‘Person of Interest’ season 5 to be only 13 episodes; is it final season?

Today, what we are getting here ultimately is a case of good news and bad news for “Person of Interest.” Earlier today, it was confirmed that the series was renewed for a fifth season! However, we are hearing today per Deadline that this renewal is only going to be for thirteen episodes.

So what is the reason for the show getting a shorter order than everything else on the schedule? It is really as simple as ownership, something that we have seen come more and more of a factor over the past few years with everything from “The Mentalist” to “Longmire.” While shows like “Hawaii Five-0” or “The Amazing Race” are owned and produced mostly by CBS, “Person of Interest” is a Warner Bros. TV show. Therefore, the network does not make the same amount of money on it as it does some of the other shows that it owns.

With this shorter episode order in mind and the fact that that it is not a CBS-owned show, we have to wonder whether or not this could be the end for “Person of Interest” as we know it. We’re not completely sold just yet; heck, we actually think a shorter season could do it some good, since it would have more time to focus in and tell a more powerful, serialized story than one that goes over the course of 22 episodes.

Much of this may just come down to decisions made over the summer, and we’re going to have to wait and see how everything transpires.

If you want to get some other news related to “Person of Interest” and the rest of CBS’ shows, click here to see news on the big renewal announcement! Also, you can sign up to score some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)