Ghosts (Person of Interest)

In its original American broadcast, "Ghosts" was seen by an estimated 12.51 million household viewers and gained a 2.7/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a 7% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 13.33 million viewers with a 3.1/8 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] With these ratings, Person of Interest was the second most watched show on CBS for the night behind The Big Bang Theory, third on its timeslot and for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Private Practice, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, The X Factor, and The Big Bang Theory.

"Ghosts" received generally positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B-" rating and wrote "'Ghosts' wasn't so much a step up or down from the pilot as it was a step sideways, largely maintaining that first episode's strength and weaknesses. Because we didn't need to spend so much time on an origin story (although dig that clunky expository dialogue!), we spent more time on the Person of the Week, the aforementioned teenage girl, Theresa. But by the end of the episode, we still knew barely anything about her. Last week introduced the idea that the SSNs the machine provides might be for potential victims or potential killers, but Theresa is on the side of the angels. Her father, mother, and brother were killed by a hitman a few years back, and Theresa herself was presumed dead; there's a brief tease at the beginning when Finch and Reese meet in the graveyard where the Whitakers were buried, and Reese says something about a ghost (sigh), but by and large, this is a straightforward, land-deal-gone-bad kind of story."[3]

Ross Bonaime of Paste gave the episode a 6 out of 10 rating and wrote "Person of Interest does genuinely have interesting aspects to its story. But all those take place in flashbacks, while the show wants to spend a majority of its time in the present, which to put it simply, is pretty boring. If Person of Interest can focus on the mystery of the show, the build up to the meeting of Reese and Finch and their relationship, the show could go some great places. But as for right now, Person of Interest seems content in being not that interesting."[4] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy wrote "Got to love the stylish Person of Interest title sequence introduced with this episode, featuring a moody voice-over from Michael Emerson. The flashbacks are a nice addition to the 'A' story this week - we get an intriguing glimpse into Finch's past and it'll be interesting to see how the story arc involving his deceased partner develops."[5]

Luke Gelineau of TV Equals wrote "The second episode, in many ways, is the most important episode for shows like this. The pilot lays out the rules, introduces the characters and their motivations, and tells us what the parameters of the show will be. The second episode, 'Ghosts', is an indicator of what kind of show this is really going to be. Not every episode can be like the pilot and introduce so many new dynamics, so we now get to see what we’ll be getting for the rest of the series."[6] Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.2 star rating out of 5 and wrote "All in all, this episode was a solid outing that continued to establish the tone and feel for the story and its characters. It's looking to be one interesting and action packed ride."[7]