Last night's premiere of "Perception," however, took quirky to a whole new level.
Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) plays Dr. Daniel Pierce, a college professor and neuroscientist. People that meet him think that he is eccentric, but we quickly learn that he's a delusional schizophrenic.
Luckily, he's also brilliant when it comes to crime-solving and when his former student now turned FBI agent, Kate Moretti (Rachel Leigh Cook) needs to solve a murder, she turns to him for help.
As usual, with Pilot episodes it's more about the characters and less about the murder plot. A husband is murdered. The wife is accused. There are only four suspects. Keep ruling them out and crossing them off the list until there is only one left.
The real interest here is on Pierce and what we find out about him. He is off his medication. He has a live-in assistant named Wikki (Arjay Smith) who seems to be channeling "Natalie" from Monk. We learn that Pierce has hallucinations, but what he sees is helpful in solving crimes. He also has a love interest who appears to be a hallucination too.
I kind of wondered what people who have mental disorders thought of this show. Are they glad to be represented by a television character who will no doubt draw attention to schizophrenia, or is Perception simply exploiting people who actually have this condition?
As far as the show itself, it seemed to be The Mentalist, Monk, Sherlock Holmes and Numbers all rolled into one. With The Closer down to 5 episodes (as we were constantly reminded last night), Dr. Daniel Pierce looks like a good replacement for our favorite crime solver Brenda Johnson. Let's see if the audience agrees.
Sushiboofay gives this one 3 1/2 fish!
