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The year is 2048. Meet Detective John Kennex, a cop who survived one of the most catastrophic attacks ever made against the police department. After waking up from a 17-month coma, he can't remember much – except that his partner was killed, he lost one of his legs and he is now outfitted with a highly sophisticated synthetic appendage. Suffering from depression, mental atrophy, trauma-onset OCD, PTSD and the “psychological rejection of his synthetic body part,” John returns to work at the behest of longtime ally Captain Sandra Maldonado. By mandate, every cop must partner with a robot. And despite his passionate aversion to androids, John is paired up with a battle-ready MX-43. But he abruptly terminates his partnership after the robot discovers incriminating information about him. So technician Rudy Lom introduces John to Dorian, a discontinued android with unexpected emotional responses. Although such responses were deemed flaws, it is in these “flaws” that John relates to Dorian most. After all, John is part-machine now, and Dorian is part-human. John and Dorian's understanding of each other not only complements them, it connects them.
Producer J.J. Abrams is no stranger to the sci-fi-action-mystery, having practically pioneered the modern era of that drama with his hit shows "Alias" and "Lost". While Abrams himself has moved on to bigger and better things than network television (he's currently directing "Star Wars: Episode VII"), his production company, Bad Robot, has continued to churn out material. In the past few years, the Bad Robot brand has produced some stellar work ("Fringe"), some humdrum flops ("Alcatraz"), and some in between ("Revolution"). Its latest endeavor is the futuristic buddy cop drama "Almost Human".
Fortunately, from creator J.H. Whyman (executive producer of "Fringe"), "Almost Human" falls more towards the stellar side of Bad Robot's range. The pilot does borrow heavily from other sci-fi influences, with the futuristic skyline and hover cars reminiscent of "The Fifth Element", the gruff technology-phobic hero straight out of "Blade Runner", and the man/robot relationship identical to the 1992 NBC drama "Mann & Machine". Okay, so maybe that last one's not the most famous of references, but it's true that the idea of a human police officer with a robot partner isn't an original one. You could even say that "Almost Human" and "Mann & Machine" are both just futuristic variations on the odd-couple trope stretching as far back as Felix and Oscar.
Karl Urban ("Star Trek", "The Lord Of The Rings") stars as Detective John Kennex, distrustful of androids ever since one refused to help save his partner in an ambush. When he wakes from a coma, he is minus a few memories and plus a robotic limb. Enter Dorian, his new android partner. Dorian (Michael Ealy, "The Good Wife", "FlashForward") is an old model considered "defective" because he was programmed to feel emotions. Kennex is a man with the body of an android. Dorian is an android with the mind of a man. Together, they're almost human. (Get it?)
Urban is fantastic, ably inserting himself into a role that would have been played by Harrison Ford thirty years ago. He's abrasive yet sympathetic, caustic yet funny. And Ealy is equally compelling to watch as Dorian navigates the complexities of emotion. His reliance on colloquialisms to appear more human is endearing and his persistent efforts to crack Kennex's hard shell are admirable. Urban and Ealy play off each other supremely well, and the chief joy of this series will undoubtedly be watching these two interact. Lili Taylor ("The Conjuring") and Minka Kelly ("Friday Night Lights") costar as Kennex's Captain and coworker, respectively, and both are warm and welcome presences in this cold, frightening future. The effects are top-notch for television, although it remains to be seen if they can keep that up over the span of an entire season (or more). Enough groundwork is laid in the pilot to begin weaving a complex mythology, but not so much as to overwhelm the viewer. All in all, the first hour of "Almost Human" is an exciting, if familiar, good time that trots along at a fast, action-packed pace, setting up what could potentially be a very exciting series.
"Almost Human" is the second successful fantasy-mystery show FOX has premiered this fall. "Sleepy Hollow", from "Fringe" co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, has already been renewed for a second season. Hopefully Kennex and Dorian will be able to follow in the engaging odd-couple footsteps of Ichabod and Abbie to become another hit for the struggling network.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykwxg534yAw[/youtube]
