Give Me My Remote Person of Interest PERSON OF INTEREST: Greg Plageman and Michael Emerson on the ‘Satisfying,’ ‘Philosophical’ Season 5

PERSON OF INTEREST: Greg Plageman and Michael Emerson on the ‘Satisfying,’ ‘Philosophical’ Season 5

It’s that time of year when nearly every fall show has launched…but, sadly, CBS is holding PERSON OF INTEREST’s (short) fifth season until, well, TBD.

But as fans anxiously anticipate the show’s return, the PERSON OF INTEREST writers and actors are hard at work crafting the upcoming season.

“We really have to raise the bar,” PERSON OF INTEREST co-showrunner Greg Plageman said. “We have to build this thing to a crescendo…I feel really strongly we’re there. This show is on a trajectory it needed to be on to give our audience a satisfying season conclusion that could be fitting as a series conclusion as well.”

And when season 5 kicks off, the series will be in a bit of uncharted territory. “The number of the week construct has been thrown out,” Plageman teased. “The more pressing debate between Harold Finch and Root is as they [fix] the Machine, [and] what that means. How do not repeat the mistakes we made before, and result in, perhaps, a different Machine than the one we’ve come to know?”

The shift has been embraced by PERSON OF INTEREST star Michael Emerson (Finch).

“The show has become a little less about formula…than it once was,” Emerson said. “I think it’s become a little more philosophical. It puzzles and intrigues me to think about a human being’s relationship with a sentient creation. Mr. Finch has made a thing that has a kind of life. It is his child. What is the appropriate relationship to such a child? I don’t know. It’s eerie. And I think we’ve gotten into some strange and interesting territories where humans cannot stop reaching out and connecting to others. But we’ve never contended with the notion of can we make ourselves not reach out to a machine, even though it talk to us and reasons with us and has vulnerabilities? Hopes, hurt feelings, all of that. It’s kind of thrilling. I never watched a show that dealt with that. I’m glad to be a part of that.”

And when the show returns, there will be a few new (and returning) faces to anticipate.

“Josh Close is a really interesting actor we’ve been watching and we think will be a very interesting recurring character on our show,” Plageman previewed. “James Le Gros is an actor we love; he played Bruce last year, and was a friend of Elias and Scarface. They grew up together. We would love to see him again.”

Another special person who will be returning? Carrie Preston — Emerson’s real-life wife — whose character, Grace, will appear in the season premiere.

“It was a flashback, and I think there could be more to come,” Emerson acknowledged. “But that will depend on her availability as an actor.”

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