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The most nagging plot elements of the show are the things that have been written to allow the show to exist in the procedural format. In the movie, it was very strongly implied that Eddie doesn't need NZT anymore; his brain is permanently in an NZT state. Of course, in order to introduce relatability and suspense into the show, Brian can't always be in an NZT state. Nor can everyone be on NZT. So we have the Eddie injection and NZT health issues retcon. This is all well and good. But it all leads to the question... why doesn't the FBI just get one of its test subjects to investigate and solve the problems associated with NZT, just as Eddie did. Eddie wasn't even particularly smart or educated before taking NZT. Just find a random neuroscience grad student, give them NZT, and bam. Because plot, that's why. Never a satisfying answer.
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Oct 15, 2015 04:37
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Tenzarin posted:They cant get someone else because it will kill them if they get off NZT, this was pretty much covered in the entire movie. Right, after 12 months. That's plenty of time to do what Eddie did. Give someone with the right background NZT and the required resources, and they'd have no troubles.
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Oct 16, 2015 19:57
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Accretionist posted:He seemed quick to believe Sans about being Morra's man. Yeah, he's not Morra's man. He's Oliver Queen's!
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Oct 18, 2015 21:18
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WarLocke posted:Yeah, I am really liking the Brian/NZT Brian divide. It'll be interesting to see if they keep working at cross-purposes in the future. I think it's a good response to "crime solving is boring when it's NZT Brian vs. regular people", to have the aspect of Brian vs NZT Brian.
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Oct 22, 2015 19:26
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We were all worried that this would be a stock standard procedural, but things are looking pretty promising.
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Nov 4, 2015 19:59
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My god Brian stealing the Adic's phone was hilarious. The show blends in good comedy with serious plotlines and somehow does it in a way that doesn't give the show a generally silly atmosphere. While this show is a sequel to the movie, in many ways it's a spiritual sequel to Chuck.
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Nov 11, 2015 07:05
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Holyshoot posted:Didn't that happen to Eddie in the movie? It's strongly implied Eddie developed a permanent pill that made him always in an NZT state. It seems that's been retconned in this series. Though it could also be that Eddie is just lying about taking the shot and pills himself for years.
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Nov 13, 2015 18:46
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Digital Jedi posted:I was surprised when he told his Dad the truth. And now scared for what will happen to him. I wasn't, for a really cool reason. The reason Bryan didn't end up telling his dad previously was because he was scared what Sands was going to do if he did. But Morra basically convinced Bryan that he, and by extension Sands, are actually the good guys. I totally buy Bryan telling his dad as a direct result of now believing that Sands and Morra wouldn't actually hurt him. It was never explicitly mentioned, but it feels right thematically as a reason that Bryan changed his mind about telling him.
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Nov 18, 2015 22:22
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DivisionPost posted:That may have been part of it, but his dad laying the guilt on him and assuring him he'd rather be hurt or dead than shut out -- that scene was amazing, by the way -- definitely pushed him over the edge. Yeah, definitely. But he still wouldn't have done it if he had thought it would result in his dad getting murdered. But his conversation with Eddie means he no longer believes it to be the case.
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Nov 18, 2015 23:14
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That reminds me. Do we think Mike and Ike (and everyone else) are actually referring to themselves as that? Or is Brian mentally replacing the mention of their names everytime? It seems likely it's the latter, but that introduces some weird "unreliable narrator" potential to the show that I'm not really sure it needs.
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Nov 19, 2015 01:12
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It's kind of weird we didn't see any discussion between Rebecca and Brian this past episode about his extra NZT stash given that this episode took place over a significant period of time.
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Nov 20, 2015 18:41
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So was the most recent episode a midseason finale or something? Otherwise, where is my favorite new show? This is unacceptable 
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Dec 9, 2015 00:25
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Allyn posted:Nah, this gap's just for who knows what reason, the midseason finale's next week They did this poo poo to Person of Interest for years, now they are doing it to one of their great new shows? God network execs are terrible. Like, really. A two week gap for no reason, then a mid season finale, then a gap for who knows how long? I don't understand how tv channels, that are typically so obsessed with ratings, don't seem to understand that putting random breaks in the middle of a show (particularly one that isn't purely procedural) isn't good for ratings.
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Dec 9, 2015 00:31
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The issues not the amount of break, but the randomness of the breaks. Casual viewers have very little patience. The show being off for 2 weeks without any real explanation, then on for one week, then off again for an extended period of time is confusing and hurts the ratings. It's much better to have the show run uninterrupted to mid season, at which point it came be made clear that it's coming back after an extended break. This limbo of "is the show still on or not???" is never a good thing.
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Dec 9, 2015 03:40
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I wish Casey had gotten away with the full stash. Having someone also on NZT as an antagonist, but slowly running out of pills as they get worse and worse side effects could have been a fun arc.
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Dec 16, 2015 06:16
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Gonz posted:Casey took NZT, and then developed the personality of a T-1000. One thing I enjoyed about this episode is that it gave credence to the theory that Eddie is primarily interested in Brian because of his psychology. Anyone can take NZT, but only some people can take it without becoming sociopaths (Casey) or losing control (Buffy's boyfriend).
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Dec 16, 2015 18:05
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Tenzarin posted:I was really hoping he would become the new bad guy, but he died like instantly. Yeah. The problem with many shows with dragging things out is when characters keep secrets from one another pointlessly, not that everything has to be resolved super quickly. Brian needs someone on NZT as an antagonist, and a slowly deteriorating Casey who is a "good guy", but willing to do what he needs to in order to survive would have been great for that.
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Dec 17, 2015 20:19
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Anyone wanting to avoid spoilers should avoid the next episode title if at all possible. All may not be what it seems, but still. It's frustrating when episode names do this.,
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Dec 25, 2015 01:25
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When is the show returning? Anyway, I've been checking out Elementary thanks to this threads recommendation. It's actually really highlighted for me why Limitless is so special. I've only seen the first season and a bit of the second of Elementary, but it's considerably more episodic. I enjoy that Limitless is so good at weaving in it's overarching story into almost every episode (though perhaps that'll change with the larger season order). The main thing though, is Brian. While there are many shows with super brilliant leads solving crimes, they typically want to avoid making the protagonist too perfect, so they give them serious character flaws. Sherlock, for example, is an irredeemably insufferable poo poo. Brian by contrast, is someone you want to root for. I think this is why the show works so well, because Brian can be "perfect" while on the pill, and have flaws or otherwise struggle with the nature of his NZT self when he's no longer on it. There's no need to add flaws to him to prevent him from being boringly perfect, because he's only on NZT for 12 hours at a time. So he's allowed to be likable through his humor, as well as hyper competent. I think it's part of why this show feels like a spiritual successor to Chuck, because his ability to be hyper competent and remain someone you want to succeed worked much the same way because of the intersect.
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Jan 3, 2016 05:04
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The first scene with Eddie was top notch. All of Brian's scenes have him tuning out the world around him, while he visualizes things and plans. It was an interesting contrast with Eddie, who was doing his NZT planning this while in the middle of a speech. It seems this was deliberately contrasted to highlight Eddie being at a higher level? Because Brian definitely does tune out; for example, he was ignoring Boyle while he was in the car this episode. Although he can do the "rude" catch up thing, he doesn't seem able to do his thing while in a conversation with others to anywhere near the same degree that Eddie demonstrated. Just thought it was a cool way to "show, not tell" Eddie being smarter than Brian, as well as demonstrate something inhuman that someone can do on NZT. I'm really not sure where they are heading with Eddie though. Although Bradley Cooper clearly has some serious nostalgia for his first (?) leading role, I don't know if they can really utilize his character that well when he's appearing so sporadically. Like, it's fantastic that he guests. But he stops the appearance of another other real "big bads". I can't see an A-lister continuing for more than one season?
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Jan 6, 2016 21:33
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Accretionist posted:That would reinforce the notion, too, that Mora's interest in Brian is based on his psychologicsl stability. This was one thing I wasn't too sure about with this episode. Morra's speech at the end implied this wasn't the case, since he implied he thinks Brian shouldn't worry about that so much. But clearly, Brian's psychological stability IS his desire to retain parts of his non-NZT self. It could all be a "trick" to have said that, but ehhhhh.
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Jan 7, 2016 16:37
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SLOSifl posted:I really liked that Nas also called him Ike. She probably thinks that's his real name. When expense reports come in, she's like "who the gently caress is Jason?" We don't know that she did call him Ike. The show does a weird thing where it superimposes some of Brian's idiosyncrasies onto the world, regardless of whether he's in the scene or not.
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Feb 25, 2016 04:18
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Someone at CBS hates shows that bill themselves as procedurals, but actually have lots of season long drama storylines. Person of Interest was killed off in much the same way for the same reason.
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Mar 3, 2016 00:18
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If there's one place the show misses the mark, it's Brian's family. For a bunch of people that claim to love him, they don't seem to give a poo poo about what he feels or has to say. It's not necessarily that they are unrealistic (families certainly don't behave "rationally" all the time), but they are definitely a drag on the flow of the show. Every time they show up it's "great, I wonder how some member of Brian's family will self righteously decide they know what's best for Brian this episode".
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Mar 9, 2016 04:27
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odiv posted:Yeah, GlobalTV is showing this Mondays here now; we get the next one on the 4th. Am I supposed to keep track of when Americans can watch it? Yep; at least use spoiler tags if you know it airs a day earlier.
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Mar 22, 2016 21:32
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[spoiler from the new episode] I love that any "why doesn't Eddie Morra just save Brian's rear end?" that could happen in the future is basically dealt with as him simply not giving a poo poo. I think it's a smart way to deal with him as a character that is SIGNIFICANTLY better than him being the bad guy. He's not the bad guy, he's just been on NZT for so long that all he cares about is a long game that no one else can see. His plans and morality are so far beyond even NZT Brian that the show can plausibly bring him in randomly whenever they feel like it with no need for explanation for his absence or interest (or lack thereof). It's a genuinely clever way of dealing with Bradley Cooper as a presence on the show.
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Mar 22, 2016 23:34
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tao of lmao posted:I have a bad feeling CBS isn't going to renew this show and I'm going to be so sad. Yeah, it wasn't announced as renewed when a bunch of other CBS shows were the other day 
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Mar 27, 2016 17:31
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If this show gets canceled, it'll be in large part because of the bullshit on again off again schedule it's been given by CBS.
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Apr 13, 2016 04:14
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Kilson posted:I (sort of) know why networks do it, but I think it's a super antiquated system and probably hurts them way more than it helps. Almost certainly. TV network execs just haven't understood the move away from episodic shows and toward serial drama. Something that's episodic with basically no continuity isn't hurt by breaks, and you can position shows to reap rewards during sweaps etc. But it just kills any sort of show with continuity in its story line; not only does it break momentum, it also results in people missing episodes since they never know when it's on, and these people eventually will stop watching altogether because they've missed an important chapter of the story.
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Apr 13, 2016 15:25
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To be this close to the end of the season with no word on renewal when so many other shows on the network have been renewed is an extremely worrying sign.
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Apr 23, 2016 17:05
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I'm interested to know if Brian's sudden flashes of insight while off NZT will ever be developed upon. Lots of people (myself included) were annoyed when they "retconned" Eddie needing to take NZT, I'd find it very satisfying if it turns out that taking more and more NZT eventually gets you to the point (as long as you're immune to side effects) that it's permanent, and he's just bullshitting everyone about needing it or immunity shots.
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Apr 28, 2016 03:54
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odiv posted:How was Piper showing up at the end and magically fixing everything not a hallucination? I kept waiting for Brian's whole world to implode right then and it didn't. I'm still kind of waiting long after the credits are over. If they'd received notification of renewal, I think there is a good chance it would have been an NZT hallucination. But since this could be the last ever episode, they've gone with the safe option of something that would be a satisfying conclusion while still hinting at the potential of the future. I am glad Brian is permanently immune though, NZT side effects are just a huge drag on the fun of the show.
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Apr 28, 2016 04:02
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Well CBS, maybe the show with lots of serial plotlines would have had better ratings if you hadn't a) tried to force it into a bog standard procedural mold than meant the show hemorrhaged viewers at the beginning while the pieces were put in place (at which point the show was actually able to be really unique despite the mold) and b) gave the show an absolutely bonkers schedule. One week on. Two weeks off. Three weeks on. Two weeks off. One week on. Two weeks off. One week on. One week off. One week on etc etc. "Show's like Limitless and Person of Interest just don't get good ratings, people just can't follow the storylines, wonder why?  "Perhaps the issue isn't due to serial storytelling, but just maybe that your schedule means people constantly miss episodes, have no idea what's going on as a result, and drop it.
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May 18, 2016 21:00
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