February | 2014 | Thinking about books

Almost Human: Season 1, episode 9. Unbound (2014)

February 5, 2014 David Marshall 2 comments

Almost Human: Season 1, Episode 9. Unbound (2014) starts off on what’s now the standard format. There has to be an extended jokey exchange between Detective John Kennex (Karl Urban) and Dorian (Michael Ealy) so, this time, a group of kids is on a field trip inside police headquarters and, to cut the long story short, John thinks the kids really do want to see the guns and what happens to bad guys. So, of course, he shows them. One kid is sick and the teacher thinks this is a limb amputation too far. Like the arm, it does have the virtue of cutting the tour short. Meanwhile, a mugger snatches a bag but is shot down by the MXs. It proves to be a trojan robot. Packed and stored in the evidence locker, it recovers the magic head (called Danica (Gina Carano)) everyone seems interested in —in the pilot episode, InSyndicate tried to break into the evidence locker. Now this service robot has replaced its head with the stored head and now it’s an XRN back on the streets again. At this point, we need extensive infodumping so we can finally catch up on some of the history in this near future version of Earth.

Dr Vaughn (John Larroquette) looking trustworthy

This is the three-day period the police department was embarrassed. Yes, even in our future, the police have not yet become infallible so they redacted all records of their failures so they can forget where they screwed up. Except elephants like John can remember (the fact he couldn’t remember any of the DRN’s history in previous episodes has also been redacted). The DRNs became erratic when they were exposed to life in the ranks, so they were decommissioned. Having lost its business, the company that made them was declared bankrupt. But, as a parting gesture, the man behind the company repurposed some of the remaining androids for potential military use. When the demonstration was held, it did not go well. Three days and multiple deaths later, the single XRN was cornered and the body destroyed. The head was the only thing that survived. Now, it’s out there again. But with a body so badly damaged, it needs to be replaced. So because this is a show primarily made for men, she naturally breaks into a warehouse filled with sexbots. That way, we can get to see a little glamour before she starts killing people again.

It turns out the warehouse is owned by the notorious Dr Nigel Vaughn (John Larroquette) who made the DRNs. Dorian therefore gets to meet his Daddy which is an emotional moment for all concerned. The good doctor suggests that if he can just get his hands on some of the equipment from his old lab, he might be able to track where the XRN goes. That means we get to see the suave American scientist interact with Rudy (Mackenzie Crook), the incomprehensible Brit. We then have a moment that is ghastly and embarrassing as Rudy demonstrates why he should never have been allowed in the show, followed by a masterclass by John Larroquette in how to deliver pure rubbish and make it sound vaguely plausible. “Yes, these are android souls. . .” and so on. Meanwhile our XRN is acquiring five-hundred processors. Only one per robot is required. This is therefore the makings of an army of XRNs if enough bodies can be manufactured.

Gina Carano as Danica, the coldblooded killer

So here comes the psychology. When Pygmalion was carving the statue that he later called Galatea, he was full of love. That’s why Dr Vaughn was distressed when the DRNs apparently malfunctioned. When a project so close to his heart proved the making of defectives, he felt the failure more keenly than might otherwise have been the case. With the city contract cancelled and a mountain of debt about to bury him, he came to program the XRN. He was angry, resentful and not a little desperate. If a creative genius invests a part of himself in his creations, the XRN was almost bound to be aggressive and destructive. It’s the Frankenstein version of the same myth. This brings us to be crunch. The initial robot infiltrator was designed to get the head. The head was then attached to a body which was designed to be a sacrifice. Everything was directed by Dr Vaughn so he could disappear to the other side of the Wall (a physical structure that has yet to be explained but it’s presumably something along the lines of Escape From New York (1981) where a fifty-foot containment wall created a massive prison for malcontents. As an idea, it has potential but, so far, I can’t judge whether the result will be impressive or pure idiocy.

Following on from the Pilot, this took a major narrative step forward. Apart from the need to pass on a small mountain of backstory, this was a very efficient plot. It might not be wholly coherent or credible, say because no-one seems to suspect Vaughn of playing a double game — it was just coincidence his robot which, when released, came to him to get another body. There are also serious questions of why it took three days to subdue a single robot when our heroic duo do it in five minutes this time around. All it takes is a bomb large enough to bring down the building in which it’s trapped. No-one need ever go in to corner it. Anyway, Unbound has vaguely reawakened some interest and the prospect of seeing more of John Larroquette is a positive inducement. So far, he’s the only one able to deliver the lines in a credible style. However, the news seems to be bad with no filming on the series reported after Christmas. It looks as though this is going to be cancelled after the thirteenth episode. If that news is confirmed, it will not be a surprise. Apart from this episode and the Pilot, the show has been a disaster.

Categories: TV and anime Tags: Almost Human, android, cyborg, Gina Carano, John Larroquette, Karl Urban, Lili Taylor, Mackenzie Crook, Michael Ealy, Michael Irby, police procedural, science fiction, Unbound

The After Dinner Mysteries or Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de or 推理要在晚餐后 (2011): Episodes 3 and 4

February 4, 2014 David Marshall Leave a comment

television

The After Dinner Mysteries or Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de or 推理要在晚餐后 (2011) episodes 3 and 4 see us reprise the basic set-up with some nice stop-frame sequences to show Reiko Hosho (Keiko Kitagawa), our heiress as a child, riding a lion and dining with the President of the United States (no relationship implied between the two kings of their respective jungles). This time, she’s called out on a Sunday. Such inconsiderate murderers. Why can’t they restrict their killing to ordinary working days during the week? Fortunately, Kageyama (Sho Sakurai) is able to offer comfort and consolation. This only lasts until she sees the body. He’s lying with his head in a pool of blood wearing only his underpants. It seems someone hit him over the head and then undressed him. There’s no sign of his clothes and there are carpet fibres on his forehead. Better still, he’s a congressman and a rising star of the democratic party, investigating possible corruption on Capitol Hill. This suggests the murder was to keep him quiet. The killing took place in a hotel room which he had on a yearly contract. The safe he had installed has been opened and is empty. As against that, he appears to have been a womaniser which could have produced dangerous jealousy. The reveal is actually rather neat if somewhat long-drawn-out. The use of the cardboard cutout action figure is nicely appropriate and the logic of how there seemed to be two murderers is rather elegant. The explanation for the carpet fibres is typically Japanese and the significance of the trip to the beach is an outstanding deduction. Put all this together and you have to feel sorry for the murderer. Indeed, the way the plot is designed, the intention is to give our heiress/butler pair a chance to discuss how infidelity might be inadvertently disclosed. The final frames of the episode leave us with a rerun of the early line — that all a man need do to hide the fact he’s dating several women is to habitually avoid using their names and only refer to them as “you” as in “I love you” and so on. It leaves so much unsaid between Reiko Hosho and Kageyama.

Kageyama (Sho Sakurai)

This leads to a really pleasing opening section to episode 4 as Reiko Hosho accepts an invitation to her friend’s wedding. Except, when you come down to it, her friend is doing the wrong thing by marrying before the top heiress. This shows disloyalty from someone so low down on the heiress ranking order. What makes it so much worse is that Kyoichiro Kazamatsuri (Kippei Shiina), the noveau riche detective, also turns up as a guest. This is the first time the dunce has had a chance to identify the heiress. To throw him off the scent, Kageyama must therefore give a false name to his mistress and act as escort to her in the reception. The theory is that their act as a couple will deter the detective. Unfortunately, the challenge of a rival merely encourages him. This leaves us wanting a crime and it turns out to be a locked room mystery. The bride is attacked in her bedroom. There’s a long fall to the ground underneath the bedroom window and no sign anyone recklessly attempted the jump. Going the other way courtesy of a rope and hook is too athletic an exercise for any of the guests at the wedding. So it has to be someone who can manage the mechanics of locking the door.

Appropriately enough, as the first one through the door, Reiko Hosho is immediately suspect because she could have falsely claimed it was locked and only pretended to use the key to open it. She was jealous of her friend’s marriage and so has motive. As nutty detective in chief, Kyoichiro Kazamatsuri takes change of the case and is unable to come up with any other explanation. The idiot is going to arrest Reiko Hosho who’s only fault is to use her brain cells only some of the time. Fortunately, Kageyama knows whodunnit. The only problem is how to prove it. However, it ultimately proves quite easy because the situation requires the commission of a second crime. When our pair disrupts this crime, the truth must come out. Again the answer proves rather sad. No matter what the culture, this is an entirely human reaction to a very difficult situation.

Kyoichiro Kazamatsuri (Kippei Shiina) tries to impress Reiko Hosho (Keiko Kitagawa)

We even get quite a long discussion of the true nature of the relationship between a butler and his mistress which is fascinating. The ground rules as laid out by our hero are a route to sadness but, in the world of the rich, it would be difficult for there to be any other system of behaviour. I’m reminded of the tragedy in the British Royalty when Princess Margaret told her family she proposed to marry beneath herself. When rank and status are so important, there have to be rules about such things and both sides of the equation have to understand the purpose of the rules and so accept them. All this is, of course, window dressing for what’s obviously intended to be a struggle for both our heroes to avoid the “love trap”. Her family would never agree and she knows it. As to the plot, the significance of the family butler not wearing his glasses is a very pleasing touch. The result is a slightly better episode because it avoids rerunning the formula of the argument before dinner, then the reveal when she has consumed something delicious. Being set entirely in the bride’s family home doing double duty for the wedding and reception, it gives us a chance to see everyone in a slightly more natural setting. This is not to say the episode is without flaws. That no-one comments when our heroine adopts a false name to throw off Kyoichiro Kazamatsuri is a surprising lapse from a team that usually gets the details right. The failure to disapprove Kageyama attending the wedding is more complicated. He’s recognised as a butler but the prospective mother-in-law understands a crisis must have forced this breach of protocol. Without asking the reason, she turns a blind eye.

For reviews of the other episodes, see:
The After Dinner Mysteries or Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de or 推理要在晚餐后 (2011) Episodes 1 and 2
The After Dinner Mysteries or Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de or 推理要在晚餐后 (2011): Episodes 5 and 6
The After Dinner Mysteries or Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de or 推理要在晚餐后 (2011): Episodes 7 and 8
The After Dinner Mysteries or Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de or 推理要在晚餐后 (2011): Episodes 9 and 10.

Categories: TV and anime Tags: Japan, Keiko Kitagawa, Kippei Shiina, locked-room mystery, murder, Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de, police procedural, Sho Sakurai, The After Dinner Mysteries, 推理要在晚餐后

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 14. Dead Clade Walking (2014)

February 1, 2014 David Marshall 4 comments

television

This review discusses the plot so, if you have not already watched this episode, you may wish to delay reading this.

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 14. Dead Clade Walking (2014) starts us off with Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) considering the possibility of a trepanning by electric drill to release his evil humours. If it were not for these annoying messages from Randy (Stephen Tyrone Williams), the new addict for whom he’s accepted some responsibility, he would no doubt get right down to it just behind the right ear. But he’s decided to take his duty seriously. On his way out, he meets Gay, who is, and Dr Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) tells him she’s continuing to work through his cold cases file. She has a clue on an old murder, but duty calls Holmes away when Randy messages. So then we’re into the “do as I say, not what I do” part of the advice from one addict to another. When the implied question of Sherlock’s relationship with Moriarty is raised, this forces Sherlock to admit his own performance leaves much to be desired. Randy continues his campaign of distraction. Holmes, of course, has a solution to Randy’s problem. Since the return of Randy’s girlfriend is the threat to him staying clean, all Holmes has to do is engineer her arrest and return to Chicago. Except when it comes to the crunch, he can’t be that coldblooded. Even he can see it would be too destructive to Randy to unilaterally whisk his girlfriend away. But since Randy won’t stop pestering him, Holmes is uncertain what to do.

The result is interesting on two levels. First, Holmes has enough self-knowledge to know he can’t make Randy do anything he doesn’t want to do. The action to solve the problem has to come from Randy. He therefore bluntly tells Randy what to do and leaves it to him. Second, when Randy walks out of their meeting and then cuts off communication, Holmes has sufficient investment in the man to worry about him. Indeed, we can say Holmes fails to sparkle in this investigation. He’s merely efficient. When Randy eventually comes to the brownstone and confesses he fell off the wagon, there’s no condemnation. Only acceptance of what was inevitable and then, without comment, Holmes takes Randy off to a meeting. This is a well-managed intervention in Randy’s case and, with the girlfriend told to leave, Randy can now start a new count of the days clean. It’s good to see Holmes willing and able to take the role of sponsor seriously. Even though his empathy may be at vestigial levels, he’s still able to get the right results by mining his own experiences as an addict for the best strategy.

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) offering DIY trepanning

As to the cold case, Watson and Gay find the rock in the yard where the three-year-old murder occurred and, after it’s x-rayed, the dinosaur rears its ugly head (not trepanned). The continuing point for us to consider is the effect of addiction. Holmes took money from the victim’s parents but obviously failed to give the case his best efforts. At times, he was a high-functioning addict and the heroin enhanced his investigative skills. He finds it emotionally distressing to confront the times when he failed and he’s less than engaged in the case now. With Randy continuing his campaign of distraction, Watson is allowed time undisturbed to develop an elegant theory of who might have given the dinosaur to the victim and what this smuggler might be doing now. This is sufficiently impressive to get Captain Tobias Gregson (Aidan Quinn) out of his chair and into surveillance mode. However, the man they arrest seems genuinely not to have been aware of the value of the rock and, more importantly, not to have had a motive to kill the best man at his wedding. While the interrogation proceeds (including Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) for a token line of dialog), a fake ICE man appears and calmly acquires the dinosaur. This is impressive because anticipating the real ICE agent’s arrival implies inside information. Sherlock has his own sources including the erotically minded C who has heard whispers about The Magpie (presumably with some, but not all, his clothes on). Yet when this man is lured into communicating with Watson, he’s found dead when the duo arrive at his home.

As murder cases go, this has an elegant simplicity about it. Once we know the motive is suppressing evidence as to when the dinosaur died, there are only a limited number of experts whose reputation would be damaged if their theory of a mass extinction event was disproved. That the revelation is delayed by further bone purchases on the black market and the unlikely transfer of DNA material is padding. Yes, for once, the scriptwriters obviously thought the murder strand was sufficiently thin to need an extra few minutes adding. Again I’m forced to disagree with this scripting decision. There was more than enough scope in the Randy situation to give it proper time to develop. It would have been far more interesting to make Randy into a more substantial character and to allow Watson a better chance not to advise Holmes on what to do. So Elementary: Dead Clade Walking was one of the better episodes but not as good as it could have been.

For the reviews of other episodes, see:
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 1. Pilot (2012)

Categories: TV and anime Tags: Aidan Quinn, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dead Clade Walking, Elementary, Jon Michael Hill, Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, murder, mystery, Sherlock Holmes, Stephen Tyrone Williams

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