S01.E21: Finale: Part One!

[thewhiteowl]

When NZT floods the streets of New York City and threatens to become a national epidemic, the FBI partners with the DOJ in a city-wide manhunt to find the lab producing the drug. Also, Brian has trouble adjusting to his new reality when he lacks the resources to continue searching for Piper.

 

 

[Big Mother]

I'm really surprised and confused that there was no fallout at all for Brian from the FBI after everything that happened? They were all cool with the whole Eddie Morra / Sands / double crossing thing? 

 

Why didn't Brian just go and get the immunity shot from Eddie Morra in person?

 

How is Brian not having mad withdrawal symptoms from not having his booster shot?

 

I'm surprised Naz / the CJC didn't consult with Brian or call him in to throw ideas around - after all, he know so much about this, even when he's not on NZT.

 

I miss NZT Brian. It's sad; it shows us just how addictive such drugs can be. Brian without NZT *is* just a bland person, and he is craving it for the rush of the investigation, hunt, etc. It was really sad to see pre-episode 1 Brian again.

 

WAIT. I'M SO CONFUSED!!! So Sands made up a fake Legion so that Senator Morra's final operatives would be arrested - and then he rigged a bomb on their van? Brewster killed the guard and spirited him out of jail? That is not easy to do at all, killing one guard isn't enough.

 

Spoilerish: The finale teaser brought me some happy moments but also some really frightening moments. I hope it won't end on a cliffhanger or with any of the main cast dying.

 

most of the episode was lackluster and didnt have the suspense I love and crave. But the last 2 minutes were amazing.

[vesperholly]

I need to rewatch because I was distracted by other stuff, but everything from the time the music went on near the end was fantastic. Suspenseful and putting all the pieces together.

 

Please CBS, renew for season 2. Ratings went up for the past 2 episodes and I think having it air once every 2 or 3 weeks from Dec-March was hurtful for a new show that's not a procedural.

[Actionmage]

I'm not sure if the writers want me to think that Brian's family are condescending douchewads and that Naz and Rebecca are idiots, but that's my current working theory after this episode.

 

I get the concern over NZT side effects ( potential death), but if you are serious about shutting down Morra and others who are opposing Morra and his NZT empire before he becomes POTUS, then maybe let the guy who has had multiple face-to-faces with Morra in on the investigation and give him sparse amounts of NZT/ go slow on the handing out of it. Keep Brian just on that particular case, because he's motivated to find Piper, so he's willing to keep it up, as we saw. Even without the NZT.

 

Dad can go kick rocks with Mom. I do understand not wanting your kid to potentially get killed by very bad men. I do. Yet, what would he do if Brian had been a cop or a fireman or a private investigator ( my vote for non-FBI employment) or cabbie?  Those are also dangerous, yet hundreds of folks do that day in, day out. Their families certainly worry, but I don't think they condescend  to their loved one about not wanting to have a "they might be dead, just let them go" with other family members.

 

Strangely, I want Grover to be okay. I sort of liked him and hope he can be recurring. Grover and Brian's Wild Traipsing was fun. Please be okay, Grover. (Hopefully, Brian makes a papier maiche version of Super Grover's helmet if they do that again! *g*)

 

In his driving need/obsession over Piper, I'm betting that Brian DGAF about much, especially about showing signs of addiction. ( It shows how much his dad's potentially in denial over Brian's ending with the FBI if he thinks Brian isn't still trying to solve the NZT thing. Brian seems "clean enough", so no one's asking if he's okay or on anything else. *sniff* Sinbad *sniff* *g*). 

 

I also disliked how dismissive Dad was of the burgeoning plan Brian did present to him. Because, yeah, Brian in law school is the worst place for him, Dad? Even if it is, the dismissive assiness was extremely off-putting. They wonder why Brian doesn't confide in them, yet they refuse to own their treatment and babying of him.

 

I understand the pull Rebecca felt. She understands the million ways Brian on the case could possibly negatively impact their case. Yet she also knows the million ways he could positively impact it, as she has taken a pill and understands how it works on a practical level. Yet, she seemed to  obviously dismiss her gut instinct. To me, it read as Rebecca giving in to Brian's wildness/crazy ideas, when his "crazy ideas" have done things like capture most of the Top 10 Most Wanted before. I just don't get the writing except as plot railroading. But that's me. In order for the Bad Guys to get in place for the big finish, the FBI had to be dumb. I really dislike that kind of set up.

Still? I'm gonna be there next week. *G*

[MrWhyt]

Why didn't Brian just go and get the immunity shot from Eddie Morra in person?

Now that he's no longer with the FBI, why would the senator even see him let alone give him the immunity shot 

[Free]

I think having it air once every 2 or 3 weeks from Dec-March was hurtful for a new show that's not a procedural.

 

The scheduling has been erratic and I think it got preempted a couple times too.

[Snarkette]

I loved (!) the Finale! Part! One! from start to end. It was refreshing to see non-NZT Brian, to see the hints that maybe he's re-wiring his own brain a bit, and that even off the drug, he's still a pretty compelling character. I also love that you cannot watch this episode and make any excuses for him: he's an addict. The addiction is there, it is real. He's not just addicted to NZT itself but to being someone who matters (in the words of Sen Morra). Bouncing off his dad just made the latter part even more painful. As far as his dad's concerned, he was being used and abused by the FBI who did discard him when convenient.

 

I actually dug the patronizing dad who just has no clue as to the bigger story. It grounds Brian's home life that his overachieving family really are that condescending and clueless and that he manages to do as much as he does despite them. (I also keep seeing New Testament jokes being thrown into the story from the Prophet without Honor in his home with an annoying Lawyer Dad (It's in the bible, really), and The Apocryphon of Brian.)

 

Fantastic nod to Chuck, although I doubt we'll ever see his Morgan/Grover ("Imagine the Possibilities" / "He's named after a muppet") again, adored the beautifully evil Sands plan (and his obviously evil henchguy), and appreciated that the bonds Brian has made with his team from Naz to Spellman to Rebecca (who quite rightly keeps treating him as a former asset and friend, and not a romantic interest) kept them from arresting his Class 1 abusing ass right on the spot. It was a great build up, a fun twist, and the scenes from next week look tremendous.

 

Renew this damned show already! 

[bros402]

The tidbits of Brain getting NZT moments without exposure to the NZT were interesting. Building upon what we know about Morra, I would guess that his brain has rewired to have those NZT moments 24/7 - so it takes less than five years for the brain to rewire.

[Netfoot]

How the fuck did NZT suddenly become a Class 1 drug?  Why the fuck did NZT  suddenly become a Class 1 drug?  Is this just another case of the ruling elite wanting to reinforce their position, by denying the peons every opportunity of advancement?

 

If your kidneys (or liver, or heart, or lungs or any other organ) were only functioning at 10% of full capacity, you'd be considered very sick.  (Probably so sick, you'd be dead.)  Anyone who devised a drug to rectify that, returning your kidneys (etc) to full, 100% function, would be hailed as a saviour, and given the Nobel Prize.  So why is it, that a drug that allows 100% brain function is made illegal, and denied to the people who could use it?

 

And for those who like to point out how Brian is an addict, let me just say that I'd be addicted to my 100% kidney-function drug, just the same way I am currently addicted to oxygen, food, rum, and all the other necessities of life.  And brain function is about who you are, so it's far more important than kidneys, which you can actually survive without, and still be you!

 

I just knew that DEA Brewster was a baddie before he spoke his first words.  I don't actually know how I knew, but... 

 

I liked the show, particularly how Brian, without NZT and the brain-boost it bestows, is still someone inherently valuable and good.  I think it's unfortunate that non-NZT'd Brian was portrayed as a stupid clot who couldn't remember anything, etc.  Pre-NZT Brian from Episode 1 may have been more of  a dreamer than a thinker and a doer, but he wasn't portrayed as so incapable, mentally.  But I understand that non/post-NZT Brian had to be distinguished from the Brian we've come to know, so I will give them a pass.

 

Interesting point, when he was selling the TV and had a momentary flash of brilliance.  Movie-Morra stated that he didn't need NZT any more; that his brain had begun to function at highest efficiency on it's own.  We have not seen that on the series (Morra's blood-stained jacket proves he is using NZT) but Brian's surge of smarts implies that there may be some truth in the idea that the effects might become permanent.

 

Chuck was an amusing comedy, with 2-dimensional, cartoon villains who threw the hem of their cloak across their face for concealment, as they drew their dagger.  And 2-dimensional good-guys as well.  It was completely farcical.   Limitless is a serious show, populated with well-shaped characters who raise socially interesting issues and lead real lives.  The fact that the writers can tell the story in such a way that allows the injection of a fat slice of quirky humour does not diminish the seriousness of the show, and does not allow any serious comparison between the two shows.  

 

My past experiences lead me to believe that a good show (like this) requires more brainpower to appreciate, than can be found in the majority of viewers in TV-land.  Which is why the good shows get cancelled  (Firefly, Deadwood,  Forever, ... the list is endless). So, I expect Limitless will be cancelled, too.  And that will be sad, because it's one of the best shows to come along in a while.  But take heart!  We will doubtless get renewals for Quantico, Blindspot, Rosewood, and other such steaming piles of shit...  

Edited April 20, 2016 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

First, as Brian said directly in the show, in this episode, the ten percent of your brain thing is a myth. It's not real. We all use a hundred percent of our brain, unless something goes wrong medically.

 

Whether we use only 10% or we use all of it but only at 10% efficiency, or whatever, demonstrably, brain function is not at maximum -- a situation which the wonder-drug can cure.

 

Second, as has been pointed out, those without the special shot, as Brian was getting, wind up dead or really, really, really, really, really sick.

 

True, but the authorities allow the use of medically dangerous substances (like alcohol, tobacco, automobiles, etc) all the time, especially if they profit from the sale thereof.  And in practice, we have not been given to understand that if the solution to the negative side effects were discovered, that the drug would be any less controlled.

 

Brian, as well as others, believe that in the hands of the common folk, it could be dangerous.

 

The very same argument could be used about education.  Suffrage.  Emancipation.  Access to the internet.  If everyone had NZT, law enforcement would have it as well as the criminally inclined.  So I don't see that this argument holds any water. 

 

This is why Brian was the only one allowed to take the drug in the first place. He did not suffer the side effects because of the shots Morra was giving him. Otherwise if everyone at the FBI could take it with no side effects, there would have been no need for Brian. He was special, because at the time Morra was the only one in the universe with that special no-side-effects shot, and he was giving it to Brian.

 

So, if the existence of Morra's shot made it OK for Brian to take NZT in the eyes of the authorities, then why do they have such a hard-on for Morra?  He obviously has access to his own shots, so it should be perfectly OK for him to take them and NZT, as it was perfectly OK for Brian to do so.  But yet, they are all screaming their jeans at the prospect of taking down a senator who has more brains (howsoever arrived at) than anyone else in government.  Which surely, can only be a good thing?  It doesn't sound to me that Morra's health is their concern.  It sounds like they are afraid of being shown up by his superior intellect, and displaced by him and people like him.  Which wouldn't be an issue, except for NZT being banned, because if it weren't, they could take NZT too, and contend with him on an equal basis.

[sjohnson]

It's really hard to comment sensibly on something in the middle. You can't really assess the story til you know the end. (Unpopular opinion I know, but there it is.) 

 

Still, I thought the open reference to Flowers for Algernon was really interesting. Ditto, Brian dismissing the ten percent thing. You don't want to have all parts of your brain active at once. For one thing, that's basically what happens in an epileptic seizure. It's the pattern of neurons firing that constitute brain activity. If they all fire at once, there is no pattern. It's like having all the pixels in your TV screen light up at once. You'd just get a featureless white screen. 

 

I know they haven't specifically said before NZT was schedule one, but I've always seen that as implicit in Brian's legal problems with the FBI, the way they handle it, etc. 

 

I did think Brewster killed the guard so Sands could take his uniform.

 

I did think Dad was pushing Piper is dead because he was afraid Brian would take some bootleg NZT. Also, sorry, "Why not?" as a reason for years in school doesn't work for me either. That wasn't Dad dismissing an idea, much less a plan, that was Dad dismissing a whim. I notice Mom wasn't on screen but her banning of Brian didn't last very long. 

Edited April 20, 2016 by sjohnson

[Snarkette]

 

Limitless is a serious show, populated with well-shaped characters who raise socially interesting issues and lead real lives.

And this is why I worry, despite the exclamation points in Finale! Part! Two! that the show may be a one and done and that Brian won't survive. 

 

I do think there's still plenty of story to tell (and the writers have been amazing in not fearing to burn through plot) if they want to do that. But there's been such a perfect arc that I could see next week as taking the drug entirely off the street, taking down Morra (!) (who expected the FBI to be onto him by the end of S1?), bringing down Sands and Piper, and the enzyme getting lost in the mix. Which leaves Brian alone, un-NZT'ed, and possibly going to community college, if he does survive.

 

The best thing about this show has been consequence. And this episode really brought that home with its one month time skip, the natural fall out (the job at LargeMart/BuyMore, the addiction, the begging for more NZT, moving back in with Mom and Dad), and being, well, to coin a phrase Limited. (No exclamation point.)

[MrWhyt]

(Morra's blood-stained jacket proves he is using NZT)

 

No it proves that Morra (and Sands at the time) were willing to let Brian believe that Morra was on NZT. I wouldn't take anything Morra says/does at face value, he's a riddle wrapped in an enigma, cloaked in a Bradley Cooper shaped taco shell.

[iMonrey]

I'm not sure where this show could go if it got a second season - it really seems to have burned through the entire story in one season. Now that the FBI knows about Morra and the immunity shots, there's no reason for Morra to continue using Brian as an FBI mole. And even if Brian manages to get the immunity shots from someone else, there's no reason for the FBI to keep him on as a consultant now that they know he's not really naturally immune to the side effects of NZT. And if they can get their hands on their own immunity shots, they can give NZT to whatever agents they want, if they just want someone on staff who is super-powered like that. Not some flaky civilian like Brian.

 

That said I'm impressed with how far the story has come in only one season, so I have to believe the writers have something equally compelling in mind for a possible second season and beyond. 

[thewhiteowl]

^Agreed. They have ...er, limited themselves.

[Netfoot]

No it proves that Morra (and Sands at the time) were willing to let Brian believe that Morra was on NZT. I wouldn't take anything Morra says/does at face value, he's a riddle wrapped in an enigma, cloaked in a Bradley Cooper shaped taco shell.

 

I stand corrected.  You're right about Morra.

[sjohnson]

There should be a DataVision chain store, so the first half got that much right.

[holly4755]

I think everyone on is forgetting the one immunity that Brian alone seems to have  naturally. He is immune to use NZT for his own end, instead uses it to help others. Rebecca takes NZT and demands to find her father's killers. Everyone else is there to forward their own agenda, but Brian is there to help people

 

Yes, he missed the intellectual rush of the drug, but he also misses being able to help people. 

 

I don't think he is easily replaceable. 

[Clanstarling]

I thought it amusing that primary NZT user they focused on in the bar wasn't being particularly intellectual, but using her new found synapses to tie celebrities into the Illuminati. So clearly, it doesn't make everyone the smartest person in the world. I guess NZT amps up the arts and crafts, from the straw tunnel, illuminati pyramid, shot dominoes and the rube Goldberg beer, it was pretty fun.

I was kind of sad to see Brian back at home in the same dynamic he was in before. He's a loving and trusting soul, I guess.

Dismissing a plan, dismissing a whim. When it comes from a parent, it's hurtful. Especially when there's an undercurrent of "I want to be like you and my brother." Just because he didn't apply himself before, doesn't mean he won't now. He's had a life changing experience, and has been very dedicated to the work he was doing, and very dedicated to finding Piper. That speaks to a lot of growing up - at least it does to me.

I knew the DEA guy was bad news from the get-go, but not because I had any special insight. It seemed like they directed him to be sketchy right off. And on the very petty scale, I hate hair combed back with greasy looking gel. So he had a strike against him for that alone.

Edited April 20, 2016 by clanstarling

[holly4755]

ha ha that's true While listening to Taylor takes over the world, I was wondering if there was a new versions of NZT that took away brain cells. I don't think artistry is bad per se, I do think concentrating on celebrities is nuts.. But there you go, others entertain themselves and Brina looks for ways to help people.

[MisterGlass]

You know, I missed Mike & Ike.

 

I thought this was a good Part 1.  I liked that Brian is trying to push himself more when he's off NZT, and I understand his need to be useful.  He went from temp, to secret agent, to store clerk, and that's a tough set of transitions.

 

I liked the way the news stories discussed the problems with the people on NZT, and what was happening because 'they think they can do anything.'  That was everything from murder to lion taming.  Straw tunnels and Illuminati conspiracies are the benign and ineffectual side.  I think both sides point to the uniqueness of Brian's interaction with NZT.  I still buy into the idea that Morra no longer needs NZT, and I think the reason he only lets other people use NZT for a limited period of time is because he wants to control how many people become like him.  I think he might consider Brian a good candidate for permanent enhancement, and might give him NZT on that basis.

 

I was certain that it was Morra's people they were rounding up, but I didn't see the bomb coming.

[thuganomics85]

Tim Gutterson!!!  OK, that was actually Jacob Pitts as Brewster, but thanks to Justified, he will always be Tim Gutterson, the most awesome, snarkiest sniper on planet Earth!  I figured there had to be more to him then just some DEA guy, so I'm glad he's apparently bad, and has thrown in with Sands.  Should have known they couldn't get Sands down for long.  Not only is he already out, he and Brewster just pretty much used the FBI to help take out a bunch of Morra's guys.  Man, Naz and Rebecca have to be kicking themselves after this episode.

 

It really is interesting seeing NZT got out into the streets, and most everyone really is just using it to party hard, try to connect celebrities to the Alumni (although, I really wouldn't be surprised if we ever discover that Taylor Swift and Beyonce where in cahoots to take over the world...), and other shenanigans.  Really show different Brian is from them.  Even though he clearly loves the rush and uses NZT to his advantage personally at times, his first thoughts still seem to be helping people and he really loves solving cases.  And he never seems to want power from it either, like Morra does.  He really seems to just be a decent guy, and the NZT multiplies that.

 

Sorry, Ron Rifkin, but Brian's dad still sucks.  If there has to be a body-count come finale time, I will so be for him being a "surprising death."

 

They better, I repeat better, work Mike & Ike/Jason into the finale.  Their absence was not appreciated!

 

I wonder if Morra finding another flight at the last minute is a way to keep him off-screen come finale time, or if they'll still managed to get Bradley Cooper back for a second.  Maybe even just a phone conversation.  I would be surprise if he doesn't appear in some form.

 

Curious to see how the finale will play out, and how this will keep going, now that the truth about Brian and Morra is now out in the open.

[twoods]

I'm wondering like the rest of you what the premises would be for next year if Brian isn't in the FBI and there is no Morra. Maybe Sands will be the big bad. He really is a bad ass, but I liked him bonding with Brian so am upset with how dark they are making his character. It's just hard to hate him since I love the actor.

Brian really is the best. On NZT he wants to save Piper and help out people. Too bad his family still sucks. A lot.

Ike and Mike better be back next week.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

As much as I really liked this episode and the last few... where are Mike & Ike!?  I miss those guys!

 

I understand Rachel, seeing as how she was involved in it all - indirectly - but what's the deal with just blabbing everything to brother (& nephew?)?

 

I like and respect Rebecca, a lot, but did she really think that Brian wouldn't have taken NZT illegally, what with it readily available on the street - then expressing disbelief and indignation when she found out he did?  C'mon girl, you're more intelligent than that.  And I know she didn't mean it, but she did come off as rubbing his non-NZT ineffectiveness in Brian's face by pestering him about stuff he couldn't recall while not on NZT.

 

 

(If) when this show gets renewed, I can't wait to see where the writers take it all because this first season - especially the final run of episodes - has been amazing and would have worked as the run up to the finish of the whole series.

Edited April 21, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[possibilities]

In addition to being useful, I think Brian misses the feeling of being on a team and having friends who care about and respect him. Everyone-- from Rebecca to his shitty family-- was being so condescending. Even his siblings, who he was trying to reach out to and confide in, were basically mocking him or ignoring him. not caring at all about what he was saying or trying to do. They just aren't motivated, by caring about what matters to him because it matters to him, or by the desire to help Piper or solve a mystery or... anything. His co-worker Grover was at least willing to tag along, mostly because he didn't have anything else to do or anyone else to hang with-- and that was the best Brian got from anyone this episode.

 

If Brian's dad didn't think law school was a good idea, laughing at him was not really a helpful way of dealing with it. He could have tried to make a constructive alternative suggestion, or reflected on how Brian seemed to like solving crimes with the FBI, so it made sense that he thought law school might be a good way to go back to that, but (insert whatever better idea dad thinks would make more sense). But all he was doing was tearing Brian down, not helping him to find his way. Hell, he could have said he was touched that Brian wanted to follow in his footsteps, but since Brian has such a different temperament, he thinks maybe he'd be happier doing (whatever Brian's dad actually thinks Brian should do). The fact that he didn't really have any insight into what Brian is good at, to me says he was just sticking to the narrative of "Brian the fuck up" and was not really trying to counsel or assist him.

[bros402]

If your kidneys (or liver, or heart, or lungs or any other organ) were only functioning at 10% of full capacity, you'd be considered very sick.  (Probably so sick, you'd be dead.)  Anyone who devised a drug to rectify that, returning your kidneys (etc) to full, 100% function, would be hailed as a saviour, and given the Nobel Prize.  So why is it, that a drug that allows 100% brain function is made illegal, and denied to the people who could use it?

 

Interesting point, when he was selling the TV and had a momentary flash of brilliance.  Movie-Morra stated that he didn't need NZT any more; that his brain had begun to function at highest efficiency on it's own.  We have not seen that on the series (Morra's blood-stained jacket proves he is using NZT) but Brian's surge of smarts implies that there may be some truth in the idea that the effects might become permanent.

 

Organs can actually function at very low capacity. My uncle lived for a few (very crappy) years, with a heart that was very, very weak (i think around 90% of the arteries were clogged)

 

The blood stained jacket doesn't prove he was on NZT, just proves that he was willing to manipulate Brian & the FBI into thinking he still needed to take it.

[holly4755]

I think that Brian's father is being portrayed realistically for a television show. People are not perfect. I can even relate to him. 

 

I had a brother, who died recently, he was so much younger than all the rest of us, he was sort of babied and protected most of his life, he barely graduated high school and found he world a hard place to cope with. My parents did not really believe in doctors unless you had a broken limb, but somehow we all survived stepping on rusty nails and not getting tetanus shots, but my brother need some sort of help or our family did because we failed him. The rest of us were over achievers, but he was always the failure. We went to college, he barely graduated high school and only because my parents would do homework with him every night. After the sunshine law, my mother got his school records and his first grade teacher put in his records he was retarded. He was actually quite bright but beaten down. just before he died I tried to get him motivated to do something, anything that would make him smile again, but he just did not want to try. I ended up yelling at him, that he was a hopeless case and storming out. So stupid, he fell sick and died mostly because he didn't even want to see a doctor when he got sick.  

 

So yeah, I can see a parent acting that way even though they loved their child. 

[ae2]

I wonder if they would really shake up the formula for a season 2. Put Brian in a courtroom. Or with the CIA. Or undercover somewhere. Most shows wouldn't want to break from a formula that works, but I get the feeling that this show is different. Of course, they wouldn't want to lose all of their gear supporting cast.

[Snarkette]

Sorry, Ron Rifkin, but Brian's dad still sucks.  If there has to be a body-count come finale time, I will so be for him being a "surprising death."

 

He was dead to me from the moment of diminished capacity. Brian wants to stay the same person he was before taking NZT but his dad was an asshole before NZT and he has only gotten worse with the pressures from Brian being on it.

[atomationage]

I thought this episode should have been titled Debbie Downer.   IMO, it was the worst episode since the pilot.

 

I wouldn't take anything Morra says/does at face value, he's a riddle wrapped in an enigma, cloaked in a Bradley Cooper shaped taco shell.

I hope Cooper is back in the finale, also Mike and Ike, but not any member of Brian's family at all.

 

 

It seemed like they directed him to be sketchy right off. And on the very petty scale, I hate hair combed back with greasy looking gel. So he had a strike against him for that alone.

Yes!  Greasy looking gel is a sure sign of evil. 

 

I don't care if the show comes back.  I like the cast, and almost all of the episodes, but I don't think it's necessary for television shows to go on and on.  Vampire Diaries, in it's seventh season, has become such a mess that I can't even remember the episodes that I've already seen. 

[Actionmage]

but what's the deal with just blabbing everything to brother (& nephew?)?

 

I asked Mr. Actionmage the same thing. I mean, yeah Rebecca, but why the very young nephew? To me, either that's going to be something in part two or it's yet another lovely way to illustrate how to his loving family Brian is to be humored or tolerated, not believed as anyone seriously. I mean, his brother was playing cards and barely paying attention. The nephew was sort of paying attention. Rachel was  'why are you thinking about this?'  Then to have Dad call to Brian to ( I personally hate this) "ask" if Brian was still working the whichever shift.  Yes, Brian could be still very intense about the Sands/Morra stuff and lose track of time, but to treat your adult son who recently worked with the FBI as if he was some lazy, easily distracted teen?  So we know why the family treats/thinks of Brian that way. Top on down.

 

I liked the show, particularly how Brian, without NZT and the brain-boost it bestows, is still someone inherently valuable and good.  I think it's unfortunate that non-NZT'd Brian was portrayed as a stupid clot who couldn't remember anything, etc.

 

It was stated on-screen that one of the side effects after stopping was some memory loss.  Brian wasn't portrayed as an idiot, but he had trouble pulling the word he wanted from time to time. I've never had NZT (due to it being fictional) and I've had the same thing happen to me.  I'll know a word but can't remember it. It's frustrating, ususally, because it's usually an everyday word, not something like parastolic or something else fancy. Like the restaurant  I ate at two weeks ago.  So, in show, loss of some memories is a known thing. Rebecca should have been more mindful and more apologetic, instead of reading as someone impatient or seeming to think Brian was stalling/faking.  If Rebecca was kicking herself for not remembering this  factoid, then it did not come across clearly. 

 

I did love that Morra was so ahead of everyone that he never came to the supposedly scheduled foofawrah that he was to attend! He knew some of his people were rounded up and was so many moves ahead of Sands and the seemingly idiot Feds that he probably had the whole thing on CC TV and watched it as he flew to another campaign stop.  Or on his way to a safe place.  Either Sands and the Legion of Whom just took out major shakers or they were people Morra could lose because he had folks groomed already to step in.  Morra has five years on our heroes, as far as NZT experience and planning. I want Morra brought down, but I hope that he isn't this easy to catch. That would be disappointing. Maybe next season, if we end up with one.

[hnygrl]

I'd beo okay with another season if they got rid of the FBI, Brian's parents (his whole family actually), and Brian's brain had truly 100% no-more-NZT-required rewired, and he worked for the CIA.

 

Otherwise they can put a fork in this one.

 

I have (very slight) hope that they will pull a "Brian doesn't need NZT anymore, he's like this permanently now" Rabbit out of their hats.

Heck family, it's the only thing I can think of that will make this show having a second season make sense.

[Netfoot]

I want Morra brought down, but I hope that he isn't this easy to catch. That would be disappointing. Maybe next season, if we end up with one.

 

Personally, I hope and believe that Morra's long term plans are good for the human race in the long term, and that while he may be a selfish, sneaky bastard, he is not inherently evil.  And again let me say, that all the evil I see is being perpetrated by Sands!

 

ETA:  Because I don't believe that taking an intellect-enhancing drug is inherently evil in it's own right, no matter what law enforcement and the entrenched power-structure say.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Netfoot

[sjohnson]

"Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home." NIV

 

It just seems unfair to demand that Brian's family be so much better than the rest of humanity, or else we hate them for breathing.

[thewhiteowl]

I can cut his family some slack, after all they have had years of experience with Brian the druggie, irresponsible slacker and very short time to adjust to NZT Brian, the responsible, helpful guy. It takes time to trust after a big change. JMO

[holly4755]

I disagree

Kicking people out of the house, there are all sorts of friends and doctors who will tell you if you kick someone out it will help that person move on with their life, keeping them in the home stunts their growth.tough love. Paying rent is considered a good practice by mot people,heck I did it back in the dark ages, My younger brothers did not, who do you think has the savings to live their life and who is always going to their sibling when they need cash? Not outrageous to expect Brian to work and possibly fond what he wants to do. 

 

the father commenting (not so much mocking) Brian's Legal plan. Brian is planning on doing what others are doing because he does not have a plan, he should do what he wants to do not what other people have done. that is not living his life, but trying to live others. "Why not" is not a good reason.

 

you are convincing me this show is written deeper than I thought because there is some complex interplay there.

 

The brother and wife and child on one of Brian's lecture - well first why them? second  he appears to be doing it in a garage and this is not exactly what the family is prepared to do, the father wants to play with his child - normally something that would be applauded, the mother is trying to pay attention but has no idea what is going  on. This faux meeting is not exactly a dynamic normal by any of these people, why are they judged harshly for not doing it right? 

Edited April 22, 2016 by holly4755

[thewhiteowl]

Before this goes too far, just a reminder.

Post your own opinion, you do not need to justify it or defend it. Berating others for disagreeing with you will get you warned. So please refrain from doing that. How others respond to the family is not your business. Thanks.

[bros402]

the father commenting (not so much mocking) Brian's Legal plan. Brian is planning on doing what others are doing because he does not have a plan, he should do what he wants to do not what other people have done. that is not living his life, but trying to live others. "Why not" is not a good reason.

 

I think him trying something out for any reason would be good - he could start at a community college and explore things he is interested in.

[Snarkette]

So rewatching, particularly the party scene, and it occurs to me that if you're given bad data and assumptions (like the Masons/Rhiana/Taylor Swift), you do the garbage-in/garbage-out dance. This was our first chance to see a lot of people on NZT still operating under quite strong (if you excuse the phrase) Limits. NZT seemed to act as a magnifying glass for ambition, for intelligence, for craftiness, etc.  Grover on NZT wasn't much more awesome than Grover off it but Rebecca became a driven superwoman. It also gives further context for when Piper was telling Brian that he's basically an NZidioT compared to the normal NZT user.

 

Morra, Sands, Apocryphon (whatever his name was), all get that there's a war going on and NZT is at its heart and there's a brave new world that's coming after. No one at the FBI seems to get that: all they saw out of the bombing was a hit on one drug lord's organization by another drug lord with an embedded mole

 

It's a really interesting episode in that it allows Brian to operate in the middle of two NZT groups. The hoi polloi users at the party and the "people who matter" with their secret war.  Regardless of what happens next week, Brian is burned. he can't go back to the FBI. If there's an enzyme, they'll use it with Rebecca and Boyle, not with Brian. If there's no enzyme, he can't take NZT. The case-of-the-week simply cannot happen. I don't see him being "fundamentally transformed" either, even with the occasional NZT flashback episode.

 

So how does this wrap up? And does this week's ep allow for a season 2? (This might explain the "cute" March announcement that 5 of the 6 new series are coming back.) I really want a second season but man, they are burning through story. I considered a year of Brian off NZT acting as Rebecca's CI but that wouldn't work. All the players know who Brian is and at least on Sands' side (sentiments aside), they want him dead. Whether next week leads into S2 or not, I've decided that Brian has to end next episode by being someone who matters. 

 

Not sure how they're going to pull it off but it feels really endgame right now.

[AudienceofOne]

I don't know. I only just watched this episode and I thought it was more about trying to re-establish Brian as necessary to the FBI so they can have a set-up to work with in a possible Season 2.

 

And, oddly, I thought that was the problem with the episode because it was too obviously trying to solve the 'Brian problem'. Brian is ordinary. That's his charm but it means the show had to find a way to put him front and centre while still making him unremarkable. The whole 'working for Morra' thing was unsustainable but, without the immunity shot, he's just another drug addict and the FBI wouldn't be interested in him. So they're trying to resolve the Morra/Sands plot while retaining Brian in the centre of the action.

 

On the one hand, I think maybe the show would have been better doing a Chuck - making Brian special because he's the only person immune to NZT. On the other. Brian's 'specialness' deriving from the fact that he's just a really decent guy is kind of refreshing.

 

Count me in as someone who's tried of how patronising and paternalistic his father is. But it's wonderfully consistent characterisation so there's that. I did wonder where his mother was though. I mean, she threw him out of the house but is conveniently absent in this. And I also didn't know how much his family knew about everything. I would have liked that to be established too.

 

On the brighter side - the Legion of Whom was fantastic.

[shapeshifter]

Finally watched this.

I want the short jacket/sweater Naz was wearing in the middle of the episode.

Fun line from Rebecca: "Grover is a Muppet."

At the end when Naz told Brian to get in the car, I said aloud: "And...He's back!" Hope so. (And the show too, next season.)

I know Legion of Whom rhymes with Legion of Doom, but I wanted to hear Legion of Whomever.

Edited April 24, 2016 by shapeshifter

[Driad]

 

I want the short jacket/sweater Naz was wearing in the middle of the episode.

 

So do I.  I checked https://wornontv.netbut they don't have any listings for Limitless.  Might be possible to make a similar jacket by strip piecing mottled black and white fabrics.  Does anyone have a screen shot of the garment?

 

[kili]

Rachel really annoyed me this week. She should be feeling a little bad because she revealed all of Brian's secrets, but she's not. She's 120% smug. 

 

Brian is trying to use his family as a sounding board. He is desperately trying to figure out who kidnapped his girlfriend - somebody who is important to him. He starts presenting the facts as he knows them and she interrupts to pick on his grammar? Way to totally disrespect your brother's feelings. Now is not that time. And it turns out she is 100% wrong. 

 

His father isn't much better. "She's dead, Jim". Maybe try to offer up some sympathy with that cold truth. Brian has lost a lot. Even if you think he cheated to get it, he's still dealing with loss (girlfriend kidnapped, lost apartment, lost job, lost friends). How about a hug? Or any sign of empathy?

 

One of Brian's best abilities, on or off NZT, is his ability to read people and get to the core of their wants. That's how he was so easily able to figure out the drug network. That's one of the things that makes him an asset. It must be innate because nobody else in his family has it.

[sjohnson]

Somehow I just keep thinking if Dad et al. were such mean people they would have cut off Brian years ago.

[shapeshifter]

Somehow I just keep thinking if Dad et al. were such mean people they would have cut off Brian years ago.

Brian's relationship with his family is a lot like mine. They don't think they're being mean; they think they're helping him become who they think he was meant to be.

[possibilities]

And some people are very accepting of you when you're viewed as a lovable loser, but as soon as you start to make active choices for yourself, they get threatened. I know someone who, when she decided not to be an alcoholic anymore, lost all her friends because they were constantly angry that she wasn't drinking. Likewise, Brian was the family fuck up til he got this new job with the FBI. When that happened, even before they knew about NZT, they weren't delighted that he got his act together, or even curious about how he did it, they just leapt immediately to being suspicious that something nefarious must be going on. Now that they know the truth, they are back to asking him when he's going to get it together and do something with his life, but when he says what he wants to do, they try to "talk him down off the ledge" and tell him to "be realistic."

 

I think a lot of people go to law school for no more reason than "that's what we do in this family" or "it's a well-paying job"-- and when someone you are close to disappears, any normal person would be upset. A person who formerly worked for the FBI might very sanely feel like investigating. But either way, you give the person sympathy and support, and listen to them talk about it, rather than advising them right away to just forget it and move on.

[Actionmage]

and listen to them talk about it, rather than advising them right away to just forget it and move on.

 

While I still have problems with Brian's dad, if he indeed did as he said a couple of times, then he did more than listen. He had a private investigator at his law firm look into Piper's disappearance.  I believe either as a favor or off the books.

 

Now, post-episode, whether I fully believe Dad is another story. Right now, solely due to Ron Rifkin, I believe. I want to believe.

[possibilities]

I think it would be easier to believe and be grateful for the investigation if he had handed over a file of what the investigation discovered, instead of just giving a brief oral report saying: "she's probably dead; move on." I was surprised Brian didn't ask what the investigator had done. Who did they talk to? What exactly did they learn? Any clue would be of interest.

[sjohnson]

True, it is odd that Brian didn't ask questions. I suppose the writers thought it would be boring and dropped it. But I think Dad didn't want to prompt Brian to investigate with street NZT himself. I think a detailed report would have encouraged that.

[Actionmage]

The thing is? It didn't stop Brian from looking/investigating, it only added a level of obstruction/frustration.

 

Piper is becoming an obsession for him. An understandable one, but still an obsession. Other than the Russian week, have they been really serious about each other? I was under the impression that Piper liked Brian, enjoyed being with him, but was totally keeping herself on track, wrt NZT and keeping herself and her personal agenda alive. Was I wrong to read Piper that way?

 

I sort of feel for Naz. She's been doing her job well. She's finally got a way to maybe get ahead of this NZT thing, with this doofus Finch. He surprises her with good work and, when on NZT, turns in amazing work. Then Naz finds out about all the lies. She is stuck in a bad, but clearly defined, spot: Finch has to go. Naz has seen the pictures of previous test subjects. She seems to like Finch, but wouldn't want anyone else to actually end up like that. (Well, maybe Morra and Sands.)  So as much as she might want to pull Finch in on the case? She can't.

 

I think that's why Naz was more frustrated than angry at Brian. Not that she wasn't furious already.