Fandom Is Love, Year II - Introducing Small Fandoms, Part I - Almost Human
First things first: please join me in a round of applause to the lovely selenic76, who’s organizing this wonderful fandom fest for the second year in a row. *claps*
Last year, I introduced you to my three favorite fandoms, taking you on trip down the memory lane of my life as well. This year, we more or less will stay in the present, and you all will gonna meet smaller fandoms that you might know, or even better, you will want to learn more about after reading my entries. (Warning: these entries will be very image-heavy, so they might take some time to load; sorry in advance)
The first fandom that I want to bring to your attention is "Almost Human". A TV crime show set in the future, the year 2048 to be precisely.
When the show came out in 2013, I really didn’t pay attention to it. First of all, it only aired in the US at this time, so it was next to unavailable to me. Second, I had a plate full of shows at that time, so my schedule was already full, and I was in no need of new shows.
Fast forward to 2015, and the whole situation is a bit different. Some of my favorite shows back in 2013 have been cancelled, with some others I lost my interest. Result: my TV schedule has thinned out, leaving some spaces to fill. Right at that time, a private-owned TV station here in Austria presented its new schedule, including the premieres of "Hunted", "The Tomorrow People", and "Almost Human". While I dropped the first two pretty fast (they were just too boring in storytelling), I was captured by the last one in a heartbeat. Let me explain you why.
The bantering
One of the first things I noticed about the show was the similarities it had with my #1 favorite, "White Collar". Here like there we have a leading duo with a strong supporting cast, and here like there we are in the front row seat to quite some delicious bantering between the two main characters. And without spoilering you at all, let me tell you that John and Dorian are just as good in this department as Peter and Neal are.
The stories
Truth be told, at a first look, "Almost Human" seems to be just another crime show, with the only difference being its setting in the future. But on a second glance, you will see that there’s much more than meets the eye, especially when it comes to Dorian’s character development.
Taking a leaf out of Star Trek TNG, the writers addressed some interesting themes, like "What defines a human?", "How much technology can be helpful and when does it become a danger?" or "Are androids able to feel like a human?". And even though these topics are designed to fit the future setting, we have similar problems to face and questions to answer these days, in our daily lives.
The actors
Last but not least, let’s have a look at the people acting in front of the camera. The casting department did a great job in finding every single one of them, and they all work together in a great way.
Karl Urban
When I read the name, my mind went immediately to the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy, where he played Eomer, the proud leader of the Riders of Rohan. Unfortunately, due to the large cast of the movies, his scenes were on the smaller side, but he definitely left an impression nonetheless.
If you have read my entries last year, you already know that I’m a very curious person in general. So when I saw the first trailer for the show and recognized Karl, I was - you guessed right - curious. I wanted to see if he could convince me in the leading part - and boy he did.
Karl’s character Detective John Kennex is a very complex man. The first thing most people notice is his gruff behavior, successfully keeping everyone at arm’s length (or more). When the show starts, John is bound to return to his job at the LAPD after spending over 18 months on medical leave, most of them in a coma, due to an ambush on his team during a raid. John was the only one to survive the heinous attack, but the price for that was quite high. Not only did John lose his whole team, he also lost the better part of his right leg and has to wear a synthetic one now, and most of all, he’s tormented by nightmares/visions of the attack, leaving him with the desire and determination to put all the small puzzle pieces in his mind together. And for that, he’s willing to sacrifice a lot and crossing more than one border, including the use of forbidden and dangerous technologies and drugs to access the hidden pieces of his memory.
As the show progresses, John loses a bit of his gruffiness, mostly due to the effect his new partner Dorian has on him. There’s more than one scene where you might ask yourself: "Who’s the real human now?", since the lines between human and android are more and more blurring as the show continues.
Remember what I said about my curiosity? Well, she got sated, and she got sated good. Karl does an amazing job in portraying the troubled detective, and over the course of the show, he shows us that John’s gruff behavior is just a façade that provides a cover, an upfront for a broken heart, a tormented mind and a troubled soul.
Michael Ealy
Like with Karl, I knew Michael from his former shows “Sleeper Cell” and “Common Law” (where he starred next to Warren Kole, who played the ill-fated Agent David Siegel on Season 5 of “White Collar”), but I’ve never came around to watch either of them.
Michael plays Dorian, an android. When we first meet him, he’s in some kind of stasis, stashed away in a storage room in the basement. John just had "freed" himself from his latest MX (the standard cop android) in a very creative way, and since there are no more MX free, Rudy decides to give Dorian (a clever twist on the official name of the android series "DRN") to John.
The DRN series was the predecessor of the MX, with the difference that they had something akin to the human set of emotions, thanks to software called "Synthetic Soul". Apparently, one of the series had a failure in that department, so the officials pulled the plug on the whole series, sending Dorian and his companions in stasis.
At first, John can’t get along with this new partner as well, but as the show progresses, he sees and, more important, values Dorian's inputs to both the cases and his personal life more and more. And by the end of the series, John and Dorian are something that looks a lot like friends.
Like with "White Collar", we, the audience, have the luck that both main actors fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Karl and Michael are having great chemistry on screen, enhancing even the most common scenes to something better. And as I mentioned before, their bantering is excellent, both in writing and execution, and in more than one scene it’s like watching a tennis match, with the words being the ball.
Lily Taylor
She plays Captain Sandra Maldonado, John and Dorian’s boss. She’s the one who gives John the initial second chance to start at the department again, and she’s the one who lets him work with Dorian. Sandra Maldonado is a tiny person (especially in relation to John and Dorian), but she knows how to gain the attention and stands her ground. She also knows John better than anyone, he himself included, mostly due to the long years of friendship these two have under their belts.
Minka Kelly
She plays the part of Detective Valerie Stahl, who is a part of John’s team. Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot about her character, only the fact that she’s the first Chrome (genetically enhanced humans, usually found in the higher and richer circles of society) to become a Police detective - and that she’s having some trouble when faced with other Chromes. During the show, John seems to fall for her, but unfortunately, the show ended before we got any further.
Mackenzie Crook
He has the part of coroner/technician Dr. Rudy Lom, who’s the comic relief of the show. A typical nerd with all the lovely clichés to a T, he gets himself in trouble in almost every scene, be it with words, or in some cases, with actions. And for that, you need an actor with exactly that skill set. Mackenzie has it, honed, among other stops, on the sets for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, where he played the pirate with the wayward glass eye.
Michael Irby
He’s playing Det. Richard Paul, and the first thing that came to my mind when I saw his first scenes was: “He’s this show’s version of Agent Ruiz”. He’s definitely against having Dorian in their team, and he won’t let a chance slip to let both John and Dorian know that. Over the course of the episodes, his general behavior hardly changes at all.
Conclusion
"Almost Human" is, like "White Collar", not exactly your typical crime procedural. Sure, there are a lot of typical show elements in there, but on top of that, you get a lot of bromance between John and Dorian, as well as some well-placed comical moments. The only downside is that we only got 13 episodes of this wonderful show.
Thanks for reading, and see you again on Feb 18, when I introduce you to another fandom of mine, cause Fandom is Love!
Last year, I introduced you to my three favorite fandoms, taking you on trip down the memory lane of my life as well. This year, we more or less will stay in the present, and you all will gonna meet smaller fandoms that you might know, or even better, you will want to learn more about after reading my entries. (Warning: these entries will be very image-heavy, so they might take some time to load; sorry in advance)
The first fandom that I want to bring to your attention is "Almost Human". A TV crime show set in the future, the year 2048 to be precisely.
When the show came out in 2013, I really didn’t pay attention to it. First of all, it only aired in the US at this time, so it was next to unavailable to me. Second, I had a plate full of shows at that time, so my schedule was already full, and I was in no need of new shows.
Fast forward to 2015, and the whole situation is a bit different. Some of my favorite shows back in 2013 have been cancelled, with some others I lost my interest. Result: my TV schedule has thinned out, leaving some spaces to fill. Right at that time, a private-owned TV station here in Austria presented its new schedule, including the premieres of "Hunted", "The Tomorrow People", and "Almost Human". While I dropped the first two pretty fast (they were just too boring in storytelling), I was captured by the last one in a heartbeat. Let me explain you why.
The bantering
One of the first things I noticed about the show was the similarities it had with my #1 favorite, "White Collar". Here like there we have a leading duo with a strong supporting cast, and here like there we are in the front row seat to quite some delicious bantering between the two main characters. And without spoilering you at all, let me tell you that John and Dorian are just as good in this department as Peter and Neal are.
The stories
Truth be told, at a first look, "Almost Human" seems to be just another crime show, with the only difference being its setting in the future. But on a second glance, you will see that there’s much more than meets the eye, especially when it comes to Dorian’s character development.
Taking a leaf out of Star Trek TNG, the writers addressed some interesting themes, like "What defines a human?", "How much technology can be helpful and when does it become a danger?" or "Are androids able to feel like a human?". And even though these topics are designed to fit the future setting, we have similar problems to face and questions to answer these days, in our daily lives.
The actors
Last but not least, let’s have a look at the people acting in front of the camera. The casting department did a great job in finding every single one of them, and they all work together in a great way.
Karl Urban
When I read the name, my mind went immediately to the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy, where he played Eomer, the proud leader of the Riders of Rohan. Unfortunately, due to the large cast of the movies, his scenes were on the smaller side, but he definitely left an impression nonetheless.
If you have read my entries last year, you already know that I’m a very curious person in general. So when I saw the first trailer for the show and recognized Karl, I was - you guessed right - curious. I wanted to see if he could convince me in the leading part - and boy he did.
Karl’s character Detective John Kennex is a very complex man. The first thing most people notice is his gruff behavior, successfully keeping everyone at arm’s length (or more). When the show starts, John is bound to return to his job at the LAPD after spending over 18 months on medical leave, most of them in a coma, due to an ambush on his team during a raid. John was the only one to survive the heinous attack, but the price for that was quite high. Not only did John lose his whole team, he also lost the better part of his right leg and has to wear a synthetic one now, and most of all, he’s tormented by nightmares/visions of the attack, leaving him with the desire and determination to put all the small puzzle pieces in his mind together. And for that, he’s willing to sacrifice a lot and crossing more than one border, including the use of forbidden and dangerous technologies and drugs to access the hidden pieces of his memory.
As the show progresses, John loses a bit of his gruffiness, mostly due to the effect his new partner Dorian has on him. There’s more than one scene where you might ask yourself: "Who’s the real human now?", since the lines between human and android are more and more blurring as the show continues.
Remember what I said about my curiosity? Well, she got sated, and she got sated good. Karl does an amazing job in portraying the troubled detective, and over the course of the show, he shows us that John’s gruff behavior is just a façade that provides a cover, an upfront for a broken heart, a tormented mind and a troubled soul.
Michael Ealy
Like with Karl, I knew Michael from his former shows “Sleeper Cell” and “Common Law” (where he starred next to Warren Kole, who played the ill-fated Agent David Siegel on Season 5 of “White Collar”), but I’ve never came around to watch either of them.
Michael plays Dorian, an android. When we first meet him, he’s in some kind of stasis, stashed away in a storage room in the basement. John just had "freed" himself from his latest MX (the standard cop android) in a very creative way, and since there are no more MX free, Rudy decides to give Dorian (a clever twist on the official name of the android series "DRN") to John.
The DRN series was the predecessor of the MX, with the difference that they had something akin to the human set of emotions, thanks to software called "Synthetic Soul". Apparently, one of the series had a failure in that department, so the officials pulled the plug on the whole series, sending Dorian and his companions in stasis.
At first, John can’t get along with this new partner as well, but as the show progresses, he sees and, more important, values Dorian's inputs to both the cases and his personal life more and more. And by the end of the series, John and Dorian are something that looks a lot like friends.
Like with "White Collar", we, the audience, have the luck that both main actors fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Karl and Michael are having great chemistry on screen, enhancing even the most common scenes to something better. And as I mentioned before, their bantering is excellent, both in writing and execution, and in more than one scene it’s like watching a tennis match, with the words being the ball.
Lily Taylor
She plays Captain Sandra Maldonado, John and Dorian’s boss. She’s the one who gives John the initial second chance to start at the department again, and she’s the one who lets him work with Dorian. Sandra Maldonado is a tiny person (especially in relation to John and Dorian), but she knows how to gain the attention and stands her ground. She also knows John better than anyone, he himself included, mostly due to the long years of friendship these two have under their belts.
Minka Kelly
She plays the part of Detective Valerie Stahl, who is a part of John’s team. Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot about her character, only the fact that she’s the first Chrome (genetically enhanced humans, usually found in the higher and richer circles of society) to become a Police detective - and that she’s having some trouble when faced with other Chromes. During the show, John seems to fall for her, but unfortunately, the show ended before we got any further.
Mackenzie Crook
He has the part of coroner/technician Dr. Rudy Lom, who’s the comic relief of the show. A typical nerd with all the lovely clichés to a T, he gets himself in trouble in almost every scene, be it with words, or in some cases, with actions. And for that, you need an actor with exactly that skill set. Mackenzie has it, honed, among other stops, on the sets for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, where he played the pirate with the wayward glass eye.
Michael Irby
He’s playing Det. Richard Paul, and the first thing that came to my mind when I saw his first scenes was: “He’s this show’s version of Agent Ruiz”. He’s definitely against having Dorian in their team, and he won’t let a chance slip to let both John and Dorian know that. Over the course of the episodes, his general behavior hardly changes at all.
Conclusion
"Almost Human" is, like "White Collar", not exactly your typical crime procedural. Sure, there are a lot of typical show elements in there, but on top of that, you get a lot of bromance between John and Dorian, as well as some well-placed comical moments. The only downside is that we only got 13 episodes of this wonderful show.
Thanks for reading, and see you again on Feb 18, when I introduce you to another fandom of mine, cause Fandom is Love!