Almost Human - Recap: Bennie and the Jets

Episode 3 of Season 1 of Almost Human, “Are You Receiving?,” found the series hitting its stride. I sort of reasoned that the pilot of this series would be its biggest hurdle. The general premise isn’t exactly groundbreaking in that we’ve seen plenty of examples of sci-fi films where humans are partnered with androids in an effort to fight crime or accomplish some goal generally speaking. Having said that, any sort of setbacks brought up by the fact that the basic foundation is somewhat formulaic have been all but wiped away thanks to the chemistry between the show’s leads and clever examples of plot twists and turns. It’s 2048, and technology is everywhere. Meaning, the possibilities are limitless. Here is the Recap and Review of Almost Human, Episode 3 of Season 1, “Are You Receiving?”

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To begin the recap, it’s important to reiterate the fact that the humanity in Dorian (Michael Ealy), the DRN series android partner of John Kennex (Karl Urban), ironically brings out the softer side of his human buddy. Kennex opened Episode 3 by waking up just a tad late and greasing the joints of his prosthetic leg with olive oil, thanks to Dorian’s suggestion. The pair has a certain sense of humor that works well even the direst of circumstances, and the writers have developed a rapport between them that drives the show to new levels. For example, consider the scene in Kennex’s police car where Dorian was used as a “coffee warmer,” unbeknownst to him, while he poked fun at Kennex’s lack of punctuality.

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The crime this week centered on a hostage situation on the twenty-fifth floor of a corporate building. Inside, a aggressive group of armed men seized control of employees in order to capture the attention of the police in an organized fashion. The planted body of single employee in the lobby was used to tip off Kennex and his men to begin with, and the only thing that was certain right off the bat was that the criminals were still at large somewhere inside. From headquarters, Captain Maldonado (Lili Taylor) and Valerie Stahl (Minka Kelly) continued to research the assailants while Kennex and Dorian led a team of men through the investigation. Before we knew it, the ground floor of the building was vaporized with a hidden light bomb, but luckily for our leading partners, they’d already begun their ascent to the twenty-fifth floor. I’ve often referred to certain characters in recaps as “skeleton keys.” Meaning, they can do whatever the writers want whenever they need something done. Dorian, who’s one of Almost Human’s leading men, is a virtual Swiss army knife of the future. His technology allows him to scan locations for information and people, act as a receiver for communication, make translations, etc. This certainly proved to come in handy in a situation that eventually required the team to follow protocol, disabling all communications going in and out of the building in an effort to contain the crisis.

Eventually, we were clued in to the fact that Dorian could tap into emergency phone calls from civilians in hiding within the building. See? What a handy feature for our favorite DRN to have! After quelling the fears of someone unable to assist their needs, Dorian eventually stumbled upon the outgoing call of Paige, a girl hiding in the utility closet of the twenty-fifth floor. Thus, the duo had access to information via this secondhand source. John, who was able to tap into the call via a poke from Dorian’s finger to his earpiece, was surprisingly excellent at quashing the girl’s panic as she watched her younger sister, Jenna, suffer through the stress of the hostage situation across the floor. First, John told the tale of the time he’d once nearly drowned after falling through the ice while fishing with his father. The fear consumed him. That is, until his father dove in to rescue his son, dragging him to safety. The feeling of not being alone worked wonders on John, and he’d offer Paige the same sense of consolation. Dorian, never having experienced such a feeling, noted that the story probably worked its magic by lulling Paige off to sleep.

Eventually, the partners made their way to the fifteenth floor, yet after a series of gunshots from an enemy attacker, the two ended up in a bit of a brawl. It’s funny how everyone on these police shows, even a futuristic-themed one like Almost Human, are such poor shots! After countless bullets were fired, John managed to outsmart one of the gunmen on the floor by using his cell phone as a decoy. Dorian, on the other hand, took a ricocheted bullet to the forehead, exposing his robo-brains. Back at headquarters, the team had managed to scan the man in charge via surveillance footage as a member of the Holy Reclamation Army, a radical group of extremists known for terrorizing the public. Now, Dorian too came this realization after scanning the face of this dead attacker. Dorian, sensing a disturbance, eventually managed to uncover a device used to mask one’s own face with that of another. Thus, the partners faced a group of men masquerading as another group entirely, but why?

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Rudy (Mackenzie Crook) was of fantastic use this week as well. Episode 3 found Paul offering his assistance as a technological genius when the men holding the hostages requested a fission igniter, a military grade detonator used for devastating explosions. Rudy, able to throw together a perfect replica that could even scan as genuine, only had a short period of time to piece together the product before more hostages would be killed.

On the fifteenth floor, John continued to speak with Paige, who informed him that the men were continuously visiting a corner window. John knew to continue with the comforting small talk, even going as far as to confess that his middle name is *gulp* Reginald, an homage to some ancient singer named Elton John. Dorian’s legs, meanwhile, short-circuited as a result of the gunshot to his head, leading John to attempt to fix the situation with a little guidance from the android. A dirty q-tip  from the trash and a toenail clipper only made matters worse, shutting Dorian down almost entirely. In the end, Kennex made like a true trooper, chewed up some already-been-chewed gum from someone’s old lunch, and stuck it in the wound, reconnecting Dorian’s circuitry. Presto! Our favorite android was up and running once again. Unfortunately, Paige inevitably gave in to the fear of losing her sister, sneaking form the nearby utility closet in order to join her sibling in the fray of the ordeal. Paige, however, was clever in her decision to “use the bathroom” in order to secretly plant her connected cell closer to the conversation of the terrorists.

Eventually, Maldonado delivered Rudy's piece of technology in the nick of time. Oddly enough, Dorian and John became privy to the fact that the men weren’t at all interested in it. It was merely a distraction to take their attention away from something else. Across the way, Dorian made note of a building with massive palladium holdings. Meaning, another team of men was across the way in an attempt to crack into the safes holding the precious metal, while this more obnoxious team of criminals drew the attention of the police. In fact, the police had disabled all communications as per protocol, only to unknowingly disable the alarm system, enabling the heist. From the windows of the buildings, the thieves communicated using special signals that were expanded via a simple beam of light. More importantly, another light bomb was set to decimate the hostages if Dorian and John couldn’t reach them in time.

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In a scene that adequately demonstrated his awesomeness, Dorian took to the elevator shaft and put his android strength to good use by rapidly ascending by the chords. Pull by pull, he eventually heaved his way up to the ventilation system and onto the twenty-fifth floor. There, he managed to fight off most of the armed attackers, yet he inevitably fell to their leader’s feet. With a gun pointed at his head, it seemed it was curtains for the DRN. That is, until John, masked in the face-shielding technology he’d swiped from the fallen attacker on floor fifteen, ambushed the leader and saved Dorian’s life. After preventing the heist and bidding Paige and her sister farewell, Dorian and John headed back to headquarters where they received a round of applause.

On the drive to Kennex’s celebratory noodle binge, Dorian thanked his human partner for saving his life, even if it was not entirely the same as saving the life of living breathing human. Dorian now understood the meaning of John’s ice fishing story. John, in a move that proves that his thoughts towards androids have changed entirely since getting acquainted with Dorian, made sure to set his friend’s mind at ease. Death is death, and it sucks for everyone. To close the recap, Episode 3 ended with Dorian rocking out to “Bennie And The Jets” by Elton John, much to John’s dismay.

 No one messes with my coffee warmer.

What did you think of Almost Human, Season 1 Episode 3, “Are You Receiving?” Now that the show is hitting its stride, will you continue to tune in? Do you like the chemistry between the leads?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Almost Human, Season 1 Episode 3, “Are You Receiving?”