‘Person Of Interest’: Kevin Chapman On Fusco Getting A Wingman, Partnering With Reese

Kevin Chapman’s Detective Lionel Fusco is going undercover on this Tuesday’s “Person of Interest.”

The episode’s title – “Wingman” – hints at the fun ahead as Fusco becomes the client of Andre (Ryan O’Nan), a professional wingman, whose business is to help men up their game.

“This was a really great. … I was so happy when I read this episode,” Kevin told Access Hollywood on Monday. “I think the goal with the wingman [episode] was to make a lighter episode of ‘POI’ and it just so happened, I guess there was a pitch on the table in the writers’ room involving Fusco at the heart of the piece that was on the lighter side.”

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Kevin said the episode’s writer, Amanda Segel, “was inspired by a story that she read about these social coaches who actually exist around the country,” and “Wingman” will be a bit of a departure from the “POI” norm.

“What’s great is we don’t often get to do these personal stories on the show, so this was really kind of a fun, action-packed adventure for everyone involved — for the crew, for the writers, for the cast, for everyone because everyone knows that we never kind of waver from the mission, I guess you could say, with the show. This was a lot of fun,” he added.

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The pair up – between the tough talking reformed detective and a wingman – will also show off a perhaps, unexpected emotional connection.

“It’s very important in the writers’ room to make sure that our POIs connect with at least one series regular on an emotional level in every episode, so in this episode it was all about Fusco and his past relationships, both romantically and professionally and he and Andre, who is our wingman, our POI, had a little more in common than Fusco ever thought was possible,” Kevin teased about what viewers will see Tuesday night.

In the episode, Lionel Fusco heads to the club, and to the men’s suit store to get outfitted in some more stylish clothes. Kevin revealed that his own fashion flare helped inspire his look on the show.

“Amanda was kind of motivated from a suit — a combination that I wore to Comic-Con last year,” Kevin said. “I wore like a gray check suit, with a lavender shirt and a lavender tie and… [that] kind of sparked her vision of how she thought Fusco should look for the episode.”

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“Wingman” will also incorporate Sarah Shahi’s Shaw, who will be having fun watching Fusco coached by a wingman.

Kevin told Access he loves the relationships his character has with the show’s female leads – Shaw and Root (Amy Acker).

“Shaw and Fusco always have this kind of one up relationship where, whenever they’re together, they’re constantly throwing verbal jabs at each other, which I find to be rather amusing,” he said. “It’s funny because the dynamic with our two female co-stars, with Shaw and Root – they’re very different. Shaw, Fusco has a clear cut image of who she is and how to work in concert with her without crossing any boundaries. Root, on the other hand is a complete wildcard to Fusco. He’s constantly throwing insults at her and calling her Cocoa Puffs and these crazy names because really, the subtext of all that is Root kind of scares Fusco because he doesn’t really know who she is, or what she is, or where she comes from. He knows that she is rather dangerous at times, rather eccentric times and very well informed at times, so he’s really not quite sure who she is, so it’s kind of interesting to see Fusco interface with the two female characters on the show.”

In addition to his interactions with Andre, Fusco just got a new partner – Riley (aka Mr. Reese’s cover) – which provides a wealth of storytelling opportunities.

“This is a guy who has haunted Fusco from the shadows for three seasons now, and now he’s suddenly sitting across the desk from him,” Kevin said of the character played by Jim Caviezel.

“Reese isn’t the most law-abiding partner either, so he may be just what Fusco needs at this time, but I feel that Fusco is going to be spending more of his time covering for Reese than he is anything else because of this kind of maverick approach to enforcing the law that Reese has,” he continued. “I feel that Fusco is going to be spending a fair amount of his time explaining to their superiors of Reese’s whereabouts and why different protocols went awry.”

“Person of Interest” airs Tuesday night at 10/9c on CBS.

— Jolie Lash