Limitless - 'Close Encounters'

The Beastie Boys quickly proved to be one of Brian's more relentless
enemies.

Brian's NZT-perfected life is beginning to unravel.

Unable to face the prospect of directly lying to Rebecca about Sands' involvement in her father's death (to whit, that he killed him,) he seeks to avoid her by taking one of his spare pills and wandering the night, guided by a police scanner and offering his insights into whatever crimes he comes across. His hand is forced, however, when an apparent act of cyberterror blacks out the business district.

Brian eventually traces the cause of the blackouts to a mysterious bacteria, initially deemed extraterrestrial in origin, and he and Rebecca are placed in isolation together. He becomes increasingly defensive as she confronts him, only to discover that she has had his safehouse searched, finding two of his four spare NZT pills. The other two are with his sister, who talks to his parents and precipitates a major row over his dishonesty. At around the same time, Rebecca asks Naz to reassign Brian to another handler.

Fortunately, not a bottle episode.

Despondent over having become someone that his friends and family can't trust, Brian decides to set things right. Leaving a message for Rebecca, he sets off into the world, sans NZT, to try to fix his problem: Senator Morra's absolute control over his life.

While the A-plot is as light as ever, 'Close Encounters' features a lot of heavy stuff, as Brian's attempt to combine normal life with his web of deception comes apart. His aggressive behaviour as he is forced more and more onto the back foot is out of his usual character, and hints at the possibility that there is a darker version of Brian that NZT could unlock along with his neurological potential. Morra already mentioned his confusion that Brian would refuse to embrace more substantial change as his cognitive abilities develop, and this is the first sign that some change may be inevitable. Hopefully not too much, as it is happy fun Brian that makes the show so watchable.