Limitless 1x03 "The Legend of Marco Ramos" (Your Life Isn't Yours Anymore)

"The Legend of Marco Ramos"

Original Airdate: October 6, 2015

The last CBS procedural that I really loved was CSI:NY. If you read my "getting to know me" post or know anything about me at all, you know that I talk about this show quite frequently whenever I refer to fandom. I connected with CSI:NY because I latched onto a pairing that I adored (Danny/Lindsay) and fixated on their growth as characters. The reason that procedurals work, when they’re good, is that they use cases in order to illuminate characters. That’s not exactly what Limitless is doing, and yet it’s still one of the most captivating and engaging show on television this fall –– procedural or otherwise.

This show is, as I have stated before, not centered on an ensemble of characters. I think that this is often the problem with procedurals and why they falter so easily –– they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to engage the audience with the stories of six different CSIs or FBI agents or Seals that, instead of connecting with one or more, we end up connecting with no one. They fall into archetypal boxes: there’s the beautiful but guarded one; the stoic leader; the second-in-command; the technological wiz, etc. We’re often bombarded with so many backstories and so much potential that we lose focus easily. CSI:NY kind of did that, admittedly: they had a lot of characters and a lot of moving pieces (the entire franchise does, really), with characters and techs floating in and out during seasons.

I expected Limitless to fall into the same pattern –– to try and divide its time between Rebecca and Brian and Boyle and all of the other agents. But it hasn’t. It has, instead, chosen to hone in on the one character I really care about: Brian Finch. I’ve said that this show is unlike other procedurals for a variety of reasons and the chief reason is that the show is focused on one person, not an ensemble. This is not to say that I don’t care about Rebecca or Boyle, but… well, I care about them less than I care about Brian. And the show is ASKING me to do that, not because they’re irrelevant but because by focusing on Brian, I will actually learn more about Rebecca and Boyle and Brian’s family. Rather than bombard me with stories about Rebecca’s past or Boyle’s home life, Limitless engages me because it asks me to care about Brian first and foremost –– he is the one who is the driving force of this narrative –– and then care about other characters on another level.

This is smart and it’s inventive, and it is why Limitless is making its case to be a strong procedural that breaks the very mold of a procedural. But, for however much ground Limitless is breaking, it is still a crime show in many ways, and its stories are indicative of that. So let’s talk about the series’ third episode as it pertains to the procedural and also my impressions of it overall.

THE CASE

I’ll be honest here –– this case was the weakest that we’ve seen in the three episodes. Last week, I was actually able to follow along with interest. In “The Legend of Marco Ramos,” I found myself infinitely less invested in the procedural, crime-solving part of this show. That’s not to say that this was a bad episode by any means, because I think that what we learned about the characters revealed more than I could have ever gleaned from a crime scene. But still, I wish it had been a tad more interesting.

What I did appreciate about this case was that it really demonstrated the boundaries the FBI has with consultants –– realism portrayed on a crime show is a novel concept, apparently –– because Brian doesn’t get to go everywhere with Rebecca. He doesn’t get to visit crime scenes or carry a badge or a gun. He’s not immediately integrated into the crime-solving aspects of the team just because he’s now ON the team, technically. And that’s great. It would be really implausible to see Brian go from average guy to someone with his own desk and trotting along at Rebecca’s heels to every dead body.

Otherwise, I’m ashamed to admit that I followed some of the case (snipers, illegitimate children, and a shady task force are really what I gathered), but really wasn’t extremely invested.

EMOTIONAL RESONANCE

What really struck me though about this episode was just how emotionally poignant it was. This is a show that focuses on Brian Finch –– a man who takes a pill to become smarter and better in every way. So what happens when he meets his ex-girlfriend on his way to work one morning while on NZT? Short answer: she becomes interested in him again.

In a scene that will become extremely important and moving at the end of the episode, Brian opens a beer and asks Rebecca to join him (because it’s beer o’clock, and she obviously does not join him but does stick around for the conversation). He asks her what to do in the situation of Shauna, his ex-girlfriend. What if she only likes Brian because of NZT? What if the Brian off of the pill isn’t interesting or attractive to her? Rebecca is baffled by the conversation because she tells Brian that he’s thinking of himself as two different people, when he is not. He’s only ONE Brian. The young man disagrees. It’s this mini-identity crisis that is so captivating about the show.

There’s a duality to the character that Jake McDorman is playing and he absolutely (and stunningly, but we’ll talk about that in a bit) understands the two different sides of Brian. They’re subtle but those levels are there –– Brian on NZT is always more deliberate, more stoic, speaking with more clarity and intention. Brian off of NZT slouches more, his tone and phrasing more relaxed, his attitude a lot more carefree. These are all things that Jake McDorman talked about at Comic-Con –– notes Bradley Cooper gave him about playing two different sides of the same character.

Brian, in a heartbreaking little moment, tells Rebecca that he knows she’s wrong –– he IS two different people and given the choice between Brian on NZT and off of it… which does she think someone would choose? Rebecca tells Brian that if Shauna can’t accept who he is off of the pill, then she isn’t deserving of him. And if she accepts him off of the pill, then there’s nothing to really worry about. Brian takes this little pep talk to heart and has his date with Shauna.

Okay, look, I’m not really a prude. I’m totally okay with more amorous scenes on television as long as they’re done to enhance the show and for the betterment of characters. But can I just say how impressed I am that Limitless steered away from that for the scenes between Brian and Shauna? It could have easily gone there and would have been expected (the show does air at 10 PM, so I assume it has a little more leeway from the network), but chose to give the audience a glimpse of who Brian Finch really is and what he cares about. And this guy? He’s extremely endearing. He stays up late, laughing with Shauna and joking with her. They talk about the serious stuff. AND THEY FALL ASLEEP TOGETHER.

I mean, come on. When was the last time you saw that happen on a procedural and/or a show that airs at 10 PM?

The truth that we were privy to was this: Brian has a big heart. He’s endearingly sarcastic, with incomparable wit, and he loves pretty deeply. He FEELS deeply. He’s not the kind of character who is determined to remain stoic or guarded. Brian doesn’t emotionally distance himself because he’s afraid of love. He’s scared that people won’t love him back –– that they won’t accept his flaws because he doesn’t accept them. If he was given a choice, he would be a Brian on NZT all the time. Because he thinks that guy is better. He believes no one would choose to be with the person that he is off the drug. Isn’t that just heartbreaking?

Brian’s skills on NZT may be the reason that he gets accolades and the reason he solves cases, but it’s not the reason he is loved by other people or accepted by them.

At the end of the episode, feeling happy because he’s moving forward again with Shauna, Brian is at a bar and a man approaches him –– a man who works for Eddie Morra –– named “Mr. Sands.” As it turns out, Mr. Sands is going to start requesting that Brian do some of his bidding too. Brian incorrectly states that he works for the FBI. Shady Sands (how I’ll refer to him from here on out, I’ve decided) corrects Brian: Eddie Morra is the man they both work for. And that means Eddie continues to be the puppet master, tugging at Brian’s strings. With one move out of place or unapproved by Eddie and Shady Sands, all that Brian holds dear could come crumbling down –– and not just with his family, but with Rebecca and Boyle, and Shauna.

As Shady Sands departs the bar with this ominous warning, realization and horror and emotion are clear on Brian’s face (serious kudos to Jake McDorman who portrayed the progression of those emotions SO powerfully). He’s horrified and so are we, because what started out as a way to become better and to help others has become an extremely tangled and dangerous web for Brian.

The episode ends with a really heartbreaking and extremely well-acted scene on Jake McDorman and Jennifer Carpenter’s parts. Brian –– who just broke up with Shauna to protect her –– is sitting on the floor, crying. Like, it’s heartbreaking. I wish I could explain how heartbreaking it was to see Brian Finch, completely vulnerable on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. Rebecca, of course, doesn’t realize how emotional Brian truly is (or what he’s really emotional about because he partially lies to her, telling her the reason is Shauna when in actuality it’s Shauna and the web of lies he’s tangled in). But when she does notice Brian’s pain, she immediately softens. Rebecca is a really interesting character because in a lot of ways, she was immediately drawn to Brian and protective of him.

But she’s still an agent, so she’s still most protective of herself. This was a chance, however, to see Rebecca prove that she is always on Brian’s side –– that he is her partner just as much as Boyle or anyone else in the FBI is. That she genuinely cares about him. So she listens to his story and then walks to the fridge and grabs two beers. This causes Brian to smile for a moment and it’s a beautiful display of how close these two are already becoming. Rebecca is willing to care about the things Brian cares about –– even if they’re silly –– to prove that she cares about HIM.

Limitless is a series that, so far, is less about solving crimes and more about exploring humanity. The crimes provide a backdrop for the characters and a way for them to talk about important issues. I’m sincerely appreciative of that and I hope the show continues to focus on that element, above all else.

Bits & pieces:

• I absolutely love the directing in this show. If you’re not watching Limitless, you need to be. It has some of the most beautiful directing on television, and the graphics are integrated SO well. Even better than Sherlock in a lot of ways (and that’s saying something).
• Yes, I too see the irony in the fact that the last procedural I loved and the thing that hooked me into fandom and writing about it and the show that has now captivated me both star Hill Harper.
• Analeigh Tipton guest-starred in this episode which was delightful for two reasons: 1) It reunited the pair from the horrible (sorry, it was) comedy Manhattan Love Story, and 2) I just found out they’re together in real life which is adorable.
• Also I really love Analeigh’s short hair. It works for her.
• There was an exchange that had Jake McDorman and Analeigh Tipton read emojis aloud and it was so cute.
• Mike was more prominent than Ike was in this episode, but both were awesome especially in the first sequence they have with Brian Finch (and the sequence where they’re helping him piece together shredded emails and documents, with exasperation).
• “That’s… a cynical way of putting it.”
• “The file on this guy is amazing. It’s like some kind of bad movie.”
• The graphics and directing is awesome, but what is also awesome is that this show has Brian imagine highly-stylized sequences which HE APPARENTLY ALSO NARRATES ALOUD TO THE OTHER CHARACTERS. We don’t hear him do this, but we hear everyone interject with objections, so he obviously does. This week we got a stylized sequence of Rebecca taking down a perp and one of what Brian imagines Marco Ramos’ life to be.
• “Do you think they kill consultants?”
• “The tall sniper database?” “That’s… not a thing, is it?”
• “There aren’t two Brians. There’s… you.”
• “You ran like a rabbit, now you’re gonna die like a snake. … Wait, why would I say that?”
• Brian made a mini paper airplane that said “bad guys” on it and if you don’t think that was the cutest thing in the episode, you’re probably right. Brian playing with a baby was the cutest. But this was a close second.
• Literally my entire timeline watching Limitless said, upon Mr. Sands’ entrance: “WAIT, IS THAT WALTER FROM ARROW?” Clearly I have never been more proud.
• “It’s a tough thing to get used to –– the idea that your life isn’t yours anymore.”
• The final scene was so good that I’m still talking about it in the final bullet point.

What are you all thinking of Limitless? If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend it. And I never steer you guys wrong! ;)

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How "Limitless" is Rising Above Other Procedurals

When I saw the Limitless pilot at San Diego Comic-Con, I thought it was good. I thought it was funny and it definitely had potential. I was extremely impressed by and engaged with the producers and what they had to say during our roundtable in the press room.

But I'll admit it -- I was concerned. Because the show was picked up by CBS, there is a certain stigma attached to it. Namely, that stigma is "procedural." Automatically, I often cringe at that word because it's synonymous, so often, with "formulaic" and "predictable." I say this, of course, as someone who watched CSI:NY for the vast majority of the time it was on the air and as a person who loved the original CSI, too. I enjoy procedurals (I watch The Blacklist, which I consider to be one of those and for a long time there, Sleepy Hollow was essentially a case-of-the-week series too), but they often leave something to be desired. They can become dry, like a hamster spinning around the same wheel, and mostly end up recycling plots from procedurals before (or, oftentimes even from earlier seasons of their own show).

So I was apprehensive, expecting that maybe Limitless would start out of the gate strong and its second episode would turn into the generic, predictable formula of a procedural that I have seen hundreds of times over dozens of years. And while there are elements of the series that tie it to a procedural in theme (the FBI, a case-of-the-week story structure, etc.), there are a lot more elements that set this show apart from everything I've seen recently on television. It is emerging in a market where there are more procedurals than ever fighting for our attention (you still have NCIS and its spinoffs, Criminal Minds, new series like Blindspot, returning veterans like Law and Order, hits such as The Blacklist and Scorpion, etc.), and there are a few things that have managed to set apart this show from all the rest. I thought I would discuss some of the elements within the first two episodes of Limitless alone that have made this series rise above a lot of new and returning series for me, while also explaining what I hope the series will continue to do.

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'Limitless' Is Fun And Heartfelt, With An Extra Dose of Something Special

Limitless, "Pilot"

Season premiere: September 22, 2015

I flew into San Diego very late on the Wednesday night of Comic-Con. That morning, I had gotten up and put in a full day of work (8-5 PM), then ventured to the airport where delays and near-missed connections were waiting for me. So by the time I landed on the opposite coast at 12 AM, technically Thursday morning... well, suffice it to say that I was exhausted. But, as you do when you're at Comic-Con, I powered through on three hours of sleep and was insanely grateful for the light schedule I had on Thursday. "Light," of course, actually meant a three-hour block in Ballroom 20 spent with CBS's returning and new series, followed by another hour and a half in the press room with the cast and producers of the aforementioned series. CBS was the only press room that I had the opportunity to be in during SDCC this year, but it was an absolute blast. I got to talk with the cast and producers of shows like Under the Dome, Scorpion, and Zoo.

Plus, I got to talk to the producers and cast of the network's new series, Limitless. CBS screened the pilot for us during the block and I was really engaged with the story (even though I had never seen the movie). I was even more enthralled, however, when I spoke to the producers and director Marc Webb during the roundtable discussion. If you somehow missed our interviews with them and with Jake McDorman and Hill Harper, go take a listen. They were great.

Limitless follows a similar plot to the movie of the same name. And though it's destined to become another in a long line of CBS's procedural dramas, it has an extra dose of something special. And that "something special" goes by the name of Jake McDorman. In the series, he plays Brian, a young and struggling musician who watches everyone around him grow up and succeed while he desperately tries to cling to his dreams, even when they come crashing down around him. Brian is very much of a stereotypical slacker character -- one who you might assume would be played by Jake's former co-star Scott Michael Foster. (Seriously, WHY DOES SCOTT MICHAEL FOSTER GET TYPECAST SO MUCH?) The real, true gems in the Limitless pilot are the heart and emotional stakes that are interjected. Brian's father is sick and ailing and the relationship between Brian and his parents is the one thing in the episode that truly allows us to see Brian as a dimensional, relatable character.

It would be easy to categorize Brian as a slacker, of course, and write him off as nothing more. But Jake McDorman manages to unearth layers and nuances in Brian's character that are exceptional. CBS is full of crime dramas and multi-camera comedies. The network knows what it likes and what works for them. And really? I respect that. But in a crop of so many similar shows, Limitless manages to stand out because of Jake's endearing portrayal of Brian. Whether he's offering business advice to a hot dog vendor (played by writer and executive producer Craig Sweeny) or standing by the bedside of his father, Brian is a character who you actually WANT to root for. At our SDCC roundtable, Rebecca asked the production team why Jake McDorman was the right person for the role of Brian. Here is what executive producer Alex Kurtzman said:

Jake… there’s an inherent likability about him. [...] We need to sympathize with [Brian]. We need to feel his struggle. And Jake is just so likable and his range is really wide. He can play very goofy and funny and he can play very serious. Which is really [evident] when you see him in scenes with his father … You really felt this tremendous sense of bonding. And, you know, he throws himself into this dilemma to save his dad. If that storyline doesn’t work, the whole thing falls apart. And he did it beautifully.

That's exactly what will set this drama apart from all of the others that are debuting this season, and what set it apart for me and my Greek-loving heart: Jake McDorman's portrayal. As Alex noted above, too, Limitless is actually a very funny pilot. If you've seen the film, you'll definitely notice homages to it in the way of directing and also in mimicking some of the scenes that Bradley Cooper originated. Though Limitless is -- in some ways -- an off-shoot of the film, it stands on its own and doesn't really rely on the film as a foundation. From the opening action sequence to the comedic Brian-on-NZT montage to the emotional moments in which Brian breaks down, the series is laying its own foundation and inviting the audience into Brian's story. It's a complex story, mind you, because it's a story about a drug. This drug, called NZT, is a mind-opening one -- as Brian notes in the pilot's voiceover (there are a lot of those in pilots not just this season but in general, I've found) : "you remember a lot more than you think you do."

When Brian is high on NZT, he's extremely accomplished, extremely intelligent, and extremely poised. Obviously, off of NZT, Brian is seen by the people around him as a disappointment and as wasted potential. I love the contrast in the pilot and I love something that director Marc Webb (who I got to sit next to during the roundtable and who also directed things like, oh, you know... (500) Days of Summer and The Amazing Spider-Man) said. If you watch the pilot, take care to notice the differences, directing-wise, between Brian on NZT and him off of it. Let me know what you pick up on because I definitely didn't notice the subtle nuances that both Jake and Marc chose to implement, but they're rather brilliant.

Since Limitless is a procedural, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Rebecca (Jennifer Carpenter) or Boyle (Hill Harper). Boyle isn't as big of a presence in the pilot as Rebecca is, and though I never watched Dexter, I can appreciate great acting and Jennifer definitely brought it. There's a scene, in particular, that takes place between Brian and Rebecca on a rooftop that is really lovely. And there's a dichotomy there, too -- the relationship is one based on slight mistrust but also respect, but also a bit of an annoyance and maybe a little infatuation too. Because Brian is a riddle to be solved and an issue to be contained by Rebecca. I'm really excited to see how their relationship develops as they likely will continue to collaborate and clash (given the fact that Brian becomes a part of the team at the episode's end).

There are a few great surprises in this episode, none of which is as great as Bradley Cooper's appearance. He's an executive producer on the series but also will be occasionally guest-starring as his schedule allows (I think I recall them noting at SDCC that he's slated for at least four episodes? But maybe I'm completely making that up.). And even though I hadn't seen the film Limitless before watching the show, Bradley Cooper's Eddie Morra is a really great role model/threatening guardian figure for Jake McDorman's Brian. Their scene together in the warehouse is so great. Also, Bradley Cooper is gorgeous. Did you guys know that?

Overall, I definitely recommend that you check out Limitless when it premieres this Tuesday night at 10 PM on CBS. I'll most likely be live-tweeting, so feel free to join in!

Pilot Rating: 

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#JennAtSDCC: Roundtable Interviews (Cast & Producers of 'Limitless')

LIMITLESS @ SDCC

Press room interviews, featuring EPs Craig Sweeny, Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, director Marc Webb, Jake McDorman (Brian Finch), and Hill Harper (Spelman Boyle)

I'm slowly making my way through transcribing our San Diego Comic-Con CBS roundtable interviews. (I'll be working on coverage from SDCC for the next few weeks, it seems like.) In case you missed our first interviews and transcriptions with the cast of Scorpion, you can listen to/read them here!

I absolutely loved sitting down with the cast and EPs of CBS's new fall series Limitless (loosely based on the movie of the same name). We were treated, as I mentioned in my Thursday recap, to a screening of the pilot which definitely exceeded my expectations and solidified a place on my watch-list for the fall. The pilot is beautifully directed, the cinematography and integration of graphics is stellar, and the acting is fantastic. (Though I'm really a sucker for anything and everything Jake McDorman-related after watching him for years in Greek and Hill Harper was my constant high school TV companion in my days of CSI:NY obsession.) Below, I've linked off to the audio of our interviews via Soundcloud, as well as transcribed them.

Enjoy and be sure to check out this new series on CBS in the fall!

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