In the second episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), John Reese and Harold Finch tracked down their next number, a teenager who had been declared missing by the police. How can they save a ghost? On the other side, Reese investigates his elusive employer. Plus, the flashbacks show the beginnings of The Machine and Finch’s decision to protect the greater good.
Tonight, let me analyze the underrated sci-fi crime drama’s second-ever episode, “Ghosts.”
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers of the second episode of Person of Interest (Season 1), “Ghosts.” If you haven’t watched it, please do so first before reading my analysis.
Person of Interest (a sci-fi crime drama series that ran from September 22, 2011 to June 21, 2026) is simply my favorite show of all time. Beneath the unique grounded sci-fi premise of stopping violent crimes right on time and the fantastic action scenes, it discusses deep topics like AI ethics, right versus wrong, and privacy versus security in a way that every side of those topics is heard, not just one.
Every great story starts with a great beginning, and Person of Interest’s first episode, “Pilot”, establishes the main mission of the two main characters and the ones they are up against. Let me start the new blog series, Always Watching, by analyzing the episode that started it all.
Spoiler warning: This post contains major plot spoilers of Person of Interest’s pilot episode. If you haven’t watched it, please do so first before reading my analysis.
Have you ever opened your music player, listened to it (either through your earphones or the speakers), and then it played the right song at the right moment? I have had many experiences like that lately, and I’m loving it.
For example, at midnight yesterday, August 23, I was listening to my favorite songs playlist on Spotify while chatting with a friend. During the chat, I thought it would be fitting to pull a quote from my all-time favorite series, the American sci-fi crime thriller/drama series Person of Interest (created by Jonathan Nolan, co-screenwriter of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises [two of my favorite Batman films and overall films ever]). And when I typed in the show’s exact title, Spotify played the show’s opening theme. What?
The opening theme of my favorite series of all time, Person of Interest.
Side note: Person of Interest’s opening theme was conducted by Ramin Djawadi (yes, the composer for Game of Thrones) and written by the show’s executive producer J. J. Abrams (creator of the spy thriller series Alias and director of the Star Wars films The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker).
The moment Spotify played my favorite show’s intro, I felt goosebumps. And yes, I have played other songs more times after that moment. But Person of Interest’s intro theme deserves to be my Song of the Moment because of how Spotify played it at the perfect moment. At that perfect moment, I felt like I was truly being watched by The Machine.
But wait, Dewey. What “machine”? Can’t relate? If you haven’t seen Person of Interest, and if it’s in your streaming apps, please watch it (starting from the pilot episode). I highly recommend the highly underrated series, and I will definitely discuss the show one of these days.
The Diary of The Deranged Writer 