It was obvious to me early on that Limitless was up to something. All the fluff and fun of solving crazy cases was just the beginning to a grand plot that was waiting to be revealed. Slowly and surely that plot has begun to reveal itself to us and last night on the show...they finally pulled out the big guns and gave us a our best taste of the grand scheme going on behind the scenes.

Yes, at last there were answers to so many questions, but what fun would it be if the show completely tipped its hand only six episodes in? So naturally, for every answer we got, another question was posed and the mystery of Eddie Morra and exactly what he is up to continues to grow, but what matters is that "Side Effects May Include..." gave us just enough of what we needed while at the same time continuing to build the mystery that continues to draw us in. 

Either way, with Rebecca now knowing what Brian knows, Mister Sands comes calling yet again...and this time he wants Brian to ruin Rebecca's career. Senator Morra wants her to disappear and framing her seems like the only way to do it, something Brian is not willing to do and this time he stands firm in his conviction. But this of course comes with a catch, the shot Brian has taken is wearing off and time is running out as side effects from the drug begin to arrive. Forcing Brian to take drastic measures. He wants to find the man that may be responsible for creating the drug and in the process, solve the mystery of how Rebecca's dad got NZT. The good news is for the most part his plan works, Rebecca is able to speak with the man who fed her dad the pills and in the process a bigger picture presents itself to Rebecca and Brian. There seems to be a crackdown on NZT in the city and slowly, someone with vast resources is making the drug and the people that take it disappear.  

But Brian's symptoms only get worse and when it looks like all is lost as Brian slips into unconsciousness, he pulls himself out of the darkness and is face to face with Eddie Morra once again and that's when things get interesting. Eddie reveals that he had to test how far Brian would go, not to punish but to understand his character and whether or not he could be trusted. Turns out that Brian can and Eddie lets him know that there are bigger things at work here, a chance to save the world but first those who would oppose the simplicity of saving lives need to be dealt with. He wants Brian to be a partner and well, Brian agrees and is even given a lovely gift, five NZT pills for a rainy day and it seems all is well, except for the fact that the man who gave Rebecca's dad the pills is brutally murdered by Sands by way of explosives...

Which brings us right back to one thing...can Morra be trusted? What exactly is this partnership he is proposing to Brian because let's be honest...he never tells Brian exactly what that entails. In fact the whole thing seems fishy. Sure Eddie has ideas on how to make the world a better place and save lives...but at what cost? Eddie even points out there's an ugly side to his business and if his intentions were 100% good, why would he ever need an ugly side to business like say...killing the doctor who knew a lot about NZT. Eddie is using Brian as a pawn and Brian, who wants to be more in life and be something important is falling for it and quite frankly, the addict in Brian is clearly enjoying the drug since he has no qualms taking Eddie's bribe. The senator is up to something, and I'm sure he's the one behind the control now being exhibited over NZT in the town. This is truly not the same Eddie Morra from the film, and his plan, even though its not revealed yet greatly concerns me. Either way, I have to know more and I'm sure the show is eventually going to reveal everything to us...all in good time.

I had a funny feeling that the closing moments of last week's episode of Blunt Talk, where Walter had a flashback to the battle of the Falklands, was an important piece of storytelling that would sneak over into the season one finale, and it most certainly did. But...what I was not prepared for was the fact that that moment would end up telling us everything we ever needed to know about Walter and how it made him the man he is today. 

Yes, "Let's Save Central Florida! Let's Save Midtown!" brought Walter's struggles all season long to a head with one simple revelation, that Walter Blunt is haunted by that moment in his past, and following the party, Walter confides in Harry regarding how those moments from the war continue to gnaw at the back of his mind and it leads Harry and Walter to come to the conclusion that perhaps Walter is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and they seek out some radical treatment that gives Walter a fine story idea. 

He decides that a struggle with PTSD is a story worth chronicling on the show and prepares to kick off an epic six part series to do it, but there's just one problem...the Adler family has been booked yet again and they'll need to be bumped for Walter to start his new series. Jim gets the honor of bumping them one more time, and well...it leads to Duncan Adler doing something drastic in response as he takes over the broadcast brandishing a pistol and demands that Walter do the interview in the here and now. Walter eventually relents and Mister Adler finally gets his message out, but I'm sure it's a little lost seeing as to how he has to kidnap Walter after the interview and go into hiding, leaving Walter unharmed but okay.

It was a simple season finale, and there were two key things that stuck out for me that I absolutely loved. First and foremost is the fact that this was a non traditional season finale. No gimmicks, it wasn't a cliffhanger, the episode simply cut to the chase as to what exactly Walter has been battling all season long and it threw in a lot of laughs and wacky moments to get us to the end of the story. So bravo to that. But the other piece that I adored was that we truly saw Walter at his absolute core and the fact that he is a man driven by fear. All of his decisions and mistakes come from it and in subtle fashion...he overcame it and faced it. He was fearless in dealing with Duncan and his kidnapping and he seemed to be okay in those final moments and it looks like he learned a valuable lesson...to seize the day and the moment. 

That's where we left Walter and his extended family, celebrating the fact that he was okay and I have to say that this was one satisfying season finale. We witnessed some incredible character growth from Walter, got all the answers we needed and much like our day to day lives, nothing was wrapped up neatly and it's obvious that Walter's revelations from last night will no doubt be the focus for season two. Either way, it's a shame that the season has come to its end. This is simply wonderful television and I've never seen a show that put forth this much character development in its first season. But the good news is, Starz did order twenty episodes total of this lovely show so it's only a matter of time before Walter Blunt returns and I can't wait to see what awesome storytelling is in store for us in season two. Until next time.

After weeks of fluffy fun, and moments of levity, Limitless has finally started to tread in darker territory and last night's episode felt nothing like the episodes that came before it. There were morality questions, a genuine threat that the FBI was racing to resolve and Brian finally made one tough and scary decision.

I would venture to say that "Personality Crisis" is by far the series' best episode to date simply because it took some major chances with the formula the show had already established. Not to mention it finally gave us an understanding that indeed NZT alters a person's personality while on the drug and that matters simply because it makes it far less of a wonder drug than we have been led to believe and it also explains Brian's aloof behavior when on the drug as well. 

Yet all those answers were simply part of a rich tapestry of an episode, one that was completely cohesive in its storytelling because everything in the script came together last night and we finally got a good idea of why it was maybe a bad idea to put Brian in the field and make him a pseudo agent without the years of training that Rebecca and her peers had to endure as Brian helps out on a domestic terrorism case. His involvement with the interrogation of the case's only suspect simply puts him too close to the people involved and when things go south when the time comes to capture the men behind the terror plot he simply cannot handle the FBI's thinking process that sometimes there is collateral damage and losses.

It leads him to deal with the biggest conflict he is battling throughout the episode...whether or not to tell Rebecca about the file the FBI has on her father and the fact he was part of the NZT test group and this is where things got interesting when it comes to this wonder drug since it turns out Brian finally got a chance to see what he is like on the drug. Through the wonder of webcams, Smart Brian begins to leave messages and warnings to NOT tell Rebecca the truth for Normal Brian and holy cow, the smart version is condescending and smug and even Brian cannot stand himself. It was a fascinating little character piece and continues to leave me wondering if NZT alters your personality the more you take it. But, regardless of the warnings, Brian finally decides to tell her and the episode ends there. 

Granted this can mean only one thing...life is about to get extremely difficult for Brian real quick. Mister Sands will no doubt discover that Brian has said something to Rebecca about the files and NZT and while he may not have said anything about Eddie Morra and that whole mess, Sands will assume that he did. Judging from the teaser for next week, it looks like no shot to stave off the side effects of the drug and who knows where else Sands' fury will go. Brian's dad may be in trouble now too and well, all of this made for one outstanding episode. This one really took some chances, ones that at first glance might offend folks who enjoyed what came before this portion of the story and I commend the show for taking this risk and advancing what is clearly a much bigger plot forward. Can't wait to see where this goes next week. 

We've talked a lot about the healthy mix of bittersweet and gentle storytelling on Blunt Talk while the show keeps its comedy roots going and with good reason. The show is damn good at peppering in either tear jerking moments or ones that warm your heart, but last night...the show finally decided to go all out hilarious. 

Yes, "I Brought a Petting Goat!" was rip roaringly funny, so much in fact that I had to pause my DVR last night on several occasions to get the laughs out so I didn't miss another joke because they just kept coming rapid fire. Not to mention, this episode was filled to the bring with star studded cameos and guest spots, and the cause of this wonderful cavalcade of comedy? A party hosted by Walter.

In order to celebrate the 33th Anniversary of the end of hostilities from the Falklands Conflict, Walter hosts a grand celebration at his humble abode and holy hell, everyone, and I mean everyone that has managed to show up on the show came to this party. Walter's pal from the Sexual Addiction group, the guest that called him out on television for plagiarism, Stan the bartender, Phil the piano player, the list goes on and on and it was simply magnificent. But the joke that left my sides splitting last night was the one involving Jim and the hot dog. Seriously, that was an absolute stroke of genius.

But, while I spent most of my night wiping the tears from my eyes, the show of course took a few moments to explore its characters and their humanity and I would have been stunned had the show stuck with just the comedy so thank heavens we had those gentle moments and the two that caught my eye the most were for Rosalie and Walter. Rosalie because it's clear she's beginning to crack with Teddy's deteriorating state and is desperate to feel needed and wanted by someone in her life and that revelation was simply heartbreaking. 

Yet oddly enough, she and Walter share the same need. Perhaps the most sobering moment of the night was Walter walking about the party, seeing all the couples kissing or holding each other and we were witness to some fine acting from Patrick Stewart as you watch Walter try his best to keep it together and not let the loneliness tear into him and those final moments of the show, with a flashback to the conflict in the Falklands where he doesn't leave Harry behind...well it's clear now that Walter is a man haunted by every moment of his past. Every mistake, every lost moment, they stay with him and that most certainly is a profound and fitting ending to the penultimate episode of the season. Until next week, when we hopefully see what this revelation brings about in the season finale.

When it comes to Limitless, I've received a lot of interesting feedback from others on the quality of the show. Some folks say it's nothing like the movie, and they were hoping for a bigger tie in to that. Some folks say it's simply too silly and goofy and they flat out don't like it. I can see why some of that feedback has come to pass. It's not much like the movie outside of NZT and Bradley Cooper and yes, it is a lighthearted show about a loveable loser. 

But I've had this strange feeling in my gut since the series premiere that this show was up to something. That all of the complaints I just outlined were there for a reason to cover up the grand plot the show was about to bring our way and after three episodes of crime solving with Brian Finch...things took a dark turn last night as the fourth episode, "Page 44" apparently set the stage to resolve the fluffiness of the show. 

Granted the show kept the fun stuff, as Brian ended up solving not one, but two crimes last night. He caught a spy selling secrets to the Chinese government and he also managed to solve a little industrial espionage and at the same time got his own chance to play full on spy. This was also an episode where he and Rebecca became closer friends and coworkers as she did everything to have his back and even opened up a little to him about her father and his NZT use. But the fluffy ended there because our good friend Mister Sands came calling.

Yes, the favors that Sands outlined in ominous fashion last week, forcing Brian to break it off with Shauna, arrived at last and well, the first "favor" was a doozy. Sands let Brian know that Eddie Morra and his camp are obviously experts when it comes to NZT, but they need to know where the government is currently at in its research and want Brian to steal all the info from the FBI that he can on it. Brian is of course reluctant since the FBI has been so good to him, but when Sands arranges for Brian's dad to come down ill as incentive to get the files, reluctantly...Brian complies, betraying the FBI and swiping the data.

Now for a better part of the episode, the show played this off as no big deal and then suddenly...it became a big deal. We found out Rebecca's dad was one of the government's test subjects on the drug and clearly Eddie Morra is continuing to solidify himself as a villain on this show. He's clearly got a master plan and NZT is part of it and now we are caught in a morality tale where a true good guy through and though in Brian is now stuck in the middle of it all and his choices on how to get out of this mess are damn limited. Either way, kudos to the show for pulling out the stops this week and finally revealing that this may end up being a grand tale of good versus evil and Brian trying to outwit the mighty Eddie Morra and judging from the teaser for next week, things are only going to get darker...until then.

If there is one thing I came to realize when I settled in for last night's episode of Blunt Talk, is that there was no way that this week's episode could remotely top last week's. That may seem like an insult, but it isn't...it's a compliment. This is a show that knows when to unleash something special and when to rein it back in and that's exactly what they did last night. 

In fact "Who Kisses So Early in the Morning?" ended up being quite the small scale intimate affair, focusing greatly on Celia and Walter while keeping the over arching storylines moving along at a gentle pace. Rosalie is finally getting Teddy some medical help, Jim is continuing to work and heal from his hoarding addiction, but for the first time this week we saw Celia up close and personal and she turned out to be quite the fascinating character.

Actually, some of the haunting beauty present in last week's episode did show up here as we watched Celia say goodbye to her father's piano to help pay Walter back since he gave her a little cash based help for her gambling problem, and it was downhill for her from there. Desperate to get one last chance to play that family heriloom she forgets to give Walter an important speech on time and a misunderstanding from it brands him as a plagiarist in the media and once more Walter is thrust into the spotlight, for all the wrong reasons. 

But Celia's mistakes don't end there. Always the people pleaser she learns that Shelly used to be bisexual and she missed some of that experience after having an erotic dream about Celia, leading to an awkward moment where Walter finds her kissing Shelly right when he needs to prepare a statement to fix the plagiarism blunder and it only gets worse when a guest brought on by Celia designed to help Walter clear his name comes after him on air over potential plagiarism once again. It leads Celia to quit her position rather than be fired and it is here that Walter learns, from Jim, that she has admired him for many years, having met him at age 12 when she won an essay contest. That alone gives Walter a change of heart and he asks Celia to come back to the show, and she is glad to accept. 

There you have it, a simple touching episode where we learned that Celia is really struggling for a purpose in her life, she has bounced around from gambling, torrid affairs, anything to feel accepted...especially by Walter. It's the first time we've really seen his character as a true hero to be honest, and the second time now we have seen him inspire others to pursue a career in television and that really is something special. More and more we are discovering that Walter really is a good man, one that truly values others and they value him, he just happens to love coke and a lot of booze. But all that aside, I really enjoyed the simplicity and gentleness of this episode. Until next time.

I'm a simple creature when it comes to television shows. All I ask is for a show to do something interesting and impressive to draw me in and continually advance the plot to keep me going. When it comes to Limitless the first part of that request was quickly fulfilled and last night's episode, took care of the second half. 

In fact, "The Legend of Marcos Ramos" managed to take me completely by surprise. This was an episode that managed to really do some incredible things for its characters, stuff that I was not expecting to see and most importantly, it managed to further add to the mystery of Eddie Morra and left me with some interesting questions about his intentions and what Brian's purpose really could be about in this story.  

But before we get into that, let's talk plot. This week's mystery revolved around the assassination of a retired Federal Agent by a drug cartel and it led to uncovering some crooked cops within the N.Y.P.D. who just happened to be on the take from the cartel and were happy to kill to keep their secret safe. Along the way, Brian managed to rekindle an old flame who left him behind ages ago after seeing him again on NZT caught her attention, and while it seems like the story was going to end happy for both of them, Brian has to break up with her to keep her safe when a mysterious man who works for Eddie Morra tells Brian the time has come to do some favors for the Senator and non compliance will result in Brian and those closest to him getting hurt. 

So while that may seem pretty straightforward and nothing special, Brian's relationship with his ex and the whole visit from Eddie's henchman are super important for a couple of reasons. At one point Agent Harris points out, as Brian laments being a better man on NZT, that on the drug or off it, Brian is still Brian, which means that his ex, Shauna loves him for him. This is demonstrated when they talk until dawn with him off the drug. It also means that NZT doesn't change anything about you except for your intelligence. That's a game changer right there ladies and gents because now we have to wonder...if the drug just brings forth a big I.Q. but doesn't do anything to change your personality...what kind of man is Eddie Morra? 

He was a loveable loser in the film, one that was caught up in some wild and crazy moments for sure, but suddenly I am questioning everything about him. After all, he is more than happy to resort to threatening Brian, and according to his henchman he has a grand plan but what is it? Is Eddie actually the villain of the story all along? Was he always a bad guy who never realized his potential until he took the drug? This is the twist that took me by surprise last night because it has me rethinking everything about this franchise and now it really looks like a showdown between good and evil and I'm dying to know how it ends. Thankfully I sense the show won't take long to answer these questions. Until next time. 

Wow. That's really the only word that comes to mind when I continue to think about last night's episode of Blunt Talk. I say that, because after seven episodes the show has completely found its stride and last night's episode was simply sublime. It featured the perfect mix of comedy, heart and touching interactions between the characters and it also gave us one of Walter's finest moments. 

Yes, "Meth or No Meth, You Still Gotta Floss" left me captivated and a little misty eyed as once again, storylines we saw earlier this season came back to life and at long last, we finally got a good handle on what's going on with Rosalie's husband Teddy. In fact, Teddy was the focus and the catalyst for the plot to be honest since his actions set everything in motion last night.

Teddy as it turns out had a nasty fall and cut on his forehead requiring stitches, putting Rosalie into a panic and Walter decides it would be a kind gesture to accompany her to the hospital and that's when everything unravels. Teddy has decided to check himself out of the hospital, and begins to bounce around town. Thankfully Rosalie has an app that can track him by way of the car service she and her husband use, and sets off to follow him and Walter is more than happy to help her. In fact, he goes above and beyond to help her as Teddy continues to go further and further from home, skipping his first broadcast in years and handing hosting duties over to Jim for the night. 

Jim of course is terrified, despite this being a dream he told Walter about a few episodes back and despite Harry's best attempts to put him through the Walter Blunt regiment to get him ready for airtime and in the end...he does amazing. Granted he has an issue keeping his eyebrows under check but the show is in good hands without Walter. Thankfully, while that is going on, Rosalie and Walter find Teddy at last, hiding out in the pool of a seedy motel in the middle of nowhere and unfortunately Rosalie has to face the fact at last that something is seriously wrong with Teddy's mental state and it will only get worse. But for now, her husband is safe and sound. 

Seriously, what a beautiful episode. This is hands down the first time we have seen Walter truly do something selfless and without hesitation and that's incredible growth for the character. To see him drop everything and even say aloud that Rosalie was more important than the show was absolutely amazing and the tearjerking moments came at the end when we learned about Teddy's dementia. I personally think it's worse than that, I think this is the beginning of Alzheimer's but either way, that ending was beautiful, tragic and wonderful and this show...it continues to impress me every week. Truly I think this was the show's finest moment to date, and we still have a couple of episodes to go. Until next time.