"Limitless" Recap: "Brian Finch's Black Op"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

I have to admit that while I have enjoyed many an episode of Limitless, I have also found myself confused with the show at times because clearly this series is trying its hardest to discover its true identity and it's made for an interesting first season of the show. We've had powerhouse episodes like last week that reveal a giant plot working behind the scenes and then we have had episodes like the one that graced our televisions last night.

Now, that doesn't mean I hated last night or I'm about to bash the heck out of it, that's quite the contrary. "Brian Finch's Black Op" was actually one hilarious episode at times and also fascinating in some segments as well. Yet at the same time, this episode seemed a little lost and out of place in the grand scheme of the plot and well, it just didn't quite fit in with the season and the structure that's already been outlined. I mean hey, there's nothing wrong with trying new things and seeing what happens in that first year, and I think that perhaps my confusion was related to the fact I want to see more focus on the grand storyline being slowly laid out before us.

But, before I ramble too much, we should talk about the episode and why it was an enjoyable ride after all. First and foremost, love the fact that the show decided to have a ton of fun and parody some of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. After all we essentially enjoyed the opening of the film in shot for shot fashion and the silliness of it made for plenty of laughs on my end and then the show went right down into what it does best...digging into a dark and compelling storyline. There's a reason black op was in the title because this week Brian was kidnapped by the CIA to help find an international terrorist who is hiding out and planning heaven knows what in the middle of the Pennsylvania wild. 

Of course along the way we discover that there's no chance this will be pulled off in simple fashion. Our terrorist has no clear motivations and thankfully for the audience, Rebecca is on the case to discover why the CIA wants this guy so badly. It turns out the so called "terrorist", Aleksey, once worked with the CIA and was betrayed by them, losing his reputation and family in the process and is here for one simple thing...revenge. Unfortunately, the CIA blowing his cover also put a price on his head of $10 million and some of the CIA operatives plan instead to hand Aleksey over to the bad guys to collect the money, forcing Brian to think quickly with his NZT wearing off as to how to get himself out of this sticky situation.

So, as you can see from that plot, this is one wild episode. Part parody, part spy drama and one dark tale to say the least when you look at what has happened to Aleksey and well...I enjoyed it but it still feels out of place to me a day later. Brian has been on some crazy adventures before but this one just happens to be the craziest of the them all and the comedy makes sense for this one since it counterbalances the ugly when Brian starts watching people die in brutal fashion all around him. If anything I guess we can really just call this one a filler episode and while it was fun at times I do hope there aren't a ton of these before we get back to the bigger plan going on behind the scenes...until next time.

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