ever designs of giving Sarah Shahi's ass-kicking Sameen Shaw her own series, that is. So what was the big deal? Well, all our regular POI characters took a backseat to a whole new mission and a new protagonist... Who turned out to part of the same exact story we'd all been following, but just from a different angle."Trojan Horse," "Zero Day," and "God Mode" closed out Season 2 with style, with actresses Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker becoming a part of the series in a major way as the events from back in "Dead Reckoning" caught up with our heroes and left them with a crippled Machine that was in danger of falling into enemy hands.

What Person of Interest episodes to watch from Seasons 3 and 4 over on the next page...