Almost Human – Pilot

            I want to like the idea of a human and android duo fighting crime in 2048. It sits well with my tastes. But at the same time I have to ask myself: how invested am I willing to get in a show that doesn’t guarantee a big audience? Firefly aside, I have respect for FOX’s willingness to go out on a limb and give a show a chance to tell its story. Any other network I might wait until a few episodes worth of ratings are released but, here we go again, FOX, I’m trusting you!

         Almost Human starts out with a bang…well, multiple bangs…as in explosions. It’s an edge-of-your-seat way to throw us into this future gone wrong and it introduces us to our human main character, John Kennex, played by Karl Urban (I know him as Eomer (LOTR) and Bones (Star Trek)). He’s a detective that’s been in a coma for much of the last two years and is struggling to remember the details of an ambush that killed everyone on his team and lost him his leg. This episode finds him return to the force where we get to understand he isn’t a fan of the MXs—the most recent android partners the force requires; they’re logical and pragmatic, effective but not much more machine than human, which, we discover, isn’t always the best. When his new MX “falls” out of his car he is given and older model of android a DRN named Dorian. He is an android with a “bleeding heart.” He is capable of comparable human emotion and reasoning and, although John fights it, the two fit too well for them not to accept one another.

            The banter between our two main protagonists is great and tells us a lot about them separately. The title “Almost Human” is no-doubt meant to describe the broken—emotionally and physically broken—John and the android with human feelings. They’re both almost human. (Yes, I realize it’s the pilot and I might be jumping the gun on the whole characterization thing but bear with me.) I’m looking forward to seeing this two bond…and banter, I love banter.

            As far as the pilot shows, the big bad of the season (or series itself) is a group called the Syndicate. This is the group that ambushed John’s team and he is more than a little determined to find them. They, likewise, are determined to find something that the police are holding as evidence. More or less that’s all we know. Normally I like baddies that walk the line between good and bad, forcing you to consider perspective and the writer’s ability to manipulate. (I’m an English major, I can’t help it.) But a big organization of bad guys works for me, afterall, most corporations are evil, it’s not a stretch. Here’s the kicker, as he tries to remember what happened, John sees his ex-girlfriend as part of this group. Oops. As if he’s not messed up enough. I’m interested to see if this plot line works; those set ups are always iffy but so far I’m in.

            If you are/were a Fringe fan, I think this is going to be a show that walks a similar line. Maybe it’s JJ Abrams and JH Wyman’s connection to both or maybe it’s just the whole leap into the future thing or maybe it’s because the season preview did show some very Fringe-y death/attacks scenes. That makes me happy. Saying it could be like Fringe isn’t necessarily a good thing. Getting five seasons out of FOX was a battle so we will see. (Don’t forget that Abrams-backed Alcatraz and the widely advertised Terra Nova weren’t able to pull in enough viewers with their not-so-ordinary storylines.) As a general rule I try to make a decision around episode 4 or 5 so I will check back with you, dear readers, as we get farther in to this one. I’m not a big fan of the letter-grade system but I’m going to say I’d call this a high B. What were your thoughts? Did you catch episode two (aired/airs tonight 11/18 on FOX)? (NOTE: I tried to type as I watched but that didn’t happen so if you see errors in the details of the show –or in general–, please let me know.)

‘Once Upon a Time’ First Look: Emma and Hook [spoiler]! — EXCLUSIVE PHOTO AND GIF

Steamy! I’m curious why it is that love triangles are so fun to watch but being in one would be horrible. At any rate, I say Hook all the way! Neal had his chance. Thoughts?

If you haven’t been watching, now’s the time to catch up

Back on August 23rd, for our first post, I chose Sleepy Hollow as the Fall TV Show to Watch, and it’s turned out to be a good pick. Not only are ratings impressive but it’s a fun ride with great pacing. After three episodes, Fox made Sleepy Hollow the first new show of the fall to get a pick up. Instead of picking up the back nine episodes, however, they opted for a second season. That means two thirteen episode seasons are already happening and, at this rate, there will be more. Taking a card from cable and doing abbreviated seasons is a good gamble. Not only does that mean more money and effort can go into each episode, it gives fans longer to catch up, means less annoying breaks, and the story doesn’t feel stretched or repetitive. Considering it’s close ties to the good ol’ crime procedural, it’s impressive that writers have been able to avoid an overly obvious “monster-of-the-week” pattern as it is. The villains are just so bizarre and so creepily done (in a good way) that it works. Plus our main characters are interesting and complex–and often the “villain” in an episode gives us a look at one of them more closely. And, as you will see below, Walter Bishop John Noble (Fringe) is making a special appearance. Much to my dismay there isn’t a new episode for a few weeks, so if you haven’t been watching, give it a go (we are only five episodes in, although technically that’s almost halfway). If you tried it out already and weren’t sure, try it one more time. It’s hard to gauge a show on a pilot alone. Check out the promo for the next new episode if you’re still on the line. Episodes are available online and, depending on your cable, perhaps on demand.

Related articles

• Explaining the Strange Success of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (usnews.com)

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’: Who should take over for Charlie Hunnam?

Matt Bomer all the way!

Popcorn bad for advertising? I’ll bite…

Apparently researchers have shown that chewing popcorn while watching the pre-movie commercials and, presumably, trailers, is bad! It has to do with the inability to practice “inner speech” while eating. Click here for more details. Personally, I don’t pay attention to the commercials regardless of whether or not I’m munching. That’s one of the reasons I don’t tend to go to the movie alone, so I can chat. But I do tend to forget some details of trailers–which I try to pay close attention to. It’s a interesting study. Can you imagine advertisers encouraging you not to buy candy or popcorn?

Netflix Find: Quills

This one has been in my queue for a while. Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, pre-weird Joaquin Phoenix and the always amazing Michael Caine—plus it’s a period piece—how could it not be amazing? It came out in 2000, which, considering the topic, explains why I had to discover this one on Netflix (I wasn’t even to double digits yet!). The movie is set in 18^th century France (if you know your French history this is during the Revolution, specifically Napoleon’s reign—he makes an appearance).  The Marquis de Sade (Rush), an aristocrat and writer, resides in the asylum Charenton; the young laundress Madeline (Winslet) smuggles out the Marquis’s scandalous writings based on his libertine (unrestrained by morals) sexual fantasies. Trust me, they get pretty outrageous, after-all “Sade” is the basis for the words “sadist” and “sadism.” The Abbe du Coulmier (Phoenix) is seen as unable to control the Marquis, who obsessively producing and secretly publishes story after story. Dr. Royer-Collard (Caine), the exact type of doctor that gave rise to the torture treatments most people think of, is sent to Charenton to help get the asylum, and specifically the Marquis, under control.

This movie is certainly not for everyone. There’s language, nudity, sex and lots of talk about sex, rape, necromancy, sodomy, and on and on. But the characterization of the Marquis is the great storyline of the film. His stories are so wrong, not just erotic but wrong, and he seems to not care much for anyone. Anyone, that is, except Madeline; though he also doesn’t treat her with much respect. His view of humanity, in general and his own, is dark, reflected in the darkness in his fantasies. These fantasies, in the end, lead to tragic consequences for all involved. On a side note, the film provides a look at mental illness and sexuality, two topics that we, as a society, avoid at almost all costs. And as if all this isn’t enough we see different sides of love between the Doctor and his young, convent-raised bride, the same girl and the architect her husband hires and, most importantly, the chaste Abbe and the lovely Maddie. There’s a whole lot of loving go on to say the least and it’s fantastic.

As I said I’m a sucker for period pieces but this one is so different and unexpected—though apparently not very historically correct— I wish I would’ve seen it sooner. It’s available on Netflix right now. If you’re not convinced, or are just curious, check out the trailer:

‘Lucky 7’ canceled: Fall’s first axed show

New trailer for The Hobbit premiered today…finally

Top Five Reasons You Should Be Watching British Shows

1. There are fewer episodes than American non-cable equivalents.

Sure, having around 12 episodes instead of 20+ is a bit frustrating when you really love a show. But consider what it means. Half the season can mean twice the budget for each episode (this is why big-budget cable shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead can stay on the air). Even when a bigger budget doesn’t apply, it usually means the story is better. You are less likely to get filler episodes and meandering mid-season subplots.

2. Familiar faces.

What’s cool about BBC is that they tend to reuse actors even if it’s just as a guest appearance, especially where Doctor Who is concerned. For example, Merlin regulars Colin Morgan (Merlin), Angel Coulby (Guinevere), Anthony Head (Uther), John Hurt (Kilgarrah) have all appeared in separate episodes of Doctor Who. You will also see a number of BBC actors appear in movies. Sherlock’s Benedict Cumberpatch was the villain of Star Trek Into Darkness and Martin Freeman is Peter Jackson’s Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit movies. It’s not only fun to see different sides of actors but you sound well-versed in pop culture when you can reference past work. Win win.

3. The United States will steal the idea anyway but it’ll be horrible.

Plenty of US shows have come courtesy of our friends across the pond. Being Human, Skins, The Office, Mistresses, Viva Laughlin! and Eleventh Hour all started as British series. Most don’t sound too familiar right? That’s because they weren’t good. Watch the originals. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_television_series_based_on_British_television_series)

4. British humour.

Sarcasm, innuendo, satire, dark humor…it can take a while for some viewers to get used to it. There’s also a tendency for smart characters to do silly things. American shows, comedies in particular, tend to be over the top with stupid characters doing stupid things. The new FOX show Brooklyn Nine-nine comes to mind; I can’t even look at the promos without rolling eyes. Something can be said of some subtlety every once and a while.

5. The culture.

We live in a big world that is continually made smaller by technology. Learning a bit about British culture and history through their TV isn’t a bad thing. It makes you a bit more cultured and well-rounded and you get to listen to fun accents, which is always great.

Dead doesn’t mean dead in Sleepy Hollow

I’m officially jumping on the Sleepy Hollow bandwagon (not that it means that it won’t get cancelled). Last night’s episode managed to be creepy, quirky and not, in my opinion, overly campy. Some of the exposition was a bit painful (for you non-English geeks, I’m referring to the background information deemed “essential” to the plot). At one point we meet Abbie’s ex who is less than friendly to Ichabod, an encounter which suggests that they’ll play the sexual-tension-card with Ichabod and Abbie. The pair interrogate each other on their love lives because, you know, they just met and that’s important. Ignoring that, Sleepy Hollow has potential for horror fans and, if the success of American Horror Story shows us anything, it’s that many of us do enjoy the macabre and the bizarre. Ratings did hold strong: last week had about 10 million viewers and this week brought in 8.5 million; more impressive is the ever-important key demos, which last week was 3.4 before final figures and was an impressive 3.1 last night. It could be that what really sold me is the scene picture above. It felt very Pushing Daisies to me and, considering the fact that the creators are connected to another of my all-time-favorites, Fringe, I really can’t help but root for this one.

Don’t forget, this week TV us rolling out a slew of season premieres. I’m looking forward to ABC’s Agents of SHIELD, CBS’s Person of Interest (today), NBC’s Revolution (Wednesday), CBS’s Elementary and both ABC’s Once Upon a Time and Revenge on Sunday.