Television: Almost Human, "Unbound"

A service bot is programmed to commit a random crime so that it will be stored in police evidence, allowing it access to a specific android head—that of Danica, a homicidal droid who once perpetrated terrible violence (hence its head being in evidence).

Then we get the story of [John Larroquette], the man who had created Danica, and before that Dorian. Two failed models bankrupted him and sent him to trial besides; he now works out of a makeshift lab.

Well, we all know then that Larroquette—and he's always John Larroquette, even if they call him Nigel or Vaughn or Dan or whomever—is the one to program the bot and set her loose, right? Except no one else seems to figure this out. People get really stupid really fast in the future. Though, looking at the world today, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Danica supposedly goes to Larroquette's makeshift lab to get a new body. She gives him an unconvincing cut on the forehead to make it look like he was assaulted. Larroquette is taken to Rudy's lab, and they dig out all Larroquette's old stuff so he can track Danica.

And Danica is set to steal 500 android processors. See? How can they not figure out that she's doing it for Larroquette? She drops them for Larroquette to pick up later, then goes off on another mission to attack some councilmen that had lobbied against Larroquette back in the day. It's a wild goose chase of sorts, meant to distract Kennex and the rest from the real goal of getting the processors. So while Kennex and Dorian are out blowing Danica to bits, Larroquette slips away to fetch those processors.

Dorian is kinda pissed that his maker would do such a thing. But he also has the epiphany that Larroquette will need a lab to work in with all those androids he's planning to build. "Over the wall." Because that's the only place far enough off the grid. (And btw, as far as epiphanies go, that was was pretty weak. I mean, how much logic would that honestly take to deduce? Not a whole fucking lot. It's one big "NO DUH" from the viewers.)

We don't find out if it's true or not because the episode ends. So one supposes this is going to be an ongoing kind of thing. I'll say John Larroquette certainly livens things up a bit, when given enough to do, which he wasn't quite here. But the promise of more John Larroquette to come . . . I really think he should have been a Q on ST:TNG, up there with John de Lancie and Corbin Bernsen. Anyone who plays a convincingly nasty and underhanded lawyer, actually, would make a good Q. That seems to be the rule of thumb anyway.

Not coincidentally, I was a tough debater in high school. And also have the nickname "Q." Hmm.

Well, whatever. This episode had an interesting if predictable construct that is clearly meant to bear the weight of what comes after. Let's hope they do a better job of designing something smart and surprising though; it's not much fun to watch if you're way ahead of the heroes in figuring things out. It's more like watching someone slow do a crossword puzzle. You just want to take it away and finish it for them. That's not entertainment; that's excruciating.