Whether you laughed at the censoring of the dark subject matter or you were annoyed by it, there is no denying that Limitless continues to build the intrigue surrounding the Morra storyline in great ways. I thought Josh-O-Saurus Josh was hilarious and adorable, and ultimately asks the question - is Brian really losing it on NZT? Sure, he's still the same immature guy he was before it, but this seems like something that would happen to House. Rebecca is still looking into Morra's shooting. You've gotta admire her for being persistent, however, I am very scared for what's to come if she does manage to connect the dots.
Previously on Limitless...Eddie Morra was shot by someone who was on NZT, and he himself (might have) been on NZT too. Rebecca started looking into him, and Brian needed to throw the FBI off his trail. That continues in this episode in what were the more thrilling scenes no doubt. But let's start at the beginning. I'm not someone who can't handle dark and gruesome television. Heck, a lot of my favourite shows are bloody and violent and deal with dark themes all the time. So when Limitless decides to deal with darker tones and a serial rapist and killer, you would think they would try and lighten the mood in any way they could without being inappropriate. Or, at least, that's what I thought. This show from the beginning has never been a dark one. In every episode it tries to makes us laugh with quick and witty comedy. So when Brian's subconscious turned serial killing into serial hugging, it worked for me. Naming the killers after ice-cream flavours was hilarious! I would have wanted to see Mr. Cookies N' Cream, but that's a problem for another day. So Brian's psyche doesn't want to allow him into the ominous world of bad words and scary thoughts. This says a lot about Brian, and is actually very interesting. If you juxtapose this censorship with the horrible things he has to do for Morra and Sands, you have a very complex character who could very well be breaking himself. Even in the episode, they tried to show us that the things he was doing for Sands were somehow different than his case; just because the subject wasn't "gross". One might inquire about deception and theft being just as gross as killing someone, but that is neither here nor there.
Then we had one of the other central parts of the story I loved. An FBI profiler named David Englander who was looking into this killer is working with the CJC. Everyone sees him as some sort of celebrity, which kind of reminded me of Criminal Mindsand David Rossi returning to the team. Mike and Ike are particularly excited, and they show us by having the cutest handshake. Brian's reaction is priceless. Brian is able to read into the case and comes up with two completely different suspects for David. That was funny. Also, when Brian gets invited to go to Quantico and yells the word, "Road trip!" to Naz, I thought that was classic Brian. And he tagged Rebecca to come along with him. I must admit that I do wish Mike and Ike could've come on the road trip with him. On that point, I wish they had more to do other than to give Brian NZT and then walk off the screen. Rebecca's a great road trip partner, that whole scene was cute. Once there, Brian starts to notice that Rebecca is studying Morra. He tries and he tries to change the subject and get her to stop, but she is tough and won't give up. Another great thing about this episode is Brian trying to convince everyone that the suspect they have on death row is innocent. Brian really fights for the guy, and also brings up the topic of fibre optic wires transmitting false memories into someone's brain, which I found fascinating. The whole storyline involving the doctor and the eventual perpetrator Bale was well done. I was invested the whole way through, which is really all you can ask for a crime drama's episodes. But more on the meat from the episode - Brian meets up with Sands to tell him that the FBI is digging around Morra's shooting and that is bad for business. Brian would have to swap Morra's jacket from evidence with a new jacket, fixed with blood sans-NZT. The fact that Brian was so confident that he could pull this off is disheartening. Sure, he may be innocent and immature, but he is mastering the art of deception on a grand scale.
Which leads to my favourite scene of the episode: the evidence lockup sequence. My word, this was so well done. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I really thought Brian could get caught by Rebecca and Boyle and would have to do some major explaining. I also was wondering how Brian could possibly get what he needed to get done in 15 seconds. That timer scared me, but then again, I should have realized the first thing he was going to do was stop the timing for counting down any further. And now for that button reveal; how did the button get chipped in the first place? It would've been nice to see a flashback of sorts to see exactly how it got chipped like that. Well, the point is that Brian didn't have enough time to perfect it, and this could be fatal for him down the line. The episode ends with Rebecca noticing that the two pictures of the chipped buttons don't perfectly match up. Someone fixed the evidence. Someone is going down in later episodes. Someone is going to cry because the intensity is too much (that someone would be me). Another scene worth mentioning would be when David comes to Brian and basically offers him a job. He refuses every time. But something felt different about this scene. Something in the background seemed updated and refreshed. I know! It was Brian's headquarters! Oh my, his new and improved facility looks like an awesome party pad! It doesn't seem like only 4 episodes ago he begged to have a place like that. Wow, I want to work there right now! All in all, I enjoyed the episode. Was it my favourite of the series? No. Was it still comical? Absolutely. Did it provide you with the gripping scenes you love from the show, and did it ask potential 'big' questions to be answered later on? Yeah!
What did YOU think of Stop Me Before I Hug Again? I already know a few of you were bothered by the cutesy censoring of the grizzly themes, but what about the other moments? Whatever you thought, please be sure to leave a comment down below!
