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A scene from “Almost Human”

Before we get to the recap, a quick look at “Almost Human’s” ratings so far. After all, without ratings, this show won’t be around for long. Episode 3 of “Almost Human” pulled in about 6.1 million viewers. That’s not a great number, but it is pretty good considering there is a lot of competition in the 8pm Monday timeslot. It is also a drop of only 10% from episode 2, a sign that most of the people watching “Almost Human” like the show enough to stick around from week to week. All in all, thought three episodes, “Almost Human” looks like a good bet to stick around for a bit.

Let’s see how episode 4 goes…

We begin with Rudy, the technical whiz who works for the police, in what appears to be an undercover operation in some kind of laboratory. He looks much more put together than we are used to seeing from Rudy. In the background, we can here men trying to make a phone call. The men are concerned that someone is not picking up the phone. Rudy suddenly pulls down on a lever, releasing a gas, and bolts for an exit. Some men with guns chase him and he gets winged. The screen goes dark and the words “24 hours earlier” flash across the screen.

Kennex and Dorian are in a Chinese diner. Kennex is eating but Dorian is just sitting there. Dorian speaks Chinese to the chef and orders Kennex a live slug to eat. It squeals are it goes down.

An unshaven man is in a car in the seedy part of town. It is pouring rain. He chats with his wife via a videophone in his palm. Somewhere, Apple executives are wondering how to make this technology real. The unshaven man sees another man outside and approaches him and they walk off together. They approach some other men, one of whom is named Bishop. It appears they are negotiating some kind drug deal for a liquid narcotic. Things seem to be going fine until Bishop suddenly gets a call from someone. The call informs him that the unshaven man has a secret transmitter on his body. Bishop kills both men, saying they must be cops.

The next morning, Kennex and Dorian are investigating the cop’s murder. The cop had a stash of a drug called The Bends in his car. The cop’s name is Cooper and Kennex once knew him. Kennex says there is no way Cooper was dirty.

Back at police HQ, Officer Paul gives Kennex a hard time for believing that Cooper wasn’t dirty. Cooper’s wife comes to visit. She can’t believe that her husband was dealing. She tells Kennex that Cooper had been spending some time at a family cabin. Meanwhile, Capt. Maldonado gets briefed by Cooper’s boss who says that Cooper had been trying to months to figure out who was making The Bends. Cooper’s Captain thinks Cooper was running an undercover operation on his own. Maldonado says there is bank activity that makes it appear Cooper was dirty.

Dorian and Kennex go to check out the cabin. It is a wreck. Someone else visited it first. Still, Kennex is able to find the transmitter that has the recording of Cooper’s meeting with Bishop. The police know Bishop is a big-time bad guy, but have never found any evidence about him, not even what he looks like. The police talk a little bit about what a problem The Bends could be if someone finds a way to mass produce it because it is so addictive and so deadly. The next day, there are reports of 25 Bends overdoses. Kennex knows Bishop needs someone to continue “cooking” more Bends to satisfy demand. The best person for the job is Rudy, because he knows the technical details of how to be a cook. Rudy is excited. He wants to dress up like a European spy.

Kennex and Dorian go looking for some low-level drug dealer who can help arrange a metting between Bishop and Rudy. There is a funny scene where Kennex gets beaten up a bit in a bar and decides he needs Dorian’s help to handle things. All a part of these two having a budding friendship. They grab a Bends dealer named Tony who is willing to make a deal to avoid jail.

Paul gives Rudy some tips on how to act when you are undercover. Rudy is ok at it, but not perfect.

Tony arranges the meeting with Rudy. Rudy drinks a special experimental potion that will make his entire body into a GPS locator allowing them to track his every movement. It also makes him fart.

Rudy goes to the meeting. The police use two electronic roaches for surveillance. Rudy messes up right away, using his real name instead of his alias. He seems to recover but Kennex and the surveillance team want to move in and rescue him. Dorian stops them and volunteers to go in and help Rudy out. He shuts down his external communications, so they won’t know he is a cop.

Dorian and Rudy are taken into a dirty lab. Cruz, Bishop’s right-hand man, is impressed when Rudy quickly manufactures some 95% pure Bends. Just then, Bishop appears from a hiding place. He walks off with Rudy and tells Dorian to stay behind. He tells Rudy to drink a special liquid that masks the GPS signal and then he and Rudy walk away. Kennex and his team move in but it is too late. Somehow Bishop and Rudy are gone.

Rudy is taken to Bishop’s fancy lab. Meanwhile, Kennex is beating on Cruz, trying to get him to tell them where Rudy is. Cruz tells them that the man they think is The Bishop isn’t really him. It’s a guy named Maxwell. Cruz says “Nobody meets The Bishop.”

Valerie discovers the potion Rudy drank that blocked the GPS. The fact that Maxwell had that potion means he must have a mole on the inside at the police, because the GPS potion is too new for anyone not a cop to know about. They figure out that the mole is Capt. Barros, Cooper’s old boss. Maldonado says, “Barros is The Bishop.”

We see Barros in the lab. He approaches Rudy but does not know he is an undercover cop. Capt. Madonado calls Barros, under the guise of updating him on the case. The police are trying to use his cell to track his location.

At the lab, The Bishop/Barros welcomes Rudy to the team. Just then, we get the scene from the beginning of the episode, with the Bishop unable to contact his men and Rudy fleeing and getting shot in the arm.

Kennex and Dorian have stormed the lab. They are trying to arrest Barros and save Rudy. Dorian gets into a pretty epic fight with Barros’ robot. Meanwhile, Kennex is chasing Barros through the sewer. Dorian manages to decapitate the other robot. Kennex shoots Barros who gloats about being able to win in court. He makes a crack about how he took out Cooper and Kennex has heard enough. He shoots Barros in the head at point blank range. The Bishop is dead.

Back at police HQ, everyone is congratulating Rudy, who is eager for his next field assignment. The rest of the cops are unsure. Cooper’s wife shows up to thank Kennex for believing in her husband.

The episode ends with Kennex reluctantly agreeing take Rudy and Dorian to his favorite bar. Ahh, budding friendships…


All in all, it was a pretty good episode, though one that was completely self-contained. At this point, Almost Human is just a procedural set in the future. There doesn’t yet appear to be any ongoing plot or mystery. The N’Syndicate, that was introduced as a big-time bad guy in the opening episode, hasn’t been brought up since then. Kennex’s ex-girlfriend, Anne, who was part of N’Syndicate has also remained out of all future storylines. I wonder if the show is going to go on just being a weekly crime-solver or if something more will come of it.

Well, it is now your turn. Post your thoughts in the comment section and we can all chat about it. I’ll see you there.



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