Abductees

• Joe Tucker (Jason Wiles), according to NBC.com, is the official leader of the group and is forceful and direct.^[3] He also knows military hand signals. Although he prefers to keep his personal life to himself, and never reveals what his occupation is or why he might have been taken, he claimed that he was in New York when he was abducted. Joe is also competing with Ericka for the heart of Janet. He claims to be deathly allergic to bee stings. Later in the series, it was revealed that Joe was a Roman Catholic priest before he was part of the Program.
• Janet Cooper (Daisy Betts) is a day-care owner from San Francisco. She is a single mother to a five-year-old girl, Megan Cooper. She was once married. However, her husband left in the middle of the night, abandoning his daughter and wife. Janet has a strained relationship with her mother whom she claims was abusive. Janet has hired investigators to find her husband.
• Sergeant Graham McNair (Chadwick Boseman) is a level-headed Marine. He is a devout Muslim at the beginning of the series, stating that he became devout due to the treatment of prisoners at a government facility that housed alleged terrorists. He also worked as a mercenary at one time with tragic results.
• Moira Doherty (Tina Holmes) was a mental patient at St. Mary's Hospital in Sandusky, Ohio. Moira is the most peaceful and kindly of the abducted people, but has a darker past. It is implied that she is a habitual liar. She serves as the doctor of the group.
• Tori Fairchild (Kate Lang Johnson) is a wealthy socialite. Her father is the American ambassador to Italy and former head of the CIA. The NBC website described her as "privileged, pragmatic, and manipulative".^[4] She woke up in the hotel having no knowledge of where she was because she thought she "partied too much". She believes her father has sent her to the location to punish her for tarnishing his political image. She implies that he exchanged promises of her sexual favors to important political figures.
• Erika Taylor (Kandyse McClure), according to NBC.com, is a tough as nails ex-con who sees everyone as her enemy even her fellow abductees.^[5] Erika has an eleven-year-old son named Anton and reveals that before arriving she was executed at the prison in which she was confined.
• Bill Blackham (Sean O'Bryan), according to NBC.com, is a slick opportunist whose first priority is himself.^[6] Blackham describes himself as a used-car salesman, and stated that the last thing he remembers before finding himself in the hotel was being pulled over by the police in a traffic stop. He is very mistrustful of those around him, but the other abductees are dismissive of him.
• Charlie Morse (Alan Ruck) is the CEO of a very successful investment firm. He is married and states that his wife is mentally unstable and emotionally, if not physically, dependent on him. According to NBC.com, he is "a fierce fighter who doesn't take kindly to being intimidated or threatened."

Other characters

• Mark Renbe (Gerald Kyd) is a journalist in San Francisco who is always on the lookout for scandal. He investigates the bizarre disappearance of his ex-wife Janet Cooper despite his boss believing that there is no story there.
• Kat Damatto (Lola Glaudini) is "a smart, sexy and hard-nosed editor at a muck-raking tabloid" in San Francisco. She is Mark Renbe's boss and lover. She is also fluent in Italian and Spanish.
• The Night Manager (Andy Greenfield) is the sole employee of the hotel in which the abductees awake. He first appears in their first evening in town. He represents himself as another pawn in the abductions but is later revealed to be part of the Program.
• Sam Edick (Michael Harney) is introduced as a private detective Janet Cooper hired to find her missing husband.
• Tom X (Reggie Lee) is introduced as the head of the staff at the Chinese restaurant in the town.
• Robert Gomez (Carlos Lacamara) is a police detective who continually communicates with Mark.
• Liam Ulrich (Alan Smyth) is the second-in command of "The Program". He first appears in Episode 8, "Saved".
• Ambassador Franklin Fairchild (James Read) has been a member of the program for 30 years. He is Tori Fairchild's father. Tori believes he is guilty of her mother's death. He appeared in six episodes.
• Helen (Joanna Lipari) has been the director of the program for 25 years. She has a twin sister, the deranged, Angela Barragan, that is visited by Kat and Mark to learn more information about the program

Critical response

Randee Dawn of Associated Press wrote that its "clever setup and moody atmosphere make this place worth checking into."^[35] Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said the "...pilot efficiently lays out its premise and ratchets up the pressure on the characters, who are only types so far, but it doesn't matter because the plot's the thing here."^[36] Overall the show received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic where it received a score of 49 points out of 100.^[37] Rotten Tomatoes reported that the show had a 61% approval rating based on 18 critic reviews, stating "Persons Unknown squanders its intriguing premise by plopping ill-defined characters into a scenario that calls for compelling personalities -- thankfully, viewers can easily find the exit from this hell of other people."^[38]

Ratings