Minority Report is a new action procedural set in the future. The mythology of the show is established in a quick opening sequence: triplets named Dash (NYC22‘s Stark Sands), Agatha (Mad Men‘s Laura Regan) and Arthur (2 Broke Girls‘ Nick Zano) were discovered to have pre-cognitive abilities that allowed them to see murders before they happened. The triplets were kept in isolation and their brains were hooked up to machines in what was called the pre-crime program. When the show begins, pre-crime has been dismantled and the triplets are out in the world. They’re able to walk freely because their identities were never revealed.
The show focuses on Dash. Although his powers are incomplete without Arthur, he still wants to prevent murders. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to get to any of the murders he’s seeing in time to stop them. This causes him to team up with Detective Lara Vega (Deception‘s Meagan Good). By combining her detective skills with tips from Dash, they’re able to have at least a chance at preventing violent crimes before anyone gets hurt.
Anyone hoping for a serious sci-fi action show will probably be disappointed by Minority Report. The capabilities of the technology police have access to in the future seems to vary depending on what the story needs at any time and the ethics the concept of the show touches on aren’t discussed in any substantive way.
That said, Minority Report absolutely succeeds as a somewhat silly procedural. Dash’s clueless, over-earnestness played perfectly, especially paired with Lara’s savvy and determination.
While the sci-fi procedural stuff is nothing new, the show played well on an emotional level and made me interested in the characters. A sequence where Dash meets Lara’s mother and brother did a great job of establishing character and making us understand why Lara is a unique character among many TV detectives. Minority Report is, above all, extremely entertaining.