Television: Minority Report, "Pilot"

Meh.

It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great, either.

First we get this intro that tells us the story of the pre-cognitives. I suppose that's for anyone who never saw the movie or doesn't remember the movie. It's also to super-humanize these pre-cogs since they're going to be central to the story.

So way back when, these three siblings were used to stop crime before it started. That was a program called "Pre-Crime." When that program was ended, these three (Agatha, Arthur, and Dashiell) were pensioned off to some island where they could live in peace. Thus removed from all the stimuli, they were ostensibly no longer tormented by visions . . . Right? I mean, in the intro it was said they were seeing murders "within a 100-mile radius" before they happened. So if you live within 100 miles of nothing . . .

Well, I don't know. And it doesn't much matter because our central character is Dash, who has returned to the city. For whatever reason. Because the cabin is boring and Agatha is bossy? Seems like as good a reason as any. And Arthur already lives in the city and is making money through his abilities, too. But of course Dash isn't as selfish as his brother and only wants to help people.

Which is how Dash falls in with a homicide detective named Vega. And now they work together on the sly.

There's your setup.

Oh, except Agatha is having visions of her and her siblings being dragged back into service, and the question is whether Dash helping this cop is the reason why it happens. So . . . She can see things from more than 100 miles away? Or they still live within 100 miles of the city? (In which case, that was a crap location to park your retired pre-cogs.) Or Agatha can only see the visions because Dash was living at home up to that point and the visions involved him? But now that he's gone, then, the visions should also stop. Unless she's just seeing her own future now. God, that would suck.

Okay, well, the show was okay. Dash is a bit too earnest and innocent, and I'm kind of tired of the whole "maladapted" schtick where a main character is antisocial and weird but somehow supposed to be lovable anyway. Or if not lovable exactly, we're still given traits that are supposed to make us like him or her. Quirks. And then there is always a sidekick designed to help this person navigate the world. The sidekick is a "normal" person and sometimes a love interest besides.

Of course it's great to have a dynamic duo. We all love two characters with good chemistry and who play off one another well. But this particular dynamic has become the go-to in shows in recent years and is becoming a bit tiresome.

And while Dash and Vega do have okay chemistry, it isn't off the charts. This isn't Holmes and Watson or even Booth and Brennan caliber. So I'm not sold.

I will possibly give the show one more chance, though. And it seems like a good fit to accompany Gotham on Monday nights, too. (But I haven't had a chance to watch Gotham yet, so you'll have to wait on that one.)