I wasn’t super blown away by last week’s pilot but that’s to be expected. It was a pilot so you know there’s going to be a ton of set-up and exposition that will inevitably drag the show down. With that in mind, I came into this episode with high hopes that it would improve upon last week and show me what the rest of this season is really going to be like…unfortunately, I was disappointed.
For me, the main problem with Minority Report is that there’s really just nothing to talk about. The show itself is fine. It’s not terrible but it’s not great either, which means that when I watch I’m not really drawn in or invested. After the pilot, I said I wanted to see better acting, chemistry, a faster pace and a darker tone (aka less stupid jokes just for the sake of lightening the mood). This episode didn’t show me much of an improvement in any of these areas. Episode two started off incredibly slow, with a bunch more backstory and rehashing the events of the pilot. As if that wasn’t enough, even the title sequence is just a voiceover stating everything they just told us. I have a feeling that will get old quick.
The case of the week is slightly more interesting this week. Dash has a vision of a woman being murdered and they set to work trying to find her killer. They determine that she frequently attends a certain club and they spend most of the episode staking it out and following their main suspect. This is one of my big problems with this episode. It wasn’t exciting. The beginning was slow, the middle was boring, and then they throw in some action and excitement in the last 5-10 minutes but it feels like it’s too little, too late. Anyways, the killer isn’t even the person they’ve been following the whole time, it’s the creepy bartender and the whole story just seems very typical - been there, seen that.
In terms of acting, everyone seems to still be phoning it in. None of the characters have really started to show me who they are and I don’t feel like any of them are very authentic. I feel like I’ve seen these characters a million times on a million other shows. The only exception is Arthur. I actually like him! I think he’s complicated (at least more than everyone else!) and he’s the only one that I feel is actually putting any effort in or feels comfortable in their character. I said it last week, and I’ll say it again, they need to use him more because I think he’s one of the things this show actually has going for it.
There are just a couple more huge problems I had with this episode and I guess, so far, the show in general. The writing is not getting better. This episode was absolutely filled with exposition. The first club scene was almost unbearable to watch. Are they really talking about stakeouts and police and precogs so loudly around all these other people?? Writers - we know why they’re there, we’re watching the show! I’m pretty sure they know why they're there too because they’re in the show! We were also treated to some real dialogue gems like, “From now on maybe you should’t stay in the car. Way to go.” Way to go??? I’m sorry, but that’s probably the lamest way you could say that. Even a simple “nice job” would have been better. Lastly, why do they feel the need to be so culturally relevant? We get you're in the future, you don’t have to remind us every week with another “dated” pop culture reference. Last week it was Iggy Azalea and now Beyonce. They need to cool it. Or at least take something popular from another era, like The Beatles maybe, so it’s not such shameless name-dropping for the sake of their target audience. Similarly, in the club when Vega was talking about romance, she uses the examples of texting and swiping pictures being so romantic in the past. It’s too much at this point, it takes me out of the show and the moment and I don’t find it funny - I find it annoying. Maybe it’s just me and maybe I’m being too hard on the show in general, but when there’s so much else to watch it can be frustrating when a show doesn’t live up to my expectations. I’ll probably give it maybe one or two more episodes to win me over and then let it go if it doesn’t.
Overall, this show is the definition of slow to warm up. I’m surprised I was even able to write as much as I did. I feel like I just have no comment on anything because it’s all just so mediocre and boring. It’s not a terrible show but that’s part of the problem. It just fades into the background and it’s forgettable. The networks don’t have room for average, forgettable shows anymore. Minority Report really has to break out of it’s shell ASAP and it may already be too late but it simply has to step up in quality and excitement or it won’t last long. What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
About the Author - Kate Sidwell
Kate is a 24 year old, USA based, Psychology/Public Health Researcher - but that’s just her day job! In her spare time she is an avid TV watcher (some may even say addict!!). Some of her favorite shows are Jane the Virgin, Bates Motel, The Flash, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Rookie Blue, Silicon Valley, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow, The 100, The Mindy Project, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Royals, Orphan Black…so pretty much too many to count and a huge variety! She’ll give pretty much any show a chance! She also devotes a lot of time to her tumblr (
eat-sleep-breathe-tv.tumblr.com) where you can find her reviewing and commenting on most of these shows and just generally fangirling! She’s excited to be writing for SpoilerTV on Complications, Baby Daddy, Proof, Switched at Birth, Secrets and Lies, and Minority Report!
