The Person of Interest season 2 finale, called “God Mode,” airs on Thursday, May 9 at 9pm on CBS. In the episode, guest star Carrie Preston returns as Finch’s love Grace Hendricks and BuddyTV spoke with Preston exclusively about what fans can expect from Grace in the finale.
Check out what Preston had to say about her part in finale, how Grace might react if she knew the truth about Harold, her favorite scene to shoot and what it was like working with her husband (Michael Emerson, who plays Harold Finch on the show).
What can you say about the season finale?
Carrie Preston: It’s very interesting because I shot those scenes back in November or December when they had to shoot all of my stuff before I went back to work on True Blood. So my scene were shot completely out of context from the rest of the script. They hadn’t finished writing the script, they had to in some ways make some decisions that they wouldn’t have made early about how they were going to carry out the scenes and what they were going to do with them. In some cases they even shot a couple of different endings to one of the scenes. So I don’t know exactly how they’re going to fold those in and how they’re going to be edited together. I also shot the scene where he proposed to me at the same time and we originally thought that was all going to be in one episode and then they spread it out. I’m going to be just as surprised as everyone else. Obviously Michael read the script and knows where the finale is going, but even he doesn’t know exactly how they’re going to edit it together and what they’re going to reveal and what they’re going to save.
Are all of your scenes in the past or are we going to see Grace in the present in this episode?
Carrie Preston: It will be in the past. The remaining scenes [in the finale] will be from the past.
Could we see her back again next season?
Carrie Preston: On a show that always dips back and forth between the present and the past, I would think that there would be opportunity to either continue to explore the past or to see what’s happening in the present. So, maybe? I would love that, it would be quite fun.
If Harold walked up to Grace’s door and told her everything and said he wanted to be with her again, do you think she’d take him back or would she not be able to forgive the fact that he lied to her for so long?
Carrie Preston: I think that she would definitely take him back. She made it very clear that she’s a person who is someone who accepts a person for who they are and that he could tell her anything and she would be okay with it. They seem to be soul mates. I’m sure it would be a lot to take in, but I would imagine that she would just be so grateful that he was still there because she’s been mourning him. But I think also she would probably want to hold on tighter, she wouldn’t want to lose him a second time.
Would Grace ask Harold to give up his connection to the Machine because it is so dangerous or would she embrace that life and maybe want to help?
Carrie Preston: I think probably her first concern would be for his safety, but at the same time she would probably really appreciate that he is doing a lot of good in the world with it. I guess she would just be, in a lot of ways, supportive of that; the bigger picture of what he’s able to do and the lives he’s saving because of this machine. We’ll see, I mean it looks like The Machine is quite compromised right now so it’ll be curious to see how they get out of that predicament.
What’s it like working with your husband on the show?
Carrie Preston: It’s quite nice because so many times you go on these shows you’re a guest star and you’re a pinch hitter and you have to really go in there and create a whole history with the other actor and you have to trust each other immediately. Sometimes that can take a little time and be a little challenging and in this case we obviously trust each other and respect each other as actors and love each other. So all that work that you usually have to do was already done so we then we could just get there and focus on the scene and figure out the scene together. It was also fun for me too, because Michael has been on that show for a while and was very comfortable with the character and the crew and the whole thing. When I walked on set to rehearse with him it felt to me like I was actually spending time with Mr. Finch and not my husband. So that was very helpful for me to get into the character that I didn’t know nearly as well as he knows his. So it was very helpful, he was able to — without even knowing his was doing it — he was able to help me to really be comfortable in the skin of this character that I was really just now getting to know
Any favorite scenes you’ve done as Grace?
Carrie Preston: I would say it was the scene at the Guggenheim. It was just so wonderful to go to that incredible museum after hours. We were the only ones in there besides the security and the crew and everything, but to be in that museum and shooting after hours was a really special experience that I wouldn’t have ever thought I would have. But I was getting so nervous because the cameras were getting so close to these Picassos and all these priceless pieces of art – – there we were acting with them right next to us.
What do you think now that you’ve heard a little more about the Person of Interest finale from Carrie Preston? What do you think will happen to The Machine? Any theories on what we’re going to see from Harold and Grace’s past in the episode?
Person of Interest airs on Thursday nights at 9pm on CBS.
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(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
