Skip to main content

For Contemporary New York, A TV Program of Interest

Like the Machine that identifies the next victim or perpetrator, the CBS drama Person of Interest seems to be the result of a complex algorithm spewed out by a mischievous and clever TV series generator. Take a basic New York detective drama set in New York City, with its variety of gritty and glamorous street locales, add a handsome, martial arts-kicking ex-CIA agent and an intense, meticulous billionaire software engineer, and overlay the show with post-911 surveillance visualizations. Make the storylines complicated by often confusing the good guys with the bad guys, ratchet up the "gotcha" moments, and throw in funny one-liners.

To play the dynamic duo, this hypothetical TV series generator has matched the actor that played Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ (Jim Caviezel) with the mysterious leader of "The Others" in Lost (Michael Emerson). But let's pull the curtain back right away to acknowledge that the creator of this intriguing new series is not a machine but the work of one Jonathan Nolan. With his brother Christopher, Nolan wrote the critically acclaimed film The Dark Knight (2008) and the forthcoming The Dark Knight Rises (2012). While the tone and emphasis of Person of Interest differs from these Batman movies, we can identify at least one common thread.

"Witness" -- The Machine identifies a school teacher who witnessed a mob hit as their next POI and Reese (Jim Caviezel, left) and Finch (Michael Emerson, right) rush to save his life, on PERSON OF INTEREST, Thursday, Nov. 3 (9:00 - 10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: John P. Filo/CBS ©2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

While millions of New Yorkers walk the streets and go about our daily business, someone is up there watching over us, either on a computer screen or through a high-tech zoom-lens digital camera.

Most often, the everyday surveillance in New York is conducted via a myriad of surveillance cameras. These camera eyes watch our moves as we enter bank lobbies, stroll through department stores, sit on park benches (and not just in Zuccotti Park), check in at security checkpoints in thousands of lobbies, and catch our boats and trains. Our images are captured and archived. As individuals, we are also culpable in creating this vast visual jigsaw of information, snapping thousands upon thousands of images of the city every single day and then uploading them for all the world, and authorities, to see. We help matters along by tagging the identity of our friends in our public pictures.

The dramatic anxiety of Person of Interest centers on who controls an advanced technology that can adequately predict crimes before they happen. While the ex-military runaway Reese, for reasons he deems "complicated," steps in to quickly check out the person of interest, his boss Finch, who manifests afflictions while walking, prefers to engage in research via computer. Finch is especially worried about the Machine he has created, vigilant that the information does not fall into the hands of bad guys.

screengrab from opening title sequence of Person of Interest. Union Square. 

A pair of NYPD detectives also play roles in the drama. Detective Fusco (Kevin Chapman) serves as their nervous informant inside the police force, while Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) wearily follows our two mysterious heroes as they spread their vigilante justice. Recent news reports (see TV Guide of January 12, 2012) indicate, at the behest of CBS executives, Carter will soon make the duo into a trio. More curious will be the question of whether or not the Machine, now incapable of moral judgment, develops a higher level of artificial intelligence. Imagine a HAL9000 in the New York of 2012.

"The Fix" -- Reese (Jim Caviezel, left) is captivated by and Finch (Michael Emerson, right) is wary of their newest POI - a beautiful, shrewd and remarkably resourceful woman, on PERSON OF INTEREST, Thursday, October 27 (9:00 - 10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Nicole Rivelli/Warner Bros. © 2011 Warner Bros. Television. All Rights Reserved.

Like many of the New York crime series before it, especially the Law & Order franchise, Person of Interest can also be viewed simply as a dramatic travelogue of the city. The opening title sequence visualizes the machine processing images of individuals as they pass through the Washington Square Arch, Union Square, and other locations, and there's a nice shot of Reese and Finch strolling the Brooklyn Promenade. Less glamorous locales have also served as backdrop and context, such as Brighton Beach, although rather demonized in this instance, in a clever episode titled "Witness." Some key sequences show the picturesque voyage of the new East River Ferry as it transports our heroes and perps pass the Brooklyn Bridge toward Pier 11 in Manhattan. For those unfamiliar with this locale, this is the East River pier that serves Wall Street.

One common question of Batman and Person of Interest may be this: are the citizens of Gotham City/New York City even capable of self-governance, or must they always depend on the interventions of a billionaire watching over them from on high?

Person of Interest airs on CBS, Thursdays 8 CT/9 ET. Several episodes are available online on the show's page.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Adam11:20 AM

    I'm a fan of this show. I also find it intriguing that we recently learned that the NYPD plans on using drones for security purposes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown4:27 PM

    I loved that scene where the Jim Caviezel character is on the subway looking like a drunken bum, and is then attacked by a group of young thugs, and then he lays them all out unconscious on the subway. I think that was the first scene of the series. I like this show, especially because I'm kinda a computer geek myself.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New York Spring Calendar: Blooming Times and Seasonal Events

See the UPDATED 2018 CALENDAR HERE . Updated for 2017 . At this time of year, thoughts turn to spring. Let's spring forward to blooming times, the best locations for witnessing spring's beginnings, and springtime events in the big city. While the occasional snow could blow through the city, we're just weeks now from callery pears in bloom and opening day at the ballpark. In The Ramble, Central Park. mid-April Blooming Times •  Central Park Conservancy's website  lists blooming times within the park. During the month of March we begin to see crocus, daffodils, forsythia, snowdrops, witch-hazel, and hellebores. Species tulips will emerge in several places, but the Shakespeare Garden and Conservatory Garden are particularly good places to catch the beginning of Spring blooms. Central Park near E. 72nd St., saucer magnolia, typically end of March. •  Citywide Blooming Calendar from New York City Department of Parks & Recreation April is u
Read more

Museums in New York Open on Mondays

Please see this post for current announcements of reopenings . Please consult the museum websites for changes in days and hours. UPDATED September 23, 2020 Advance tickets required for many museum reopenings. Please check museum websites for details. • The  Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)  reopened to the public on  August 27 , with new hours for the first month, through September 27: from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday to the public; and from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.  on Mondays for MoMA members on ly. Admission will be free to all visitors Tuesday through Sunday, through September 27, made possible by UNIQLO. See this  new post on WOTBA for a sense of the experience attending the museum . •  New-York Historical Society  reopened on  August 14  with an outdoor exhibition, "Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine,” in the rear courtyard. The exhibit by activist Kevin Powell and photographer Kay Hickman will highlight how New Yorkers weathered the quarantine
Read more

25 Things To Do Near the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

(updated 2016) The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) at 11 W. 53rd Street is near many other New York City attractions, so before or after a trip to the museum, a short walk in any direction could easily take in additional experiences. Drawing a square on a map with the museum at the center, a shape bounded by 58th Street to the north and 48th Street to the south, with 7th Avenue to the west and Park Avenue to the east, proves the point of the area's cultural richness. (A map follows the list below.) While well-known sightseeing stops fall with these boundaries, most notably Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the great swath of famous Fifth Avenue stores, cultural visitors may also want to check out places such as the Austrian Cultural Forum, the 57th Street galleries, the Onassis Cultural Center, and the Municipal Art Society. The image above shows an intriguing glimpse of the tops of two Beaux-Arts buildings through an opening of the wall inside MoMA's scu
Read more

25 Things to Do Near the American Museum of Natural History

After visiting the American Museum of Natural History, explore attractions on the Upper West Side or in Central Park. Visitors to New York often run around from one major tourist site to the next, sometimes from one side of the city to the other, and in the process, exhaust themselves thoroughly. Ambitious itineraries often include something like coffee in the Village in the morning, lunch near MoMA, a couple of hours in the museum, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry in the afternoon, cocktails at the midtown hotel, a quick dinner, and then a Broadway show. It's a wonder people don't pass out at the theater. While sitting on the steps of the American Museum of History, consider exploring the Upper West Side and nearby sites of interest in Central Park. There's a better way to plan a New York trip. Consider grouping attractions together geographically. Several posts on this site address this recommended approach. The Wild West of the Tecumseh Playground Groupin
Read more

The High Line and Chelsea Market: A Good Pairing for a Walk

(revised 2017) The advent of spring, with its signs of growth and rebirth, is apparent both on the High Line , where volunteers are cutting away the old growth to reveal fresh blooms, and inside the Chelsea Market, where new tenants are revitalizing the space. A walk to take in both can become an exploration of bounty and surprise, a sensual walk of adventure and sustenance. A good pairing for a walk: The High Line and Chelsea Market Walking the High Line for a round trip from Gansevoort to W. 30th and then back again adds up to a healthy 2-mile walk. Regular walkers of the elevated park look for an excuse to go there. Especially delightful is showing off the park, a model of its kind, to visitors from out of town. A stroll through Chelsea Market. Time check. If you haven't stopped into Chelsea Market lately, you may want to take a detour from the High Line at the stairs on W. 16th St. and walk through the market for a quick assessment or a sampling. Among the sampli
Read more

25 Things to Do Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art

(updated) Sitting on the steps in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of those iconic things to do in New York City. On a sunny day, the wide steps can become crowded with the young and old, the tourist and the resident. It's tempting to stay awhile and soak in the sun and the sights. Everyone has reasons for lingering there, with one being the shared pleasure of people watching along this expansive stretch of Fifth Avenue, a painting come to life. Certainly, just getting off one's feet for a moment is welcome, especially if the previous hours involved walking through the entirety of art history from prehistoric to the contemporary. The entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue The Metropolitan Museum of Art should be a singular pilgrimage, uninterrupted by feeble attempts to take in more exhibitions along Museum Mile. Pity the poor visitor who tries "to do" multiple museum exhibitions in one day, albeit ambitious, noble, and uplift
Read more

Taking a Constitutional Walk

A long time ago individuals going out for a walk, especially to get fresh air and exercise, often referred to the activity as "taking a constitutional walk." The word "constitutional" refers to one's constitution or physical makeup, so a constitutional walk was considered beneficial to one's overall wellbeing. (Or, as some would prefer to call it, "wellness.") The phrase is more common in British literature than in American letters. As early as the mid-nineteenth century, many American commentators expressed concern that their countrymen were falling into lazy and unhealthy habits. Newspaper columnists and editorial writers urged their readers to take up the practice of the "constitutional" walk. One such essay, " Walking as an Exercise," originally printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and reprinted in New England Farmer , Volume 11, 1859, urges the people of farm areas to take up walking. City dwellers seemed to have the
5 comments
Read more

Visiting New York on a Monday

Mondays are OK. Let's have a look at some of the museums open Mondays - • American Museum of Natural History • Jewish Museum • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) • National Museum of the American Indian • Neue Galerie • Guggenheim Museum • South Street Seaport Museum Any of these museums could be paired with a nearby restaurant or bar, making a complete full afternoon or day in New York. Monday is especially good for a museum visit, because the crowds tend to be thinner, and restaurants, too, tend to be less busy than on a weekend. A fun museum and bistro walk on the Upper West Side would be a combination of the American Museum of Natural History and the nearby Cafe Lalo on W. 83rd St. I also would suggest a pairing of the Neue Galerie with a nearby cafe, but the two cafes inside the musuem are so good, why go anywhere else? Image above: The Guggenheim on left and Beaux-Arts townhouse on right. View from E. 88th St. by Walking Off the Big Apple.
Post a Comment
Read more

Introducing Birds of Inwood

Introducing a New Website It's been a moment since I posted last. Please forgive me. I have been in the forest down the street. After spending many of my leisure hours taking photographs of birds in my local neighborhood of Inwood, I am introducing to you a new website featuring these beautiful and often enigmatic creatures. It's called  Birds of Inwood . As I write there, "Inwood is my Amherst." With time, my advancing age, and the pandemic, I have learned to find depth and beauty in places close to home.  I have also found to my delight that designing a new website presents great opportunities. Birds of Inwood is pretty flashy! The birds are even larger than life on these new pages! Please visit. You'll be glad I didn't call it "Flying Off the Big Apple." Check out my forest home. - Teri
Post a Comment
Read more

14 Useful Mobile Apps for Walking New York City

Texting and walking at the same time is wrong. Talking on the phone while strolling down the street is wrong. Leaving the sidewalk to stop and consult the information on a cellphone, preferably while alone, is OK. What's on Walking Off the Big Apple's iPhone: A List Walkmeter GPS Walking Stopwatch for Fitness and Weight Loss . While out walking, Walkmeter tracks routes, time, speed, and elevation. This is an excellent app for recording improvised or impromptu strolls, especially with many unplanned detours. The GPS function maps out the actual route. The app keeps a running tally of calories burned while walking, useful for weight loss goals. Another welcome feature is the ability to switch over to other modes of activity, including cycling. An indispensable app for city walkers. $4.99  New York City Compass , designed by Francesco Bertelli, is an elegant compass calibrated for Manhattan, with indications for Uptown, East Side, Downtown, and West Side. While facing a cert
2 comments
Read more