Showing posts with label Mackenzie Crook. Show all posts

Almost Human S1E13 (FINALE) - "Straw Man" Recap


A homeless woman named Abby is in line for a food pill. She's bothered by a man but then another man intervenes. He's in a wheelchair and his name is Glenn. He tells her that the pods have run out at this shelter but say there's another one that has open beds and offers to let her tag along after he's gotten his pill. Once they get outside and are away from other people, he reveals that he is faking his wheelchair condition, drugs her, and loads her into a van.

At the precinct, it's time for the annual reviews of the robotic officers. The members of the squad are questioned about Dorian, as he is the only DRN model. Maldonado, Rudy, and Kennex all speak highly of him. Dorian himself is also questioned and says that getting to help people again is the best thing that has ever happened to him. Kennex rags on Dorian by saying he told them all the things he has done wrong but admits he's just giving him a hard time.

Kennex and Dorian examine Abby's body at the crime scene. There is a piece of straw with her. They find that her body has been sewn up and stuffed with straw. Kennex believes this to be the work of a copycat of the MO of Michael Costa, also known as "The Straw Man." Kennex's late father caught the Straw Man and got him thrown behind bars. Kennex later finds that his father's case files are sealed so he can't look at them to aide his current investigation.

Kennex and Dorian go to visit Costa in jail. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and used to suffer from blackouts in which he would lose time. Costa is now on medication so his behaviour is under control now. Costa says that he never killed anyone and that Detective Kennex had come in saying he was framed and believed he was innocent. Kennex Sr. had come to visit Costa saying he was looking into something involving robots and crooked cops and then he was killed two weeks later in the line of duty. Kennex tells Dorian that a visitor that came on the day Costa said was an alias his father had used. They begin to believe that Costa's story and realise that the true Straw Man killer is still out there. Meanwhile, Glenn picks up another homeless girl.

Stahl says that the stitching she examined was identical to the original work so she doesn't really think it's a copycat either. Maldonado summons Kennex and gives him his father's original case file that had been sealed by Internal affairs. Kennex hasn't told anyone besides Dorian about his father's theory because some of the people involved might still be working there. Kennex sends Dorian to check in with Rudy while he looks through the case file. Rudy advises Dorian to make the reviewers more comfortable by acting more like an MX.

Kennex learns that his father believed someone planted DNA and a weapon on Michael Costa to frame him for the Straw Man murders. His father had also circled the feet of all the victim's feet and Kennex wonders why. Dorian calls Kennex to Rudy's lab. Rudy has found that Abby's body is a clone. Kennex's father had found that all the victims were flatfooted. Rudy explains that there was a flaw in the old printers for human clones that made them unable to create arches in human feet. The killer has been copying his victims to keep them hidden but they don't know why.

The killer's older bioprinter can't print human organs which is why they were filled with straw. Kennex tells Maldonado that his father had believed that Costa was set up. Costa said how someone framed Kennex's father for stealing robotic parts from the evidence locker and selling them on the black market.

The team finds the next victim and she has a pinprick from the meal supplement machines in shelters. They send people to go in undercover and investigate the shelters. Detective Paul poses as a homeless man and gives a homeless man some money to get a place to stay for the night.

Dorian and Kennex are in the squad car staking out a shelter. Dorian asks Kennex if he thinks his dad could have stolen the parts like he was accused of. Kennex tells a story about how his father busted a drug deal and refused to take a cut of the drug money, even when corrupt cops held a gun to his head, and is the reason Kennex is a cop today.

Glenn tries to pick another victim but stops his attempts when he sees the MXs on patrol. Paul spots the glasses word by the kid he had given money to and calls in Glenn's van driving away. Kennex and Dorian pursue it and reach Glenn's lab. They're also able to ID glen using facial recognitions. The team finds all of the victims in coffin-like chambers. Dorian reaches Glenn but it's actually a duplicate rigged to explode. The real Glenn attacks Kennex and they get into a fight, during which Kennex shoots him. Dorian scans the body and finds that Glenn is actually a cyborg. All the parts in him are from the police evident locker. Also, officer Grant, who had been in charge of the evidence locker when the items were stolen, was killed in the line of duty three weeks after Kennex's father.

Back at the station, Stahl informs them that Glenn had a degenerative disease and was trying to rebuild his body using robotic parts. It worked for a while but the biotech started to break down after ten years, leading him to kill again. Kennex tells Maldonado all he has found and she agrees that Officer Grant could have been framing Kennex's father before Glenn killed them both. Costa is being released with the charges against him being dropped. Maldonado congratulates Kennex for finishing his father's work and clearing his name.

When Dorian comes back in, he tries to act like an MX but drops the act when the interviewer tells him he received glowing reviews from everyone, particularly from Kennex who had apparently said that Dorian is the reason he's staying on the force. Dorian's assignment has been renewed.

Dorian tracks Kennex down to a ramen bar. He says that his term has been reviewed thanks to Kennex's glowing review and has a thank-you gift for him. It's a new leg with newer, better technology that isn't even on the market yet. Kennex thanks him and Dorian says he's glad Maldonado put them together. Finally, Kennex denies saying that Dorian is the reason he's staying on the force. Kennex is about to have his ramen but then they're called in on another case.

Almost Human S1E10 - "Perception" Recap


Two young girls are shown to be high on a new drug but experiencing it differently. One is in the woods and surrounded by bees. The other is conducting a virtual orchestra. Eventually, they both collapse.

John dreams of his ex-girlfriend wanting something from him. He wakes up and leaves himself a digital post-it reminder. He's putting together a dream journal of sorts. He gets called to go investigate the death of the girl in the woods. Detective Stahl is examining the conductress. Both girls are said to have died from cardiac arrest, seemingly overdosing from something unknown. Kennex finds a container in the pocket of the girl he's examining. He is momentarily interrupted by a flash of Anna from his dream. Stahl finds an identical container with the other girl.

The girls, Scarlett Davis and Eleanor Church, were genetically engineered "chromes," just like Detective Stahl. These "chromes" are esentially highly fancy test tube babies with apparently perfect genes. Maldonado wants Stahl to deal with the parents. Stahl tells Kennex that chromes don't get addicted to drugs, with the perfect genes and all, but it doesn't mean they won't experiment. Dorian finds that the same drug compound was in the body of a girl named Lyla, who attended Mendel School just like the other victims.

Kennex has another flash of Anna and pops another one of the pills he takes to help jog his memory. Maldonado sees him take it on surveillance footage and Dorian also knows he's taken it because he checks Kennex's vitals every 72 hours. Dorian warns him of the side effects of the drug he is taking but Kennex tells him to back off, wanting to remember more details about the ambush.

Kennex and Dorian visit Lyla's mother, who reveals that Lyla wasn't a chrome. She was simply naturally gifted and she's one of the few naturals let into the school.

Stahl talks to a girl from the school who was another one of the few naturals at school. The girl can tell that Stahl is a chrome, but didn't expect for a chrome to ever be a police officer. The girl knew Lyla but not the other girls. Lyla wanted to be able to compete with the chromes and it turns out the drug works best on chromes because it expands their minds and is meant to help them achieve their full potential.

Rudy is able to determine that the drug was created using a chemical printer, which the team traces to an expelled Mendel student. Lyla died from drowning after taking one use of it but Eleanor and Scarlett died from overdosing on it. Dorian realises that the dealer must have killed them. Kennex gets flashes of Anna and causes them to get into a little car accident after which Dorian has to wear a bandage on his ear. They arrive at the student's house, Julian, and Dorian scans him and finds that he's high on the super drug. Julian tells them that someone hacked the printer and upped the doses which killed Eleanor and Scarlett.

Kennex meets Maldonado for a drink. She talks to him about his pill popping. Kennex still feels guilt over letting Anna into the precinct, which contributed to the evidence room being raided. Maldonado warns him not to be consumed by revenge and says he'll have to talk to Internal Affairs again.

Kennex goes to see the back alley Recollectionist who he has been meeting with. He gets put in the chair and is able to remember that Anna gave him a Russian nesting doll. He takes the doll to a lab tech named McGinnis, who has been helping him for a while now.

Dorian and Kennex vists Scarlett's dad, who holo-beams in his attorney but he ends up getting rid of him when he decides to be honest. He had wanted to protect his daughter after Lyla's death and says that he covered up the fact that the girls had taken the drug together. Lyla's mother had warned him they'd all pay for hiding the truth.

Julian the drug dealer cared about Lyla. He tells Kennex and Dorian that her mother put enormous pressure on her to be perfect. But when she took the drug, which Julian didn't want her to do, she realised she could never be perfect and she was driven to suicide. He shows them the recording she made after she took the drug. Lyla's mother blamed Eleanor and and Scarlett for exposing Lyla to the drug and hired the hacker who altered the doses. Lyla's mother is devastated after watching the recording, particularly at the end when she walks into the ocean.

Kennex meets with Internal Affairs and is reprimanded for his involvement with Anna and apparently having his judgement clouded. Kennex returns home and deletes his Post-It notes, deciding that this obsession isn't healthy. But then McGinnis calls and says that doll is a listening device. Not only has the InSyndicate been spying on him, the last upload was just seven hours ago.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

Almost Human S1E9 - "Unbound" Recap

A group of school children is on a field trip to the station. Dorian wants to show them educational things but Kennex would rather show them things that are exciting. The kids prefer the excitement until Kennex shows them a gruesome photo and one child even throws up.

A woman purchases some flowers and afterwards is robbed at gunpoint for her purse and the culprit shoots her dead. The culprit is surrounded by law enforcement that fire when he refuses to surrender. They discover that it is a service bot reprogrammed to commit a felony. They take the bot back to the evidence locker and it eventually reanimates itself before taking the head of an XRN and putting it on its own body. She steals ammunition, weapons, and escapes. This XRN had been in storage for over two years and the woman's death was done solely for the bot to be brought back and access the XRN. Kennex fills Dorian in on what happened with the XRN. The XRN had ended up in a stand-off with police officers lasting three days, killing many of them in the process. Dorian was unable to find information about it because the incident was such an embarrassment that all mention of it had been redacted from the records. Kennex suggests that the Syndicate is responsible for this plot and that their previous raid on the evidence locker was all done in an attempt to find her.

This XRN also goes by the name Danica visits her maker's lab to obtain a new body as the one that obtained her head was only temporary. As it turns out, Dr. Vaughn is also Dorian's maker. The two have a reunion when law enforcement visits his lab after Danica injures him to use his lab. Dr. Vaughn shares the difficulties he had with being known as the creator of killer robots and Dorian offers him comforting words. Feeling invigorated, Dr. Vaughn offers up help to track Danica's location.

Danika infiltrates a facility and cuts out a man's eye. She uses it to infiltrate a lab and shoots another man. She exhibits no hesitation when killing, a true robot assassin.

Kennex, Dorian, and Dr. Vaughn revisit his old lab, which is now Rudy's lab and Rudy fangirls upon getting to meet Dr. Vaughn. They track down a silver box, which holds "synthetic souls." Both Dorian and Danica were given these synthetic souls, worrying Dorian as to whether or not he'll go crazy too. Dr. Vaughn reassures him that he and Danica are not the same. Kennex gets a call that Danica stole some ZNA processing cores and they deduce that someone is building androids.

The investigation continues and we see a rather interesting moment when Danica is prepared to shoot a mother and daughter that enter her cab - clearly driving it was part of some scheme - but smiles slightly and lets them live and leave when the daughter genuinely calls her pretty.

Danica attacks a campaign event of John Hart and ends up in a ferociously entertaining brawl with Kennex and Dorian. But eventually we learn that the entire scheme was organised by Dr. Vaughn. He set up the bot and Danica's breakout to obtain the ZNA processing cores. Then his apparent attack from her was a means for him to insert himself into the investigation and get the synthetic souls.

Hart was the one who pushed for the decommissioning of DRNs and had MXs replace them. The attack on his campaign was a distraction for Dr. Vaughn to get the souls and processors. Danica was aware of the fact that she would be sacrificed but fought to the end - grenade by Kennex. It's quite an ending as Kennex uses his synthetic leg to kick her, sending her flying into an elevator so the explosion would happen at a safe distance from him and Dorian.

The officers realise that with these supplies, Dr. Vaughn now has the means to create a whole army of killing machines.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8/7c.

Almost Human S1E8 - "You Are Here" Recap


A man is running through the city with a terrified expression on his visage. He ends up shot dead from afar.

Kennex is in anger management and seems a tad in denial about his feelings regarding the misfortunes that led to him being there. Following the group session, he heads to the crime scene with Dorian. They're trying to figure out how one bullet could have made three indentations. Paul's MX believe that there's a .004% chance that the bullet could have richochet'd around the area and landed in the man's chest, factoring in the wind and weather conditions. Dorian scans the bullet and finds some new and unfamiliar technology. The MX won't stop talking and Kennex finally snaps and shoots him in the face.

Kennex is reprimanded by Maldonado. Richard is furious about having lost another partner and utters a petty threat against Dorian to try to prove a point and then Kennex leaps up to his defence. Dorian is delighted at Kennex's liking him, as demonstrated by his shooting the MX for insulting him. John refuses to acknowledge such feelings and tells Dorian to stop talking. Rudy calls and explains the technology of the super-bullets that are sure to find their intended target.

Kennex and Dorian track down the victim, Anton's, girlfriend Kira. She says that Anton was just a gamer and fellow software designer. Anton was also working with a headhunter, Natalie, to try to drum up more work. Dorian figures out that Anton's technology that was designed for tailor-made advertising campaigns could have been used to track him within the software of the self-guided bullets.

The team is having difficulty hunting down Natalie, the headhunter. There's no record of her at the agency. Kira is either lying or she was being lied to. Kennex and Dorian track Kira down to ask her more questions. Meanwhile, a group of Russian criminals is shopping around for buyers for their bullets. One potential client wants a demonstration and Kira is the target of it right as she says she would be able to identify the woman she saw Anton with. Dorian figures out what is happening by noting the high amount of scanners honing in on Kira and leaps in front of the bullet, thus saving her. This causes him to speak Korean for a while as his system is on the mend.

Kennex tells Kira they need to move her to a safe house but she won't go without her daughter. He promises to bring her to her and Kira is safely reunited with her little girl, Amy. The shooters are unable to track Kira because they've kept her inside titanium vehicles. Kennex later questions Kira and asks if she has any doubts about Anton. She admits that he was very secretive but she didn't say anything because she didn't want to believe it. Kira offers to get "scrubbed" so all memories of him would be extracted but Kennex tells her that that wouldn't guarantee her safety.

Unrelated to this whole arc, we learn that there is something important buried deep within the vast warehouse of police evidence. Maldonado attempts to negotiate with a dangerous criminal to get information on it but he won't budge.

Valerie digs up some information from Anton's secret bank account and safety deposit box. Dorian and Kennex find some cryptic notes within it and a video chip that revealed what was really going on: extortion. The criminals were threatening Kira's life to force Anton to give over his advertising technology. Unfortunately, Kira decided to ignorance Kennex's advice and snuck out of protective custody to try to get her memory scrubbed. As soon as she stepped outside, Natalie is able to track her location. Kennex and Dorian are able to track Kira down just before she's about to be scrubbed. Kennex is able to talk her out of it for real this time. Natalie and her partner reach them and a shoot-out ensues, in which Dorian and Kennex are able to take them out.

Kennex and Dorian show Kira the video threatening her and her daughter that was used to extort Anton. She now sees that he truly loved them. The episode closes with a bit of flirtatious interaction between Kennex and Valerie.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

Almost Human S1E7 - "Simon Says" Recap


Detective Paul announces the protocol for handling a mass power outage caused by a solar flare. The synthetic partners will have to work with a slightly lower charge. Dorian's sleep status has been placed at the bottom behind every MX model. This causes him to be a bit more emotional and out of sync than his normal functioning level. Dorian asks Kennex if he can move in to Kennex's extra room because he wants his own space but Kennex doesn't want to give up his trophy room.

A man name Ramon is knocked and wakes up with a collar bomb on him, cameras in his car, and an electronic voice giving him instructions. He is told to go rob the bank where he works and the entire thing is broadcast online. He is told after doing so, he will receive the deactivation code. After he commits the robbery, the police follow after him and the electronic voice tells Ramon he cannot pull over. Kennex and Dorian apprehend him and after scanning him, Dorian realises that they've gotten to him too late to disarm it. Kennex has to encase him in a containment bubble shield that will protect anyone else from being harmed.

Valerie finds the online feed of the incident and Rudy traces the location that Ramon was headed to to apparently receive the deactivation code. Even though Ramon was never intended to get there in time, Kennex, Dorian, and other officers head over to the location. They do find instructions left by the killer with the identity of the next victim.

Jeannie, the daughter of a florist, is called up by the killer. He places orders for a bouquet of roses to be delivered to a gazebo in a local park. She is knocked out in the same manner and wakes up with a bomb collar. She is instructed to dance to a ballad while Simon, the bad guy, watches from his computer screen in his evil lair.

Kennex and Dorian arrive at the gazebo and Dorian begins working on trying to disarm the bomb. His charge is running low but he continues his work with Rudy's help watching from afar. Jeannie has figured out that Simon is the one behind all of this, having met him online and gone on one date with him at this location. She had a bad feeling about him so she ditched him in the middle of the date, leaving the roses behind that are just like the ones she has to now hold on to. Simon's viewers mock him as she rightfully insults him. Dorian become discouraged by being unable to disarm it and tells Kennex to put the shield up. Kennex doesn't want to lose another victim so he offers up his hands, saying four are better than two. Through their collaborative efforts, they're able to save Jeannie.

Now that they have Simon Lynch in their sights, they're able to learn that he had been kicked out of the police academy for failing a psych test. They assume that whomever played a part in that would be his next target. Unfortunately, they miscalculate and Simon is able to sneak attack Kennex and put a bomb collar on him.

Simon was none too pleased about Kennex thwarting his attempt on Jeannie's life. John wakes up on a park bench with a bulky coat on and a whiskey bottle in hand. John has to disarm the collar without the help of anyone else. They realise that this time, Simon is closer to the scene, watching the scene unfold. He has a manual detonator this time around. Dorian determines that Simon is a nearby clock tower. He calculates a path for him to climb that will avoid being seen by Simon or any of his cameras. Once there, he will zap Simon with an electrical charge that will tense his muscles so he won't be able to release the trigger. As if the ticking clock on the bomb wasn't enough, Dorian is also running increasingly low on charge. But he's able to reach him, stun him, Kennex deactives the bomb, and then Dorian shuts down from power loss.

Finally, John sets Dorian up to be Rudy's roommate. He is initially hesitant but since they're both in need of company, he nonetheless goes along with it.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

Almost Human S1E6 - "Arrhythmia" Recap


A man enters a hospital with a gun, demanding a cardiovascular surgeon and medical equipment. He falls down, apologises, and dies saying "They killed me." Kennex and Dorian are called in to investigate. The victim's name is Leonard Lee and he is found to have a bio-mac heart but there's no record of him ever receiving a surgery to obtain the organ. Dorian watches the tape back and hears Leonard say in Cantonese, "It's almost 9:18," which was his exact time of death.

Dorian takes another copy of himself along with him and Kennex for a ride-along. Stahl gets the location of where Leonard had his surgery from interviewing Leonard's mother. Maldonado tells her to start looking into Leonard's financials. Kennex and Dorian visit the company that produced the heart and find that the heart belonged to a woman who had died two years prior. Rudy finds something in the heart that was not in the original organ. They learn that the organs are meant to be destroyed when a patient dies and they are sent a document afterwards confirming this.

They question Henry Mills, the man who signed the document confirming he had destroyed the heart. Mills confesses he sold the organ and has sold maybe a hundred organs over the years to a man named Oscar. Rudy finds that the heart had been modified to shut down after 30 days if the person controlling it didn't re-set it. Those with these modified hearts are living on borrowed time if they don't make the payments.

Kennex has Mills call Oscar to give him a heart with a tracker in it. They follow Oscar to a warehouse which they raid right as a transplant is about to take place. At the station, the men involved are all questioned but none of them are the main person in charge. Apparently, they were hired by a woman named Karen. The surgeon who was performing the surgery was under the impression that the mods were for remote diagnoses; he was manipulated into doing the surgeries thinking he was doing good. He didn't know that they were used to extort more money from them.

"Karen" calls Mills and tells him not to reset any of the hearts since the police are on to them and they need to disappear. He feels guilty about the fact that people are calling in trying to make payments. But he agrees to meet her at home. People begin to die as their timers run out. Stahl finds that all the victims were rejected for lack of insurance by Pauline Rivera, the woman Kennex and Dorian had previously interviewed. The surgeon doesn't identify her as the woman who had hired him but instead recognises a photo of her assistant, Jesinta.

Kennex and Dorian visit Jesinta's place and find that her place has been recently washed. They realise there had to have been previous people who hadn't been able to make payments so they go back and cross-reference missing persons with the list of rejected applicants. They realise that Mill must have been the one to get rid of these bodies. They head to his place of work right as he was about to destroy another body. They bring him back to the station and Stahl informs Kennex that the company is going to replace the hearts of all the extorted people free of cost. Kennex says they're just trying to cover their asses but Stahl points out that the result is still good. Kennex agrees with the sentiment.

Dorian's copy goes back through the files and finds that he broke protocol and stormed a house during a stand-off to kill a man who had planned to kill his girlfriend's son with a shotgun. The little boy hugged him and the look he gave was the most human interaction he ever had. He thanks Dorian for allowing him to remember the moment he was most proud of as a cop. Dorian's copy is brought back to his place of work and has to have his memory wiped, but Dorian allows him to remember the little boy he saved.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

Almost Human S1E5 - "Blood Brothers" Recap


Kennex comes to pick up Dorian who wash having his chest plate replaced. Dorian complains about being stuck in that room with all the other robots and wants his own room. He begins teasing Kennex about his attraction to Stahl. Maldonado is testifying in court at the trial for the murder of Doctor Fuller. A man named Ethan Avery is on trial for the crime; although there is no physical evidence to support this but two eye witnesses place him at the scene.

The first eye witness to testify is named Haley Myers. She does so via a projection since she and the other witness are in protective custody at a safe-house. When she begins her testimony, someone attacks the safe-house and shoots her dead while the people in the courtroom look on in horror except for Avery, who smirks knowingly. The other witness, Maya Vaughn escapes out the bathroom window and runs into the woods. Maya claims to be a psychic who can sometimes communicate with the dead.

Dorian and Kennex are called out to the safe-house and Dorian finds her hiding in the woods. Kennex collects evidence from the safe-house along with Stahl. They exchange a bit of flirty banter, bonding over the fact that they're a fan of the same sports team. Maldonado questions Avery in jail and he taunts her for being unloved, unimportant, alone, and having nothing but her career.

Maya gives her statement to Kennex and Dorian. She says that Haley told her she saw the killer after she was shot. Kennex tells her they don't get their leads from psychics. She says that she had a treatment done on her brain and it gave her the ability to communicate with the dead. She says that Haley saw Ethan Avery kiss her but Kennex dismisses this because Avery was in court during the time of the murder. Kennex and Dorian relay this information to Maldonado but then Rudy comes in and shows them a recording of the killer from the safe house and it is a 100% match for Avery. Kennex theorises that Avery has cloned himself, as Fuller was a fertility doctor and cloning is a branch of fertility. Also, they had never made a connection between Fuller and Avery.

Maya leaves the police apartment and Kennex and Dorian go after her to ensure she stays safe. She tells them Haley asked her to deliver a message to her parents. She gets in their car and after driving for a bit, the car is cut off by another vehicle and armed men come out and begin shooting at them. A bullet penetrates the bullet-proof glass and hits Maya in the shoulder. Kennex gets out and shoots one of the men while the others drives off. Kennex removes the man's mask and find that it looks just like Avery, minus 10 years. Maya is in surgery and Maldonado is concerned about the fact that if she dies, Maldonado may very well get off.

Maya makes it through her surgery and tells Dorian that she got the brain procedure to talk to her dead parents but their possessions were lost in a fire so now she can't communicate with them since she needs possessions in order to speak to a deceased person. Kennex realises that the Avery clones are in possession of a police communications device and that is how they've been able to know what is going on.

Stahl visits the home of the fertility/cloning doctor to search for clues. The house appears mostly deserted and finds photos of the doctor and Avery on a computer. She heads down to the basement and sees several beds. She hears a noise, comes back upstairs and is attacked and taken captive by three Avery clones. The clones call Kennex to tell him they have Stahl and demand a swap: Stahl for Avery. The exchange is to take place in the woods.

Maldonado retrieves Avery from prison and announces his being moved/released on the channel she knows the clones are monitoring. Kennex and Dorian arrives at the designated meet-up spot where the clones are waiting with Stahl. Rudy is hidden in Kennex and Dorian's van to project a hologram of Avery. The plan works long enough to get Kennex and Dorian close to the clones. When the clones realise they have been tricked, Kennex shoots two of them. The third attempts to flee in the van but Dorian chases after him and flips the van over with his bare hands. Nice one, robot man.

Maya successfully testifies against Avery, who is sentenced to prison. Maldonado taunts him in the way that he had done to her before he is taken away. Dorian gives Maya a box of evidence from the fire at her parent's house and she says hello to her parents upon touching a doorknob from the home. Stahl and Kennex share some bourbon at the station and watch a sports match together.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

Almost Human S1E4 - "The Bends" Recap


Kennex and Dorian investigate a double homicide, including an undercover cop, that leads them to a new drug called "The Bends" that is currently causing problems on the streets of their city. There's some question as to whether or not Cooper, the cop, was dirty but Kennex is determined to prove he wasn't, as they were old friends. They find that a criminal called "Bishop" is the one supplying and distributing the drug.

The team decides to send Rudy in to infiltrate Bishop's crime organisation as a drug cook. They fabricate a criminal background to legitimise his cover. He's incredibly nervous when sent in and Dorian follows after him pretending to be his sidekick to help ease his nerves. Rudy is tasked with cooking up a batch of the Bends and concocts one that is 95% pure, thus earning him the opportunity to meet the 'Bishop'.

Kennex and Dorian briefly lose track of Rudy and through some savvy detective work, realise that Bishop is actually Alexio Barros, captain of the 25th precinct narcotics. He was thought to be investigating Bishop. Maldonado calls him when he was with Rudy, to give him a false update for the sole purpose of tracking his location. Rudy gets a bad feeling about his safety when one of Barros' men is called but doesn't pick up. He takes off running and ends up with a bullet wound on his arm before going into hiding. Kennex and Dorian arrive at the warehouse where Rudy is and a shootout ensues. Dorian fights an android while Kennex follows after Barros. Dorian appears to be outmatched but smashes a hook into the android's head and presses the button, which yanks its head off. Kennex fights with Barros, before shooting him. Barros begins threatening Kennex, who replies with a shot to the head, thus avenging his friend.

Kennex and Dorian head out to a strip club to celebrate and allow Rudy to tag along.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

Almost Human S1E3 - "Are You Receiving?" Recap


Kennex wakes and removes his synthetic limb from the charger. After putting it on, he finds that it is squeaking so he uses some olive oil to lube it up and quiet it.

A security guard named James is show by an intruder who leads his team into the building's server room where they appear to have planted a bomb before heading out.

Dorian complains to Kennex about his picking him up late. They then answer a call about a homicide and they head to the building seen previously. They learn that the incident happened in the last twenty minutes and the security cameras have been damaged, though Dorian is still able to access some archive footage. They find the intruders went up to the 25th floor and Kennex orders other officers to begin evacuating the building, as the perps are still in the building. Kennex and Dorian have to take the stairs since the elevator has been compromised.

In an office, the gunmen have taken a crew of people hostage. The lead gunman finds a woman hiding under her desk, who identifies herself as Jenna (Miller), and brings her out into the main room to join the rest of the hostages. He then activates the bomb which creates a hole through several floors and ceilings leading down the main lobby.

Kennex and Dorian continue up the stairs, telling Captain Maldonado to jam signals coming in and out of the building. She tells him not to continue the ascent and focus on getting everyone out. He pretends not to be able to hear her and hangs up on her. Maldonado jams the signal, preventing the gunmen (and officers) from being able to communicate in or out of the building. The lead gunman says that this move is predictable.

Dorian begins taking phone calls from the people that can't get out of the building. One of the calls comes from Paige, Jenna's sister, who is hiding in a utility closet on the 25th floor. From her hideout spot, she can see the gunmen and hostages. She then witnesses a gunman kill one of the men before dragging his body out. The body is then thrown through a window, down to the low enforcement below, with a note taped to his shirt that says, "No cops, stay out."

Maldonado has a drone sent up with a communicator on it so they can begin negotiating. The lead gunman demands that the snipers and cops outside be removed, along with three vehicles and a fission igniter-military-grade technology that she doesn't have the authority to authorise. He gives her 43 minutes to meet his needs. Facial recognition technology identifies him as Lucas Vincent of the Holy Reclamation Army.

Kennex asks Paige how many hostages and gunmen there are. She is distraught, blaming herself for her sister's captivity. He talks her into staying calm, assuring her everything will be okay. Maldonado is worried because she can't get them a fission igniter. Rudy tells her he can make a convincing fake and that the only problem will be if they try to use it right away. Stahl explains that the Holy Reclamation Army is made up of anti-western terrorists aren't afraid to kill or die to get what they want.

Kennex and Dorian are at the 14th floor stairwell and one of the gunmen begins shooting at them. They return fire and follow after the man to the 15th floor. Kennex is eventually able to use his smarts to shoot the shooter, though he's still alive at first. Dorian is able to take out another shooter but gets shot in the head. He takes the bullet and finds the word "start" on it. Dorian identifies the man as a member of the HRA but then finds that the man is actually wearing a face-maker that altered his appearance. The man is actually a low-level criminal. Dorian then tells Kennex that the damage he suffered means he won't be able to walk in five minutes.

Dorian is able to detect seven more facemakers in the building. Kennex gathers some supplies to try to fix Dorian. Kennex cuts something in Dorian's head, making him go offline.  Kennex continues to try to fix Dorian and talks to Paige whilst doing so. Dorian comes back online and it's then that the shot gunman comes into the room of the gunmen, telling them about the two cops.

Vincent calls Maldonado and says he's killed two cops downstairs. Stahl tells Maldonado that he is bluffing so she bluffs back, saying she doesn't know who he killed but they weren't her men. Paige tells Kennex that she will reveal herself and join her sister, saying if they're going to die, they should die together. She says she will leave her phone open but will come out quietly, blending in so the terrorists don't notice her. She's able to get out and sit next to her sister without the terrorists noticing she wasn't there the whole time.

The fake fission igniter is sent up on a drone. Paige tells the gunman she needs to use the restroom and he gives her thirty seconds. She puts her still connected phone on top of the pile of confiscated phones that are on a desk. Kennex and Dorian approach the 25th floor. Kennex hears Vincent tell his men to alert the other crew, leading he and Dorian to realise the men have set up a point-to-point communication system that allows them to talk with another team regardless of the jamming.

One of the men talks about the possibility of a tracker in the igniter and Vincent says it doesn't matter because they won't be bringing it with them anyway. Kennex and Dorian realise that the hostage situation is a diversion for another team performing a heist at a nearby facility of precious metals. The gunmen set up another "light bomb," like the one seen earlier. They also decide to take three hostages each as insurance while the rest will be left in the room with the bomb.

Dorian plans to go through the elevator shafts. Kennex objects but Dorian insists that this is what he was designed for. Dorian makes it to the 25th floor and gets into the vent above the light bomb. He's able to identify the faces displayed by the face-makers. Dorian jumps down and takes out several of the gunmen. Vincent is about to kill him but then Kennex arrives wearing a face-maker of the dead gunman from downstairs and takes out the last two gunmen. Dorian deactivates the light bomb and Kennex tells Maldonado to turn the jammer off. This reactivates the alarm and stops the palladium heist in its tracks, locking the criminals inside the vault.

Later, outside the building, Paige meets Kennex and they thank each other for their help. Maldonado tells Kennex that there will be a ton of paperwork and Rudy is angry at him for using chewing gum to fix Dorian. Kennex takes Dorian out for noodles, even though Dorian doesn't eat, and Dorian admits in the car that he was terrified of dying when he had the gun pointed at his head.

Almost Human airs on Mondays on FOX at 8PM.

You All Need To Be Watching "Almost Human"

Fox has aired the first 2 episodes of Almost Human in a back-to-back 2 night premiere, and sci-fi fans, let us rejoice in this fantastically constructed show.

Almost Human takes place in the year 2048, and is set around the premise that police officers are given android partners as the next step in tackling crime. The show stars Karl Urban as John Kennex, a detective for the Los Angeles police department. In the pilot, we see Kennex awaken after spending almost two years in a coma, following a devastating accident during an ambush in which he lost his leg. It is replaced with a synthetic one, and he is partnered with an android named Dorian, portrayed by Michael Ealy. Dorian is an older model of android that is more human-like, exhibiting emotions and more easily able to connect with human beings.

Kennex is a slightly cantankerous fellow, clearly hardened by a life of fighting crime. At the end of the pilot, he learns that his (now ex-)girlfriend was partially responsible for the ambush that lost him his leg.  At first glance, some may judge him as being rather brute-like, given his demeanour and subpar people-skills. But truly, he is a man who is tremendously devoted to his job, with a strong sense of justice, and deep down, I'd wager he has a heart of gold. Another strong part of the show is the partnership between him and Dorian, which is already growing more cohesive. There will be bumps in the road, especially given Kennex's history of disliking androids, but the most interesting partnerships are ones in which both parties can learn and grow from knowing one another.

Episode 2, "Skin," presented a plot intertwined with one of most people's favourite topics: sex. That's right; in this version of the future, there are sex robots. But the sexual overtones of the episode were used to address a deeper issue. In the show, it is illegal for these sex robots to be developed using human DNA, but the department soon learns that womyn are being kidnapped and their skin harvested to create more appealing sex robots. This is highly analogous to both the countless womyn kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, as well as the many people whose organs are harvested for the black market in today's society.

Almost Human has the sleek, high-budget feel of an exciting, action blockbuster, without relying on cliched action gimmicks to sell its story. Thus far, we have the mystery surrounding Kennex's accident and his ex-girlfriend's involvement that will undoubtedly be unravelled as the season(s) progresses. Only time will tell if we will have a "Big Bad" or some other insidious presence to act as foe to Kennex and Dorian. This viewer is holding out hope for more screen time for Mackenzie Crook's Rudy Lom, who has already proven to be a hilarious scene-stealer. Additionally, I do not wish for Minka Kelly's Valerie Stahl to be little more than a doe-eyed love interest for Kennex. Let's see this woman out in the field, kicking some bad-guy-tail!

I implore as many of you as possible to tune in to Almost Human. Views are essential, given Fox's over-eager trigger finger when it comes to cancelling shows. (No, Fox, you shall never be forgiven for "Firefly".)

Almost Human airs on Mondays at 8/7 c on Fox (right before Sleepy Hollow; perfect line-up right there!)
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