Pure Genius

Premiering in late 2016, Pure Genius arrived during a period when Silicon Valley disruption was viewed through a lens of boundless optimism. The CBS drama centered on James Bell, a tech mogul who established Bunker Hill, a medical facility dedicated to solving the world’s most complex health crises using advanced data and experimental hardware. By pairing Augustus Prew’s eccentric billionaire with Dermot Mulroney’s grounded surgeon, the series explored the friction between rapid innovation and traditional bioethics. While it only lasted thirteen episodes, the show remains a fascinating time capsule of the mid-2010s desire to fix human mortality with software. It challenged the conventions of the standard medical procedural by prioritizing futuristic solutions over bureaucratic hurdles, leaving a small but distinct mark on the genre.