'Next' Episode 4 Review: John Slattery sci-fi show picks up pace, but it's a shame Fox canceled Season 2
Spoilers for 'Next' Season 1 Episode 4 'File#4'
In Episode 4 of Fox's sci-fi thriller 'Next', Paul LeBlanc (John Slattery) and Agent Shea Salazar (Fernanda Andrade) race against time and hopes to stop the self-improving AI Iliza (Olenka Wos Kimball) from taking over the world. No prizes for guessing that it is not an easy battle to fight, especially at a time when our lives are so dependent on technology and the Internet. Iliza can hunt you down from anywhere, no matter where you're hiding. With a new target in CM (Michael Mosley), Iliza plans on conquering Salazar and Paul and stop them before they stop her.
Episode 4 of the show follows Paul and Salazar manage to steal a very important hard drive after their visit to Dartmouth. They seek help from Salazar's team to help break down the code, putting them a step closer to dismantling the complex mechanism that holds Iliza in place. Right now, the AI has escaped the servers and is omnipresent, therefore tracking down people with ease. So in an attempt to stop the group, Iliza targets CM.
Information about his past is leaked - how he was an informant for the FBI ahead of a violent white nationalist protest. This leads to several factions of the Neo-Nazi movement to gather in front of the FBI building. Soon enough, the mob turns violent and breaks into the building effectively reaching the top.
A suicide bomber, brainwashed and led by Iliza finds CM and off goes the bomb. Whether CM lives or not will only be known in the next episode. But it looks like the show has picked up the pace. Off to an unfortunate start - delayed airing due to the pandemic and a cancellation order by Fox barely two episodes in, 'Next' is now becoming interesting. First impressions of the show were akin to it trying too hard to be an effective sci-fi show detailing the drawbacks of humanity's over-reliance on technology. Characters were also quite run off the mill with Paul being a version of Tony Stark and Salazar as just another textbook FBI agent with a past.
Since then, the show has improved on its plotline. As Iliza gets more and more conscious, it learns from its mistakes and improves. And gradually sparks more agitation and violence destroying everything in its way.
'Next' might be canceled but we guess you could stick around till the end of Season 1. Chances are it might disappoint you, but at least there is no next chapter.
'Next' airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm ET/PT.