Almost Human

I watched Almost human simply for Karl Urban. And ended up getting hooked on the whole show. The premise and the characters. It's vision of the future can rival Start Trek's bright optimistic future and Robocop's bleak criminal empire future. When Tech and science allows Criminals to get more powerful the cops need help. and they get it in the form of androids created to protect and serve. When Detective John Keenix is the sole survivor of a ambush. He lost his leg and now uses a robotic leg. But Keenix is mentally scarred. He wants answers to questions that seem to have none. Keenix hates the newer androids and is instead partnered up with a older model a DRN-1 called Dorian. The DRN lines were scrapped because of unpredictable behaviour. They have synthetic souls which allows them emotions and human like behaviour. Keenix and Dorian bond thru out the series. The potential is there to produce a great series that combines the vision of Star Trek with the reality of crime. It's been an entertaining show for it's first season and I hope it's renewed.

I began watching this show almost entirely on the acting credentials of Urban. I've liked him in every role I've ever seen him in, and now that I am familiar with him - I'm seeing him in stuff I've seen before.

Saying that, one of the best things I can say about this show is - my wife loves it, and she generally hates sci-fi. In fact, the only other sci-fi show I persuaded her to watch - that she also loved - was "Firefly". So I think it goes without saying, she probably knows a good show when she sees it. We recorded the whole season and watched all of it in a few days.

The two leads are great together. They could lose the rest of the cast and still be a great show. I suspect this show only fails in ratings - because people haven't given it a chance. Like "Chuck" - another show we thoroughly enjoyed - you have to give it a chance at least ONCE, and then you're hooked.

Okay this series has a _strong_ beginning. The acting is competent, the buddy cop dynamic works well, the main characters are both relate-able and interesting. The mythology or ongoing story seems to have strong promise for depth and longevity, at least the way it is hinted, we can see that it is most likely a longer mystery story.

The backdrop of high technology is very Phillip k dick. It's particularly reminiscent of do androids dream of electric sheep/blade runner, and in a progressive way that actually adds something. In fact the setting here further explores the consequences and possibilities of higher technology, particularly obviously artificial intelligence, in a way that we have not seem either done, or done well in TV or movies for a long time.

The combination of this simmering back story, the thought provoking setting, the procedural buddy cop dynamic, are basically bound make a brilliant show.

You might see the whole concept is cliché, but actually its not. It's rarely well explored territory, and thus particularly the way its executed, very fresh and new. This is serial genre TV very worth watching. Also as others have said, it does have a high production value.

After Revolution was a complete disaster, i was cautious watching another J.J. Abrams branded show. But this one was good right from the beginning. The chemistry between Dorian and John Kennex is great. Its fun to see a robot with a better sense of humor than his human partner, and Dorian is a really lovable character. I'm sensing there's going to be some grand conspiracy revealing itself with Insyndicate and the synthetics, but we'll have to see. So far there has been some cool science, a lot of playful banter from Dorian as he annoys John, and a ridiculously hot female cop who i can't wait to see John hook up with.

The VFX are pretty great and impressive for a episodic TV show. They've definitely got a cyberpunk-ish feel thats almost a mix between i-robot, minority report and continuum. Despite the show featuring future sciences, its nothing implausible and they use a lot of hypothetical sciences scientists are just beginning to test the potential of today; like graphene or IR camera disruption. The show is about future technologies spreading way too fast for law enforcement to keep up with, and they paint that note really well.

I want to see a bit more about where society is outside of the station and the way gang warfare has changed over the decades. Getting a steady recurring antagonist the audience can become familiar with could definitely take this show to the next level. So far i'm really liking this show and i'm glad to see more.

Almost Human is a classic police drama infused with beloved science- fiction tropes. The crux of the series is right there in the title. It is asking what it means to be human in a world overwhelmed by technology. Often the most effective way to reveal what something is, is by examining what it is not. Android Dorian is in many ways more human than the flesh and blood men and women that surround him. Are the themes overly subtle? No. But the pilot is both impressive and enjoyable to watch. Ealy and Urban are charismatic leads, with great chemistry. Taylor is equally dynamic as their soft spoken, but stiff spined captain. It's easy to say, "This isn't Fringe." And it's not, that's true. Almost Human is its own animal. But lest we forget, Fringe wasn't Fringe either - not at first. It evolved, it grew into something truly special. It's still finding its feet, but this series has all of the elements, all of the potential to do just that.