Almost Human Trailer Introduces Bad Robot’s Cops And Robots Series
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Fox has gone all out today by revealing its entire schedule for 2013-2014, and dropped the full previews for all of them. And while Giant Freakin’ Robot isn’t too invested in Dads or Sleepy Hollow, we are definitely looking to partner up with Almost Human, the sci-fi robo-buddy cop drama from Fringe creator J.H. Wyman and executive producer of everything else J.J. Abrams, whose name is like a mating call around these parts.
Set in the year 2048, Almost Human will follow LAPD officer John Kennex (Karl Urban), who was involved in a life-threatening accident which left him in a two-year coma, all because his mandatory robotic partner traded his own safety for that of others. Kennex is given bionic parts to assist in his recovery, and once healthy, he returns to the force. He is soon paired up with Dorian (Michael Ealy), a human-like android who has far more personality than his updated brethren — of course, that bit of unpredictable behavior is exactly what Kennex isn’t looking for. Together, Kennex and Dorian will take down whatever criminal element in present in future L.A., presumably while trading deprecating one-liners.
The preview shows off the series’ full cast of cops and scientists, which includes Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Lili Taylor (Six Feet Under), Mekia Cox (Crazy, Stupid Love), Michael Irby (Fast Five), and Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl).
While it’s obvious much of the trailer comes from the pilot episode, with its world-building and character introductions, it then gets into a bunch of action-packed scenes that don’t offer much of a plotline to grasp onto. We do get to see Dorian do cool things like inject someone’s DNA into his own body for lab work purposes. There are spaceships, melted faces, and a bunch of dudes in masks, a la V for Vendetta. But no matter what is happening outside in the world, this preview makes it clear that Almost Human will mostly be about the Kennex learning to live and associate with his new partner. It makes you say to yourself, “Oh, I see. Both of them are almost human.” Dredd‘s personality-free ass-kicking aside, I’m not entirely certain Karl Urban can lead a project like this, and it looks like Ealy will be this show’s pulse. But I loved being proved wrong when it comes to shit like this.
Almost Human will air on Mondays this fall, though no specific start date has been reported yet.
