TV Show Review

TV Review: ALMOST HUMAN: Season 1, Episode 9: Unbound [FOX]

John Larroquette Michael Ealy Almost Human Unbound

FOX’s Almost Human Unbound TV Show Review. Almost Human, season 1, episode 9, ‘Unbound’ was another canonical episode that was aired out of sequence, and was somewhat out of context for that reason. A seemingly senseless murder results from a masked mugging, and the assailant, when surrounded and gunned down by law enforcement, turned out to be a reprogrammed service droid. Not so much, really. Once tagged & bagged as evidence, it reactivated and retrieved another item from the evidence room.

Frankly, I don’t know what was more disturbing. The fact that no one accounted for power back ups in an android (Ahnuld’s T-800 had one; are the Terminators that much more advanced?); the fact that there is no active surveillance inside a precinct of the future; or that the concept of a Trojan horse never occurred to anyone – particularly since the Syndicate had been going to great lengths to get into their evidence hold.

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In any case, the focus of the Syndicate’s efforts was finally revealed to be the head of an XRN. XRNs were militarized RNs (after the RN line was shut down); so when they went bad, things went boom. The head was all that was left of a solitary XRN, that held the police force at bay, but she gave a lot worse than she got. A quick head switch-out, weapons load-out, and murderous exit later, and XRN Danica (Gina Carano) was on a mission to blast ‘her’ way to, and through, “The Wall.”

At the first mention of The Wall, I immediately thought of a populist, ‘haves versus have nots’ scenario, that I had initially hoped the Syndicate was all about (until they went all ‘bacon fry,’ for the pilot’s climax). Unless you find yourself in a Gene Roddenberry future, free of currency and influence peddling, there will always be socio-economic disparity. Since I had not seen anything in the way of slums, or random homeless, I assumed there was a ghetto, or partition of some kind, to keep the shiny future we’ve been seeing away from those it left behind, and begrudged.

Danica’s blood trail lead Kennex (Karl Urban) and Dorian (Michael Ealy) to Dr. Nigel Vaughn (John Larroquette). For Dorian, it was a family reunion, of sorts; Dr. Vaughn created the RNs. He also created the XRNs, and he wore his guilt, over Danica, like a trident & net. A trident & net he used, to great effect, on Dorian, Kennex, and the whole task force.

The consideration, by Dr. Vaughn, in asking Dorian’s permission for a hands on appreciation of his work, was a nice touch. It added an extra poignancy to their first meeting. A whole lot of deference was thrown his way, opening a lot of doors. Why not? It takes a real cynic to hear alarm bells, when John Larroquette plays the redemption seeking paternal figure….

Gina Carano kicks ass. It was nice to see her put to good use. I imagine, however, her turn in ‘Unbound’ only reinforced her supporters’ claim that the role of Wonder Woman should have been hers (you all have Snyder!). That, and the lingering corset shot was more of a “what could have been” demo, than mere fanservice. Honest.

Gina Carano Almost Human Unbound

I’d say a lot was given away, early and often, during the episode; but I got a devious mind, so I’m not sure I can accuse the creators of being obvious or careless. The final confrontation boiled down from a Danica-versus-MX shootout, to a Danica-Kennex-Dorian throwdown. Sweet. For anyone who had flashes of I, Robot, or the original Robocop, regarding android level combat, this had to be quite a pay-off. That said, the real take away, from ‘Unbound,’ wasn’t the fight, or even Kennex’s newfound appreciation for his bionic leg. It was the promise of more to come. More full-on conflict, more rogue androids, more full-on android vs android conflict.

Ears to The Wall, people, ears to The Wall.

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Sam Joseph

Sam is an Avid consumer/observer of Geek culture, and collector of Fanboy media from earliest memory. Armchair sociologist and futurist. Honest critic with satirical if not absurdist­­ wit with some experience in comics/ animation production.
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