The Possibilities are LIMITLESS, But the Reality Isn't

Article originally published as LIMITLESS Review on Seat42F.

There are a lot of shows right now popping up to offer continuations of past shows or movies. My review of the disappointing Minority Report posted earlier this week, and now I tackle LIMITLESS, a sequel to the 2011 film of the same name, which starred Bradley Cooper. The show LIMITLESS picks up a few years later with a new young man who finds the NZT drug that allows you access to all of your brain, and other than that, progresses in roughly the same way the big version did.

LIMITLESS stars the excellent Jake McDorman (Greek, Shameless, Live Free or Die Hard) as Brian Sinclair. A failed musician, he receives a pill from his former bandmate and is suddenly able to help his ill father (Ron Rifkin, Alias). The problem is, when Brian goes to find more, he gets pulled into a murder investigation and an illegal drug ring, which soon finds him on the run from the law and worse.

I enjoyed the pilot of LIMITLESS. It does repeat the plot of the movie a tad bit more than I’d like, but it offers a more sympathetic hero than the film; Brian wants to help others, not himself, and it takes us back into the conspiracy presented. Adding Brian’s family as a major element makes the show more than a crime drama, and the really cool return of Eddie Morra (Cooper reprising his role) works in seamlessly for a nice set up.

What I’m concerned about is that LIMITLESS, instead of exploring this deep, rich tapestry, will confine itself to tracking down one lead every week, Brian working with the FBI agents to do so. The reason I think this is the direction that the show will take is because, a.) LIMITLESS airs on CBS, home of the crime procedural, and b.) all of the main characters, save Brian himself, are FBI agents. His terrific family are merely guest stars, and not likely to be the focus of most future installments.

Now, the ensemble assembled is not one to complain about. Brian’s ‘partner,’ Rebecca, is played by Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter. Along with Hill Harper’s (Covert Affairs) Boyle, she works for Nasreen Awad (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Grimm). These are enjoyable enough actors, and are interesting to watch in the initial installment.

It’s just, how many of these carbon copy shows do we need? I just wrote a review wherein I laid out the premise of a quirky oddball with a special skill who inexplicably is allowed to work cases with the authorities. And that description applies to what feels like half of the scripted dramas on the broadcast networks right now. Do CBS, NBC, and the rest feel like this is a good recipe for long-term success? Because it’s not. A few of these will pop and provide short-term gains, but none will see a long shelf life, nor find passionate fans binge watching for years to come.

LIMITLESS is counting on the movie ‘prequel’ to bring in an existing audience, potentially giving it an edge over a completely original show since there will already be fans out there before the pilot even makes it on air. But if that premise is just going to be contorted into a clone of other works, why is it necessary? And will that audience stick around for very occasional cameos from Cooper? I am inclined to think not, though I could be wrong.

I really wish CBS would get itself on track and make more quality content, like The Good Wife. But it seems like the network is content to help drive the nails into its own coffin, while cable and streaming platforms like AMC and Netflix continue to kick their butt in creativity. Oh, well. CBS has had a good run. Everything must end. LIMITLESS will probably help them reach that finish line.

LIMITLESS premieres September 22^nd on CBS, and CBS All-Access subscribers can watch the pilot online now.

The Kept Or THE RETURNED

Article originally written for Seat42F.

A&E’s new series THE RETURNED is based on the French series Les Revenants, which re-aired on Sundance and Netflix with subtitles under the name The Returned. I haven’t seen the original yet, though I keep meaning to watch, so when viewing this pilot, I was instead comparing it to last year’s Resurrection on ABC, which in turn was based on an unrelated book called The Return. Is that confusing enough for you?

All of these stories may be similar, but if you haven’t seen any of them, the premise of THE RETURNED is this: A girl named Camille (India Ennenga, Treme) dies when her bus runs off a cliff. Four years later, she returns home to her parents, Claire (Tandi Wright, Nothing Trivial) and Jack (Mark Pellegrino, Lost, The Tomorrow People), and twin sister, Lena (Sophie Lowe, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland), unaged and with no memory of the past four years. She’s not a zombie or a ghost; the first things she does are to fix herself a sandwich and take a bath. But she has no memory of the crash nor explanation as to where she’s been, nor any sign on injury, healed or otherwise.

Then, other dead people start showing up around town, too, not her classmates from the bus, but others that have passed in various years past. A man finds his fiancé getting remarried after a long mourning period. A wife who appears to have died decades ago goes home to her now-elderly husband. And there’s a little kid that no one seems to know, but may just hold the key to the mystery.

I have seen reviews for THE RETURNED that say this new series is to Les Revenants as Gracepoint is to Broadchurch. If you don’t get that reference, Gracepoint is a decent FOX series that aired this fall that is extremely similar to a superior show called Broadchurch, which was made in England. Without that knowledge of the source material, I like THE RETURNED, but those who have viewed the original may think this is a pale imitation. I cannot comment on that.

I can say THE RETURNED is about ten notches better than Resurrection. The story is far more cohesive, and the characters are compelling. There is a definite, big unanswered question in the pilot that I doubt the show will solve soon, but while I want to find out the answer, I’m also happy to enjoy the ride getting there.

The cast is phenomenal. Besides those mentioned above, the ensemble includes Jeremy Sisto (Suburgatory), Michelle Forbes (The Killing), Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Sandrine Holt (House of Cards), Kevin Alejandro (True Blood), Leah Gibson (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Agnes Bruckner (Private Practice), Dylan Kingwell (Big Eyes), Mat Vairo (Revolution), and Rhys Ward (Heartland). Not all of these people are well known, but most are, and have been in some of the best shows on television in the past decade. There aren’t any huge movie stars present to distract from the others, but these are some strong small screen performers.

The cast is super important to THE RETURNED because the program will hang on the characters. With the mystery of the show being so strange and obtuse, there aren’t likely to be any major clues anytime soon. Instead, the drama will live in the interaction of the players, and how the various people deal with coming home having lost years or welcoming back someone they believed gone forever. Not everyone handles it the same way, one person tragically unprepared, but this what viewers are going to want to see.

THE RETURNED is also a little creepy. The living dead do not appear to be monsters or killers, but who has brought them back and why? One of the main characters (not one of the returned) is exposed as having done something really horrible to another. Human nature can be dark, and pairing THE RETURNED with Bates Motel likely signals that this more negative side of personality will be explored, at least in conjunction with the positive.

I don’t know what THE RETURNED has in store, and I’m likely to still watch Les Revenants in the meantime, which could change my opinion. But for now, I’m very interested to see where the series is going.

THE RETURNED airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on A&E.

Grimm bares its "Bad Teeth"

Grade 84%

NBC became the first out of the gate with a fall show last night, brining back GRIMM for a second season. Yes, it’ll be weeks before any other networks throw their hats into the ring, almost a month until the first big wave of premieres, and one has to wonder if this experiment will work. Then again, with an odd show like GRIMM, it’s worth trying something bold.

GRIMM began season one as a police procedural that happened to have supernatural elements tossed in. Boring and sticking to formula, it delivered the kind of fare that clutters the airwaves. Then, late in the season, a remarkable thing happened. It became all about the mythology, some weeks not even having cases, and it tied together early events and characters from the beginning of the season, raising the whole endeavor up a notch. This may doom it to cult status, but it makes the series worth watching.

Season one ended on a cliffhanger, and season two’s first episode, “Bad Teeth,” picks up right where it left off. A little before, in fact, as viewers relive the climatic fight scene between Nick (David Giuntoli) and Kimura (Brian Tee, Crash), only this time from the perspective of Kelly Burkhardt (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), who is skulking around the fringe. Viewers already know how this showdown ends, with Kelly subduing Kimura and revealing to Nick that she’s his long-thought-dead mother.

This changes the dynamics of the show immediately. Nick digests the information that she’s alive quickly enough, and seems to be glad to have her back, even if he’s a little annoyed she stayed away all these years. Of course, himself keeping secrets from his own loved ones to protect them, Nick can’t be too judgmental. He seems to accept her explanations at face value, and looks to already be counting on her help on a regular basis.

Kelly likely has other ideas. It’s incredibly difficult to trust her. It isn’t just that she hates Nick’s lovable friends, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner, promoted to series regular), who happen to be Wesen, or fairy tale-esque creatures. It’s the way that she guards herself and averts her eyes. There is just something sinister about her and the way she carries herself, and she definitely has ulterior motives for showing up now, not just coming for a family reunion. Nick trusts her too much, telling her about the coins and the key, relics that can be very powerful, and she is likely to abscond with something valuable, hurting Nick.

Nick doesn’t need to be hurt anymore. He’s has a very rough go of things, with conspiracies he doesn’t know about yet closing in around him. One involves his girlfriend, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) who is in a coma, rapidly losing her memories, a final revenge act by Adalind (Claire Coffee) before she fled. But while Monroe and Rosalee work on behalf of a cure for Juliette, so, too, does Adalind’s mother, Catherine (Jessica Tuck, True Blood), at the behest of Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz).

Why does Renard want to keep Nick around and under his command? The mysteries surrounding Nick’s boss have been varied and confusing. Season one teases his involvement in larger plots, including the “families” we keep hearing about. But we’ve yet to see what motivates him, or what his plans are. It’s nice that they don’t involve hurting Nick, and he hasn’t really done anything against Nick, anyway. But are his intentions benevolent or is he just using Nick? It’s time for a little more revelation on this front.

There are also new characters introduced in the very busy “Bad Teeth.” James Frain (The Cape, True Blood, The Tudors) is up to no good, as only he can be. A Mauvais Dentes creature (Eddie Davenport) is trying to kill Nick. Kimura may be dead before episode’s end, but Nick has no shortage of foes left to face.

Which is why it’s hard to rate “Bad Teeth” as an episode. As much as last spring’s finale only felt like half a story, with no closure of any kind, so, too, does this episode feel very transitional. It ends on another cliffhanger, Nick’s life in mortal peril. Is this the way GRIMM is going to be now? Never finishing a story, just continuing bits and pieces of larger arcs? I won’t necessarily complain too loudly if this is the case, but it would be nice to have a little more movement on the mysteries.

Lastly, there’s Hank (Russell Hornsby), who is losing it mentally. Having seen Monroe as a Wesen, and getting other clues about the supernatural world, Hank thinks he is going insane. Nick doesn’t confirm anything to “protect” his friend. But the time for protection is over. Hank might be able to handle the situation if Nick fills him in. Right now, he’s just on edge, and on the path to do something reckless, screwing up his life. Shooting at a creaking door is not something a stable person does. Nick has to tell him the truth before it’s too late.

At first, it looks like Hank and Juliette are being let in on the secret, but for a series like GRIMM, that would be too many main characters clued in too quickly. These matters must be stretched out to build tension. Juliette is forgetting what she knows, so she’s basically being reset. Which leaves room for Hank to be the newest member of Nick’s gang.

GRIMM is walking a delicate tight rope here. It reached a level of enjoyability late last season that was amazing. But the messy events of the finale and premiere aren’t quite at the level of slightly earlier episodes, even if they contain some fantastic action sequences. The mythology is building, setting itself up for comparison to king of this world, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But while GRIMM is trying to instill humor now, as well as drama, it doesn’t quite live up to that level of quality, with the writing being a little less snappy. This series will either grow into itself and be something great and memorable, like Buffy, or fall apart, like Heroes, and be nothing but shattered dreams.

Which will it be? Tune in Mondays at 10 p.m. on NBC to find out.