Person of Interest Bosses: The Battle with HR "Will Not Come Without Loss"

Is Person of Interestabout to lose one of its team members?
The CBS drama sent fans into a frenzy last week when it released a teaser trailer to promote a three-episode arc that begins with Tuesday's episode "Endgame." The clip suggests the death of a one of the core cast members, with most of the evidence pointing to Kevin Chapman's Fusco. But there's got to be some kind of twist, right?

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"We're usually very close-lipped about plot developments on our show, but we know the audience feels a closeness with these characters," executive producer Jonathan Nolan tells TVGuide.com. "We felt it was only appropriate to give them fair warning about what's going to happen. There are twists and turns, but we really felt like, in promoting these episodes, we should take a bit of a more straightforward approach."While Nolan stops short of specifically saying that Fusco is a goner, it seems highly likely that someone will meet their demise. "We hate to see anyone go," Nolan says. "We promised all of our actors a journey with their characters. And a journey means a beginning, a middle and, sadly, an end."Fortunately, viewers don't have to start mourning just yet, as Tuesday's episode (10/9c, CBS) is simply the first chapter in this arc. The episode focuses mostly on Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson), who is more invigorated than ever to bring down corrupt cop group HR after learning that Alonzo Quinn (Clarke Peters) is the outfit's leader.

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"For Carter, it's been a long journey since the murder of Cal Beecher," Nolan says. "It was abundantly clear to her after killing Terney [Al Sapienza] that Quinn was in fact the man pulling the strings. The startup story, in terms of this trilogy, is Carter wanting to bring him down. That's obviously easier said than done."Indeed, as Carter continues her manhunt, initially without the help of Reese (Jim Caviezel) and Finch (Michael Emerson), she very soon ends up in over her head. "We've definitely reached the point of no return," executive producer Greg Plageman says of the battle with HR. "With Carter taking them on, Reese [steps] to the forefront of a war. It's all been building up to this point."Nolan suggests that at the end of this arc, the HR story will be pretty much concluded. "It's the final salvo in a years-long war," he says. "It's going to take everything our heroes can bring to bear to finally put this thing to rest. We're building this to a climax. We've had an amazing experience telling this part of our story, but it's time for this door to close and another one to open. In order to do it justice with a foe as formidable as HR, it will not come without loss."

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Which brings us back to the seeming demise of Fusco. "A lot of this was sparked by [Fusco's] original sin of having been a member of HR," Plageman says. "It's coming back to haunt him." Adds Nolan: "Over these three episodes, you see the journey and the distance that we've traveled. ...  [Fusco] was literally a bad guy in the pilot. The full distance he's traveled from that moment to this moment and who he's become, we felt was a pretty epic journey for the character."And if it is indeed the end of Fusco's journey, there is sure to be an outcry for the fan-favorite character. But Nolan insists that whatever loss lies ahead is necessary. "Shows like this, for the most part, tend to run a lot of seasons before they make any big changes," Nolan says. "But we got these fantastic actors to work with us because we told them that this wouldn't be the same thing season after season.  And I think we got the audience to watch our show with the same promise.  "We told all of our actors up front that there was an egg timer running on all of them," Nolan continues. "Reese and Finch say to each other at the end of the pilot that if they keep doing this, they'll probably get killed. It's always difficult when these things come home to roost, but that's sort of the moment that we're at."To see just how "chaotic" things might get, watch an exclusive clip from Tuesday's episode below. Plus: Check out another key scene from the episode, as illustrated by the folks at DC Entertainment.Person of Interest airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS. Do you think Fusco will die?  (Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)