Almost Human: Season 1, Episode 2 - Skin

Almost Human: Season 1, Episode 2 - Skin

Rating : 8.0

Release : 18 Nov. 2013

Duration : 1 h

Genre : Action, Crime, Drama

Director: Michael Offer

Writer : J.H. Wyman

Cast : Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, Lili Taylor, Andrei Kovski

Watch Almost Human: Season 1, Episode 2 - Skin Full Movie

Synopsis Almost Human: Season 1, Episode 2 - Skin

In night two of the series premiere, Detective John Kennex and Dorian are dispatched to investigate a murder and high-profile missing persons case that lead them into the highly profitable world of IRCs - Intimate Robot Companions - also known as sexbots. Meanwhile, Kennex looks to reconcile a part of his troubled past.

Review :

Are Friends Electric?

This is the second time in a JJ Abrams/JH Wyman show that Gary Numan has been programmed, categorized and easily referenced. The first time was in the famous "White Tulip" episode of Fringe- The actual Song "Are Friends Electric" was being played on a CD player.

Here, the phrase has multiple meanings all throughout the episode. The first is a Literal Meaning, ie, an "Electric Friend": Darla Taylor is 'Charlene" - A "Sexbot" hired by Sebastian Jones (Robert Moloney) - And he is doing some odd things to her.

But he is murdered by 2 guys who have no faces, and as she is taken from the Hotel Room, she spreads Human DNA around like a trail of Breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs for Kennex (Karl Urban) and Dorian, the trail leads to several missing women and a former partner of Jones who was suing Jones. Seems that their company was hired by Albanians - "Albinos" as "Rudy" (Mackenzie Crook) calls them.

The Second meaning for "Are Friends Electric" is the name of the Albanian Company which is making illegal Sex Robots with Human DNA and "real skin". There are some great connections in this first "Monster Of The Week" episode of Almost Human. In the Pilot, we were introduced to the Series Mythos - "InSyndicate" Who was being run by Tim Kelleher, and their target: A Robot Head stored in Evidence Locker number 6663. I suppose that story will find it's way into future episodes.

This is a very interesting Future Landscape. Dorian (Michael Ealy) has many of the same thoughts about life and existence as Kennex does, that he is a robot does not make a difference. As "Mr. Data" says in "Star Trek Next Generation", the way he defines friendship is that he gets used to the input of his friends, and when that input is absent, it is missed. Dorian expresses this with the 'Sexbot" Vanessa (The Mechanically Gorgeous Ella Thomas).

We tell our kids, when their parent dies, "They have gone to a better place" - But this is for their comfort. There is no better place for an absent friend than being in the Memory of those left behind.

But there is something more insidious happening here, why do these Sex Droids leave the DNA of Kidnapped Women behind? The answer is pretty harrowing, but I was relieved that it was not what I expected.

This show is bound for greatness - It's only Flaw is that it is on FOX network. The world that Wyman has created is visually astounding - IN Fringe, we had trouble with houses and streets that were supposed to be in Boston, not looking like what they should look like. We had to suspend a lot of disbelief there. This is not necessary here, there is no recognizable world as we know it in this show, when we see streets and freeways, it is a believable futuristic landscape.

Sometimes Dorian says too much, but he has a remarkable way of recovering his tact. If this show follows the level of quality laid out here and in the Pilot, then there is a Future for it, even on FOX.