Get to know the most celebrated geek in history with the STARZ original series, Da Vinci’s Demons. This smart, intriguing series explores the life of a 25 year old Leonardo da Vinci. I’ve seen the first two episodes and can’t wait to watch the rest. The pilot episode deals out a lot of information, showing da Vinci’s wits and inventions, as well as his trouble making side. Tom Riley portrays the mastermind masterfully, as something of a mix between Sherlock Holmes, Einstein, and an artiste, making you like him instantly. The first episode, “The Hanged Man” will introduce you to a new world, entertain you with some action, and weave some story threads that will no doubt carry on throughout more episodes. It premieres tonight at 10pm ET/PT after the series finale of Spartacus: War of the Damned,  and then will move to Fridays at 9pm ET/PT. Not convinced yet? Here are a few more reasons why you should Da Vinci’s Demons.

The Main Character is a Super Geek

Leonardo da Vinci is arguably one of the greatest inventors/artists/geniuses in history. He was always sketching new ideas that were incredibly advanced for his time, and that characteristic is front and center in Da Vinci’s Demons. He conceptualized things like a helicopter and a tank long before they could actually be made into existence. And, according to STARZ, da Vinci invented the bicycle, parachute, and even the robot, and had an estimated IQ of 220! His life as a super geek is fascinating and the series captures that, showing the struggles da Vinci had when trying to be taken seriously by his plebian peers. While the show does take more than a few liberties with the facts of da Vinci’s real life, it sticks to the foundation of what historians know while fleshing it out with some fiction.

There’s an Interesting Over-Arcing Plot

Even though da Vinci’s inventions are heavily featured in the show, it’s not just a Renaissance-era Mister Wizard. There’s an interesting over-arcing plot, featuring forbidden love, betrayal, war, and da Vinci’s quest to find out information about his mother.

Nothing Comes Super Easy

With a character being as smart as da Vinci, it’d be really easy for the writers to have him do whatever he wants without any hassle- we see that in other shows where the main characters are so adept at what they do that everything always goes off without a hitch. Da Vinci, however, doesn’t have so easy. He gets into trouble, he gets caught, some of his bluffs are called, and whether he’ll fail or succeed will keep you consistently guessing.

Da Vinci’s Demons Celebrates Intelligence and Thinking Outside the Box

The show features a nice amount of action, but doesn’t rely on violence to solve problems. Da Vinci doesn’t just use his fists and muscles to beat his way out of a situation (though he does fall back on them, on occasion). Mostly he uses a different and more powerful muscle- his brain. He outsmarts his opponents and manipulates people, all while being an advocate for others to use their own under-utilized grey matter.

It’s Created by David S. Goyer, Featuring Music by Bear McCreary

Who is David S. Goyer? He’s just the guy who wrote such titles as Blade, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Man of Steel. And Bear McCreary composed music for Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, so if you’re familiar with those shows you’ll know that he’s awesome at capturing a mood through music and then enhancing it.

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!