"Limitless" Recap: "Fundamentals of Naked Portraiture"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

The structure and design of television shows as a whole has always fascinated me. After all it has to be incredibly difficult to plan out 22 distinct episodes for a season and attempt to make them compelling and entertaining along the way, and I imagine such a feat only becomes ten times more difficult when a brand new show goes from a short season order to a full one, as was the case with Limitless.

I say that because Limitless is a complex series, one filled to the brim with fascinating conspiracies and storylines so it had to be extremely difficult for the men and women behind the scenes to put together a brand new episode for season one when it was clear that last week was designed to serve as a season finale. So how did they do with this week's brand new episode "Fundamentals of Naked Portraiture"? Well this particular entry in Brian Finch's tale wasn't the strongest in the series, but it worked well thanks to the fact it played out as a best of/refresher episode of the best parts of the series to date.

We had our wild and crazy case revolving around artificial intelligence and a shattered love affair, and while all of that was well and good and fun...it was quickly overshadowed by the first throwback of the night, Agent Johnson. If you recall this "gem" of a character, he was part of the power play to remove the CJC from Naz and was sent back to Washington, D.C. in disgrace thanks to an embarrassing text message about the size of his junk. Well he returned in creepy fashion by planting a mole in the department, the hilarious and eager Agent Spike who spent the hour kissing Brian's ass and spying on him along the way. The discovery of his true intentions came courtesy of Mike and Ike and well...it was super sweet to see these two men work together to protect Brian after all this time. 

But while that little shout out was entertaining, it paled in comparison to the plot line/conspiracy that continues to brew when it comes to Eddie Morra since Rebecca's tenacity and curiosity continues to drive her to find some answers and holy crap...Brian came close to being caught this go round since Rebecca made a fierce push to try and talk to the evidence locker clerk that was there the day Brian switched the coats. Brian was able to pull her off the trail time and time again, but when all was said and done she went to speak to the man on her own time...only to find out he died. The circumstances were of course ridiculously suspicious and all signs point to Morra and Sands taking the clerk out to preserve Eddie's big secret and at the same time continuing to reinforce that Eddie Morra has transformed from a writer who wanted to make the world a better place to outright monster. 

Either way, while this episode was entertaining and fun by giving us just enough of the Eddie Morra plot line and giving us a little throwback with Agent Johnson, I know I'm not alone is saying that I was left wanting just a little bit more from the plot. It really just gave us a taste of the ever evolving Eddie Morra plot that is quickly building to become the centerpiece of the show, and I just felt like it could have done a little bit more with it. After all, I think we all know that as the evidence begins to point to our favorite shady senator, Brian is going to have to make some tough choices, ones that will fundamentally change him, much like when Piper popped up, and the show is really at its best when it challenges Brian and everything he stands for. Hopefully this standalone episode is a good foundation point for the back half of season one and things get start coming together from here on out. Until next time.

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