Review: Limitless (Netflix Should "Longmire" This Series)

I didn’t watch Limitless until I binge watched it on Netflix this past weekend. I cannot believe CBS did not renew this compelling series for a second season.

Maybe that’s because it’s a mixed drama that can be muddled unless the show runner has a focused vision. You see, Limitless is a science fiction dramedy, or comedy drama. Maybe their marketing department just didn’t get it before the right audience.

Limitless has a focused concept and contains the best elements of its 3 genres. Compelling story lines with appealing characters, a mind-blowing *wink, wink* concept, believable conflict, and large doses of humor make Limitless must-see TV indeed.

Premise

Brian Finch, played by Jake McDorman, is a 28-year-old slacker of the struggling musician type. A former band mate and old friend who became an uber successful banker gives him a pill–NZT48–to help him focus. That little pill allows him to access every neuron in his brain. For the 12 hours the pill is effective, Brian is the smartest person on the planet, able to perfectly recall every detail of his past and stunningly use every aspect of that, intuition, and reasoning to solve problems. Of course, there is the downside. The pill has alarming side effects.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because there was a movie of the same name starring Bradley Cooper as a user of the miracle drug. Cooper is one of the Executive Producers of this series and makes guest appearances as U.S. Senator Eddie Morra who has created a drug to counteract the side effects. There’s a catch. He will only give the drug to Brian Finch if Finch plays ball with him and therein lies the rub.

Main Characters

Jake McDorman is Brian Finch.
Jennifer Carpenter is FBI Special Agent Rebecca Harris.
Hill Harper is FBI Special Agent Spelman Boyle.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is FBI Special Agent in Charge Nasreen “Naz” Pouran.
Bradley Cooper is U.S. Senator Edward Morra.
Ron Rifkin is Dennis Finch, Brian’s father, and Blair Brown is Marie Finch, Brian’s mother.

My 2 Cents

With the good guy hero, who discovers how moral and good he really is, caught in an untenable situation, the show just got better and better with every episode as Brian struggles to not do evil yet keep his handlers pacified.

Netflix, grab this gem and give it the Longmire treatment, i.e., purchase rights to the series and keep it going.

Takeaway Truth

I’m not the only one who has had this thought. Fans are hoping Netflix will take this on and make it the success that Longmire has become. (By the way, Longmire returns in September for its second season as a Netflix Original.)