Leave it to J.J. Abrams to distill post-9/11 paranoia and fear and turn it into great television.

In "Person of Interest" (9 tonight, CBS), Jim Caviezel is a former CIA agent with a mysterious past who ends up working for Michael Emerson, a scientist who has developed a way to see when crimes are going to be committed. The system lets them know who will be the victim, but not when or why. That's for Caviezel's character to unravel. Taraji P. Henson plays a cop trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

Caviezel channels Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry; he kick butts effectively and speaks with economy. Emerson is quirky and fastidious. This is the best odd couple of the season.

Abrams has hurt me before after developing a show with a great start ("Alias"!!). Please, please let this show stay as excellent as the pilot.

When you see that an Academy Award nominated actress is starring in a Lifetime movie, you could think 'Hmm, how the mighty have fallen," or "That's gonna be a good movie!"

I went with the latter thought in approaching "Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story" (Lifetime, 9 tonight) starring Taraji P. Henson (who was nominated for her role in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button").

Oh well. I wouldn't say Henson has fallen, but this wasn't a good movie, and worse, Henson's performance won't attract any award attention.

Based on a true story, the movie introduces us to Tiffany Rubin, a happily married mother of a young son Kobe (Drew Davis). Her son's father (Sean Baek), we learn, is shady, but Tiffany believes he's more stable now and trying to be a good dad. So despite her mother's warning (mom is played by Beverly Todd), Tiffany allows dad to take her son for a week's vacation to Florida. Instead dad flees to his native country, Korea, kidnapping their son.