Thursday, December 5, 2013

'Almost Human' GifTweetCap: Rudy Comes to the Party!

The "Almost Human" episode "The Bends" showcased Rudy (Mackenzie Crook), and his talent for being extremely nervous under pressure. At least he has a good sense of self-preservation, which he proves in a quick flash-forward at the beginning of the episode, involving Rudy pointing a pipe of hot steam on three criminals before escaping.
After the flash-forward, we see "Jorian" (John Kennex and Dorian) having their usual banter before heading back to work. This time, it's at a Japanese restaurant, and Kennex (Karl Urban) is about to get Punk'd by Dorian (Michael Ealy). Dorian is annoyed that Kennex must spend the time to eat everything on his plate (so as not to hurt chef Nuri's feelings), but it's all worth it for a good prank. Dorian speaks a few words of Japanese to Nuri (Walter Uegama) to convince him that John would like a live slug. John is a bit hesitant at first, but he gets the job done like a pro. Dorian looks as if he's very proud of his handiwork.
Next, we are introduced to a futuristic phone imbedded in the hand of a guy known as Cooper (Steve Bradley) as he makes a call to his wife (Jane McGregor) to let her know he'll be home soon.
Unfortunately, that's the last call the undercover cop will ever make, as a bad guy he believes to be called The Bishop takes a phone call that proves deadly. The person on the other end apparently outs Cooper as a cop. Cooper's undercover "cook" (of drugs, played by Mark Acheson) is shot first, then the bad guy pulls a subcutaneous wire out of Cooper's belly button as if he's cutting the umbilical cord on an infant worm, then shoots him dead as well.
Cooper had not been active for months, but he had wanted long-term surveillance on the drug operation which the department could not afford. Many at the station believe Cooper was dirty, but Kennex doesn't buy it. He knows Cooper was a good cop, and aims to prove it.

Cooper's wire had to be transmitting somewhere, so Kennex decides to search for it at a cabin that Cooper's wife says he inherited from his dad. While there, John reminisces about Cooper being the only other guy at the top of his class in training, at which time Dorian makes a totally inappropriate joke about how there must have been only two guys in his class. It's funny, in a way, but Dorian has not yet learned when to save his jokes for the right moment. We finally see a flaw in Dorian's human-like demeanor. Perhaps Kennex will learn a bit about his own humanity while teaching Dorian the ins and outs of being human.
Someone had already broken into the cabin, but did not find the device that was capturing Cooper's exchange with the Bishop. Kennex is able to find it in the fireplace, however, based on what he knows about his friend Cooper. Dorian also calls John his friend, but John is having none if that, especially after his inappropriate joke.
Cooper's audio recording indicates that he met with the Bishop face to face, which is a very rare occurrence. Kennex wants to nab the Bishop, so he convinces Rudy to go undercover as a "cook." It's not hard to convince him, as Rudy begins having delusions of becoming James Bond in a fedora, although Kennex nixes the fedora idea. An emotional robot head he is working on isn't so happy about it, however, and calls him a prick for "abandoning" him.
The situation heats up when a bunch of young people begin ODing on the drug called "the Bends," which is what the Bishop deals in. It's not pretty either, as their faces turn a nasty shade of green.
Kennex decides to speak with a low-level dealer of the Bends to get a meet with the Bishop, but first tells Dorian to wait outside, as they don't take kindly to 'droids. As you can see, that doesn't work out too well for him, leaving quite a humbling look on his face. He brings in Dorian the next time around. Eventually, the meet between Rudy and the Bishop is set up and ready to go.
Rudy's first job is to remember his cover. Snarky cop Richard (Michael Irby) prepares Rudy by getting rough with him while asking questions about his cover. Richard also says no to the fedora. 
Rudy's next job is to prove that he can cook up some of the drugs well enough that the Bishop will want him on the team. Unfortunately, he forgets the iodine, causing a piece of equipment to malfunction and send a piece of metal through an android's eye.
Rudy's third job is to swallow some new undetectable GPS tech that will make him trackable, albeit nauseated and farty.
Now it's time for Rudy to meet with the Bishop. He dons his fedora to meet with the Bishop's first layer of security, Effren Cruz (Robert Parent). When Cruz introduces himself, the first word out of Rudy's mouth is his real name! His face immediately gives away the fact that it's an "oops" moment, and when the bad guys train their guns on him, he... farts!
He is able to talk himself out of it by saying that Rudy is his middle name, then Dorian turns off his communications and walks in as backup. The criminals fall for the whole thing, seeing as how the DRN models had been decommissioned as cops, and the criminals have their own, mean-looking VX android (Richard Jollymore) there anyway.
Cruz has Rudy cook up some drugs for taste-testing by the criminal bot. It's 95% pure, making Rudy a "chef." Rudy finally meets who he believes to be the Bishop, but his real name is Gavin Maxwell (Josh Blacker).
Maxwell has Rudy drink something which turns out to be a drinkable-GPS deactivator, then leads him away. With the signal gone, the cops begin moving in, with Dorian doing an impressive neck-snap on one of the criminal guards.
They also take down Cruz. Kennex, using his favorite police brutality tactics, beats Cruz until he talks. Dorian even joins in, poking Cruz in a bullet wound until he informs them that Maxwell is not the Bishop. Knowing that Maxwell had a counteragent to GPS tech that is only a few weeks old, the Bishop has to be someone inside the police department. Maxwell was released on a previous charge by his boss, Capt. Alex Barros (Benito Martinez). He's the Bishop!
Rudy gives a nice little speech on why he loves cooking up drugs, but he's almost too convincing, sending Maxwell and his men into fits of laughter. It's not enough, however, when the bad guys put in a call to Cruz and he doesn't answer. Rudy has been made! He pulls a pipe, sending hot steam into the faces of the drug dealers, but is shot in the arm as he runs off.
Our boys find Rudy after Maldonado (Lili Taylor) calls Barros and conducts a phone trace. When "Jorian" reach Rudy, the VX "bad robot" begins blocking all the gunfire toward the bad guys, T2-style. Then comes a T3-style fight between Dorian and the bigger, stronger VX android baddie, and Dorian gets knocked around like a robo-doll.
The fight becomes epic when Dorian outsmarts the bad VX bot with what looks like a meat hook. Wires and metal for dinner anyone?
Meanwhile, Kennex's gun runs out of ammo, and he's forced to fight Barros in hand-to-hand combat. Just as Barros is about to smash Kennex in the head with a pipe, Kennex grabs the gun he knocked out of Barros's hand and pops him in the gut a couple of times. The injury turns Barros into an idiot, and he begins mouthing off about how he will bury "stupid" Kennex the same way he buried Kennex's buddy Cooper. Kennex appears to end the fightin' words with a shot to Barros's head, although it's not shown. Looks like this may be part of an upcoming story arc!
Later, Dorian informs John that Rudy is coming along to John's favorite bar to celebrate, and Rudy hops in the car, wearing his fedora, before John can say no. John fumes a bit before listing his three rules: Don't embarrass him, don't talk about test tubes (not a euphemism), and pretend that they just met. Party time!
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3 comments:

  1. Dahne1December 5, 2013 at 12:12 PM

    Awesome job as usual Kristen. I always look forward to these because I know I am going to laugh. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary KirklandDecember 5, 2013 at 12:40 PM

    Great post! I really liked the latest episode of this show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. laura3341December 5, 2013 at 5:47 PM

    Oh this was fun! Can't wait for next weeks episode just for your recap! Thanks! XD

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