Almost Human 1.6: The Blackmarket Heart and Double Dorian

The Blackmarket Heart ... that could have been the title for Almost Human 1.6.   It could also have been the title of a song on Nashville, and is reminiscent of an Edgar Allan Poe story, in any case.  But it would have worked well tonight on Almost Human, which offered another fine standalone episode of cops and robbers in the future, this time an operation selling heart organs designed to run out of time, unless their human receivers pay a continuing fee.

Almost Human as been good at configuring futuristic crime, just as it has been with the partner repartee between Kennex and Dorian.   Both are sharp, wisecracking, and one of the best cop partnerships on television since Starsky and Hutch.

Meanwhile, there's also an android story, or a new twist on the android set-up of this series, behind every corner.  Tonight we get to meet another Dorian model - not decommissioned, but serving as a janitor for his sins.   Up until now, we've see MXs in duplicate profusion.  And although we knew that there was more than one of Dorian, and why not another one walking around somewhere now, we were permitted the illusion that he was more or less unique as an android of his model in any kind of significant action in this world.

For Dorian's double to work, though, he needed to have a personality both distinct from Dorian's but different from it.   Michael Ealy did a good job of delivering just that.   And I give this episode creds for not doing what a more conventional television series might have done in these circumstances: have Dorian's double dying heroically because we can't have two Dorians at work in this series.

But Dorian's fellow model survived, which thereby opens up all kinds of possibilities for the future. Another reason to keep watching Almost Human when it returns another year closer to its time, in January 2014.

See also: Almost Human debuts: A Review ... Almost Human 1.2: Sexbots ... Almost Human 1.3: Change of Face ... Almost Human 1.4: Almost Breaking Bad ... Almost Human 1.5: Clones and Holograms

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