New York Comic Con: 7 things we learned about Person of Interest season 5

Person of Interest doesn’t return until midseason for a truncated season, but showrunner Greg Plageman, along with producers Chris Fisher and Margot Lulick, and cast members Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Kevin Chapman, Sarah Shai, and Amy Acker, went on stage at New York Comic Con Sunday afternoon to tease an enthusiastic audience about season 5. The group didn’t talk whether the season would be the show’s last — it’s the first time the show has moved to midseason — but did talk much of what will be coming in the new year. Among the revelations:

1. Finch’s grief over the Machine will be seen in the fifth season, which picks up immediately after the end of season 4. The emotional goodbye between the two has left Mr. Finch “in kind of a bad place,” Emerson, who plays Finch, told the crowd. “He’s been trying to keep [their relationship] a non-personal one. It’s a tool that he can use for good, which he doens’t have strong feelings about, which we see bleeding through all this parental passion and care, because the Machine is approaching a kind of personhood. It’s the most important entity in Mr. Finch’s life. I think it would be safe to say that.”

2. Shaw is indeed back, and when she’s back, she’ll be a cause for concern. Because Shaw had been MIA for the past season (as a result of Shahi’s real-life pregnancy) after being taken by Samaritan, Shaw’s return will give the disbanded Team Machine pause. Caviezel explained that Reese will feel a “wariness” toward Shaw, because he isn’t sure what happened to her, and that’ll likely be the case with the rest of the characters. That said…

3. Root and Shaw’s trust runs deep, and that fan-favorite relationship between the two characters will continue. “Root feels like their relationship is strong enough that she has the power to turn her back,” Acker explained of her character’s thoughts on Shaw’s return. Shai, meanwhile, thanked the LGBT community for supporting the characters’ relationshp. “I am more than happy to continue this relationship,” she said. “I think it’s incredibly important for them to have role models, to have someone on TV they can empathize in, to emulate, to find strength in.” (Plus, while praising Acker’s performance, Shaw mentioned she loves Acker “as an actress to play with,” resulting in the crowd collectively going, “ooooh” and a blushing Acker.)

4. Reese will find love — for about five seconds. Caviezel, while answering a fan’s question, explained that there might not be any time for his character to delve into romance, given the shortened season. But on the other hand, he empahsized, “You are the ones who keep this show afloat… and I’m reminded from your question how much I love my castmates. This has been the greatest team, whatever we have left for this show.”

5. Reese is also still not over Carter’s loss. While reflecting on what Reese will do now that the Machine is down, Caviezel told the audience that Reese, despite being a man of action, is trying not to lose his way. He’s still thinking about Carter (Taraji P. Henson, who returned for a guest appearance last season), and he doesn’t want to let Finch down.

6. The team is slowly bringing the Machine back, but not everything works the right way. Before the panel began, fans were treated to the quick video above showing much of the cast members impersonating each other as the Machine’s facial recognition software isn’t quite… fixed. When asked if they had fun impersonating each other for the clip, Acker said she feared she had messed it all up. “I was just afraid no one was ever going to talk to me again,” she said, laughing.

7. Plageman threw shade at other shows about solving crimes before they happen. At the conclusion of the panel, before opening up to audience questions, Plageman mentioned that the show’s arrival on Netflix and WGN America has exposed it to more viewers — and, he says, to people writing shows. “There are shows ripping us off, but they’re not doing as well, so…” he said.

Watch more video interviews from Comic Con!

Person of Interest returns midseason on CBS.