Minority Report - S1E2 - Mr. Nice Guy
Previously on Minority Report, ‘Pilot’
Right off the bat I like this episode because it deals with a current day trope: the Nice Guy™. This week’s killer is a guy who has a bone to pick because he’s such a good guy and the ladies just don’t seem to recognize it (isn’t that always the way?).
We open with a flashback to the last day of pre-crime and Wally, the caretaker, is trying to get a government shill to understand that the precogs are human and they will need help being reintroduced to society. I forgot to mention it last week, but having the character and the original actor from the film forms a great bridge to the TV show. As the only person who had contact with the precogs while they were isolated, Wally is a wonderful emotional connection to the story.
Images: FOX
Dash is hustling chess players in the park when he gets a vision of a woman being tied up and murdered. At the police precinct, Vega is training/flirting/being interrogated by Wilmer Valderrama who lets her know that no one is buying her version of events from last week about how she single-handedly took down Rutledge and his daughter and was forced to kill them both. There’s also a timely mention of the fact that her body cam was turned off when all this went down so there’s nothing to corroborate her story. #pigeonlivesmatter
Unfortunately, Vega and Dash find themselves at an impasse again and are forced to contact Arthur who wants access to a police file. Calling on Arthur is going to continue to bite these two in the butt. I hope they can start solving these cases without him. The reluctant partners get dressed up and head to a nightclub to track the killer.
After a disastrous first outing, they stake out their potential killer who is a pickup artist. During the stakeout, the Dash and Vega also bond over having killed someone in the line of duty. When nothing comes from their snooping, Lara decides to offer herself up as bait and when that doesn’t work, she resorts to filling Arthur’s demands. Turns out, it was just a test; the case he wanted is the police report of their mother’s overdose and the twins’ birth. But it gives Vega and Arthur a chance to display their chemistry.
Unfortunately, pulling the file puts Wilmer back on her trail and he follows her to the nightclub, interrupting Vega and Dash’s stakeout. The potential victim and the pick up artist slip away but when Vega goes to catch them, they realize they have the wrong killer. It’s actually the nice bartender who’s really salty because the hot girls never smile at him while he makes their appletinis. Apparently, this place ain’t Cheers. The bartender compromises Vega’s vision and using Dash’s precog abilities, they’re able to work together to take him out. I still don’t know how Vega’s going to explain being in the right place at the right time each week but I think the cat’s going to come out of the bag soon because the episode ends with Agatha having a vision of Lara standing over her.
Cool Future Tech:
- I really love Vega’s contacts. The infrared scanning that she uses has so many great uses even if her night vision gets scrambled.
- At the nightclub, they get biometric bracelets which displays the probability of matching up with someone. Vega and Dash are a 51% match in case you were wondering. I expect that to rise in a few episodes.
Mentionable Mentionables:
Even in 2065, there’s still a healthy appreciation for the “classics” AKA Beyoncé- Some people don’t like Lara’s somewhat revealing outfits, but I’ve decided that in the future our conventions about “professional” dress have fallen to the wayside and it doesn’t matter that the girls are out on display.
- So far Vega has three potential suitors, both of the twins and Wilmer. It feels like the writers are sussing out all the probable match-ups. I’ll take any configuration in this love square. They’re also dropping anvils about Wilmer getting a promotion that both he and Vega know she deserved.
