A neuroscientist who's apparently afflicted with BOTH schizophrenia (he sees imaginary people a la A Beautiful Mind) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (he can't stand his routine being disrupted a la Monk) who is fascinated by puzzles and can't leave one unsolved (a la House) works as a civilian adviser with an attractive FBI agent (a la Bones) to solve crimes. But despite the fact that it's so obviously derivative and so obvious what it's derived from, I've seen two episodes so far and like it well enough to tune back in.
The highlight of the show is the charming, likable and vulnerable portrayal by Eric McCormack as the brilliant but reality challenged, Dr. Daniel Pierce. The murder mystery of the first two episodes was reasonably well written with a combination of "that was obvious" and "I didn't see that coming." And it's a delight to see LeVar Burton again in his guest star role of the dean of the university. However, Rachel Leigh Cook as FBI agent Kate Moretti is nothing special. She's pretty and perky and obstinate and will defy her bosses to finish a case; therefore, she's completely standard TV fare and Cook's portrayal doesn't lift her beyond standard TV fare.
It's only been two episodes, but I don't think that Perception is going to shape up to be great TV. However, so far it's been a decent show and has a higher level of intelligence than a lot of the shows out there. It expects the viewer to pay attention and doesn't dumb things down. If it keeps up at this level, Perception will be worth tuning into for an hour of week if you're fond of the TV genre of "socially inept genius investigator."
The highlight of the show is the charming, likable and vulnerable portrayal by Eric McCormack as the brilliant but reality challenged, Dr. Daniel Pierce. The murder mystery of the first two episodes was reasonably well written with a combination of "that was obvious" and "I didn't see that coming." And it's a delight to see LeVar Burton again in his guest star role of the dean of the university. However, Rachel Leigh Cook as FBI agent Kate Moretti is nothing special. She's pretty and perky and obstinate and will defy her bosses to finish a case; therefore, she's completely standard TV fare and Cook's portrayal doesn't lift her beyond standard TV fare.
It's only been two episodes, but I don't think that Perception is going to shape up to be great TV. However, so far it's been a decent show and has a higher level of intelligence than a lot of the shows out there. It expects the viewer to pay attention and doesn't dumb things down. If it keeps up at this level, Perception will be worth tuning into for an hour of week if you're fond of the TV genre of "socially inept genius investigator."