https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMnhLfaWUo8
What if a meteorite came crashing down to Earth, landed in Russia, got transported to DC and the creepy crawlies inside of it starting taking over the brains of the people who work in Politics. That is the premise of BrainDead that debuts on CBS tonight at 10p. Even though ants and politicians are two of the things I hate most, I thoroughly enjoyed this campy drama.
Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a documentary filmmaker, who needs money to finish her film. Her father (Zach Grenier) offers her the money, only if she is works for her brother, who is a US Democratic Senator (Danny Pino). She eventually agrees to work with for Luke as his Constituent Representative. Her first day seems to start off normally enough, even though the Government is set to shut down when the work day ends. But then the last person waiting to talk to her, will ask for her assistance on something that will change her life and everyone elses in DC.
The woman tells Laurel that her husband comes back from an expedition in Russia a changed man. He no longer drinks and he was an alcoholic before the long trip. Plus, she found a strange video on his phone, she can’t explain. When Laurel asks why she came to her for assistance, the woman says the Senator’s office signed off on it. Now Laurel will try to find out what happened on that boat and to its cargo that is now at the Smithsonian.
Although Laurel has a much more pressing issue to deal with first. Gareth Ritter (Aaron Tveit) comes to her and tells her that his boss Republican Senator Red Wheatus (Tony Shalhoub) will strike a deal with her brother, so that US Government won’t shut down, and she has just 90 minutes to find her brother and tell him that. She finds him just in the nick of time, he talks to Democratic Senators and they don’t agree to the offer.
Now 100,000 people are out of work including the Smithsonian. That means the meteorite is left alone and now the aliants (alien ants) have escaped. Their first target is Gareth’s boss. Once they enter his head, you will get to see what they do to you after they crawl inside your ear.
These aliants don’t only go after just Politicians, they have embedded themselves into the man, who is watching after their home aka the meteorite. When Laurel finds him, he is in extreme pain so she calls an ambulance. She travels with him to the hospital but he never makes it there. That’s because his head exploded all over her and the two EMTs.
His head is only the first one to explode, in the coming weeks more people will be splattered with brain matter. But not everyone’s head will explode, others will be willing to accept the aliants. What do the aliants want? Laurel and Gareth will work together to find out. Maybe they can also figure out why everyone, who is infected by the aliants, can’t stop listening to The Cars’ You Might Think.
Not only won’t you be able to get that song out of your head like the aliants, you won’t be able to get this campy drama out of your mind too. BrainDead is unlike anything else on CBS, it is like a ’60s B horror movie. It has a comedic feel even though it is a drama. And wait until next week, when they start off each episode with the most original and brilliant episode recaps.
Now when it comes to the political side of the show, I wonder if The Kings aka Robert and Michelle King, who gave us The Good Wife, knew how crazy our Presidential race would be when they pitched this show a year ago. As crazy as BrainDead is, it is not as crazy as the Presidential Race. Close, but no cigar.
Watch how close they have nailed politics with a Summer show that will enjoyably snatch up your Monday nights!
