Second Look: Limitless Episode 1 Review – “Pilot”

Limitless Episode 1 “Pilot”
Written by Craig Sweeny
Directed by Marc Webb
Aired September 22, 2015 on CBS

Tell me if you’ve heard this story before; underachieving creative type takes experimental neuro-enhancing drug, then his life goes haywire when he goes back for more, only to find the person who gave it to them mysteriously dead, setting off an unthinkable chain of events. Could happen to anyone, right?

Of the many one-and-done network shows of the Peak TV era, Limitless is one of the most underrated – and most forgotten, a 22-episode sequel to a modestly-performing 2011 Bradley Cooper vehicle (itself loosely adapted from a 2001 Irish thriller novel) that drew lukewarm ratings when it debuted in September 2015, and was unceremoniously canceled the following spring (getting some obligatory mid-2010s “a few streamers are considering a second season” buzz that died a few months later). It works by being the most ridiculous, ambitious version of itself it could possibly be, funneling its source material into an intriguing sequel full of eclectic characters, a big heart, and an incredibly infectious score, something that clearly deserved more than its Tuesday night timeslot (where it originally aired after TWO different NCIS series). It didn’t happen right away, of course – but as Limitless grew into itself, and guided audiences into its goofy, often unsubtle storytelling rhythms, it quietly became not only a series with its own distinct identity – but one of the more rewarding, inventive takes on the incredibly tired, cliched “idiot savant” lone ranger premise.

Limitless‘s first episode, “Pilot”, takes the film and filters it into a more TV-friendly premise, in the vein of so many Chuck clones of the era (Jake McDorman) of which Limitless is one of the last); and unfortunately, gets the series off to a bit of an uneven start. After an in media res scene where we see a man running through the New York subway, we cut back to the everyday life of 28-year old musician and temp worker Brian Finch , and spend most of the first act working back to that scene. In a sign of the times, Brian is millennial angst incarnate, a creative type who held onto their dying dream of fronting a band for too long, to the detriment of their health, well being – and most importantly, his family, including his doubtful mother and hopeful father (to whom he lies about a “solo project” releasing on Bandcamp soon… ahhh, 2015).

Unfortunately, Limitless‘s first episode “Pilot” struggles at first under the pressure to be a sequel, a CBS procedural, and an intriguing serialized drama all at the same time. It does open strong, with Brian’s introduction and his first NZT experience, finding sex pests at his temp job and having a pilot-worthy montage of performing incredible feats (guitar solos and chess matches in the park, mostly). Craig Sweeny’s scripts translates some of the undertones from the film (where, in the beginning, Eddie Morra was a semi-failed writer) effectively into the existential angst of the show’s protagonist – but as it begins to branch out from the basic structure of the film, it fumbles its way through a more perfunctory, forgettable second act.

After a strong opening, “Pilot” flounders most once it circles back to its opening scene, and subsequently widens its lens to tell its story of murderous, NZT-addicted investment bros, or to to introduce Rebecca Harris (Jennifer Carpenter) and Spelman Boyle (Hill Harper), the FBI agents chasing Brian after they find him in his dead friend’s house. Where the first act was fun of fun visual effects and monologues about the angst of finding purpose, the second act of “Pilot” bogs itself down in a bunch of goofy plot mechanics, including an investment bro who has a silenced pistol, an FBI who tried to test NZT on its agents, and Brian’s personal quest to save his father’s sudden, drastic medical issue.

It’s a lot – and to its detriment, vacillates between being a cliched pilot and feeling a lot like the movie and premise it got its namesake from. But as “Pilot” develops, going through its collection of genre tropes, “Pilot” slowly begins to move away from the familiar structure of the film, into a strange, intriguing mix of melodramatic nonsense, engaging visuals, and some heartfelt character stories, beginning with Brian’s attempts to save his father, no matter the cost to his own life or safety. “Pilot’ isn’t the most elegant at mixing all of this together alongside an excessive amount of visual panache (often depicting the rapid speed at which Brian’s NZT-afflicted brain works); “Pilot” is busy, easily distracted, and doesn’t make a convincing case this is the one of the dozens of “white, slightly-bearded schlubs fumble through life” series worth watching.

By the time Bradley Cooper makes his inevitable cameo (he’s an executive producer on the series, and would appear in a number of future episodes), it feels like “Pilot’ is teetering on falling completely off the rails. And as Senator Eddie Morra explains to Brian that he’s got a secret formula to temporarily stave off the side effects of long-term NZT use (which includes death, as we learn from the FBI’s experiments), it feels like “Pilot” has introduced one too many plot elements for its flimsy foundation to handle. But as Eddie offers Brian an ominously-laced olive branch to have a life of meaning, “Pilot” once again circles back to the beginning; not to the police chase, but to the scenes where Brian struggled to lie to his father about the purposeless, empty 28 years of life preceding this moment (though with five expulsions, four misdemeanors, and three fake ID’s, it hasn’t been an entirely boring life up to this point).

And it’s there where Limitless re-grounds itself – not around the excitement of Eddie’s promise of having “a life most people can’t even imagine”, but around Brian’s desperate attempts to not disappoint his father (and you know, maybe save his life in the process). That vein of story opens Limitless up to some emotionally potent storytelling, which would’ve seemed an incredulous proposition only a few scenes earlier (like when Brian pretends to rob a bank, just to get an FBI agent to show up to open a safety deposit box); after he reluctantly agrees to be the FBI’s guinea pig/human database tool in exchange to get his father moved up the liver transplant list, he visits his father, who tells him “I woke up today feeling scared, but tomorrow I’ll wake up being hopeful” in the episode’s best scene (shout out to Ron Rifkin, who is terrific as Brian’s father).

With the convolutions required for the show’s ludicrous premise finally in place, “Pilot” uses the last ten or so minutes well, connecting the series to the film in intriguing ways, while effectively establishing the shared purpose of protecting family both Brian and Rebecca possess. And it even tacks on a few extra bonus plot twists, just for fun – primarily, that Rebecca’s drug-addled father died after possibly taking NZT and visiting her sometime in the past (presumably between 2011, where the film is set, and 2015), and maybe connected to whatever conspiracy “Pilot” skims the surface of.

After a few mid-episode stumbles, “Pilot” ends up being a relatively effective first episode, a mish-mash of visual ideas, character notes, and bigger plot allusions led by a terrific cast, and a clear sense of the aesthetic blueprint for the series to build from. Though it uses a lot of conventional and frankly illogical plot devices to arrange its many pieces (of which the series would expand upon, to great effect, in later episodes), where “Pilot” ends up – with Brian as a consultant to the FBI, looking into Rebecca’s father’s death, while figuring out whatever Eddie Morra is up to – is unexpectedly compelling, a result of the show’s ability to find short moments to ground itself amongst the chaos. It isn’t always the most elegant (and it’ss a shade too busy visually to ever let the audience relax and gain their bearings) but “Pilot” is nonetheless a solid introduction to one of Peak TV’s most unexpectedly rewarding short-live series.

Grade: B

Other thoughts/observations:

• welcome to the Second Look of Limitless, as we celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary!
  
• The name of Brian’s solo project? Resorbed Twin.
  
• When Eddie talks to Brian about the feeling of taking NZT, we get one of the best, goofiest CGI shots of the 2010s: Talking Womb Baby Eddie.
  
• During his first NZT experience, Brian tells a local hot dog vendor about selling “artisanal” hot dogs – it is probably the douchiest moment of his in the pilot.
  
• “I have tried to pick a lock before… different kind of situation.”
  
• Rebecca only asks Brian for one thing at the end of “Pilot”: “Just don’t lie to me. Ever.”
  
• Eddie might run for president – but he gets so much time off as a senator, he might not even bother. He also agrees to help Brian because he needs him “to fill a position” he’s going to need some unknown time in the future. Intrigue!
  
• Boy, Spelman is a scary type of agent, who clearly would’ve shot Brian without asking any questions. Yikes!
  
• “You ready to become somebody who matters?”