Limitless: “The Assassination of Eddie Morra” Review

Brian’s choice: Team Eddie or Team Piper.

Limitless came back with a vengeance in tonight’s episode, as Bradley Cooper made his third appearance as Eddie Morra. In the last episode, the show experimented with different perspectives outside of Brian and Rebecca’s, and this week’s midseason premiere continued that trend by starting on Eddie’s point of view, while also intercutting with a brand new character, Piper Baird (Once Upon a Time’s Georgina Haig). Right off the bat, this set “The Assassination of Eddie Morra” apart, while also further complicating Brian’s double-life.

While Cooper’s last two episodes were more serious than typical Limitless installments, this storyline maintained a good balance between comedy and drama. For example, Sands’ unexpected visit to the CJC offered some funny moments, as Brian played out several outlandish scenarios in his head. It was also fun to see Brian tag along with Boyle for the assassination investigation. (“That ‘I barely listened to anything you said’ recap thing you do? It’s rude.”)

Of course, the most intriguing aspect of this episode was Piper, who turned out to be one of the more dynamic characters we’ve seen thus far. As Jake McDorman mentioned in our interview for this episode, Brian now finally had someone to talk to about the Eddie side of NZT, giving us a contrary perspective to the one both Eddie and Sands have been fabricating for Brian since the show began. Obviously Brian had already begun to suspect foul play from Eddie, but Piper’s backstory seemed to confirm a lot of what we already knew. Haig also played really well off of McDorman, particularly at Brian’s parents’ house, which, again, leaned into the humor with Piper pretending to be Brian’s girlfriend.

Cut from the same brain-enhancing pill.

Also, the fact that Piper was part of the team that developed Eddie’s booster shot was a pretty huge revelation and could potentially be a game-changer in the future. Assuming she eventually cracks the code on Eddie’s enzyme, Piper could definitely be a good ally for Brian to have if things go south between him and Eddie (which they undoubtedly will at some point). In terms of the overarching narrative, this subplot was a major one in terms of fleshing out the underground war for total control over NZT.

As for the case itself, Brian’s investigation yielded some great character moments. His lead on Sammy Depetro, for instance, brought about a surprisingly touching moment at the record store, where Brian traded an old personal recording for information on Depetro. Once again, this showed how Brian’s kind heart sets him apart from Eddie and even the FBI. We later got another glimpse of this in the more lighthearted “internal monologue” scene, which featured NZT Brian, Badass Brian, Badass Sands, NZT Rebecca and (sorta) NZT Ike. I also liked how it was Brian’s dad who ultimately cleared his son’s mind of all distractions so he could focus, not on pragmatism, but the right thing to do.

To that end, Brian and Piper’s plan was both fun to watch and a clever way of sending her off to continue her research. It also got Brian off the hook with Eddie and Sands, even if it did create another loose end for Brian to deal with when the time comes. Brian’s final conversation with Eddie was also very interesting, especially since it gave us more insight into Eddie’s thought process, post-Limitless (the movie). It’s still too early to tell, but Piper made it sound like Eddie’s master plan involves some pretty radical changes to the world. (Singularity, perhaps?)

Even this week’s B story was pretty major, as Rebecca did some detective work of her own. At first it seemed like she was going to find out Piper, but instead she got onto Eddie, which can only spell trouble for Brian down the road. I thought it would be longer before anyone at the FBI suspected Eddie of NZT use, but given the events of this week’s episode it only makes sense that someone like Rebecca would have a hunch about the senator — or rather, presidential candidate. (Dun, dun, dun…)