This was an odd episode. I don't mean this with a negative connotation, but based on the promotional photos and sneak peeks, I honestly didn't expect the episode to go in the ways it did. It was an interesting take on an episode I thought was going to be a sequel of sorts to Headquarters!. Perhaps that's a fault on my behalf, but there was still much enjoyment to be had in this episode.
Previously on Limitless...Bye Felicia (Spike)! He got fired. Rebecca is still looking into Morra, and Brian tried to reassure Sands that all loose ends with his jacket were tied up. That wasn't good enough for Sands, though, and he ended up killing the lock-up guy. Rebecca confronted Brian with this, who looked disgusted. The episode begins a James Bond montage of sorts. It gave me serious Chuck vibes too, especially from the pilot. This lead into the first of three assignments, which I will talk about more down below.
I'm just going to get this out of the way right off the bat - I didn't find much use for this hookup. Is this my bias for slash relationships speaking? Maybe. But I much preferred Lucy Church as a character when she was quipping against Brian and trying to figure him out, as opposed to when she supposedly "knew him" and then kissed him out of the blue, which of course lead to more. Lucy was pretty badass and awesome in her own right, and her story of being motivated to take down this human trafficking ring due to the loss of her C.I. and not wanting to see any other women go through this was great. It was a story that made her seem very strong and believable. I just thought they rushed into her sleeping with Brian. I do however hope they bring her back; she's a great character and I would love to know more about her Quantico days with Rebecca, and have her converse with Brian in career-driven scenes.
I thought the three-act structure of the three assignments was the best part of the episode. And yet, I hoped they would play into this more. I might want to stop comparing it to Headquarters! but that premise just cannot be beat. They were very comical in their own ways, I just wished there was more time focused on the assignments themselves. A Romantic Caper In Three Assignments - seems easy enough. Brian gets interrogated, and these scenes offered a lot of comic relief. Someone on Twitter mentioned that this almost reminded them of The Office, and I can totally see that. Brian mentions that he "wasn't in a great place" when him and Lucy met. No wonder; he went to talk to Sands about killing the lock-up guy. I liked the filter choice, a sort of greenish colour for all the meetings with Sands. This really made it seem like Sands is some evil bad guy™. Especially with the way he talks, he sounds so proud of his killings. It's kind of scary, but also very intriguing that Brian keeps hanging around with someone like this. Makes for good contrast every time they butt heads. I adored the scene of Mike waking Brian up at 3 in the morning. For once Brian was actually in his bed, and I don't know, whenever Mike and Ike wake him up I just get so giddy.
The agent in charge of the undercover agents talked to Brian, and instructed him and "his team" to help. That was great. Even better, though, was the next scene, and the story I constructed in my head about Rebecca and knowing Lucy. I loved the music in these transition scenes, like the Agents Uncovered! one. Movie posters were used to show that Brian found the agents. The sign holding scene was cute, I especially liked how James Tech, Stavros, and Mike & Ike helped Brian out with holding signs. They even interviewed James Tech, who may seem smiley and adorable, but underneath all that was some understandable rage. Great scene. Lucy gets interrogated a little, and her boss wants updates. One of my favourite parts of the episode was when Lucy told him she "borrowed" Brian, and Naz was listening. She got so defensive of him - I think he's really starting to get to her. Boyle gets interrogated, and shows the audience how well he's getting to know Brian. Hearing the word Undercover! would mean an exclamation mark (and a ding) gets placed after it. That was a hilarious scene! Maybe the most illuminating scene of this episode is Brian and Lucy talking in her apartment, and while she's getting undressed, he looks away. Brian Finch: a true gentleman. Brian gets a new suit, and Rebecca delivers him NZT. She compliments his suit, and then meets up with Sands. These scenes were truly gut-wrenching.
Assignment One!
Finally it was time for the first assignment. Brian was able to charm his way through many conversations, and even snag someone's phone. I'm telling you - a crossover of some sort with White Collar would be a match made in heaven for Brian, because he's a lot like Neal Caffrey when he's on NZT. When Brian and Lucy get a suite as a gift from Sergei, the head of the place Lucy's investigating, it really looked like they were about to have a threesome with Irina, the woman who gave it to them. It was...odd, but I liked it. Irina's knowledge of reality TV was very funny, and was even the post-credits sequence of the episode. Brian is apparently not a fan, which Lucy finds odd because he "seems like the type". Ha! Brian and Lucy do have a nice heart-to-heart after this, though, ending off with Lucy dropping a bombshell that she needs him something tomorrow. That just so happens to be assignment two.Assignment Two!
Brian gets to be a temp again! Boyle deadpan snarking and sarcasm might have won the episode for me. I only wish there was more Boyle! And more Naz. We really need to learn more about these two. Anyway, Brian learning about the different button noises and comparing that to learning a song was fun. I already mentioned Neal Caffrey, but Brian is now learning how to crack safes. Can these two characters please meet somehow?! Something else that was rather illuminating was Brian's plays at the horse races in order to get money for these women to get a new start. Someone pointed out that this is another parallel to be drawn to the movie, and how Eddie Morra would never use money like that to help other people. Lucy was impressed by this, and thanked him for it. Truth be told, they might have overhyped the Bollywood dancing scene a bit too much. It looked as though it was going to be a prominent feature of the episode, in which Brian related having sex to dancing in this fashion, furthering the idea that he is still the same immature man-child that he always has been. However, it was reduced to about 20 seconds. Not that it still wasn't great, in all honestly it was the highlight of the episode for me, but having it be that short diminished its meaning for me.Assignment Three!
After being cut off of NZT, Brian still had one more assignment to complete. Some "kidnapping adjacent" took place, which was great (even for the kidnapper, who got $100 and a coupon for a taco place. Apparently, tech nerds love guacamole). This scene was fascinating - Brian had to stall for a lengthy amount of time as a tech guy. He was off NZT, so this was more challenging for him. It could be thought that after so much exposure to NZT, that he could slowly start to pick up on things and expand his brain more without it. But I'm not a scientist, so I'm just going based on the mythology the show is directly telling me about. Lucy's cover gets blown, and she and Brian must leave to try other angles. Rebecca gets interrogated again, going to another meeting with Sands. It was quite an ominous scene, but I think Rebecca more than proved her worth as a strong, respectable character. She did do some digging into Sands's past though - could this be something that will lead into next week's episode? Either way, she declines Sands's offer. Big mistake? Maybe, but turning him down might be the lesser of two evils. Brian and Lucy had another nice talk, which gave me another wave of massive Chuck feelings. Lucy gave Brian a gun, which doesn't really seem like the best idea. He didn't need it, though, because Lucy took care of that for him. I'm glad she didn't full-out kill this guy, though. This proved that Brian doesn't necessarily need NZT to get out of situations like these. This brought me back to This Is Your Brian On Drugs, but there he was on NZT.Jake McDorman was effortless in this scene, and this episode. Christina Vidal was excellent too, as was everyone else. But these two really shined and sunk into their roles, Jake even further for Brian, which I didn't think was possible. A teeny tiny Mike and Ike scene was had, and Brian continuing to refer to them as "the boys" warms my heart. One of Brian's last interrogations was one of the best. "You haven't seen a lack of backbone until you question a bunch of guys from a hedge fund." Those shots of these men in tears was amazing. Lucy left Brian a post-it note saying "See ya later", and she tried to duck out of the CJC before he noticed. Brian's response? "You know, I always use sticky notes to build really cool stuff, and now you have tainted them forever with your sad sadness." Poor guy. But maybe she really did mean see you 'later'. I certainly hope so, she's a wonderful new addition to the show. And finally, we're introduced to some old, bald guy who seems to be friends with Sands. I didn't think Sands could have any friends, but there you have it. In arguably the best scene of the episode, we're reminded of Rebecca's dad, and how she and he play into this NZT storyline as much as Brian does. This bald guy knew Rebecca's dad, and he bugged Rebecca's apartment. When asked if he had a window of opportunity to take her out, Sands told him to go for it. YIKES! This could lead to some rather tricky situations for both Rebecca and Sands in the future. Sands in particular, who appears to have been stabbed in the leg in next week's episode. I'm really looking forward to that one!
What did YOU think of Undercover!? Did you enjoy the presence of Lucy Church? How about that incredible Bollywood dance number and those three assignments & interrogations? Whatever you thought, please be sure to leave a comment down below!
