PURE GENIUS Review: “Touch and Go”

So, here’s the conundrum: PURE GENIUS just gave us one of its best episodes, yet it has only two episodes left in its run. Why couldn’t the writers have pulled this out of their hat sooner? Maybe then this show would have had a chance at a second season.

It’s not even the medical cases that make this episode markedly improved from the rest of the season – it’s more like the cases are used discriminately enough to organically bring focus to the relationships between the characters, thus finally making us care about them and feeling some emotional connection to what’s happening on screen. If we’d had this earlier on, who knows how much better this show might have been?

Pure Genius, though its focus may have wavered now and again, has tried to place more emphasis on character relationships than on medical cases. That’s especially evident in the way this episode begins – not with a life-or-death medical situation, but with Dr. Verlaine and Dr. Brockett struggling to get dressed to go to Bunker Hill, after having overslept.

Dr. Brockett and Dr. Verlaine’s relationship hasn’t been so much bad as it has been ignored by the writers. Usually we get a sense of why two characters should be together, but in this show, these two just feel thrown together for convenience’s sake. They lack chemistry – although I have to admit, Dr. Verlaine picking Dr. Brockett up and carrying her through the door was pretty cute.

Things get tense later, however, when Bell and Dr. Brockett actually end up having a meaningful conversation together, and Dr. Verlaine happens to walk by and notice. And, cue the return of awkward love triangle in 3, 2, 1-

Love triangles aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but they’ve been so done to death they need to be very well done in order to justify their existence. Agent Carter did it right with Peggy, Souza, and Jason; it worked because both of Peggy’s love interests were characters with their own identity, they had good chemistry with her, and either would be a great choice. Because the writing never fleshes him out, and despite Aaron Jennings’ best efforts, Dr. Verlaine doesn’t feel like a complete character; there also isn’t much spark between him and Dr. Brockett. Thus it’s a little hard to feel much for this potential love triangle – or should I say love square, with Nina Cooper now in the picture.

What makes this episode interesting, though, is the interactions between Bell and Dr. Brockett. Before this, I would have said they had zero chemistry; everything about their relationship felt incredibly forced, and every conversation meant to be humorously awkward between them just felt grating. But when they’re sitting on the bench, talking about their wildly differing high school experiences, they actually do have chemistry. They’re finally talking to each other about something personal, and because of that, for the first time it felt like they had a real connection.

Where has this been? Why couldn’t we have had this from the start? I would have loved to have watched this relationship grow, not the uncomfortable mess we got.

What I love most about this development is how deftly it shapes Bell into the character he’s meant to be. Throughout the course of the series, Bell has proved to be arrogant, rash, and tactless, with his overarching trait being, frankly, irritating. There’s nothing to soften his blunt edges and make him human; even what’s meant to be his humanizing factor – building a hospital in order to find a cure for his own terminal illness – is ultimately based in selfishness. Everything is about him, whether he’s showing off to potential patients or trying to dazzle potential business partners – he is there to do the impossible for the applause and for his own medical needs, not to help patients.

Here, though, his motivations are different. He helps Lydia, a patient with a rare skin disease, because he knows how much it means to Dr. Brockett. The scene where he is creating the slippers for Lydia is especially worth noting – for the first time, James Bell isn’t showing off. He’s using his tech expertise, not to impress, but to genuinely help, shown in his subdued countenance and patient explanation of the whole procedure to Dr. Brockett. This is the James Bell that could save the world – not for himself, but for the actual people he’s helping.

What’s most telling is when Dr. Brockett tells Dr. Verlaine she’ll stay later to help Bell – it feels like a moment that could possibly show the tipping of the scales, and now I’m not sure at all where the writers are going with it. It would be remiss not to talk about Nina, Bell’s other potential love interest, who manages to convince him to defy the FDA and start an unapproved medical treatment on GSS patient Lewis Keating.

I wish I knew what the writers were planning for this character – at first I thought she would just be the cardboard-cutout love interest, but now I’m not sure. Her intentions seem good, but her actions are ultimately unethical…Could Nina be a more malevolent character than we think? Perhaps I’m thinking more in the vein of a thriller, and I don’t know if this show would have such an unexpected plot line, but Bell’s actions could very well be his downfall, and it would be because of her. Could she possibly be more interesting than we thought? Oh, yes – that would be the plot point I’ve been waiting for!

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. My money is still on Bell succumbing to GSS symptoms in the very last episode, although maybe it will be Dr. Brockett by his side instead of Nina.

Though it still has flaws, Pure Genius found its footing this episode, but unfortunately it’s too little, too late.

Season 1, Episode 11 (S01E11)
Pure Genius airs Thursdays at 10PM on CBS

Read all of our reviews of Pure Genius here.
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Cailin is a screenwriter and an aspiring TV writer. When not writing, she’s busy convincing random passersby that Firefly was the best show ever, converting her co-workers into Whovians, and waiting for the next season of Sherlock.
Follow Cailin on Twitter: @sherlocked1058
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Cailin Coane | Contributor