Almost Human [Fox - US]

groovie

Interesting article on episode 4 "The Bends", spoiler alert naturally. Here.

ixoy

Despite the good reviews I'm very cautious about this - apparently the ratings stink and certain sites are already saying it'll definitely be cancelled.

Sudden Valley

ixoy wrote: »

Despite the good reviews I'm very cautious about this - apparently the ratings stink and certain sites are already saying it'll definitely be cancelled.

leaving Karl Urban available to make another Dredd movie instead. i can dream.

Sudden Valley

Sudden Valley wrote: »

leaving Karl Urban available to make another Dredd movie instead. i can dream.

Or he could do what every other TV star does and make a film during his down time.

Catching up on this and really enjoying it. Only on episode 3 but so far it's been far better than expected. The set up is interesting and I love the fact that Dorian is black. Intentional or not it adds some real interesting levels to the prejudice that exists between the two leads. It's obvious from watching the series that its airing out of order. Episode 2 felt like it belonged two months down the line as the relationship between the leads seemed to be instilled with a casual attitude that felt developed and earned.

The first episode opened poorly and the wall of text was quite off putting. A show like this should be all about the world building but if you decide to build your world upon what we hear and read rather than see then your already on the back foot. Asimov's influence is felt throughout and the series owes his work a huge debt. Hopefully they'll build upon the themes and issues in his work rather than simply repeat them

I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out but hope the writers can strike the right balance. The best and worst of the show was evident in episode 2 during two car set scenes. The first where they discussed an afterlife was poorly done and felt like a cheap gimmick used to create something weightier. It came out of nowhere and didn't work. Compare that to the scene later on where Dorian discusses the capacity of his partners testicals and they're worlds apart, the latter scene felt light and playful and while it was a little out of nowhere it was well done and genuinely funny

Patty O Furniture

ixoy wrote: »

Despite the good reviews I'm very cautious about this - apparently the ratings stink and certain sites are already saying it'll definitely be cancelled.

I didnt think it was that bad in the US?, as it has a few kinks, last week Mackenzie Crook got his 15m of fame as i thought he was gonna be stuck in the cellar fixin the bots, will watch a few more to see how its goin.

Patty O Furniture

Patty O Furniture wrote: »

I didnt think it was that bad in the US?, as it has a few kinks, last week Mackenzie Crook got his 15m of fame as i thought he was gonna be stuck in the cellar fixin the bots, will watch a few more to see how its goin.

Ratings are rising so I'm cautiously optimistic that we will see a second series.

All caught up and really enjoying the show. It's a by the book procedural and has some interesting ideas in play but manages thanks to out leads to be far better than it has any right to be.

Just after finishing episode 5 and wondering why it is that out killer didn't go free in the end. The fact that there were 5 of him means that reasonable doubt has to come into it. Perhaps I'm over thinking it but it did abbot me somewhat.

groovie

Deleted User wrote: »

All caught up and really enjoying the show. It's a by the book procedural and has some interesting ideas in play but manages thanks to out leads to be far better than it has any right to be.

Just after finishing episode 5 and wondering why it is that out killer didn't go free in the end. The fact that there were 5 of him means that reasonable doubt has to come into it. Perhaps I'm over thinking it but it did abbot me somewhat.

The stories don't really hold up under close scrutiny, at least we were spared dorians dickie. For that much I'm thankful.

DubTony

groovie wrote: »

The stories don't really hold up under close scrutiny, at least we were spared dorians dickie. For that much I'm thankful.

"Is that all for one person?"

"Wait, you're a robot. Wha ... what do you do with it?"
"Same thing you do with yours ... Nothing!"

Hilarious. :D:D

CastorTroy

Yeah, I'm really enjoying the banter between Dorian and Kennex. Think that's the main reason Kennex accepted him. Not only is he good at his job, but he can hold his own in a slagging match.

So I'm taking it this is a prequel leading up to Kennex donning the judge's uniform and assuming a new name? Or is it leading to him joining Starfleet?

bluesfan

CastorTroy wrote: »

So I'm taking it this is a prequel leading up to Kennex donning the judge's uniform and assuming a new name? Or is it leading to him joining Starfleet?

Well there's been references to perps and cubes so maybe he'll end up with a son named Fargo

pixelburp

Started watching this, hearing mumblings that it's meant to be a fun show so far; three episodes in and yes, it seems to be just that - I'd certainly keep watching. Its biggest strength is definitely the two leads & there's always a lot to be said for good chemistry and banter between protagonists; the sparring between Dorian and Kennex drives the show, no question. It also helps if the main character is going to be a gruff, plays-by-his-own rules supercop that he's played by someone as likeable as Karl Urban. Michael Ealy also deserves praise for the juggling act that Dorian presents.

On the flipside though, the other main characters are woefully underwritten - so far - particularly the two female cops, who are relegated to 'grumpy police captain' and 'possible love-interest' ciphers. Early days but I hope the writers' love for Dorian and Kennex doesn't completely overpower the show.

Another minus is that the actual world itself is hopelessly generic, borderline lazy considering the mythology was set-up with a narrated wall of text: "crime has gone nuts, we use robots now kkbye". The needless 'futuristic' flourishes on everything also gets very distracting (the neon trim and little LED displays on evvverything) and future-visions are always a tricky balancing act between prediction and fantasy; I could buy into the world a little more if it looked a bit more like the presentday.

Still though, I'm entertained so far, having fun watching the bickering cops do their thing, and that's more than I can say of recent Genre TV shows...

don ramo

pixelburp wrote: »

Another minus is that the actual world itself is hopelessly generic, borderline lazy considering the mythology was set-up with a narrated wall of text: "crime has gone nuts, we use robots now kkbye". The needless 'futuristic' flourishes on everything also gets very distracting (the neon trim and little LED displays on evvverything) and future-visions are always a tricky balancing act between prediction and fantasy; I could buy into the world a little more if it looked a bit more like the presentday.

that film looper out last year nailed a proper looking close future, everything looked more or less the same, the most futuristic thing was the bikes, but i felt immersed in the world none the less,

jenjenten

I am rapildy loosing interest....is just a proceadural set in the near future, case of the week....no season arc, no character development, no playing on the themes...androids, clones, ghost in the machine etc.

No real exploration as to what its like to be an android, no backstory, Dorian is supposed to be crazy?....eh?, not seeing it. Yer wan from Friday Nights Lights adds nothing....Klennex could swoon at any femle and it would make no difference.

They are wasting a show with tons of story telling potential out of fear or stick to network proceadural rules.

CastorTroy

I'm enjoying it but I thik it may get better once they start airing them in the correct order. At the moment it's obvious they're out of order.

pixelburp

don ramo wrote: »

that film looper out last year nailed a proper looking close future, everything looked more or less the same, the most futuristic thing was the bikes, but i felt immersed in the world none the less,

Yeah that's true, though in Looper's case the aesthetic was a more 'retro' look n' feel, mostly lo-fi with just the odd touch of the future; that's easier to sell and ground than throwing neon and LED on everything, including umbrellas for some bizarre reason. Or, for that matter, making your fictitious drug a glowing green liquid - it's the fuuuuuture! :rolleyes:

I watched the other 3 episodes of the pre-xmas run and my thoughts remain the same: good snappy chemistry between the two leads, some vague hints towards character development for them, but a show bogged down by its lack of creative vision, culminating in a generic futuristic melting pot. I'll keep watching anyway.

And between her magazine-cover good looks and the utter absence of characterisation, bar being a potential romantic target for Kennex, Detective Stahl is making me extremely cranky. Considering Almost Human comes a producer of Fringe, a show with one of the stronger female TV leads in years, it's disappointing the main woman here's just an empty, pretty face. So far.

jenjenten wrote: »

I am rapildy loosing interest....is just a proceadural set in the near future, case of the week....no season arc, no character development, no playing on the themes...androids, clones, ghost in the machine etc.

Ha, I must laugh considering you're echoing my own general thoughts in the Agents of SHIELD thread, yet there you tried to persuade in sticking with that show I think Almost Human shows far more potential as a character drama, if nothing else, than Agents... which just seems to be spinning in circles with nothing to say or do. But I digress

miralize

I gave it 3 episodes. Like Ealy, not hugely impressed by Urban. His tendency to overemphasise every word for dramatic effect, while not bad in small doses, just takes me out of the show and has me focusing on that instead.

Watching the latest episode and still enjoying the show though I really wish that it would spend a little more time building the world around the show. The whole solar flare knocking out power was quite an interesting device that the show did nothing of note with.

I get that the show is being aired completely out of order and as such there's quite a few plot points that don't add up but when they do hit on something good they forget about it pretty quickly.

It's the stars who are keeping the show so damn watchable. The chemistry between Dorian and Kennex is great, it feels so natural and unforced and I think that I'd happily watch 42 minutes of them talking each week.

It is refreshing that the show isn't trying to force some ongoing story for the sake of it but it did set one up in the pilot that seems to have been ignored since.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Deleted User wrote: »

It's the stars who are keeping the show so damn watchable. The chemistry between Dorian and Kennex is great, it feels so natural and unforced and I think that I'd happily watch 42 minutes of them talking each week.

I agree with everything you said, but this in particular I wholeheartedly 100% agree...

CastorTroy

I think the second shot episode airs next week and may address some of the storylines in the pilot.

Did they learn nothing from when they aired Firefly out of sequence? Seeing Kennex acting friendly with Dorian one week then being hostile to him the next doesn't help with consistency.

pixelburp

Yes, the only reason I'm sticking with this show is for the chemistry between the two leads, they both really knock it out of the park with the material. They have spark and wit, and really emphasises how important the basics in TV production can be.

It's just a shame nearly everything else around them is so sub-par. The world building continues to be a thoughtless and lazy collection of tropes and cliches - the clunky expository scene telling the audience about the unregulated internet, the 'darknet', being a particularly awful example :rolleyes: and demonstrates the writers don't appear to have 'genre' sensibilities, if you know what I mean - and the female characters continue to be underwritten to the point of insult.

conorhal

^^^^^

I agree, another new show that, for me, is currently surviving on the charm of it's lead characters is Sleepy Hollow, without Mills and Crane's subtle, hilarious and chemistry filled relationship the series would be tediously formulaic.

FreudianSlippers

I thought this week's episode was monumentally boring. I do like the show and I totally agree that the show works because of the acting... However I think Bones (since it's pretty much his default acting go-to) is getting too much credit. It's all about Michael Ealy; he also totally carried Common Law, which I think suffered some of the same problems as Almost Human - leads working well together in a show that isn't at all compelling to watch.

jenjenten

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I thought this week's episode was monumentally boring. I do like the show and I totally agree that the show works because of the acting... However I think Bones (since it's pretty much his default acting go-to) is getting too much credit. It's all about Michael Ealy; he also totally carried Common Law, which I think suffered some of the same problems as Almost Human - leads working well together in a show that isn't at all compelling to watch.

I think the fact Fox aired the episodes out of order smacks of a Firefly repeat imo. Its been a LONG time since Fox has decided to air OOO...a clear sign they dont have faith in the show.

FreudianSlippers

jenjenten wrote: »

I think the fact Fox aired the episodes out of order smacks of a Firefly repeat imo. Its been a LONG time since Fox has decided to air OOO...a clear sign they dont have faith in the show.

I agree that OOO is never a good sign, but this episode was poor no matter where/when it was aired.

OOO?

Also I never realized they were airing them out of order. Why. On. Earth?

jenjenten

Deleted User wrote: »

OOO?

Also I never realized they were airing them out of order. Why. On. Earth?

One assumes to front load what they consider better episodes at the start to gain an audience, then mix in weaker ones later in the season. If you start off with 5 weak episodes you lose your audience forever.

pixelburp

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I thought this week's episode was monumentally boring. I do like the show and I totally agree that the show works because of the acting... However I think Bones (since it's pretty much his default acting go-to) is getting too much credit. It's all about Michael Ealy; he also totally carried Common Law, which I think suffered some of the same problems as Almost Human - leads working well together in a show that isn't at all compelling to watch.

Not sure about that - nearly all the reviews I've read of this show have singled out Ealy as the stronger of the pair of lead actors and the shows most-valued element. He's undoubtedly the heart of the show, with Urban pegged as the gruff, straightman in the routine.

I think the largest problem this show has is that it appears to lack a single, unifying vision of its future to pin everything together. It's all incredibly hodge-podge, and smacks of a mythology being made up as they go along, possibly by people who don't really 'get' sci-fi or don't care; the ludicrous 'darknet' exposition scream of a writing staff who are just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

For comparison of future visions, you look at something like Defiance: an equally subpar show but what it had to its credit was a mythology and world-building that was well thought through from the ground up. Contrary to Almost Human though, its weakness was the characters, but the backdrop was solid.

jenjenten

I was hoping for more I, Robot....ghost in the machine stuff....dare i say the even more of the VASTLY underrated movie...Bicentenial Man with Robin Williams. Stories that explore AI and androids....clones, etc.

There is a ton of story potential there being wasted.

aine1980

Have this on my to watch list, should i watch in the order they should have aired or give it a run as is? From reading above I think original order might be the way to go & view the show as it was intended to be shown?! Thoughts?

Patty O Furniture

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I agree that OOO is never a good sign, but this episode was poor no matter where/when it was aired.

Yeah i thought it was a good ep, it always has its strong points in the banter btwn the two, but like the ep it wasnt on a full charge like the rest of them

jenjenten wrote: »

One assumes to front load what they consider better episodes at the start to gain an audience, then mix in weaker ones later in the season. If you start off with 5 weak episodes you lose your audience forever.

Here's the running order here:

FreudianSlippers

This week was probably one of my favourite episodes thus far. Interesting plot line and good play between all the characters. Nice to see some involvement from the ancillary characters this week.

pixelburp

Urgh, I feel like flip-flopping a little on this show - the kitchen-sink approach to the mythology is really beginning to tick me off a little. It's basically an "evil technology of the week" show, where the writers pull random technologies out of their arse for the space of an episode, manage to do absolutely nothing with the concepts, whereupon it's promptly forgotten by next week's story. Magic bullets that use social media and the world's omnipresent surveillance to track its targets? That's posititely laden with heavy drama and thematic potenti... oh no, it's just a boring witness protection episode where the cops act like morons.

I know I said the chemistry is what gets me through the otherwise mediocre setting, but lordy if the show isn't testing the limits of my tolerance. It was also pretty clear this was another episode aired out of order; the callbacks to the events of the first episode jarred a little and tbh I had completely forgotten who that suspect in the sling was meant to be.

At least Stahl got some character moments, even if it amounted to the revelation that she was genetically designed to be pretty. *facepalm* Well, at least they tried. Maybe next week she'll be allowed to make the tea. And with the mention of genetic engineering, at this rate the only sci-fi trope left on the shelf is space & time travel.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

That was the second episode. I probably would've liked it, had it been aired as the second episode. I did not however, enjoy it as episode eight in the series, considering Kennex has evolved so much more than that since the pilot. It distracted from my viewing of the show.

Burgo

CaptainNegative wrote: »

That was the second episode. I probably would've liked it, had it been aired as the second episode. I did not however, enjoy it as episode eight in the series, considering Kennex has evolved so much more than that since the pilot. It distracted from my viewing of the show.

Yeah it seemed strange him going back to his arsehole self from the first ep. I hate it when shows are aired like this

TheIrishGrover

The episode was only OK. Probably the poorest so far. Whatever about the storyline it was the acting I found poor. The woman they were protecting was absolutely terrible. I men nobody's going to win any emmys on that show (With the possibility of the Dorian actor. Think he's brilliantly funny). But this episode had some woeful acting. The girl was so bad that anyone acting with her was affected. Check out Urban talking to her the first time. Brutal.

I would love the show to continue but I'm not very hopeful. Even before the show aired I was doubtful. This is Fox after all and this show looks pretty expensive.

CastorTroy

Supposedly taking a 3 week break now due to Sleepy Hollow double ep finale next week then probably due to the winter olympics. Guessing a lot of series will be affected by the olympics

I liked this weeks episode and had it aired as intended it would have been far more effective. The evolution of the characters and their relationships has been done a major disservice by the decision to air them out of order
The whole technology run amok storylines are a little bland, especially when week in week out the tech is forgotten about. If there was a consistent use if the various tech then the show could actually build an interesting and dynamic world.

bluesfan

Great episode this week, adding a back story to the robot police force, adding a back story and mystery to the city and world in general while beginning an arc that can run in the background for the rest of the series. Unfortunately because of the way Fox is showing it, the next episode takes a step back. Tonight was episode nine, next week is episode four. I'll have to re-watch episode ten from a few weeks ago as some of the references might now make sense.

FreudianSlippers

Great episode but the OOO airing is really fecking the whole thing up. I don't think we have come across this "other side of the wall" thing before. Could be a really good storyline but it is all quite head-scratching to me at the moment.

Agent Coulson

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

Great episode but the OOO airing is really fecking the whole thing up. I don't think we have come across this "other side of the wall" thing before. Could be a really good storyline but it is all quite head-scratching to me at the moment.

Agree it is very frustrating the whole on off on again nature. I think I might give up on it now till it's finished and give it ago when all episodes are out.

pixelburp

Very annoying next week's story is episode 4; I can only imagine how jarring that's going to be to the character dynamics - this weeks episode had a fairly substantial breakthrough between the two detectives;

Kennex seemed genuinely concerned about Dorian after they both got badly duffed up

. Can't understand the thinking behind this sort of scheduling.

As for the episode itself, enjoyable enough even if it was shameless Terminator knock-off and all my previous complaints about the series still applied. The over-ominous talk of 'Beyond the Wall' was also pretty hilarious; could have done with a little bit of context about what it it's supposed to be mind you.

jenjenten

i gave up...this will be axed with lots of questions unanswered....whats the point?

Otacon

jenjenten wrote: »

whats the point?

Entertainment I think would be the most common response.

I think that if the network actually gave it a chance, with a proper order of episode screenings, then it would be a lot more enjoyable that it already is.

Agent Coulson

I think it would have beeen better as a summer series where it would have had a chance of a straight run through without breaks.

squonk

I'm not quire up to date just yet but the series is really starting to grow on me. I'm hoping it'll hang on and won't get cancelled but far worse dross has surviv3ede at the expense of decent shows like this.

Realy think that the show is in danger, the lack of a back 9 order is worrying and I dont want Fox to leave it at 13 episodes and then make us wait till September or just cancel it. The smart move would be to end series one this month and then order an additional 12 episodes and air them over the summer months, before which they air the episodes to date in the correct order.

Patty O Furniture

Liked the ep this week, some more depth to the story on the XRN's & more intriguing is the talk of 'Behind the wall' i just hope there's more to it & not leave you hanging on by watching ep out of turn or just stockpile the ep for proper order for later viewing?

When is the normal time for the pickup of more episodes?

Btw; always good to see Gina Carano in action