Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Almost Human 1.02 Review: The Importance of Being Remembered


For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Almost Human, entitled ‘Skin’, I suggest that you go do that before proceeding ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.
This series is kind of brilliant. While the pilot episode was a little tedious in that it had to set this world up for us, this episode kind of made me fall in love with this series. Just the way it began, that opening was perfectly wonderful for a futuristic cop drama that shows us more about people through the eyes of one synthetic (read: robot) than some people are able to express it today’s world.
Really, I kind of loved this episode. No, it didn’t share as much continuity with the previous episode as I like for my television, but I’m kind of okay with that because this episode was much better than the pilot. After watching this, I see more of a mix of many different series, blended together quite professionally. This is the kind of cop drama I can get into.
Can I just comment on the CGI work and special effects? They’re amazing! I mean, for someone who has watched Once Upon A Time for three years now, this sci-fi series blows their special effects out of the water. For a TV budget, I can find hardly anything remiss, and I tend to have an eye for seeking out terrible special effects. I feel like I stepped into a movie budget on television. That being said, that could worry me if this series doesn’t reach a high amount of viewership, more so than normal, it could mean unreasonable cancellation based on its likely high budget. I certainly hope that isn’t the case.
Karl Urban was much more interesting tonight as Detective John Kennex. The man has this strange kind of humour to him that I just find adorable. While I can see them eventually pairing him up with Minka Kelly’s Detective Stahl, I would like to see a bit more chemistry between them and scenes shared before that develops further. They could have something interesting, but at the moment it seems more one-sided in her awe for him, despite how he explained his ideal woman is basically her in a nutshell.
For me, Michael Ealy’s rendition of Dorian that was the star of the episode. The very subtle way in which he is able to play his emotions into what is basically a robot is simply phenomenal. Every time his face shows up on screen, I can’t help but watch the minute nuances that display emotional in the slightly stilted synthetic way. This is the man to watch in this series.
Also, I’m very much enjoying the partner relationship between Kennex and Dorian. They do seem to be coming along as a great team, and I am quite intrigued to watch this develop over the course of this series. I’m sure there will still be many obstacles to overcome, despite how they seem to have clicked more as partners since Sunday’s pilot episode. They are definitely a pair I can see watching over the long run.
All in all, I really love this series. While it is still soon to say if I will watch this series as long as it runs, especially being that I can find cop procedurals eventually tedious, as long as they keep an interesting and fresh take for my television to record each week, I will come back. There are definitely some mysteries to be solved, and some relationships to be watched over the course of this show. I’m just a little weary that there is something a little off with this show that I can’t put my finger on. Still, I am intrigued by the promos for the next episodes.
My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:
“Maybe the cats are allergic to you. Did you ever think of that?” – Dorian relates to Kennex.
“Add him to the list of kids and cats.” – Kennex tells Dorian, regarding the list of those that don’t like Kennex.
“Who is going to remember me?” – Dorian asks Kennex, in an emotionally charged statement.
“Don’t scan my testicles. Ever again.” – Kennex says to Dorian.

All right, ladies and gents, I’m off to watch Sleepy Hollow now. Stay tuned.

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