Brian has a family centered morality, Eddie clearly now has an understanding of the bigger picture. But it should be clear that NTZ is coming from a source that for all of Eddie's knowledge he still has no clue about it's origin. But I do think he might want to use Brian figure that out.
Spoilers Limitless - TV Series
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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Brian has a family centered morality, Eddie clearly now has an understanding of the bigger picture. But it should be clear that NTZ is coming from a source that for all of Eddie's knowledge he still has no clue about it's origin. But I do think he might want to use Brian figure that out.
Episode 2 just aired. The show isn't firing on all cylinders but I still like it quite a bit. Or rather, I like the concept. It's fun to see what someone can do when they can set their mind to mastering anything. That's the draw for me. It could have probably been executed better if it were a well written cable series instead of a CBS procedural. As procedurals go though, it still has its bright spots. It retained some of the style of the movie and it has its own flavor in the form of more levity and quirkiness. It's also not as formulaic as I thought it would be.
More random thoughts...
More random thoughts...
- We get to see him off NZT as well as on it. That adds some interesting moments.
- I thought that he was getting NZT from two sources but it looks like he might be getting it from the FBI through Eddie Morra.
- Eddie is really shaping up to be a villain of sorts.
Eddie spent billions trying to reverse engineer NZT.
It took 17 labs working in competition to get the job done.
In the movie, didn't you only get sick if you stopped taking NZT?
Terminal withdrawls.
I don't think the FBI can make it, but they have probably certainly stockpiled enough NZT to keep Brian smart for the foreseeable future, and whatever the true origin is, it's more than possible that they are still releasing fresh product, which the FBI would manage to get a hold of a usable fraction of as they Track NZT related crime.
Eddie wants his hands clean. Once this stuff is outlawed, it's only a matter of time until goons come for him in the middle of the night.
But I did understand it right in the tv show, if even if you keep taking NZT, you still die. Constant use does not stave death?
It took 17 labs working in competition to get the job done.
In the movie, didn't you only get sick if you stopped taking NZT?
Terminal withdrawls.
I don't think the FBI can make it, but they have probably certainly stockpiled enough NZT to keep Brian smart for the foreseeable future, and whatever the true origin is, it's more than possible that they are still releasing fresh product, which the FBI would manage to get a hold of a usable fraction of as they Track NZT related crime.
Eddie wants his hands clean. Once this stuff is outlawed, it's only a matter of time until goons come for him in the middle of the night.
But I did understand it right in the tv show, if even if you keep taking NZT, you still die. Constant use does not stave death?
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I got the impression that Tru-NZT didn't kill you unless you stopped taking it, it was the reverse engineered FBI-NZT that was causing people to die over the course of a year anyway.
No, in the movie, nearly all of the people on the NZT dealer's client list were dead, in comas, or in extremely poor health. The only former user we saw who'd managed to survive was Anna Friel's character, who'd weaned herself off it gradually, but she was in pretty bad shape. However, Eddie put a lab to work on developing a safer variant of the drug for his own use. That's probably what led to the counteragent stuff he injected into Brian to protect him from the side effects; that must be what lets Eddie keep using it safely.
NZT does not exist.
There is no NZT task force.
A drug addict cannot be reliably called as a witness in a court of law.
Also.
Pilot program.
They don't know how useful he is, or how to exploit him fully, or if there is a massive downside to using a drug addict as a primary tool in solving high profile cases.
Now.
Right now, Becky is only getting the cases she would have gotten if Brian wasn't there.
Later, they might start finding a challenge for Brian.
There is no NZT task force.
A drug addict cannot be reliably called as a witness in a court of law.
Also.
Pilot program.
They don't know how useful he is, or how to exploit him fully, or if there is a massive downside to using a drug addict as a primary tool in solving high profile cases.
Now.
Right now, Becky is only getting the cases she would have gotten if Brian wasn't there.
Later, they might start finding a challenge for Brian.
It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I guess I remember the issue(s) with NZT differently. It seemed implied, if not out-right said, that NZT had the best chance of success if the person was already inherently smart. We're told Eddie is inherently brilliant but just doesn't apply himself and NZT broke down his inner barriers and allowed him to operate at his peak capacity. It was *that* reason that I thought he was able to more safely use NZT and, presumably, get off of it.
His ex-brother-in-law and ex-wife were likely not already smart so the drug didn't have as much of an impact on them. Something is said about neural connections being solidified and made stronger/better at delivering information. If Eddie's acquaintances didn't already have these connections, or very good ones, then any changes to the brain would, essentially, be compounding defects or building connections without any kind of foundation.
And while Eddie's character is sort of despicable in some regards it's odd to criticize a movie because of that. Not all movie protagonists have to be "good" guys or "in it" for other people. Sometimes protagonists are, indeed, despicable assholes. And, I dunno, is looting a dead guy's apartment really *that* bad a thing to do? First of all, Eddie had already made it pretty clear -via internal monologue- that he didn't even really care for his ex-brother-in-law, and secondly when he loots the apartment the guy is dead so it's not like he needs the stuff. And sometimes junkie behavior is irrational.
I will agree that the stuff with how he got the money didn't make sense. It's not clear why he had to go to a loan-shark to get it. Doesn't he live in New York City? Can't he take a weekend trip to Atlantic City and make a killing by counting cards at Blackjack? (Which isn't illegal, and does legitimately give you an advantage over the house in a game that already favors the player more than most other casino games.)
But, fine, he borrows money from the loan-shark. It's a quick and easy infusion of cash. It's not clear why he never pays the loan back once he starts making a killing in the stock market.
I guess we could argue that as well as any brain connections and inherent intelligence a person has the NZT also amplifies other personality traits and on some level Eddie was just sort of a jack-ass who had no problems with stealing money from the mob, not paying it back, and being arrogant enough to think he can out-smart them and not get caught.
I dunno, I like the movie and I think a good part of it is that I like Bradley Cooper. I think some of the visuals of the movie are good (how the picture is more vibrant when the character is on the drug) and just little things like on "how the drug works" like with Eddie helping the college-girl in a neighboring apartment because he had flipped through a book on the subject she was studying years earlier. (Again, going back to the "inherently smart" thing. It's not so much that he remembered, vividly, the pages he flipped through but he understood them enough to be able to talk about the subject intelligently. That's not something you're going to get from a drug (no matter how much latitude you want to give it) on the first use, Eddie would have to have been already smart, and have understood the subject on some level even if he didn't know it. The drug simply allowed him to know, recall these pages, and instantly understand them.
The drug also did more than make a person smart, it seemed to break-down any blockades a person has within them. Christopher you're a writer so certainly you've suffered from writer's block at times and you know how frustrating it can be to be utterly stuck and not know how to go forward. This sort of relates to why Eddie suddenly cleaned his apartment and was able to finish his book, the drug broke down those "blocks" and probably acted as an instant anti-depressant and allowed to him to get off his ass and do things he needed to do.
I dunno, I'll give the movie a watch later.
I have the aired-episodes on my DVR and haven't watched them yet, will give them a look probably.... Later. I dunno, a lot going on with me right now. But it looks like an interesting series but being a crime procedural sort of lessens my interest in it a bit.
His ex-brother-in-law and ex-wife were likely not already smart so the drug didn't have as much of an impact on them. Something is said about neural connections being solidified and made stronger/better at delivering information. If Eddie's acquaintances didn't already have these connections, or very good ones, then any changes to the brain would, essentially, be compounding defects or building connections without any kind of foundation.
And while Eddie's character is sort of despicable in some regards it's odd to criticize a movie because of that. Not all movie protagonists have to be "good" guys or "in it" for other people. Sometimes protagonists are, indeed, despicable assholes. And, I dunno, is looting a dead guy's apartment really *that* bad a thing to do? First of all, Eddie had already made it pretty clear -via internal monologue- that he didn't even really care for his ex-brother-in-law, and secondly when he loots the apartment the guy is dead so it's not like he needs the stuff. And sometimes junkie behavior is irrational.
I will agree that the stuff with how he got the money didn't make sense. It's not clear why he had to go to a loan-shark to get it. Doesn't he live in New York City? Can't he take a weekend trip to Atlantic City and make a killing by counting cards at Blackjack? (Which isn't illegal, and does legitimately give you an advantage over the house in a game that already favors the player more than most other casino games.)
But, fine, he borrows money from the loan-shark. It's a quick and easy infusion of cash. It's not clear why he never pays the loan back once he starts making a killing in the stock market.
I guess we could argue that as well as any brain connections and inherent intelligence a person has the NZT also amplifies other personality traits and on some level Eddie was just sort of a jack-ass who had no problems with stealing money from the mob, not paying it back, and being arrogant enough to think he can out-smart them and not get caught.
I dunno, I like the movie and I think a good part of it is that I like Bradley Cooper. I think some of the visuals of the movie are good (how the picture is more vibrant when the character is on the drug) and just little things like on "how the drug works" like with Eddie helping the college-girl in a neighboring apartment because he had flipped through a book on the subject she was studying years earlier. (Again, going back to the "inherently smart" thing. It's not so much that he remembered, vividly, the pages he flipped through but he understood them enough to be able to talk about the subject intelligently. That's not something you're going to get from a drug (no matter how much latitude you want to give it) on the first use, Eddie would have to have been already smart, and have understood the subject on some level even if he didn't know it. The drug simply allowed him to know, recall these pages, and instantly understand them.
The drug also did more than make a person smart, it seemed to break-down any blockades a person has within them. Christopher you're a writer so certainly you've suffered from writer's block at times and you know how frustrating it can be to be utterly stuck and not know how to go forward. This sort of relates to why Eddie suddenly cleaned his apartment and was able to finish his book, the drug broke down those "blocks" and probably acted as an instant anti-depressant and allowed to him to get off his ass and do things he needed to do.
I dunno, I'll give the movie a watch later.
I have the aired-episodes on my DVR and haven't watched them yet, will give them a look probably.... Later. I dunno, a lot going on with me right now. But it looks like an interesting series but being a crime procedural sort of lessens my interest in it a bit.
As I recall, the line was simply that it works better if you're smart to begin with. The loan shark/mobster was certainly able to benefit from it as well, as did the come-from-nowhere billionaire that the hitman worked for, Lindy in the Central Park sequence, and the business guys in the TV-show pilot. It works on everyone, but if you had higher intelligence to start with, you get commensurately more of an edge.
He was able to survive it because Anna Friel's character, his ex-wife, told him how: to reduce his dose and wean himself off it gradually. Remember, before that happened, he was suffering serious side effects like memory loss and fugue states -- and possibly even committed murder while in a fugue state. So he definitely wasn't immune to its harmful effects; he just got lucky because he was told how to survive them before it was too late for him.
At the end of the movie, he claimed to Robert DeNiro that he'd successfully weaned himself off the drug but had had his brain permanently rewired by it -- although the series has now revealed that to be a lie, establishing that he still uses NZT but developed the counteragent injections to neutralize its harmful effects.
Of course they don't have to, but that doesn't mean I'm personally going to enjoy watching stories about them. I'm not so egocentric as to mistake my personal tastes for objective standards of quality. If you enjoyed the movie, great, you're perfectly entitled to. But I hated it, and I hated Eddie.
The guy's bloody corpse was still lying right there on the couch. He was essentially family, for gods' sake. Personal liking has nothing to do with it -- it's still an incredibly crass and sleazy thing to do. Morals are not something you apply only to the people you personally like. That's not how it works.
And I'm sure it's just as illegal to steal someone's property if they're dead as it is when they're alive -- especially when it's while their corpse is still in the damn room. Not to mention that it was illegally obtained property to begin with -- an illegal drug and the money obtained from its illegal sale. If you steal a dead criminal's profits from his crimes and use that dirty money for your own gain, that is a crime. Not to mention that it was tampering with a crime scene, and surely obstruction as well, since he stole evidence that would've been vital to the police's investigation of the murder. Eddie committed all sorts of crimes when he stole Vern's stash.
He wasn't a junkie yet. He'd had one pill at that point.
I've never found him all that exceptional. He's okay, I've got nothing against him, but I can take him or leave him.
Oh, sure, it's visually and stylistically striking, though like too many films today, it's more preoccupied with showing off its stylistic flair than telling a cohesive story. I found some of its stylistic experiments kind of self-conscious. It was trying too hard.
I don't think the comparison is apt. I'm not convinced that pre-drug Eddie was actually a writer. There are tons of people who go around talking about having this great novel in them but who never actually sit down and do the work. They aren't writers. They hugely outnumber actual writers. The writers are that minority of people who actually sit down and grind it out and complete a finished project rather than just talking about it. Sure, writer's block is part of the process, but if you've never actually managed to get something written and published, then you're not a writer, just a wannabe. It was unclear to me whether Eddie had any actual prior publications. He'd somehow gotten a book contract, but there was no indication that he'd been published before, and he acted like one of those people who are all bluster. Which earns my contempt, not my identification. If the film's intent was to show him as an actual writer suffering from a block, then it did so in an unconvincing way.
I did find it odd that the FBI wasn't giving Brian all the reference work possible, he could handle dozens of cases as a consultant. I did like Nasreen;s voice was turned into the Peanut's adult voice when she threatened to fire Brian should try to escape again.
I did, too. I got a kick out of that.
I liked the sense of danger at the end; that was a good, creepy tone that countered all the light, silliness earlier.
It's not the greatest show ever, that's for sure, but I'm interested in seeing more of it.
The male lead, Brian was the Preppie asshole in a love triangle with Kelsy Grammar's daughter 10 years ago on Greek. Despite being a preppie asshole, "Brian" turned out to be very likable, and more than a match for the super cool King of Animal House, his foil, for Summer from Rick and Morty.
I'd probably happily watch anything with Jake McDorman in it.
I'd probably happily watch anything with Jake McDorman in it.
^ I know him from Manhattan Love Story where he met his real-life girlfriend, the lovely Analeigh Tipton who was also his co-star. I wonder if she'll ever appear on the show.
And in other news, the show retained 99% of its viewers in the second week and has a full-season order.
I don't think he was ever a writer either. Like a lot of people, he just liked the idea of being a writer until he found some focus through NZT and a better calling.
And in other news, the show retained 99% of its viewers in the second week and has a full-season order.
If so, then that's another flaw in the movie. Nobody just hands out a novel contract and a signing advance to someone who's never written anything. If they gave him a contract for a book he hadn't written yet, then he'd have to have written and sold enough before then to convince the publisher he could fulfill the terms of the contract and give them something they could sell. I suppose the intent was that he'd published stories before, or something, but just couldn't find the inspiration now. But that didn't come across well. It was better justified with Brian in the series; he was a musician and he'd been having trouble concentrating on writing music since his dad got sick.
It's pretty clear in the movie that Eddie was a different person after he quit college and got divorced. He's a classic case of a person dealing pretty badly with depression. I think you're being alittle harsh on Eddie and the movie in general. Eddie and Brian are examples of losers in life, who got a second chance, but Eddie hasan agenda with Brian.
It actually happened and it only took 3 episodes. Wasn't expecting that.
^ And it's a real shame what happened in the end.
As for the rest of the episode, I liked the character moments more than the case of the week stuff. It gave us the two Brians, the one who found some energy and focus and the one who's a little more depressed and scatter-brained (aka normal), and it touched on something we've already been discussing here... How he did something different with his new found abilities than what a lot of people like Eddie Morra would do. That's what the show should continue to build on.
I hope we get to see her again. I don't like the clichéd "gotta let her go to keep her safe" eventhough it made a bit of sense. Plus, I like Analeigh Tipton.
Finally got around to watching the first episode, really enjoyed it.
