Television: Almost Human, "Perception"

So this week they (a) went back to some of the things that happened in the pilot episode, and (b) gave Minka Kelly slightly more to do.

A Plot: super smart kids at a school geared toward "Chromes" are dying from drug overdoses.

B Plot: Kennex is taking drugs, too, to help him remember stuff about the night of the ambush (you know, when he lost his leg and it turns out his girlfriend was a bad guy girl).

Chromes are, as it turns out, genetically designed/enhanced human beings. I wasn't entirely clear on the level of design, if there is one. Is it done in utero? ::shrug:: In any case, it turns out Valerie (that's Minka Kelly, though really, if we're honest, we all just call her "Minka Kelly") is one of these. And that it's rare they go into law enforcement, at least at the base police detective level—one assumes if they're so smart or whatever they are more likely to work in better paying occupations, and that if they're set on law enforcement they'll aim for the higher [federal] levels.

Bottom line, though, is that this was an interesting thing to introduce. Not for Valerie particularly (though maybe it will become so later), but the idea that these individuals exist, their place in the strata of society . . . Kind of Gattica, really.

The whole teens-dying-from-designer-drugs . . . Well, at least they didn't try to turn it into "a very special episode of Almost Human." And I sympathized with the girl who committed suicide. I often feel the way she seemingly did.

As for the B plot, well . . . While it had nice parallels to the A plot, on the whole I do not find this hanging conspiracy very compelling. Not sure if it's because the episodes have been aired out of order, but the inconsistency in following this whole "Syndicate" story line makes it feel as if it is not actually all that important in the larger scheme. In short, I don't know as a viewer how much weight to give it, and they haven't made it interesting enough on its own for me to care just for the sake of caring.

Still, on the spectrum of Almost Human episodes, I found this one better than many, mostly for the whole Chromes aspect. Though it seems unlikely the show will see a second season (production costs way outstrip the ratings they're receiving), it would be interesting to see where they could take such an angle. Or maybe that should be its own show entirely.