Limitless Review: 1×13 – “Stop Me Before I Hug Again”

They can try to make this Limitless episode funny and ‘nice’ but that won’t stop it from going into the sophomore slump.

In this week’s Limitless episode we have Brian (Jake McDorman) working with a famous FBI profiler because their latest victim was killed by a known serial killer. Or as Brian might have us think hugged by a serial hugger. Brian decides to switch ‘bad’ words to ‘nice’ words because his favorite cartoon as a child popped up in his subconsciousness and told him to do so.

Of course that doesn’t stop Brian from solving the case and with the help of NZT does it in 40 minutes. That grabs the attention of the FBI profiler David Englander (Terry Serpico) and asks him to go to Quantico to help out with other cases. Of Course the small headshake by Boyle (Hill Harper) in the first meeting tells us all we need to know: this guy is douchey and controlling.

Not surprisingly Rebecca (Jennifer Carpenter) continues her investigation into Senator Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) and discovers some pretty eye opening things. Brian willingly, and surprisingly, works with Sands (Colin Salmon) to make sure she doesn’t make a connection to anything.

There were some twists in this weeks Limitless episode but find out why it had me disappointed.

Let’s be a little ‘Nice’ in this week’s review

We find out that a character from Brian’s childhood named Josh-o-saurus Josh (Eddie Pepitone) has been in his subconscious for 15 years and he decides to come out this episode and have Brian use silly word in replacement to the serious words. Using hugger instead of killing, sill geese instead of perverts, and tickling for stabbing.

Yes, this happened for an entire episode that was based around a serial killer. You can understand our frustration when we say that it got old real quick. We admit it was funny the first or second time but when they insisted to stick to the theme I literally fell asleep one third of the way into the show

That was not a joke and nor was it an exaggeration. I woke up the next morning thinking what the heck happened. To make it worse Josh told Brian to use ice cream names instead of the serial killer’s names. Mr. Butter Pecan? How about Mr. Pralines and Cream? You get my point.

Boyle has a nose for douche bags

We could tell that the FBI profiler David Englander was not good news when Boyle got irritated with him in the first meeting. This is a guy who wrote a book on the case that made his career and then brags about it. No one is hating on  love capitalism but Brian finds out that he put away the wrong guy for the murders.

Being Limitless, Brian was on NZT to find the hole in the case but it wasn’t impossible to. All it took to figure out that you had the wrong person was to see that the killer’s M. O., choking the victims with 300 lbs of force, did not line up with the strength of the guy on death row.

He does look like the type of guy who would ignore such crucial evidence if it meant closing a huge case. Still on the fence? One of the things he said might help you get down:

“People just can’t get enough of this stuff, Brian. You know? The inner workings of a depraved mind. Yeah. I got seven figures for that. And I’ve already sold the movie rights.” – David Englander

Case: Closed

Can Brian derail Rebecca’s investigation?…..Or does he not want to?

We finally get some traction in the plot when Brian finds out that Rebecca has been investigating the attempted assassination of Senator Morra. Being on NZT he feels like he can handle it and that he persuaded her to stop the investigation.

Surprise! He finds out that he didn’t deter her and actually catalysed her research. This kinda reminded me of when Jennifer Carpenter played Debra Morgan in Dexter. She got that zeal of hers when she said that she feels like Senator Morra ‘dodged’ the sniper bullet.

Brian proceeds to hatch a plan where he replaces the jacket Senator Morra, which has NZT tainted blood on it, with one that doesn’t have the NZT in the blood. Not surprisingly he gets help from Sands in this case and surprisingly Sands isn’t threatening Brian but rather is fulfilling a favor.

Of course this requires that Brian break into the FBI’s evidence locker to do the switch and being on NZT really helps. Pick the locks? Easy. Hack the system? Piece of cake. Erase the camera footage? As fast as you can take in a deep breath. Does it help Brian that Rebecca decides to go to the evidence locker to pick up the jacket just then? Nope but he does barely get out before being found out…yeah lets put that on NZT.

FINAL VERDICT: Was the writer doing a hat tip to National Hug Day?!

It takes a lot of talent to keep up a serious mood while using silly words that don’t belong in the situation and we gotta say the Limitless crew did an amazing job being their character and keeping the mood intact. Who knows how many takes it took to get the mood right for just one scene?

In our opinion Director Edward Ornelas should get a pat in the back and Writer Jenna Richman a slap on the wrists. The silly names in this week’s Limitless episode grew old real quick. It’s one thing to have some part of the episode like that but another to insist on it the whole episode. Yeah you can ignore Josh-o-saurus and his silliness but you will essentially be ignoring a third to half of the episode.

Should we come back and watch the upcoming Limitless episode next week? Us viewers are not going to hold it against the writers, there is still potential and we want to see where the writers take it to.

There is a lot of hard work that goes into the show: the acting, the set making, the directing, and etc. In no way are we decrying any of that, but what we are saying is it’s good to experiment…just not on an entire episode. Especially if we, the fan base, have not been exposed to it in the show already.

Comments, Questions and Concerns

• Will Senator Edward Morra be exposed?
• It seems like Brian purposely mismatched the damage on the button to push Rebecca to investigate more and Josh confronts him about this.
• Was this episode a turning point for Sands and Brian’s relationship?
• Can we have psychological exam done on David Englander?
• Please, No more episodes with Josh-o-saurus!
• We are on the edge of our seats! Is Boyle going to use the NZT pill he picked up anytime soon?!