Courtesy of FOX
It’s time to revisit Almost Human as it airs what was originally intended to be the second episode of the season. What clues does ‘You Are Here’ offer about the original direction of the show?
Let’s bitch it out…
‘You Are Here’ is actually episode two of the series and it’s very telling in a lot of ways. Former co-showrunner Naren Shankar wrote the episode and there are a lot of clues as to how the series would have developed had he remained on the show. As The AV Club points out in their review, there are great deal more serialized elements in this episode that builds on content from the pilot, including the tease about what the ambush on police headquarters was really about.
There’s also a great deal more animosity between Richard (Michael Irby) and Kennex (Karl Urban) and more lingering resentment about Dorian’s (Michael Ealy) decommissioned robot suggesting that these would be more ongoing plotlines than what we ended up with. It’s a grating reminder of how shrill and forced some of those elements were back then. Interestingly, however, even here there’s an easy chemistry between Urban and Ealy, which has proven to be the foundation for the series, as well as its greatest strength. As for the women, Lili Taylor’s Maldanado and Minka Kelly’s Stahl still aren’t given much to do so it’s uncertain whether the show ever had a plan to incorporate either actress into the plot in a meaningful way.
At this point Almost Human is taking a three week breather, but I’ll be interested to see if when it returns these events will still be at the forefront or if the case of the week format will remain dominant. I was always intrigued by the more serialized aspects of the show (in addition to the fun technology and relationship between Kennex and Dorian) so I’m hopeful that with the reintroduction of the mythology from the pilot, we’ll begin to see a shift towards some of the serialized elements a little more. The show has established the characters and the world of the future (more or less), so here’s hoping they can begin to really dig into a larger story that’s worth investing in.
What’s your take: do you think the show will explore the attack from the pilot in greater detail? Will we see the return of Kennex’s ex-girlfriend, who was responsible for the attack which cost him his leg? Or do you think we’ll just have more cases of the week with an occasional mythology bit thrown in for good measure? Sound off below
Almost Human returns Monday, Feb 3 at 8pm EST on FOX
I’m really glad this wasn’t actually the second episode because it would make the cutesy scene at the end between Stahl and Kennex much less hardwon (regardless of what you think about them as a potential couple, having the first ep showcase his emotional memories of his girlfriend and then lead into a flirty scene would’ve been super creepy). Given how their flirtations have developed over the season, this scene was more fitting now then it would’ve been then, especially given the emotional resonance the pen had for the dead Anton and his girlfriend.
It’s actually funny how much chemistry there is between Early and Urban because I would’ve never guessed this was a second episode instead of the eighth; in fact, it just builds more on their friendship we’ve seen grow through the season, especially when Kennex gets pissy about the Richard’s MX’s denouement of Dorian and shoots him in the head. Or how he calls MX’s “bullet catchers,” but doesn’t seem to think of Dorian in the same manner, despite his actual task later in the ep (by literally being said bullet catcher).
And I have to admit, this episode was the most light-hearted I’ve seen so far, despite the actual case of the week.