Person Of Interest Will Bring Back A Major Character In Season 5

Person of Interest has dealt with a couple of big cast losses over the last couple of years, but now we’ve learned that one bright character will be returning to the series for its shortened fifth season. On Tuesday, we learned that former Person of Interest actress Sarah Shahi will return to the drama, reprising her role as Sameen Shaw.

Shahi’s character was introduced on Person of Interest before mainstay Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson) left the show. Then, during Season 4, she accepted the position as wheelman of the gang and it seemed as if she would be on the drama for a while. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. After finding out she was pregnant in real life, Shahi had to leave the show in the sixth month due to the grueling stunts on the show. Then she took a maternity leave from the series. Her tenure on the show ended on a cliffhanger, but her last big scene on the show featured a gun being pointed at her head. Later, a gunshot was heard.

As it turns out, however, Shaw is not dead. In fact, she’ll be back for Season 5 and she’ll even feature prominently in “eight or nine” of the upcoming Person of Interest episodes, according to TV Line. Unfortunately, we don’t know how the series will reintegrate the character into the plot, however. If more details are forthcoming, we’ll be sure to let you know.

This won’t be the first time that we’ve seen Shaw since she left the series last season. We first learned that she was still alive in a sequence that was filmed before she took a leave of absence from the show. The character was also digitally added to the Season 4 finale. The seeds have been planted, and now she’ll officially be back for Season 5.

It's also not the first time a character who has left the show has returned. Henson's Joss Carter also came back, although her character actually died on the series and later reappeared through flashbacks.

Person of Interest was picked up for a fifth season this spring by CBS. Instead of a full, 22-episode order, the network opted to give the series a shortened pick-up for Season 5 in what has frequently been rumored—but not confirmed—to be the show’s last season. Only 13 episodes will be produced for the new season, and it seems as if Shaw will be part of a good chunk of them. Unfortunately, it will still be a while before the actress’ big return to TV happens. Person of Interest isn’t expected to return to the schedule until midseason this year. Here’s what’s coming up this fall.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.