What I’m Watching: Person of Interest

Person of Interest: Season 1, Episode 4 “Cura Te Ipsum” (B)

I like the notion of this show as featuring strong guest stars in each installment, much the way “Human Target” did for the past two years prior to its untimely cancellation. After showcasing Natalie Zea in the pilot, now it’s time to give Linda Cardellini of “Freaks and Geeks” fame the spotlight. She delivers a strong performance as determined doctor Megan Tillman, who is revealed to be moonlighting a revenge-seeker aiming to bring down the man who raped her sister. I like that Finch was the one who went in to talk to her initially. Reese has a strange bedside manner, but it seems to be generally effective, usually serving to shock people into realizing the seriousness of their situation. His efforts to merge two of his cases, putting Andrew Benton behind bars and shutting down the drug dealers pressing Detective Fusco for $1 million, was noble in intent but less effective in execution. The fact that he got knocked out and interrogated by the drug dealers and still managed to get to Megan in time to stop her from killing Benton was quite impressive. The episode’s ending was an intriguing one, leaving Benton’s fate up in the air as Reese tried to reason out what to do with him. Having Fusco transferred to be Carter’s new partner is an interesting development, and I’m wondering just how much he’ll try to protect Reese’s identity. Finch’s interview with Carter was very layered and entertaining, the best moment being Finch’s deadpan uttering of “I’ve never been accused of being like most people.”