I didn't expect Perception to be the procedural crime drama that broke the genre conventions of the shows before it. TNT is very comfortable creating shows which fit their brand. Every series, except for Falling Skies, is a procedural crime drama. The tone of each separates one show from the other. Franklin & Bash is the light and fun-loving buddy lawyer comedy; I don't know what the hell The Closer or Rizzoli & Isles is (though I'm going to tackle the latter very soon in a post). Leverage and Southland are also about cops or something. Jada Pinkett Smith's doctor procedural is another TNT series which operates under the procedural umbrella, but the setting and the tone separates it from its siblings. Perception's already drawn comparisons to A Beautiful Mind. The series follows a brilliant professor who's also a paranoid schizophrenic. He sees people who aren't there, and they help him solve crimes or issues in his personal life.
We're introduced to Eric McCormack's Daniel Pierce as he delivers a lecture on reality to a class. Two students opine about their perception of reality. Daniel tells his students that reality is unreliable because it doesn't really exist. One's perception is wrong the majority of the time. The difference between what is real and what isn't is a thin line. The teaser concludes on this line, which suggests Perception will study what is real and what isn't, what makes something real versus something that isn't real, and so on. McCormack's performance is crucial to the series. Through one episode, he leaves a little something to be desired. Russell Crowe knocked a similar role out of the park and crossed home plate with an Academy Award. McCormack's portrayal of Daniel's eccentricity is generic, but the writing for the character is often generic. When he listens to a piece of classical music, he orchestrates for a non-existent band and audience. Daniel Pierce paces around a room, constantly questioning his surroundings. Pierce uncovers new clues in the strangest ways. Sometimes he finds an anagram buried in a forest of text or herbal tea becomes a launching pad to the next suspect. Parts of the character reminded me of BBC's Sherlock Holmes, but Sherlock's deduction is rooted in the text; Pierce's behavior is rooted in the text as well but it doesn't feel as seamless.
A former student of his, Kate Moretti, introduces the audience to Daniel's second job as an FBI consultant. Daniel's paranoid schizophrenia isn't introduced until the halfway point of the episode. Creators Kenneth Biller and Mike Sussman pull this 'Oh wait BUT' trick far too often in the "Pilot" episode. Kate Moretti, who is portrayed by the lovely Rachel Leigh Cook, introduces a case to Daniel which is resolved over the course of the episode. There are various twists and turns. The case is meant to challenge the audience's perceptions. What one might think is eventually subverted by a last second twist. A collection of tertiary characters dart in and out of the narrative. Their appearances cause the audience to conjure all sorts of theories about the murderer and his or her motivations, but Daniel shows up to disprove of any and all theories. Kate assumes the role of the audience in a scene in which she details a theory about the murderer. Daniel compliments his former student but tells her she's wrong. So, the episode's probably going to unfold like that week after week.
I didn't particularly care about the case-of-the-week. I wanted to focus on the principal characters of the show, Daniel and Kate. I concentrated on learning about both as the case unfolded. I figured the writers would define the characters through the case. Kate was definitely defined through the case. She's actually defined only through her job in the "Pilot." Kate's a hard-working but overzealous officer of the law. She's in Chicago as a demotion for going too far in a case. Kate reveals this after a scene in which she leapt over a fire escape railing to tackle a fleeing suspect. She and Daniel proceed with this case even after Chicago PD takes over. My favorite scene of Kate's is near the end when she sits alone in her living room and eats a burger. Daniel's introduction isn't so simple, as I already touched on. He has many issues. He declines burgers with Kate because he fears intimacy with her. Instead, he talks to a woman who isn't real. In interrogation scenes, he's intense but humane; he understands the core of a person and knows what questions to ask. In general, though, he doesn't interact well with other people. Kate, and his assistant or aide Wowicky, will be the ones to keep him grounded and relatively lucid.
The case doesn't stand-out. Again, the amount of 'turns' throughout it is notable. The victim is eventually found out to be complicit in the attempted murder of his wife because of a romance with a pretty co-worker. The murderer of the victim wanted to protect everything he worked for. There's a pharmaceutical element to the case, which serves as commentary on pharmaceuticals and the FDA and how they control people's sickness. A worthy discussion exists in the dialogue for that relationship as it relates to American society, but the discussion won't happen in TV With The Foot. The murderer screwed up a miracle drug and the screw-up led to murder. The final act neatly concluded every dangling thread in the episode. I expected Daniel and Kate to eat together in the final scene. Perception's the kind of show where Daniel will need to work up lunch or dinner with Kate, but when it happens, it will be a triumphant moment for him.
Perception won't blow the doors off of the internet. As I already mentioned, the show fits in well with TNT's brand. If you like procedural crime drama, you won't mind Perception. I'm positive the viewer will figure out the entire case twenty minutes before Daniel and Kate. I know many procedural fans prefer to play along, so one will feel good when they solve the fictional case before the brilliant professor and the badass female detective will a smile that'll melt your heart. Oh yes, Rachel Leigh Cook is still amazing.
Other Thoughts:
-I wrote a paragraph about Rachel Leigh Cook in last week's Dawson's Creek post. TV With The Foot is slowly transforming into a Rachel Leigh Cook fansite. I still want to marry her and treat her to a dinner I can't afford. She's a married woman, though. Anyway, I'm glad she's back on television. America's better off with her on screen every week.
-LeVar Burton portrays Daniel's superior. I loved Reading Rainbow. Not as much as Troy Barnes, though.
-I'll probably write about Perception again. I don't know when.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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