Almost Human stands on fairly shaking ground so far. The universe it mostly builds in this season is fantastic. Although it's clearly inspired by movies like 'Blade Runner' and 'Minority Report', 'Terminator' and takes ideas from more independent sci-fi films like 'Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind' to establish its identity it seems fresh, original and fun. And Sci-Fi needs its time, the audience has to get comfortable with the setting and that is exactly what Almost Human has been doing, so far we know about Sex-Bots, Cloning, we know the chemistry between MX's and real cops, we've seen futuristic tech like Face-Makers and by know the audience gets to be comfortable with Almost Human's take on futuristic tech.
Because of that it can finally tackle bigger plot points, which were first seen in this episode. They even teased this episode in the very first one. I've had my concerns with AH, the episodic format and the action and simple "Find out who is the criminal" driven plots were entertaining and great, definitely, but they were missing something. The soundtrack has been a hit and miss so far too. Some tracks are great, atmospheric and have a familiar Vangelis sound to them, but action scenes are combined with dub step tunes which in my opinion do not go well together with the scenes and make them appear more ordinary, which they aren't. The best parts of every episode for me were the basic conversations, where we get to meet people in their surroundings, the conversations between Dorian and Kennex. Great sci-fi does not equal suspense and action, great sci-fi builds a believable future which at the same time brings up contemporary ethical and philosophical question to which we in our time can relate. Sci-Fi is at its core a very sophisticated genre and its hard to maneuver and get right.
And in my opinion Almost Human got something very very right in this episode. The introduction of Dr. Nigel Vaughn, who is brilliantly portrayed by John Larroquette, is great. He's the broken unfortunate thoughtful creator of the DRN's, which were decommissioned because of emotional instability. Dr. Vaughn is the philosophical link the show has been missing and its great to see that they actually get it. The conversations and simple interaction between Dorian and his maker are fascinating, the dialog is very well and carefully written and for the first time intriguing. Dorian's existential fear which is brought up after seeing his maker makes him ironically the most human character on the show.
Almost Human has something very special here and they should build on that. So far it only scratches the surface of an immensely deep universe which it is not yet ready to go in to as it seems. There are endless possibilities here that may make this show stand out in the future, it really is great so far, this episode though proved that this show can be fantastic.
Almost Human has potential, there is real and great Science Fiction in there, they just aren't ready to touch it yet. The episodic format seems outdated and not progressive enough for a show with such endless possibilities, but it's there. Something's there and support is more than needed. FOX has a gem on its hands here and they better not cancel it prematurely, let it breath and build its universe. Sci-Fi needs its time.
Because of that it can finally tackle bigger plot points, which were first seen in this episode. They even teased this episode in the very first one. I've had my concerns with AH, the episodic format and the action and simple "Find out who is the criminal" driven plots were entertaining and great, definitely, but they were missing something. The soundtrack has been a hit and miss so far too. Some tracks are great, atmospheric and have a familiar Vangelis sound to them, but action scenes are combined with dub step tunes which in my opinion do not go well together with the scenes and make them appear more ordinary, which they aren't. The best parts of every episode for me were the basic conversations, where we get to meet people in their surroundings, the conversations between Dorian and Kennex. Great sci-fi does not equal suspense and action, great sci-fi builds a believable future which at the same time brings up contemporary ethical and philosophical question to which we in our time can relate. Sci-Fi is at its core a very sophisticated genre and its hard to maneuver and get right.
And in my opinion Almost Human got something very very right in this episode. The introduction of Dr. Nigel Vaughn, who is brilliantly portrayed by John Larroquette, is great. He's the broken unfortunate thoughtful creator of the DRN's, which were decommissioned because of emotional instability. Dr. Vaughn is the philosophical link the show has been missing and its great to see that they actually get it. The conversations and simple interaction between Dorian and his maker are fascinating, the dialog is very well and carefully written and for the first time intriguing. Dorian's existential fear which is brought up after seeing his maker makes him ironically the most human character on the show.
Almost Human has something very special here and they should build on that. So far it only scratches the surface of an immensely deep universe which it is not yet ready to go in to as it seems. There are endless possibilities here that may make this show stand out in the future, it really is great so far, this episode though proved that this show can be fantastic.
Almost Human has potential, there is real and great Science Fiction in there, they just aren't ready to touch it yet. The episodic format seems outdated and not progressive enough for a show with such endless possibilities, but it's there. Something's there and support is more than needed. FOX has a gem on its hands here and they better not cancel it prematurely, let it breath and build its universe. Sci-Fi needs its time.
