Silicon Valley Legal Drama ‘Cupertino’ Is a Breathless, Whip-Smart Tour of AI Insanity From Robert and Michelle King: TV Review

By Alison Herman

Alison Herman

TV Critic

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On its face, the CBS drama “Cupertino” is a reversion to type for creators Robert and Michelle King. After dipping a toe into the supernatural with “Evil,” a kind of “X-Files” riff set inside the Catholic Church, the married couple behind “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight” are back on factual terra firma with another legal procedural staffed by New York theater actors. It’s nice to see Jackie Hoffman back in judges’ robes!

But in just a couple of episodes, it’s clear that star Mike Colter isn’t the only carryover from the “Evil” set. In shifting the proceedings from Chicago to Silicon Valley amid the artificial intelligence boom, “Cupertino” runs headfirst into questions that are straight-up spiritual. Can a machine have a soul, or even free will? Should an algorithm rule us impartially, like a god? Who is culpable for the sins of a computer? “It’s software, not Satan,” an expert tries to argue on the stand. That’s about when I started looking for Andrea Martin’s steely nun to walk onscreen while waving a crucifix.

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