Two former stars of Lost are now on Hawaii Five-0 and tonight, another island vet (Michael Emerson) comes to CBS in Person of Interest. This is one of the most anticipated new shows of the fall season. Do you think it’ll meet expectations?

Person of Interest is a crime thriller about a presumed dead former-CIA agent (Jim Caviezel), who teams up with a mysterious billionaire named Finch (Emerson), to prevent violent crimes by using their own brand of vigilante justice. Finch has invented a a program that uses pattern recognition to identify people about to be involved in violent crimes and the two work outside of the law to prevent them. Not surprisingly, their actions attract the attention of a no-nonsense homicide detective (Taraji P. Henson).

Is it worth your time? Here’s what the critics are saying:

San Francisco Chronicle: “You often find gimmicks in lesser shows – Unforgettable, the new show about a woman with perfect recall who solves crimes, comes to mind. But Person of Interest separates itself from the gimmick pack, not only because of superbly nuanced characterization and writing but also because of how it engages a post-9/11 sense of paranoia in its viewers.”

“Throughout the show, we see and hear life on the streets of New York through surveillance cameras and listening devices. Thousands of faceless people stream by, or talk on cell phones, and so much of the information gathered and stored in banks and banks of computers is mundane. Yet, it’s human life, everyday life, and nothing is private anymore. This is just a further confirmation of the 1984-like reality of living in the 21st century. You are being watched, you are being heard.”

NY Daily News: “Caviezel, whose previous savior experience includes playing Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, brings the right stuff to this role. We believe both his skills and his reluctance to talk much about himself. Whatever happened to him before, which we may or may not learn as weeks go by, is tucked away in some tormented corner of his soul. Its only impact on his new job is that it may push him harder, and for our purposes, that’s okay, too.”

“Emerson is fascinating as Mr. Finch, and two regular cops who have an interest in Reese are also good: Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Detective Fusco (Kevin Chapman).”

LA Times: “The notion of preventing crimes rather than solving them is an appealing twist, although the crime in the pilot is fairly boring. At least the surveillance graphics are very cool.”

“But when the only real tension is one character telling another to hurry and the most emotionally involving scene lasts 30 seconds and involves the cop who may not engage with the principals again all season, it’s difficult to remain an interested person.”

What do you think? Will you be checking out Person of Interest? What’s your gut instinct? Do you think it’ll survive to get renewed or will be quickly cancelled instead?

Image courtesy CBS.