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S01.E09: Headquarters!

thewhiteowl

By thewhiteowl
in Limitless [V]

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thewhiteowl

thewhiteowl

Brian offers to use NZT to capture the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" criminals in two weeks, in exchange for Naz giving him his own personal work "headquarters" at the agency. Also, the secretive nature of Brian's new life working for the Bureau creates a rift between him and his father.

 

 

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Hipshooter

Hipshooter

(edited)

Ummm  this one kind of stretches the suspension of disbelief so important in a show like this.Still watching though. 

 

 

Just shakes head and wonders ........seriously? What next???

Edited by Hipshooter
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Netfoot

Netfoot

Tracking down the Top Ten is the sort of thing I'd expect the FBI to task Brian with.  Not the usual drug-dealer of the week that should be the business of the regular cops anyway.  

 

And why doesn't Brian solve the occasional non-criminal problem once in a while?   I mean as the primary task for the day, not just in passing, while on the track of a jay-walker or something.  Having a resource like his brain and using it for dealing with mundane issues like crime?  A waste.

 

I'm also very disappointed in Brian's dad.  Brian's been a bit of a fuck-up all his life, but now, finally, he seems to be getting somewhere.  Instead of being glad for Brian, he's like somebody mashed his corns, because Brian has a classified job and he hesitates to spill the beans?

  • Love 6
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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

I wonder if Brian randomly assigned Mike the cushy case and Ike the the harder on at random, or did Ike do something to piss him off.

 

This episode was goofy as hell, but I enjoyed it.  I do wonder why Naz just doesn't have Brian do this all the time from now on, since it was so successful, but I guess they'll just chalk it up to bureaucratic reasons or some such.  I noticed that Rebecca seemed to getting much more amusement out of Brian's antics compared to the norm.

 

Brooks (Desmond Harrington) figuring out Brian is on some kind of drug, makes me think he is being set up for something.  Boyle is still kind of a question mark too.  He seemed to enjoy some of what they are doing, but he also is clearly uneasy with Brian still.

 

I was wondering what was going on with Brian's family.  It took me a while to remember that he and his dad at a fight last time they were together, but I guess he knows now, so I have to think this could get bad if Sands or Morra ever find out.  I still wonder what is going on with his mom too, because Blair Brown isn't giving much to do.

 

The ending with all the "movies" cracked me up.  Brian's so silly!

  • Love 4
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krimimimi

krimimimi

Good effort once again! Best new show this season! (Damning with faint praise?) Fine: thoroughly enjoy it. Can't even say that about most of the older shows I watch. This show makes me smile and sometimes even laugh. I like that.

 

Loved the movie clips at the end, the clay figures, the 10 most wanted movie... The voice work during that! Too funny. And "That was all in one take!" "It was actually a little showy for my taste..." lol excellent! I know people like that.

 

Really like that Boyle's not cool with the drug use, and that he legitimately questions where this will take Brian in the future. He still needs more personality and HH can certainly do more when provided, so c'mon writers: do him a solid. It's hard to flesh out the straight guy, but it can be done. Thought the drug usage issue was nicely contrasted with Brian's sister getting baked at his place, where even Brian gave it a little bit of a side-eye. Continue to enjoy Naz; thought her BYO salad sniffing was a nice touch. Like little moments like that that you can totally blink and miss (those are her initials on the tupper), but that flesh out the characters and their personal boundaries and self-imposed limitations. No time taken away from the story, but better characters drawn as a result. More more more. Plus MEM does good faces. Interesting that Casey is now in the know(ish). Look forward to that being a tiny (no relationship drahmah please) issue with AgentDeb. Loved the expansion on Mike and Ike. And Mike can totally work a dress. I heart those guys. (And the reappearance of the paper machè versions.) Really like the continued use of LEO violence being totally in Brian's head. Shows seem to feel the need to bring that (cough*Blindspot*cough), but here it's completely turned on its head. "Of course not. No one got kicked in the face!" scandalized AgentDeb.

 

These actors are really good with the physical comedy, too. Even a brief flash like the facial expressions at the "Muntouchables" reveal were just great.

 

The continued presence of family is a nice touch. This show (re-)uses a lot of actors in their world building, which I think generally works out to be a good thing for shows. Glad they're keeping that up. (Like they saved money on sets/locations with the video conferencing this ep, but spent it on more actors. Totally works for me. Conservation of resources and some clever allocation.) And adored DaddyArvin's curated collection of Brian's Artworks of Nefarious Doings.

 

And Isiah Whitlock Jr. put in a good performance as the not!villain of the week. Always glad to see him. Love that man's voice. Indeed.

 

Netfoot, I think that was a nice example of Brian working outside of the normal parameters. He saw things that didn't fit and questioned them. Although I liked the scene on the bus fixing random strangers' problems early in the season. Not sure I'd like to see them go too broad on what he does though, as most shows usually bungle things when they try to cover too much ground. I prefer seeing less done well. Do a better job of developing what you have first. (Not suggesting that you're advocating that they should do a poor job... Just concerned that they would if they try to do too much.)

  • Love 2
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dcinmb

dcinmb

Love that Ike now actually refers to Mike as "Mike." And I'm really hoping Brian's apartment isn't bugged, but why wouldn't it be? It's not like Colin Salmon isn't waltzing into the apartment whenever he feels like it or anything.

  • Love 4
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BooBear

BooBear

Good effort once again! Best new show this season! (Damning with faint praise?) Fine: thoroughly enjoy it. Can't even say that about most of the older shows I watch. This show makes me smile and sometimes even laugh. I like that.

 

I like that they really seem to try new things. But this one was riding the silly line. But still it advances the plot, Brian has an outlet to do non FBI work (and an office) and he told his dad.  I thought that the 10 most wanted thing got "rightly" shut down because it was too high profile. Just like Deb's boyfriend figured it out about Brian, with the CJC solving these crimes it would bring them attention and eventually someone would wonder what was going on. I kind of hope that it does come back to bite them.

 

Mike and Ike seem to have really taken to Brian but I thought they were supposed to be guarding him?

 

I didn't understand Brian's dad but...

  • Love 1
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Netfoot

Netfoot

Netfoot, I think that was a nice example of Brian working outside of the normal parameters. He saw things that didn't fit and questioned them. Although I liked the scene on the bus fixing random strangers' problems early in the season. Not sure I'd like to see them go too broad on what he does though, as most shows usually bungle things when they try to cover too much ground. I prefer seeing less done well. Do a better job of developing what you have first. (Not suggesting that you're advocating that they should do a poor job... Just concerned that they would if they try to do too much.)

 

I hear you, but once in a while, I'd like Brian to refuse to come to work one day, because he's using his talents to save a beached whale.  Or minimize damage caused by a forest fire. Or find a lost child.  Or anything that isn't him chasing mundane villains on the behest of the FBI.  I mean, is there nothing he'd like to achieve for his own sense of self-satisfaction?

 

Eddie Morra was the same sort of dunderhead before, but on EZT he turned himself into a popular novelist, took wallstreet by storm, and made himself into a US senator.  Brian has managed to get himself some office space (in somebody elses office) with the letters HQ on the door.  What, is he getting NZT-Lite?

  • Love 3
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iMonrey

iMonrey

 

I'm also very disappointed in Brian's dad.  Brian's been a bit of a fuck-up all his life, but now, finally, he seems to be getting somewhere.  Instead of being glad for Brian, he's like somebody mashed his corns, because Brian has a classified job and he hesitates to spill the beans?

 

I thought the dad was being kind of unreasonable at first too - I mean, it's the FBI, clearly there are things Brian can't divulge. But I think the main point is that Brian has always been such a slacker and kind of a loser that his dad knows there's no way in hell he has any qualifications to be hired by the FBI and that something really odd is going on. I was glad Brian told him though, that was a really good scene at the end.

 

So to drive home the point, in this episode Brian pulls out a giant bong and gets stoned with his sister. I was kind of surprised at that, they treated the whole thing so casually, and we've never really had any indication that Brian was a stoner but I guess that goes along with his slacker history. Now I'm wondering how pot would interact with AZT.

 

I thought the whole episode was great but I was kind of confused when Naz said she was ordered to shut down the manhunt for the top ten most wanted because - why exactly? Isn't that what the FBI should be doing?

  • Love 2
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MrWhyt

MrWhyt

I hear you, but once in a while, I'd like Brian to refuse to come to work one day, because he's using his talents to save a beached whale.

 

Without going in to work he has no talents. He gets the NZT because he works for the FBI unless he wants to dip into his very meager stash.

  • Love 1
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AlwaysWatching

AlwaysWatching

I love the silly.  If they keep just the right amount of silly ( what would that be?) in a good number of episodes, I will like this show much more than I already did.  Yep.

 

I was watching an old L&O SVU while being hooked up to the dialysis machine and I saw this kid, maybe 12 or 13 years old, and I thought he looked familiar.  Sure enough, it was Jake McDornan. Didn't see his name in the credits, (missed those) but it was definitely him.  He was a very good actor then.  I started watching this show for Jennifer Carpenter.  Jake McDornan is so good in this role that I now watch for both of them.

  • Love 1
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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

Tracking down the Top Ten is the sort of thing I'd expect the FBI to task Brian with.  Not the usual drug-dealer of the week that should be the business of the regular cops anyway.  

 

And why doesn't Brian solve the occasional non-criminal problem once in a while?   I mean as the primary task for the day, not just in passing, while on the track of a jay-walker or something.  Having a resource like his brain and using it for dealing with mundane issues like crime?  A waste.

 

 

I'm 99.5% sure this show was pitched as "procedural with a twist" just to get on the air. The fact that they are doing as much as they can to mess with that format is a really positive sign, IMHO.

  • Love 4
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Snarkette

Snarkette

Love the ep. Love the show. Love that they aren't bound by the procedural and they are first and foremost entertaining me with characters I care about.

 

At the end though, with Spellman? For JUST A SECOND I believed that was him with the post-it-exclamation point. They got me. I admit it. They got me.

  • Love 4
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Teitr Styrr

Teitr Styrr

I was wondering what was going on with Brian's family.  It took me a while to remember that he and his dad at a fight last time they were together, but I guess he knows now, so I have to think this could get bad if Sands or Morra ever find out.  I still wonder what is going on with his mom too, because Blair Brown isn't giving much to do.

 

The ending with all the "movies" cracked me up.  Brian's so silly!

This is definitely my favorite new "procedural" of the new crop.  About Morra, I don't think it matters if he tells dad about NZT, however he can't tell him why he is immune to the side effects. He can't tell the FBI that either. 

 

I loved this episode. Bring on the silly. This is my favorite new procedural because of the humor.

  • Love 1
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vesperholly

vesperholly

Ahahahahaha! In that (super funny) montage at the end, Brian's dialogue when he was doing CPR on Naz was the same as Ed Harris's dialogue when he did CPR on ME Mastrantonio in The Abyss!! "Don't give up on me! Fight! FIGHT!"

 

Overall hilarious episode and really sharp writing. Loving this show.

  • Love 8
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Kromm

Kromm

(edited)

I'm 99.5% sure this show was pitched as "procedural with a twist" just to get on the air. The fact that they are doing as much as they can to mess with that format is a really positive sign, IMHO.

And that it's actually (at a quarter of the time) an office comedy is just gravy on top. Edited by Kromm
  • Love 2
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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

I was very surprised at the bong thing in the show. Isn't it illegal? I admit I know nothing about drugs.

In NY, yes, still illegal, technically. But two people the age of Brian and his sister smoking weed once in a while is not at all uncommon. The only weird thing about it is Brian is a medical test subject, supposedly, so one would think his blood and/or urine would be getting pretty complete workups on a regular basis. After all, for all the FBI knows, THC could be part of why Brian has immunity to NZT side effects; I think they'd be looking for something like that. (The show did have some dialog recently about how they don't think it's environmental, but genetic, so maybe they are saying with that, that Brian is not in fact getting those sorts of tests anymore).

  • Love 1
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krimimimi

krimimimi

I thought Brian didn't partake? That he basically sat by watching his sister? Now a contact high could still show up in testing, but if that's a problem then there are a whole lot of places he could no longer go, which seems a tad excessive.

  • Love 1
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possibilities

possibilities

This was my best shot at figuring out which is "Mike" and which is "Ike" and I blew it by not writing it down!

 

My sense of things is that Brian let the one who got the Costa Rica assignment choose his own, because he was the one who objected to being told what to do. And then the other guy got what was left.

 

I thought NY had decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, but maybe I got my states mixed up, too. And either way, it's still federally illegal, and Brian works for the FBI. But I didn't worry about that too much. He's too important to them for him to get fired or prosecuted over something like that. Maybe a reprimand, but he's getting less and less intimidated by those sorts of things. It's way less of a problem than his previous stealing of documents, I'd bet.

 

The problem of Brian not being able to be "too successful" without raising questions that no one wants to be forced to answer (both with his Dad and within the Agency) is an interesting one. I'd've thought the FBI could spin something like clearing the 10 Most Wanted somehow ("through a special initiative, we were able to apprehend...") and that they might even try to leverage Brian's successes into more funding somehow, maybe by pretending they were able to do things by allocating extra resources, rather than by just putting Brian on the job. People like results, and are more likely to agree to fund something that is successful and splashy than shadowy and with unknown results. But the show doesn't want Brian to be Morra, I guess, so they have to find ways to thwart him. I liked that Brian decided to just tell his dad some truth instead of throwing up a tantrum or blowing smoke, etc. I like that he's not completely intimidated by the FBI or by Morra's threats. And now his Dad will be drawn more into the show, I'm guessing. I had missed the family involvement since Brian withdrew from their conversations out of fear.

  • Love 1
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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

This sho is better when it is goofy. This may not be the mist realistic of procedurals but it is at least fun for the most part. I think it kinda had to be once it decided that it wasn't fruity. I like the chemistry between Brisn and Agent Harris.

I did likd that the show has Brian telling his father the truth and the reason why makes sense character wise. Certain things make sense in retrospect. Brian has never been a liar or someone who kept secrets well but now he is expected to do both by several different sources.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

This episode was a totally meta, fun, light-hearted, poke-in-the-eye-of-PTB-skeptics who thought a show that was equal comedy and drama with a lot of campy goofiness couldn't work. I hope the straight-laced characters loosening up at the end really are mirrors of what happened behind the scenes at production.

I wonder if the custodian/taylor represents whoever does the clay figures.

Continue to enjoy Naz; thought her BYO salad sniffing was a nice touch. Like little moments like that that you can totally blink and miss (those are her initials on the tupper), but that flesh out the characters and their personal boundaries and self-imposed limitations. No time taken away from the story, but better characters drawn as a result. More more more. Plus MEM does good faces....

Really like the continued use of LEO violence being totally in Brian's head. Shows seem to feel the need to bring that (cough*Blindspot*cough), but here it's completely turned on its head. "Of course not. No one got kicked in the face!" scandalized AgentDeb....

And Isiah Whitlock Jr. put in a good performance as the not!villain of the week. Always glad to see him. Love that man's voice. Indeed...

Thanks for the whole post--reminds me of why this was good.

But:

I thought the whole episode was great but I was kind of confused when Naz said she was ordered to shut down the manhunt for the top ten most wanted because - why exactly? Isn't that what the FBI should be doing?

krimimimi, dear, you must not work in a bureaucratic nightmare place. This is why stuff that should work doesn't. Don't start me talkin'.
  • Love 2
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kili

kili

This was my best shot at figuring out which is "Mike" and which is "Ike" and I blew it by not writing it down!

At the end, Mike was the one in the dress who said he better get a promotion for this and he did and renamed the group the "Muntuchables". Otherwise, they would be the awkwardly named "Iuntuchables".

 

If you look at Brian's dad's box of Brian stuff, Brian was actually very intelligent at screwing up. The angles to cheat on that test and  his money stealing schemes were actually quite creative. It's unfortunate nobody ever tried to harness that. I did like the world-building in that he has always been the way he was on the show (with all those art projects and his out-of-the-box method of problem solving.).

 

I loved the Mike/Ike fist-bump of actually getting to do something interesting.

  • Love 1
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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

If you look at Brian's dad's box of Brian stuff, Brian was actually very intelligent at screwing up. The angles to cheat on that test and  his money stealing schemes were actually quite creative. It's unfortunate nobody ever tried to harness that.

Even while I enjoyed the surprising creativity reveal, I felt cheated because it was a retcon. But since it was a nice retcon, and since we're only in the first season, I'll allow it. ;>)
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Richness

Richness

This show continues to be fun and enjoyable, though Brian's dad got a little heavy handed there at the end. It's an FBI job for crying out loud, so of course there are going to be secrets that you can't tell your family about. I loved Mike's stint in the dress after seeing so much of him earlier. He definitely deserved that fantasy promotion. To bad that one guy had to get deprogrammmed from the cult and Ike ended up in the snow though.

  • Love 1
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Mojeaux

Mojeaux

I adore this show. I laugh like crazy and not only do the writers hang lanterns, they dress them up in flapper dresses.

Okay, the dad, and I may be channeling my own daddy issues here, but you all can send a bill for therapy services.

So Brian gets into this drug, saves the dad's life, can't tell him why, no problem. He gets a job with the FBI, can't tell him much, dad gets a little crankier, but he's a lawyer, right? Should be able to process, but his feelings are hurt, no problem.

Brian's whole family has been threatened by Sands, not just the dad, if Brian says a word to ANYBODY, but meantime Brian's a double (triple? I've lost track) agent. Dad bugs the crap out of Brian for more information, Brian's feeling the pressure of his family's lives at stake, so dad goes away mad.

THEN dad shows up and stomps his foot and says TELL ME NOW OR I WON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE WAAAAAHHHHHH.

(I have strong feelings.)

The first couple of times, I was all, Brian, just walk him outside where there are no bugs, spill the beans. The man's smart he can help you!!!!

Now, I'm all, take the asshat outside where there are no bugs and say, "I would love to tell you. I need your guidance and wisdom and strength. I NEED you to know because I need help. However, I am being watched and possibly bugged. If I tell you, it will get you and the rest of the family killed. You say you will suffer for the truth. Will you make the rest of the family suffer so you can have your precious truth? FOAD."

I have lost faith in the father as a font of wisdom. If he's not telling you NOW, when he always told you before (Mr Lawyer Person Who Should Be Able To Get A Clue), he must have a good reason and making you butthurt is not it.

  • Love 3
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bethy

bethy

(edited)

While I don't like the way Brian's dad reacted, I get it, I think.

Brian's the baby - or the baby of the boys, right? - and always the screw up. But it sounds like he wasn't ever doing dangerous stuff like getting arrested or doing hard drugs or whatever. He's also a really sweet kid, who idolizes his dad and craves his approval.

Dad, meanwhile, is a good man and a do-gooder/rescuer who loves his kids and had been following along after Brian, cleaning up his messes. He's basically infantalized Brian and enabled much of his screw up behavior by being an ever-present safety net.

Now suddenly Brian is scarily competent, which makes dad suspicious. Then Brian tells him he's on a drug and that he's being blackmailed by the FBI. Already untrusting of the government, of course dad flips out. He already believes that his son is incapable of taking care of himself and then you add in a drug and covert government operations, and he can't see - or accept - that Brian doesn't want or need his help. He's flipped the switch to "protect the baby at all costs."

It can be hard for people in a somewhat co-dependent relationship to slip out of the roles they've been playing for so long. Dad's used to playing the part of savior for his son. He doesn't realize it's inappropriate to do that in this situation.

Given that parents are now calling employers to advocate for their children and attending interviews with their 20-somethings, it doesn't necessarily surprise me that

dad went to talk with Naz.

He's the ultimate helicopter parent!

Edited by bethy
  • Love 1
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Mojeaux

Mojeaux

Then Brian tells him he's on a drug and that he's being blackmailed by the FBI. Already untrusting of the government, of course dad flips out. it doesn't necessarily surprise me that dad went to talk with Naz. He's the ultimate helicopter parent!

Well, considering I didn't see that in THIS episode, I wouldn't know. (Sorry, I'm behind and I don't like being spoiled and I can read other episode threads if I want to be.)

That aside, yes, the guy has infantilized Brian and is used to being the savior figure in his life. Which makes it all about HIM, and not Brian.

  • Love 2
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bethy

bethy

(edited)

Well, considering I didn't see that in THIS episode, I wouldn't know. (Sorry, I'm behind and I don't like being spoiled and I can read other episode threads if I want to be.)

I am SO sorry - I watched all the episodes in a chunk and didn't distinguish what had happened when! I'll be more careful in the future. Edited by bethy
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sjohnson

sjohnson

When the FBI has potential murder charges and bank robbery charges and major drug charges on you, you need a lawyer. And no, it's not clear that NZT will substitute. Brian has a handle on his immediate CJC situation, but the FBI is a big institution and there are other agencies. Brian is in trouble, even if it's not in crisis. 

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hnygrl

hnygrl

Hey everybody...is it just in my city, or was there a NEW episode last week? It was a good one too, but I can't find anything about it anywhere online. Was my city the only one to see it? I'm DYING to talk about it!!!

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