Almost Human

[DesertFly]

So, the new (possibly I, Robot (the movie) inspired) show has aired its first two episodes. What do people think of Bones/Vaako/Eomer and Mr. who I thought was Ford from Stargate Atlantis (but is totally a different person. I'm not racist I swear :| )

It's a buddy cop drama with a robot as the straight man? Not saying that Kennex is crazy, but, well.... It really does remind me of I Robot in a lot of ways, although Bones is far more accepting of the robot than Will Smith was.

What do you guys think?

[CaptainChewbacca]

My girlfriend and I enjoyed it very much. The chemistry between the human and his robot partner is great, and the world seems plausible enough.

[TOSDOC]

My wife and I enjoyed it, and decided for us it was better than S.H.I.E.L.D. We found it grittier with better humor, and like how it expects you to keep up with the fast pace. The androids who replaced Dorian were also very cold and creepy--they sound like they were programmed by internal affairs, and I don't know how real life police officers would ever put up with them. I suppose that's the point, though, to set Dorian apart, but more than one android with personality would be an interesting drama.

[SMJB]

Hard to say at this point. I intend to keep watching, though.

I will say this, though: all these tech breakthroughs happen by 2048? And they call transhumanists optimistic.

[bilateralrope]

My wife and I enjoyed it, and decided for us it was better than S.H.I.E.L.D. We found it grittier with better humor, and like how it expects you to keep up with the fast pace. The androids who replaced Dorian were also very cold and creepy--they sound like they were programmed by internal affairs, and I don't know how real life police officers would ever put up with them. I suppose that's the point, though, to set Dorian apart, but more than one android with personality would be an interesting drama.

Dorian was off for 4 years, and I think he was a police android back then. That means the police have had more than 4 years to get used to working with them. Especially if they see the androids as a tool instead of an individual.

I remember an article from 2009 that talks about military personal forming bonds with the robots they had. Even risking their own lives to safe their robots.

Sometimes such bonds led soldiers to risk their lives for their robots, in a strange inverse of the idea that robots would spare human lives. Singer recounted another EOD soldier who ran 164 feet under machine gun fire to retrieve a robot that had been knocked out of action. And several teams have given their robots promotions, Purple Heart awards for being wounded in combat, and even a military funeral.

Making androids creepy could be an attempt to get the police to treat them as tools, so that they don't risk their own lives to save a replaceable machine.

[Darth Ruinus]

Just saw episode I on FOX's website, and I think Dorian: Spoiler

was working with NASA before he was put into storage, since he mentions something like: "This sure beats replacing solar panels on the CNA space station." when he is riding along with Kennex directly after being reactivated.

Also, there could be more DRNs about, Rudy mentions that the DRN program was robots with emotions, but I don't think he ever specifically mentions that it was discontinued, just that DRNs in police work were replaced by MX - presumably police forces felt MXs complete emotional stability was preferable to the DRNs emotional highs and lows.

[bilateralrope]

Just saw episode I on FOX's website, and I think Dorian: Spoiler

was working with NASA before he was put into storage, since he mentions something like: "This sure beats replacing solar panels on the CNA space station." when he is riding along with Kennex directly after being reactivated.

Also, there could be more DRNs about, Rudy mentions that the DRN program was robots with emotions, but I don't think he ever specifically mentions that it was discontinued, just that DRNs in police work were replaced by MX - presumably police forces felt MXs complete emotional stability was preferable to the DRNs emotional highs and lows.

Spoiler

I think that had more to do with Dorian knowing he was scheduled to be sold to NASA. But not knowing that NASA planned to dismantle him for parts.

As for why DRN's were discontinued for police work, I've already said how humans forming attachments to them could be undesirable.

[Alferd Packer]

I thought it showed a lot of promise; the first two episodes were decent to good. I do hope it gets some time to develop, because it does play with interesting concepts(I particularly liked the guys spraying something on their faces to defeat the cameras, and also using a DNA bomb to contaminate the crime scene).

[Meest]

Mirroring the thoughts that it's more of what SHIELD should have aimed for, a bit more serious while still being fun and exciting.

[TOSDOC]

My wife and I enjoyed it, and decided for us it was better than S.H.I.E.L.D. We found it grittier with better humor, and like how it expects you to keep up with the fast pace. The androids who replaced Dorian were also very cold and creepy--they sound like they were programmed by internal affairs, and I don't know how real life police officers would ever put up with them. I suppose that's the point, though, to set Dorian apart, but more than one android with personality would be an interesting drama.

Dorian was off for 4 years, and I think he was a police android back then. That means the police have had more than 4 years to get used to working with them. Especially if they see the androids as a tool instead of an individual.

I remember an article from 2009 that talks about military personal forming bonds with the robots they had. Even risking their own lives to safe their robots.

Sometimes such bonds led soldiers to risk their lives for their robots, in a strange inverse of the idea that robots would spare human lives. Singer recounted another EOD soldier who ran 164 feet under machine gun fire to retrieve a robot that had been knocked out of action. And several teams have given their robots promotions, Purple Heart awards for being wounded in combat, and even a military funeral.

Making androids creepy could be an attempt to get the police to treat them as tools, so that they don't risk their own lives to save a replaceable machine.

That seems like an awful lot of anthropomorphizing towards these machines. I can understand a soldier feeling affection for a machine that saved his life, and saving an expensive and valuable piece of equipment that might save his and a number of other buddies from a roadside IED in the future. I also understand the affection that pilots and armored personnel show for their planes and tanks. But have soldiers actually had Purple Hearts awarded to their planes or a funeral for a tank before? (Please correct me if they have, a search on my end wasn't fruitful!)
Spoiler

Seeing them as and using them as tools is one thing, but between refusing to save a wounded officer (even if he was definitively beyond saving) and threatening to report suspicious behavior seem like behaviors designed to breed contempt from the human officer corp. And these are events that happened to just a single officer! It's not always just about a man doomed to die, it's about a dying man knowing that fellow officers around him cared about him enough to get him out of immediate harms-way and try to save his life, or at least let him die in a safer place. It would be interesting to know if it was an MX or a fellow human who picked up a legless Kennex and brought him to safety.

[SMJB]

So I've watched the most recent episode (the one with the terrorist hostage situation) and it raises some questions. Namely that, apparently, we negotiate with terrorists now. It wasn't that they were leading the terrorists on, either--terrorists had previously gotten prisoners released with similar efforts in Tokyo. What's more, apparently asking for nuclear bomb components is considered reasonable. Now, maybe they had no idea what was reasonable, which is plausible for reasons that contain spoilers, but if that were so you'd think at some point someone would have said "What are these people, nuts? They'll never get that!"

[phred]

apparently asking for nuclear bomb components is considered reasonable. Now, maybe they had no idea what was reasonable, which is plausible for reasons that contain spoilers, but if that were so you'd think at some point someone would have said "What are these people, nuts? They'll never get that!"

Yeah, Nuclear bomb parts? And theyre common enough that anyone thinks cops might be able to get their hands on them? They were asking for a specific item, which means they must have had at least a basic idea what they were asking for.

[Gaidin]

Did they, really? Past the name? I mean, the engineer did, and the captain knew she needed to call a contact and kinda go 'what the hell?' but within sixty seconds of show time the captain was like "yea we're never getting that so we're conning them" assuming she ever called her contact. Of course, the criminal side is plausible for its own legitimate reason.

[Darth Ruinus]

Yeah, I never thought that it was a reasonable demand, Cpt. Maldonado first said something like "I'll have to contact someone else to get that." which just seemed like a stalling tactic rather than a "Oh, that's a sensible demand, let me get right on that." And, as Gaidin said, later on she flat out admits that she'd never get that bomb part and decided to attempt to fool them instead.

Also, it's a minor detail, but I like that Kennex' prosthetic leg has no hair. It was something I noticed as he stood up, and somehow that little detail made sense to me.

[Darth Ruinus]

So, whenever I watch this show I can't help but imagine that it's a Dredd prequel of sorts, the line about spending "8 to 12 in the cubes" only fueled that idea more. So did the talking gun (at least, I think originally his gun is supposed to say "Malfunction" at some point, the closed captioning kept the line).

Also: Spoiler

I'm surprised he killed the captain from the 25th.

[Tsyroc]

So, whenever I watch this show I can't help but imagine that it's a Dredd prequel of sorts, the line about spending "8 to 12 in the cubes" only fueled that idea more. So did the talking gun (at least, I think originally his gun is supposed to say "Malfunction" at some point, the closed captioning kept the line).

Also: Spoiler

I'm surprised he killed the captain from the 25th.

Sometimes closed captioning includes descriptive information also. When his gun jammed or ran out of ammo it made a specific noise sounding like it was empty. I can see the descriptive part of sub captioning saying, "(malfunction)" to get the point across. It would be cool if it was meant the other way.

I was a little surprised about the final outcome as you were. I wonder if that will have any sort of repercussions or mention in future episodes or if it'll only be something the audience and the character know about.

I'm starting to really curious about the reasons Maldanado had Kinnex assigned DRN. It could be something as simple as he needed a partner he could relate to like a person but not be as worried about as if he were a person, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it. I also want to know how she knew DRN was "special" and if part of the reason she picked him was to save him from being sold for parts.

[Darth Ruinus]

Sometimes closed captioning includes descriptive information also. When his gun jammed or ran out of ammo it made a specific noise sounding like it was empty. I can see the descriptive part of sub captioning saying, "(malfunction)" to get the point across. It would be cool if it was meant the other way.

I was a little surprised about the final outcome as you were. I wonder if that will have any sort of repercussions or mention in future episodes or if it'll only be something the audience and the character know about.

I'm starting to really curious about the reasons Maldanado had Kinnex assigned DRN. It could be something as simple as he needed a partner he could relate to like a person but not be as worried about as if he were a person, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it. I also want to know how she knew DRN was "special" and if part of the reason she picked him was to save him from being sold for parts.

The closed captioning actually says: ELECTRONIC VOICE: Alert - weapon not functioning.
I guess it doesn't matter though, as in the actual episode that voice doesn't appear and it just seems like he runs out of bullets.
Spoiler

I sort of hope that someone notices that he killed the guy. I mean, it would probably be easy for any random android/forensics to figure out the blood splatter and angle of the bullet wound, in fact that's why I thought the captain called him into the office at the end, to tell him that she knows what he did. Hopefully there are some sort of repercussions, if not in tomorrow's episode, then at some point.

[Tsyroc]

The closed captioning actually says: ELECTRONIC VOICE: Alert - weapon not functioning.
I guess it doesn't matter though, as in the actual episode that voice doesn't appear and it just seems like he runs out of bullets.

That makes me wonder if they originally had intended the guns to be more high tech and Dredd like, or if the person doing the closed captioning was a smart ass and through that in as a in joke.