Best-case scenario for running into your ex? You’re on NZT.
Warning: Full spoilers from the episode follow.
Coming off the fairly dramatic pilot episode, last week’s Limitless offered a much more comedy-driven storyline — which was a smart move considering the whole “smart pill” concept is pretty silly anyway. However, with only two episodes to go on, I wasn’t sure which Limitless we were going to get this week. Thankfully, “The Legend of Marcos Ramos” built on the comedy aspects of “Badge! Gun!”, while also balancing it out with dramatic moments.
Granted, the Ramos/La Sabre storyline wasn’t quite as novel as the previous Genghis Khan case, but it was still fun to see it all play out from Brian and Rebecca’s perspectives. At times it got a little exposition-heavy, but I appreciated Brian’s over-the-top visual aids to keep things interesting — even if they did yield menial results. (“That’s your breakthrough? The sniper was tall?”) I also liked how Limitless continues to show little glimpses of how Brian recalls bits of information from his memories (e.g. that one time he used a newspaper to swat a fly).
Also, in terms of the show’s affinity for subverting crime series tropes, I love how, even though he’s a consultant for the FBI, Brian’s not allowed to go everywhere with Rebecca, which leaves him to fill in the gaps with, say, a grindhouse-style fantasy or “Rebecca’s Awesome Take-Down!” And while last week’s episode played up Brian’s adversarial dynamic with Boyle, this week’s episode saw him interacting more with his bodyguards, Mike and Ike — particularly the former, which brought about some funny moments. (“Jeez, Mike! The Wizard of Oz was on last night.”)
Who doesn’t like a little grunt work?
On a more serious note, Brian and Rebecca’s “beer o’clock” conversations made up some of my favorite scenes this week, along with the fact that, right now, Rebecca is really the only one Brian can talk to about his double life. Unfortunately, he’s still on his own when it comes to Eddie, and it looks like things are about to get even worse for Brian now that he’s getting supplemental assignments from the mysterious “Mr. Sands” (Colin Salmon). Of course, eventually, that shoe is going to have to drop, but for now I’m curious to see how Brian will balance that out. Although, he does seem to have plenty of brain power to spare at the moment.
Speaking of which, it was fun seeing McDorman reunite with his Manhattan Love Story costar Analeigh Tipon this week, playing Brian’s ex-girlfriend Shauna. And while the historical landmark subplot was amusing, I think the biggest takeaway from this encounter was Brian’s struggle to find out if “NZT Brian” and “Regular Brian” were two different guys or not — which, again, dovetailed with him confiding in Rebecca.
Overall, “The Legend of Marcos Ramos” did a good job of infusing solid character development into the case-of-the-week storyline. Even little touches like Rebecca knowing the victim personally added some emotional weight to the proceedings. And I’m glad that each episode has also had some allusion to Eddie, keeping the larger picture in focus while Brian continues to work with the FBI.
While the Marcos Ramos storyline wasn’t quite as engaging as last week’s Genghis Khan case, Limitless’s third episode maintained a great sense of humor and featured some strong moments between Brian and Rebecca. Meanwhile, Brian’s subplot with Shauna was also good, but mostly because it helped Brian work through his mini-identity crisis.
