eric mccormack perception | pinartarhan.com

perception-season-2-poster-eric mccormack — Eric McCormack as Dr. Daniel Pierce. Image via collider.com.

And my favorite show is back. Perception is currently my favorite show, including the winter shows. In fact, if I had to make a list of all time favorites, Perception would have a spot in top 3.

Perception, starring Eric McCormack and Rachael Leigh Cook, is in its second season, having aired 10 episodes last summer. For the background of the characters, and general plot, you can check out posts On Perception and other TV Crime Drama Series with Genius Yet Problematic Characters and 10 Reasons Writers Should Watch TNT’s Perception starring Eric McCormack.

(There’ll be spoilers for season 1 below, so keep reading at your own peril)

Where Season 1 Left Us

Season 1 had established that even though Kate (Rachel Leigh Cook) and Daniel (Eric McCormack) had feelings for each other, it wasn’t a great time to pursue them as Daniel’s symptoms got more serious, and he had to check himself into a psychiatric hospital.

That’s where we had gotten the twist of the season: While the hallucination that is Natalie (Kelly Rowan) – Daniel’s ex-girlfriend from college/a fellow psychiatrist – was indeed based on a real person, there really was no Natalie. He had never dated or met “Natalie”.

Instead, he had seen Dr. Caroline Newsome (Kelly Rowan), his treating psychiatrist from afar, but had never gotten to nerve to talk to her. But his symptoms had started pretty aggressively that summer, making him believe they had actually had a relationship.

After Daniel had some time to digest that, he realized that his symptoms weren’t that bad. In fact he was right on a complicated case- so he checked himself out, despite Caroline’s objections. And he also tried to use her skills, since he was on meds and wasn’t seeing Natalie anymore, he needed another smart brainstorming/crime-solving partner.

Afterwards she visited Daniel at the university, excusing herself as his therapist due to his “relationship” with Natalie but offering her friendship.

Season 2 – Relationships, Addition of Scott Wolf

Season 2 starts with Daniel spending a lot of time with Caroline, eventually turning it into a romance. But he is keeping secrets from her-like that he has given up on his meds due to side effects and Natalie has returned…

Donnie (Scott Wolf) is introduced-he is the ADA, as well as Kate’s soon-to-be-ex husband. It turns out that he is cocky, self-serving and still hooked up on Kate. While Kate is still rightfully mad at him (he did sleep with her best friend!), he gets to collaborate with her on several cases, and takes advantage of her friendship with Daniel as long as it serves him.

It seems that Daniel keeps his new romance with Caroline a secret, and he and Kate seem to be spending less time together.

Of course eventually Daniel can’t keep up the act, and Caroline leaves him.

From then on, we get more Daniel and Kate interaction, though their attraction for each other seems to be held more at bay this season. And Donnie keeps butting in, suggesting stuff like Kate is into Daniel, but she should be with someone that is neither like Daniel nor himself.

Season 2 : Cases

I’ve liked the cases so far, my two favorites being episodes 3, 5 and 6 (this week’s episode).

In Episode 3, Blindness, we are introduced to a very intriguing murder case where the killer replaces the victim right after, and manages to escape without anyone noticing. It questions our perception, attention and how sometimes our expectations and experiences “blind” what we actually see.

I loved who the killer turned out to be, and what his motives were and how he chose his victims. It is always more interesting when the victims’ actions piss you off, and the situation is just grey.

In Episode 5, Caleidoscope, Kate and Daniel have to take part in an interactive online game where the victim and the murderer originally met. Daniel enjoys the freedom of the game, where people choose avatars and can do whatever they want with them while using their own voices to talk. He also seems to meet another potential love interest, and the case takes some cool turns.

It was a great episode about being yourself, letting go, connecting and the lengths you would go for what matters the most…

In Episode 6 (Defective was a lot of fun), partly because it guest-starred Alexis Denisof (who’s best known as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce to Angel and Buffy fans), as well as David Alpay, who I recently watched as Professor Shane in The Vampire Diaries (season 4). Of course their roles couldn’t have been more different than the shows I mentioned.

Denisof plays a neurosurgeon who also comes across as a loving husband. And Alpay plays a brilliant violinist whose tremors were stopped due to a brain implant. When he almost dies to due a suspected defect, the manufacturing company gets involved, Donnie gets suspiciously interested in the case and when more deaths follow, Daniel forms an unlikely partnership with Donnie to get the company, to Kate’s dismay.

The episode didn’t have one pointless or boring minute, as it got Daniel to question how he is managing and perceiving his disease and leading his life and we got to see a more humane and much less annoying Donnie.

Perception is still strong, though the ratings for this season have been generally lower than the first season. I really hope they go up, or at least stay at a level that satisfies TNT.

Because Perception brings up wonderful cases and complicated questions about life, being yourself and being human in every episode – with the right touch of humor, drama and mystery.

And of all the eccentric, incredibly smart and sometimes socially difficult geniuses, Daniel is sure one of my favorites…Would love to put him in the same room with House, Lightman and Jane and see what they would talk about. Though they would probably solve any case in 5 seconds if they do work together…

And I might be in the minority because while a lot of watchers complain about the addition of Donnie, his character and Scott Wolf’s portrayal of him, I am having a lot of fun with both his presence. But then again, I’ve always liked Scott Wolf. He co-starred in one of my favorite 90s movies, White Squall (1996) along with Jeff Bridges. I strongly recommend the movie. He has also taken parts in some of the shows that I religiously followed (Spin City, V).

And is it just me, or does he also remind you of Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox (two actors I love watching) at times?

Perception starring Eric McCormack and Rachel Leigh Cook. — Perception starring Eric McCormack and Rachael Leigh Cook.

UPDATE: PERCEPTION has been renewed for season 3!!!

Turns out I like my men (on TV) quirky, cute, brilliant and nice at the core. A sense of humor won’t hurt, a traumatic background will up the stakes and I’ll be sold for some good crime-solving and decent acting.

With House, I settled for hospital drama since he approached cases with a CSI attitude and the brainstorming tactics of a creative professional, and I gave up on nice for a uniquely irritating yet intriguing personality. But with Lie to Me, I didn’t have to settle.

And I didn’t have to settle with Perception (starring Eric McCormack) either. To get a feel of how good Eric McCormack is, you should see Will and Grace, Trust Me and Perception episodes in a row. From the handsome gay lawyer with OCD tendencies (Will & Grace) to advertising golden boy (Trust Me) to schizophrenic neuropsychiatrist (Perception), Eric McCormack gave me the perfect rebound show. You know what they say…to get over one tv show, get under another. No, wait- that was for dating.

But hey, just like sometimes rebound relationships can offer something more given a little time, this TV show is drawing me in, and making me get over (a little) my indignation that Lie to Me was over in 3 little seasons.

Maybe I’m drawn to these shows because I am often not considered normal by a lot of people I meet. Most of the time I take it as a compliment, and most of the time they do mean it that way. And when you are a writer, that (manageable) quirkiness is a perk.

But sometimes the line between taking pride in not fitting in and the seldom frustration of not being able to fit in, choice vs. obligation, get blurry, and I find deep solace and extreme entertainment in characters (and stories) that not everyone relates to, is jealous of (yeah, you bet I wouldn’t mind being a top lie-detecting expert) or wants to have created such shows/characters oneself.

So I like Perception. And hey, it is good that there’re shows that remind us of each others’ premises. Some will work for you, some won’t. I fell in love with The Mentalist (the first 2 seasons), but Psych annoyed me. But I loved Lie to Me and I am currently busy enjoying Perception.

Oh, what the hell is Perception about, you ask?

As I mentioned earlier, Perception centers on the brilliant neuropsychiatrist college professor Daniel Pierce who’s a hit with students but not exactly well-perceived in the outside world when people face with his “differences”, and being a schizophrenic with hallucinations and weird set of habits to manage them.

But one of his fans include ex student/current FBI agent Kate (Rachel Leigh Cook), who asks for his help with her investigations. Now, they could be closer friends or maybe even more, but hey, Daniel has issues and he’s not exactly trying to bond with anyone- he is afraid of the possible consequences.

In each episode, we get a murder case with not-so-tired plots, Danielesque crime solving tactics, some lecture moments we wish we had in our school, some funny situations related to Daniel’s quirks/interactions/reactions and good 40+ minutes of fun.

You see, if you think Jane is so similar to Lightman or Daniel is like Lightman, you weren’t paying attention. Or maybe you really want a character obsessed with catching a serial killer who seems more and more implausible by the second (The Mentalist).

Or you are like me. You enjoy each show for what they have to offer, and the very obvious differences between characters and storylines.

Give Perception a shot if you enjoyed one or more of these shows: House, The Mentalist, Lie to Me.

P.S. Yes, I am aware of House is a medical drama. But hey, House has to be mentioned for his brilliance, tendency to break all rules and authority with obsession to solve cases and well…his own highly problematic personality. And bluntness.