The Limitless Trailer Is Intense And Action-Packed

What if you were the smartest person on Earth? What if you knew exactly how well the 2011 movie Limitless would be adapted by CBS, and how much you would enjoy the series before you even watched it? Well, you’re (presumably) not, and you can’t do that. What you can do is check out the very first trailer for the small screen version of Limitless, which is set to air this fall.

Released as part of the network upfronts, this Limitless trailer immediately capitalizes on a piece of news that we just learned about earlier today, that Bradley Cooper will appear in the pilot and perhaps more episodes down the line, depending on what his schedule allows. He’s reprising the role of Eddie Mora, who is now a U.S. Senator that is still very much using the make-you-smart drug NZT developed in the film. Is it weird that the most fictional part of this show so far is that there’s a genius in a high government office?

Eddie will mentor series lead Brian Finch, played by Manhattan Love Story’s Jake McDorman, who begins taking NZT and discovers that he’s capable of doing things he never imagined, like predicting when a train is going to come to a stop, and knowing that his hands are strong enough to allow dangerous drops down a fire escape. But unlike the movie, the story won’t revolve solely around the smartest guy in the room, as Brian will begin to use his newfound mental abilities to help out the cops. It just wouldn’t be a CBS drama without a procedural element.

Brian’s police partner is Dexter alum Jennifer Carpenter’s Rebecca. She realizes that having a super-genius on the squad will be quite helpful in the long run, so they decide to work with him instead of chasing after him, like a reverse Coyote-Roadrunner scenario. The big case they’re following involvess a series of murders where people are getting killed for their NZT. You know what they say: keep your friends close, and keep your genius-drug dealers closer. NZT just has too many side effects, and you’d think the users would be smart enough to realize that by now.

As it stands, I’m partially invested in Brian’s story, and a lot of that probably has to do with the way the visuals are laid out, thanks to directorial work by Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Marc Webb. I liked the movie well enough for being so bonkers, and I’m hoping its place on CBS won’t neuter the weirdness. If that scene where he maps out a real-life Frogger game is any indication, it could be a lot of fun.

Limitless will debut on CBS on Tuesdays this fall. Head here to watch the rest of the trailers from this year’s upfronts.