Early Look: “Almost Human” Delivers Cinematic Thrills

Early Look: “Almost Human” Delivers Cinematic Thrills

By Jon Lachonis  October 10, 2013Normally I would wait until we were a little closer to premiere time to start talking about a new show, but with  Almost Human I just can’t contain myself. This new series from J.H. Wyman (“fringe”) and J.J. Abrams (Everything Cool) is full on televised adrenaline. I haven’t been this engaged from beginning to end of a pilot since LOST, and that is not a comparison I make lightly. Now to be clear,  Almost Human is a very different sort of story from the more mythology driven Sci Fi of recent years—equal parts cop drama, Science Fiction actioner, and technology driven philosophy;  Almost Human lands as a perfectly constructed introspection of the human soul from two characters points of view, and guess what: one of them isn’t even human, steeped in action so aggressively effective you’ll swear you’re sitting in the audience for a $100m big screen thriller.One aspect of  Almost Human that floored me right away was the expert world building. The series is set decades into the future where the rise of technology in the criminal world has forced law enforcement to follow suit, pairing every human police officer with a sophisticated android counterpart. Of course this is an easy scenario to say but  Almost Human sells it effortlessly. Whether it is intentional or not, the world seems to reflect real life struggles with technology in our here and now: early adoption, social status, techno paranoia, and of course the philosophical conundrum that becomes more and more prevalent as technology invades the moment to moment niches of our life: are we giving up our humanity to shiny screens and machine augmented lifestyles?  Almost Human clearly projects where those anxieties, and realities, might be 35 years from now in a way that evolves from our technological present.Karl Urban (“Star Trek”) stars as futuristic Police Officer named John Kennex who is wounded in an assault on a Technological crime syndicate. Kennex is blown to bits in the assault and wakes up to find himself part cyborg. Kennex is not entirely trusting of his android counterparts, specifically in the fact that their decision making omits good old human compassion and the willingness to take a risk to save a downed foe. This struggle is reflected throughout the pilot by his seeming inability to merge entirely with his own bionic parts.Michael Ealy (“Barbershop”) plays Dorian, an android that is very different from the contemporary units on the force. Dorian’s programming demands that he constantly become more human, a stark contrast to the usual models and one that ultimately led to his product line being scrapped. As a result you get a ‘character’ in Dorian, and one that approached basic human philosophy in a vocal and very intellectually stimulating way.I don’t want to give away any plot details of the Pilot episode, but it moves and breathes very much like a big screen adventure and is saturated with well delivered character introductions and lands a very effective hook for the series’ mytharc. Written by series creator J.H. Wyman, the pilot perfectly straddles the world of technology with human drama with layer upon layer of subtle connect tissue—a skill he no-doubt perfected while working on “Fringe.” Fans of that series will be happy to know there are some stylistic hangovers, particularly in the ‘weird tech’ area.Tech aside,  Almost Human succeeds most brilliantly in its character work. Urban and Ealy expertly embody characters that are meant to examine the human condition from privileged viewpoints, and as with all great character stories those viewpoints lead to revelations that resonate with us as an audience. If you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to the human/android trope, think again: Urban and Ealy’s interplay results in TV’s first  ro-bromance.  It’s a hell of a ride with deep characters, perfecto Sci-Fi brilliance and all around fun. Watch it!“Almost Human” Premieres November 4 th at 8/7c