‘Minority Report’ Recap & Review: Fox Misses The Mark On Major Sci-Fi Classic

First, it was a mind-bending sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick. Then it was a movie by Stephen Spielberg. Now, Minority Report has made it to TV with Fox. Will fans rejoice to see the world of precrime drama expanded upon even further? Probably not. Taking place ten years after the film with Tom Cruise left off, precrime is back on the scene with three “precogs” to see into the future and stop criminals before they even start.

‘Minority Report’ Recap And Review

In Minority Report, crime has been reduced to zero by three people known as “precogs.” Because of a scientific experiment gone wrong, the precogs are able see into the future. What is known as the precrime unit takes care of the physical end. The premise of the novel and the film is that it is immoral to jail a person for a crime they have not committed. The show takes a different standpoint on this and tells the story of the three precogs-Dash, Arthur and Agatha. They kept in a setting where law enforcement could use their powers to maximum capacity.

Precrime was abolished ten years prior, and the precogs have their own lives out in the world. The show doesn’t explain why is was abolished, maybe because it would punch holes in their story line. However, they cannot escape the visions they get when a crime is about to occur and this tortures them encouraging Dash to fight crime on his own.

Lara Vega (Meagan Good) is an investigator who gets her big break when she runs into Dash (Stark Sands) who gives her a tip on a case she’s working on. She dismisses Dash as just a run-of-the-mill informant until she meets him in a diner and he has a vision. Lara believes she has hit a gold mine until Dash informs her that he cannot get the names of victims. He can only see what happens. His brother, Arthur (Nick Zano), is the one who can get names.

This leads Lara on a quest to commandeer the precogs for her personal use, but somehow she is still one of the good guys. We learn that she became a cop because she lost her father at a young age to a drive-by shooting. This would explain her belief that precrime is not such a bad idea. We also learn that Lara has a son and Dash has an incredibly arcane understanding of classic rock history.

Dash agrees to help Lara prevent crime and accompanies her to a barn where an old man tries to throw a pitchfork at her head. Don’t worry, he saves her and she kicks the guy while he is on the ground to get information from him about her case. This leads them to a public event where a woman is about to be murdered by a remote control pigeon.

Minority Report on Fox does not seem to capture any of the same electricity and cleverness that attracted many fans to the story in the first place. The sci-fi drama is remarkably dark and intelligent, exploring deep questions about justice and forcing the characters to reinvent themselves gracefully based on exposure to new perspectives. The show, however, is barely within the realm of entertaining. In spite of a well-placed Tinder reference, the dialogue sank and The Notorious B.I.G. was not enough reclaim the limp atmosphere.

Minority Report airs on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.

Pictured: Stark Sands and Meagan Good.