A series sequel to the 2011 Bradley Cooper movie, “Limitless” follows a new character as he discovers the power of the mysterious drug NZT, and is coerced into using his newfound drug-enhanced abilities to solve weekly cases for the FBI. Jake McDorman, Jennifer Carpenter, Hill Harper and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio star in the series, which is shepherded by writer-producer Craig Sweeny (“The 4400,” “Medium,” “Elementary”).
… This premise is particularly tired: A man with special abilities works in law enforcement and has a female sidekick who backs him up and reins him in. But you know what, I’ll take the 94 millionth iteration of that formula if a show brings something new to the party, but “Limitless” comes off as rote, slick and bloodless. …
... competent at what it's trying to be, even if what it's trying to be is a middling CBS procedural. …
... flourishes won’t help if “Limitless” becomes merely a crime-of-the-week show, with Brian cracking difficult cases that have stymied the F.B.I. The series, though, seems more ambitious than that, with its conspiracy-theory threads about where NZT comes from and who controls the supply. …
... Something about this show just works from the crisply polished start, using a premise that is squarely within one of CBS’s favorite wheelhouses — the edgy hero who is gifted with extraordinary mental powers that he or she directs to the purpose of solving crime. (See “The Mentalist,” “Unforgettable,” “Elementary” and so on.) …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... watchable but undistinguished … Not only can he finish the filing job he’s been assigned now, but he even figures out what’s been causing his father’s recent health crises. Wow, this is good stuff, he thinks. But now he needs more. He goes to visit his old bud and finds the guy dead on the floor of his apartment, and Brian becomes the prime suspect. At this point, the writers trade preposterous for convenient. …
... As with “Minority Report,” you don’t need to be a pre-cog to predict that “Limitless” will continue to fill up the middle with lots of middling material. …
... the visuals can't make up for the emptiness around them, or for the convenient way Brian's mental powers contract and expand: He just happened to catch a documentary on the subway system but apparently has never seen a mystery, or he'd know who the killer was by the process of elimination. … In the end, it's up to the star to sell the gimmick in a show like Limitless, and so far, McDorman would not seem to be ready for the task. There are too many scenes where one can't quite tell what Brian is supposed to be thinking or feeling, and too few scenes where one manages to care. …
... It's silly and gets sillier with each attempted gloss on the premise. To their credit, Webb and McDorman work hard to keep the construction energetic and to keep Milquetoast Brian and Mega Brian distinctive. Your belief will be strained, but at least for 25 minutes, Limitless is a mindless hoot. …
... isn’t bad, although in terms of dramatic possibilities, the formula hardly lives up to its title. … while “Limitless” is competently executed, what it lacks, finally, is any spark of inspiration. And alas, there’s no pill for that.
10 p.m. Tuesday. CBS.
