Pure Genius

Nobody registers much of a connection. What’s missing from this show is heart.

The show has potential, if only because with so many ideas floating around, something is bound to stick.

Without either dramatic stakes or grounded reality, Pure Genius is flat and saccharine, a longer version of the carefully pristine world seen in pharmaceutical commercials.

Pure Genius is a formulaic procedural posing as a TED talk, a standard case-of-the-week medical drama gussied up with high-tech gear and dubious science. ... It also doesn’t help that Pure Genius is built around not one, but two inert leads.

This is just a doctor drama with C.G.I. and without interesting character dynamics. Bell, at least, is a distinctive lead personality--he’s not at all likable, but that could be by design, and Mr. Prew commits to his precious smarminess.

The science behind Bell's confidence isn't complete fantasy, according to Katims, although the producer acknowledged that it's not yet available. ... That's great--at least for those who aren't facing imminent death from causes that happen to interest the writers of Pure Genius--but that lack of immediacy also means the stakes aren't as high as they are for most medical dramas, even if the graphics are much, much better.