I have yet to reach my limit, but it
might be close #Limitless #3WeekRoundUp #PremiereWeeke
All pictures courtesy of CBS
Limitless, Limitless, Limitless. What
to say about this show. So much potential but it moves so slowly that
it's hard to figure out where it's going or if it'll ever have
something to draw me in week after week. Before we dive full-on into
the show, let me remind as always why I originally anticipated this
show (and for those that want a little more in-depth look, click that
#Premiere Week up top and scroll down to CBS which should be the
first network covered).
A quick refresher, Limitless
(#Limitless) was originally a film starring Bradley Cooper that came
out a few years back. In it, some guy stumbles onto a drug called NZT
that enhances the brain's conscious activity, giving the taker of the
drug superhuman intelligence and processing skills equivalent to a
computer. Essentially, you take it you become "the smartest man
alive" as is stated on the show. The show is produced by Bradley
Cooper who briefly appeared on the pilot. And that was pretty much
all this show needed to draw me in.
OK, so what do we get with Limitless?
Well, in the movie Cooper's character had to stay on the run and
intelligently fight off bad guys who manufactured the pill and who
wanted their money, as well as the person whose pills he had. He was
not supposed to have the pills and certainly wasn't supposed to have
such intellect. Well, the series starts in much the same manner. We
pick up with our main character Brian Finch, a 28-year-old burnout
musician who sees his life passing by while everyone around him
succeeds (I'm sure that hit home for more than a few Millennials). No
girlfriend, no job, no real prospects of anything in life, he learns
his father is sick from a mystery illness that has pulled him closer
to death. Fearing that his father will not see him accomplish
anything great, good or even decent in his life before the man passes
away, Brian decides to finally forego his dreams of being a rocker
and gets another temp job he hopes will this time turn into something
worth while. There, he runs into an old friend/rocker buddy who has
absolutely stormed the finance world of NY and is doing great. His
friend hips him to this drug he's taking on the hush that helps him
focus his mind as Brian is having trouble doing anything. And thus we
have our inciting incident.
NZT is the mind-altering drug that
allows a person conscious access to 100% of their brain. I say
conscious access because while I know about the geeks who took
offense with Luc Besson's film Lucy starring Scarlet Johansson saying
that we only use 10% of the brain, we do only use about 15% of it
consciously. The other 85% is subconscious or accessed at different
points during the day for different activities. The drug makes it so
that he can do everything. He can remember things that he saw at a
glance 20 years ago while zooming by it in the back seat of a car. He
can complete complex mathematical equations at the drop of a hat. He
can learn languages in a day and even solve the mystery behind his
father's disease. Apparently his dad had a genetic disorder that
caused him to need a new kidney or liver (he talked kind of fast so I
didn't quite get what he said even though he said it a few times and
I got too lazy to rewind my DVR). Think Batman level smart, add
Sherlock Holmes level smart and multiple it all by Spider-man level
genius. Yeah, the kids wicked smart (where's Ben Affleck when you
need him? Oh right, playing Batman).
And then the drug wears off and it's
back to normal loser Brian, which he totally doesn't want to be
because super genius Brian is way better. To add to the misery of
coming down from NZT, like any other drug it has horrid withdrawal
symptoms. He feels sick, sweats a lot and looks like his heart and
brain are simultaneously about to explode within him. Though he
learns that those feelings are nearly exactly what will happen
sooner or later, I'm getting ahead of myself by telling you that.
In any case, he wants more of the drug.
So, he ventures off to find his old friend again and ask him for
another pill. Just loser Brian's luck, he arrives to his friend's
apartment to find him dead. While he procures one pill from the man,
he doesn't have much time to think as the cops and FBI are suddenly
at his dead friend's apartment door. To the surprise of no one, he
takes off running in a daring escape that sees him parkour-leaping
down a fire escape, sprinting through traffic on a precisely
calculated line better than Frogger ever could and hopping in front
of a stopping subway train at just the right distance for it to come
to a halt in front of him before escaping through a grate. Daring?
Yes. Stupid? Oh yeah! Me likey? Me likey a lot. Was that weird? Did I
just make this review weird. Sorry. I'll dial it back.
Anyway, he pieces together who did it
by mentally re-running the company records that he had to file away
while on his temp job. He discovers that his friend as well as
another guy were both killed by a third guy who also took the drug
and felt he needed the pills, so he'd kill his partners and take
their supply. Though they're both super smart for the time, Brian
manages to outwit the guy with the help of the same FBI agent who
chased him. Why does he receive this help? Because they discover his
little secret (he helps them with that too) and have secrets of their
own.
See, the drug was apparently
manufactured by a company that the government was working closely
with. The drug's original clients were to be soldiers, FBI agents,
law enforcement, etc., because it would enhance their ability to stop
crime. Unfortunately, the company and the drug testing were both
scuttled after tests revealed those horrific side effects I mentioned
up top: the nausea, the sweating, the brain and heart explosion. The
test subjects would get sick, degrade over time and would be dead in
a year, often covered in sores and other hideous marks. They warn
Brian that if he doesn't come in and either take another pill or gets
completely clean from the drug, the same will happen to him.
And in steps Bradley Cooper. Nearly
dying during a come-down from his latest high, Brian slips into an
unconscious state and awakes in a large room with little furniture
save for a hospital bed, some medical equipment and two chairs for
him and Bradley's character. Cooper plays the same character from the
film (making this one of those series-sequel hybrids like Minority
Report) and has been on the drug for five years. How has he survived?
During all that time he came up with an inhibitor of some sort that
works on a cellular level to stop the drug from degrading the body's
cells. One shot a month and Brian can take as much NZT as he wants
without the horrible side effects. Cooper will supply him this new
drug but in return he will ask for a series of favors as he knows
Brian will soon be working for the FBI. Cooper's own station in life
has led him to become Senator and possibly the next president. What
he wants from Brian, is the show's threading mystery that is supposed
to keep viewers returning weekly. The interesting thing about this is
that though Cooper played the protagonist in the film, he wasn't
fully a Leave It To Beaver good guy. Sure, he used his powers for
some good, but he wasn't always looking to do right every time. And
though I can't see the series making him any kind of a bad guy, who
knows the depths that the people he employs will sink to for him.
Correct in every assessment, Brian does
end up solving the mystery, the FBI bring the murderer to justice and
figure out he was on NZT. Instead of arresting him, they turn him
into their latest guinea pig as they want to know what makes him
immune to the drug's side effects. They will supply him with the drug
every day and study him to see if his lifestyle is conducive to such
immunity and use his improved mental capacity to their advantage on
different cases. He, in turn, gets not only a new kidney for his
father but something he's wanted all his life: real purpose. And that
turns this into yet another procedural case-of-the-week drama--my
third new one on Monday alone. I promise you I don't usually go for
this many buddy cop shows but at least they are all different and
have their own hook outside of crimes that need solving. Minority
Report has the flashy future tech and Blindspot has the tattooed
mystery that is Jane Doe. Limitless, however, has the weakest get
of the bunch if you ask me.
What's a get? Simple, that thing
that will get you to watch week after week, appointment viewing. At
first I thought Minority Report had the weakest get as Agatha's
vision does not readily cause me to care from one week to the next.
But on second thought, Limitless is the show that has the least
weekly attraction. For one, the cases are good and I would rate them
better than Minority Report's which don't push the mind and only have
the draw of the future and Dash's visions to wow the viewer. But
Limitless flounders solely on the concept in the digital age.
To explain, each season we are hit with
at least half a dozen to a dozen new procedural shows each with their
own detective that is so well-versed and knowledgeable in his or her
field that you know the writers just spent half of their day looking
up bizarre and out of the box factoids that have no other use except
as cocktail conversation at a dinner party where you're trying to
look sophisticated and intelligent (funny side note: I actually knew
about the Genghis Khan gene indicator used in the second episode to
create a personalized viral strain). Geniuses populate our airwaves.
In order to not seem so pedestrian in the midst of shows like
Sherlock Holmes, The Mentalist, Blindspot, Scorpion, Minority Report,
Sleepy Hollow, Bones and a few others, many of these shows have to
adopt a specialized trait. Limitless has no real trait.
 |
| This is his FBI partner by the way. |
What? But what about the NZT thing?
First off, some fans might have objection to the fact that the show
is tacitly making taking drugs and getting high cool, and that the
only way to not die from that drug is to take another drug. I'm sure
somebody over at CBS thought of this faux pas which is why it ended
up on CBS at 10pm on Tuesdays as opposed to 9 or even 8 because it
has no graphic gore, sexual activity or crude language to garner such
a late time-slot (though that could change). But also, the fact that
the pill makes him the genius is the crux of the show. In all the
other shows, the character already possesses such mental ability but
has some other unique trait about them that acts as the draw. Ichabod
is a man out of time in Sleepy Hollow. Jane Doe is a girl who can't
remember her life in Blindspot. A group of socially inept nerds are
smashed together in Scorpion. Take NZT away and Brian is nothing.
Sure that can be the draw but there is
a stated contract with the viewers that he will receive the pill at
least the majority of the show's run, making him nothing special if
he doesn't have to solve crimes without his aid. Even superheroes
have more complications in life than this. He gets his brains handed
to him on a daily basis--nothing special.
What's my grade? Unfortunately, I have
to give it a C. It's average. I'll probably keep watching it but by
the time the sixth episode rolls around I won't be surprised if I've
forgotten to record it once or twice and shrugged it off. Some shows
I have to see every week. And despite Jake McDorman reconnecting with
his Manhattan Love Story costar from ABC's failed rom-com series last
year, Analeigh Tipton, I could only halfway care about the third
episode (and isn't that some kind of bad juju to have a costar from a
show that lasted only 3 episodes appear on your new show?). That's
also taking into account the fact that they have two black guys--one
from the first Resident Evil film and one from last year's
Constantine--that I thought truly were the same guy both on the show.
Blew my mind; yes, they're black; yes, I felt ashamed of myself.
Should you be watching it? If you are
just looking for another crime show now that the original CSI is
done, and you want something a little more sophisticated than the
NYPD, and you don't mind a few laughs or a few missed jokes like on
the TV show Castle, then go for it. For everyone else, I'd say no. I
wish it was more special.
What do you think? Am I wrong and this
show is the most intelligent crime show on TV right now? Are you on
the edge of your seat thinking about what might next happen to Brian
if he doesn't get the NZT or the shot? Have you even watched the show
yet? If so, what do you think Bradley Cooper's character's motives
are? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments
button to comment).
As
always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for
Halloween scares
check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen).
For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check
out #TheWriter.
The final episode of season one of The Writer is OUT NOW. Ahh! That’s
right, all 15 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon.
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Until next time, “you're on the verge
of living a life most people could only dream of.”
P.S. Bradley Cooper in his most
Morpheus-like role he's ever played and I don't even know if I'll
continue watching it. I really like the music thought. I'll keep
thinking of a good universal sign-off.
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