Almost Human 1.07 Review: A Psycho Scorned

This is a friendly reminder for all those that have yet to watch last Monday’s episode of Almost Human, entitled ‘Simon Says’, that now would be a brilliant time to go and catch up on that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Since I have a few notes I would like to touch base on concerning last week’s episode, I’m going to write a brief review. Now, you’ll have to bear with me a bit, seeing as I did watch this episode a good eight days ago. But here goes.

I just wanted to write that this episode was rather enjoyable. Despite its similarities to the film Untraceable, at least in the beginning, it was a rather intriguing episode. It was blatantly obvious that the guy was going to go after Kennex by the middle there, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable.

Michael Ealy really showed his chops in this episode. The AI he played had to demonstrate a larger, more erratic, range of emotions that was just brilliantly hilarious. I absolutely loved when he got in that altercation in the beginning, with the detective in charge of back-up power distribution. And then in the way he showed him that he was much more useful than those other AI’s with no emotion. I think the guy’s slowly coming around to his kind of AI.

All in all, it was a good episode. Urban showed his great ability to act, in his display of Kennex’s need to save himself for once. And, like I said, Ealy really proved that he can play just as hard.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Line:

“The good news is the donut machine does have a full charge, but we are out of chocolate sprinkles.” – Kennex says, making fun of Detective Paul.

Okay, that’s as brief as I could make it. Now I really am going to go watch Friday’s episode of Bones.

Almost Human 1.05 Review: Intelligence and Arrogance Only Go So Far

All those that have yet to watch Monday night’s episode of Almost Human, entitled ‘Blood Brothers’, this is where I suggest that you go and do that before proceeding ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

This is such a unique, nifty series that I really enjoy. The amount of money that must go into each episode looks like it could be a lot just because of all of the futuristic technology that is evident in each episode. It really is masterfully done, and that definitely keeps me coming back each week.

All of the characters are really starting to form as their own individual people, including Dorian. I especially love the relationship between him and Kennex that really manages to ground the series. They have this great partner-cop relationship that is weirdly unique in that Dorian is technically artificial intelligence. And they seem to chafe each other in the most adorable, cop-related, brothers in arms kind of ways.

Also, I’m really enjoying the moments between Kennex and Stahl. This relationship seems like one that will eventually blossom into romance, and I’m really loving the cute, early flirting stages that they’re in at the moment. These two definitely feel like they will naturally gravitate towards a great relationship that will help to put this show a little bit over the edge. Although, I do expect that Kennex’s problems with his ex-girlfriend – the one that disappeared on him while he was in a coma because she’s part of the radical group that killed his partner – will create an obstacle in the eventual future.

All in all, I enjoyed this week’s episode; it was better than last week’s, but not better than the two before that. I found it funny that the other A.I.’s are basically Ken dolls, something that popped in my head just before Kennex’s line about it. Also, the ways they can grow this universe, merely with the vast amounts of technology they could be capable of is phenomenal, and that’s clearly evident in this episode with the whole cloning issues. This is definitely a series to watch, and one I look forward to each week. It has grabbed me, and I hope to be able to enjoy numerous seasons of this series.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I can’t get it out of my head… Life-size Ken dolls.” – Kennex remarks.

“John, your fake leg is really sexy.” – Dorian says to Kennex, literally imitating Stahl’s voice.

Okay, my apologies for not having this up yesterday, I had an extremely long day and a lot of driving was involved. Plus, my roommate got me wanting to finally watch Pulp Fiction, so I scratched the last ten minutes of this until just now. So here it is, and stay tuned for my review of Sleepy Hollow in about an hour. Afterwards, I’ll be getting to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Trophy Wife. Check back soon.

Almost Human 1.04 Review: A Rooster in the Henhouse

Any of those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Almost Human, titled ‘The Bends’, that would like to do so without the threat of spoilers, the time to turn away from your screen would be now. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well, this week’s episode wasn’t quite as good as the last two episodes, but it wasn’t all bad. I didn’t mind so much that it opened up with a scene that involved Rudy’s character in a tough situation, only to get set back twenty-four hours before to fill in all blanks. My one problem with the way they did that was that I find Rudy’s character isn’t quite as fully developed as he could be. The actor is great at portraying him as a geeky lover of science and technology, and all that entails, it’s just the really visceral emotions that he seems to have trouble with. I don’t really feel like everything comes across clear enough when it comes to his emotions, which is why I’m on the fence with this character; he’s great sometimes, but not others. It works as a secondary character, but when he’s used as a focus of an episode, it doesn’t quite come across.

The way this episode was written, it was a little predictable that it would turn out to be the narcotics Captain that was the Bishop. Honestly, Kennex is a character we’re shown to trust, so there was no way we wouldn’t be expected to trust his judgment of the fallen police officer, and thus that led to the aforementioned Captain being the villain of the piece. It was fun to watch Kennex shoot him dead, but I expect in a more dramatic series, that would’ve led to a darker moment for the character because he was definitely able to arrest the man – as proper police procedure dictates. Nonetheless it didn’t completely detract from the episode.

Overall, this episode had both comical moments, and slightly more heartfelt ones. There were a lot of great cinematographic shots to the episode that I really loved. I just wish this week’s episode could’ve been a little deeper, and less superficial. Basically, this week’s episode was weaker than that of the pilot, and much worse than the last two episodes. Still, I am liking this series.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

No memorable lines.

All right, I’m going to take a brief break for the moment, to try and recharge, and I’ll be back after to review The Blacklist. Later, check in for reviews of The Originals, Supernatural, and Trophy Wife.

Almost Human 1.03 Review: No One Wants to Die

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Almost Human, titled ‘Are You Receiving?’, now would be a good time to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Well, that was a jam-packed hour of entertainment (okay, so really between 40 and 45 minutes, discounting commercials). Only three episodes in and I’m already loving this series. It may even be the best new series of this season, even ahead of The Blacklist… But don’t quote me on that, because it’s still pretty early on.

This week’s episode was about a hostage situation that turned out to be a decoy for a precious metal heist. All of the characters really worked well in this high-pressure situation, and we got a lot of nice moments between Kennex and Dorian. These two work really well together. The mix of tension and new partner type reliability on each other is done astoundingly well.

There were a lot of wonderful moments to this episode. Dorian smiling after Kennex tells the one hostage he has on the phone that everything will okay. Also, Kennex chewing the used gum so he can fix Dorian. Kennex wearing the face disrupter and then saving Dorian’s life. And, obviously, the Benny and the Jets song, which Dorian sang along to. These were all just a few of my favourite moments of this episode. Also, the fact that they basically only included Kennex and Dorian goes to show just how much I love these two partners.

All in all, this series is really shaping up to be something special. The special effects are fantastic, I almost feel like I’m actually watching a basic cop show in the year 2048. The acting is also great, something rather abundant in our two leading males. And this episode just fit well into the last episode’s timeline, while the pilot may not have worked as well as this series is working after it. Suffice to say, if you’re not watching this show, you really should be.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“There’s- I can’t- Do you- Christmas.” – John pretends his call is breaking up with the Captain so he can ignore her order. Also, nice to know someone other than myself that uses the word Christmas randomly to get someone’s attention.

“Hello, I’m Detective John Kennex. I’m an automated police officer with a very difficult personality.” – Dorian mocks John by using his voice to answer a 911 call.

“There’s fifty shades of purple in there.” – John exasperates to Dorian, after he touches the wrong tendon in the AI’s wound.

Okay, I’m off to watch Sleepy Hollow now, and The Blacklist right after that. Check back soon.

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.