Despite comparing Minority Report to Blindspot and Limitless and dismissing them all as crime of the week procedurals. I will be giving Minority Report the four-episode test. Just like Sleepy Hollow, I want this show to work. The fact that I even mention Sleepy Hollow should give you a hint as to where my head is at.
Of all the TV shows that I make an effort to watch only one currently has a person of colour as a lead character and the supernatural, science fiction, and fantasy element that I crave, and that is Sleepy Hollow. Whilst I do watch and like Scandal, How to Get Way With Murder and Empire, they aren’t in my favourite genres, and I can just as easily let episodes pile up for weeks before I have to set aside a binge-watching weekend.
Minority Report, on the other hand, is billed as a science fiction crime drama series and has Megan Good heading up the cast as Detective Lara Vega. Just like her counterpart detective Abbie Mills in Sleepy Hollow, Vega has a socially inept consulting partner in the form of Precog Dash, played by Stark Sands. The colour doesn’t end with Megan, as Wilmer Valderrama (Will Blake) and Li Jun Li (Akeela) also feature.
Up until Sleepy Hollow, Star Trek: Deep Space 9 was the only science fiction series with a black lead. Of course, there are many sci-fi fantasy series with recurring black characters, including sidekick roles. BBCs Merlin had Angel Coulby as Gwynevere, The Walking Dead has Michonne, Grimm has Hank, and The Vampire Diaries has Bonnie Bennett and so on, but none of them are leads. So yes, it would be great if Minority Report and Sleepy Hollow can go the distance.
So far, the most sci-fi thing about Minority Report is that it’s based in the future and has some strange-looking technology that doubles as a workout session for your upper body. Oh, and the three Precogs who can predict the future.
Minority Report is a sequel adaptation of the 2002 film of the same name. When the PreCrime division is disbanded, Precogs, Dash and his siblings, Arthur and Agatha, are released from the Precrime programme and allowed to settle someplace quiet away from public scrutiny.
It’s 2065, 10 years later, when Dash, who still gets visions, decides to put his abilities to good use by trying to prevent crimes before they happen. He’s not very good at it as he only gets fragments of crimes, so he teams up with Detective Vega. And this is where the crime of the week magic (sarcasm) starts to happen.
What interests me most about the series so far is the fallout from the PreCrime division. Many of the people accused of PreCrimes have been psychologically damaged, and some have been driven mad for being put away for something they didn’t do. It will be interesting to see just how many of them seek revenge or if the government will be called to task for getting away with such an egregious crime against humanity.
Maybe the show can become more than a procedural in the way that Sleepy Hollow weaves demons and magic into its mythology that sets it apart from other cop+consultant shows. Maybe Minority Report can build on more science fiction elements to drag itself out of the cop drama rut that it’s been placed in.
Only three more episodes to go before I make my final decision. How about you? Will you keep watching this series?
Yep. I’m in for the long haul. Minority Report was amazing. The critics were unduly harsh on it.