By Rosalind
If there’s one thing Human Target is not going to be lacking this season, it is definitely action. This episode had more than enough running, shooting, and exploding for a good deal of fun along with the intricate and complex storylines that make the show worth coming back to. Now, if they could just figure out how to effectively use their new women, it would be nearly perfect.
This episode starts up with a glimpse to Chance’s past days as an assassin. They make the brief but interesting point that Chance, even back in the day, was just slightly uncertain of whether or not this man deserved to die. The assassin with a conscience. Turns out he did deserve it, but Chance won’t find that out for about another 45 minutes.
Chance is bad-ass
Anyway, we aren’t in the past for long, and so, back in the present, we are meeting up with another of Chance’s old bosses: Donnelly, played by M.C. Gainey a.k.a. Mr. Friendly from the infamous Others on Lost. It appears that this time, the guy we know is playing the good guy and gives Chance the case to save a woman. Not just any woman, but the wife of the man Chance murdered in the first scene. You know he’s going to take this one. Especially since his “I’m bad-ass” look he put on for Donnelly turns into an “I need redemption” look.
Chance has got to save the girl!
Speaking of looks, this show is very into showing close-ups of everybody’s faces. It’s interesting, actually, how often the camera is right up on Chance, showing his every lip twitch or sideways glance with those bluer-than-blue eyes. Seriously, does he wear contacts? He’s not the only one who gets the close up treatment. Ilsa was also given plenty of camera time in this episode.
Ilsa. Well, I still like her, although they are working on how she’s going to fit into the show. I think it works when she talks with the client, especially since in this case the woman isn’t sure she wants Chance’s help. Ilsa is her take-charge, confident self and that gets them the trust they need. However, when she forces herself into the surveillance van, well, that I’m not sure she needed to do, so much as the show wanting to insert her into scenes. She has bought them lots of fun toys, so lack of technology is never going to be a problem for them. We knew that Ilsa wasn’t really going to be an absentee owner, but apparently neither Winston nor Chance knew the laws of television, so they are a bit confused.
Don't mess with Ilsa
However, the show is still only 50% for women, because I don’t really like Ames. At least so far she’s only hanging out with Guerrero, so my love for him balances it out somewhat. I really feel like the writers could have found a better way to bring her in other than that Guerrero lost his glasses and needed a driver. She also remains incredibly whiney about everything and flip flops between being annoyed that she isn’t allowed to do anything and happily playing the thief card. Next week’s episode is all about her, so I’m hoping they give me something more three-dimensional to work with.
They are really playing up Chance’s spidey-sense this season. He catches that the blind date is the assassin right away with just the appropriate amount of slow-down and background music. Our current baddie-assassin is also quite the acrobat in the extended chase and shoot scene that is just the right amount of Chance-saves-the-day fun. Of course, when they don’t spend a lot of time determining who the bad guy is, you know they aren’t really the bad guy.
Then, the case starts to heat up. Chance and the client discover that there are papers most likely related to her husband’s death at a summer home and the acrobatic assassin returns. Fortuntately, Chance has watched a lot of MacGuyver and creates a fancy explosive device to knock out the bad guy using chemistry lab supplies and a fire extinguisher. Ilsa also finds out that Chance killed their client’s husband, and now isn’t so sure about this whole thing.
Ah, back to Guerrero and Ames. My man G does his bad-ass thing while Ames gets in his way, although not as badly as last time. Unfortunately, their source gets assassinated, and the stakes are now up even higher. Maybe it’s Ames’s smirky smile I dislike? Oh well, she’s not as awful in this scene, and she does save G’s life.
Love me a torture scene!
Next up, Winston has it out with Ilsa. Ilsa does the official protest not only of all things illegal, but of Chance’s background as the original assassin getting them into this mess. Winston tells her that they accept those conditions and she had better do the same. Then she decides to go along with Winston to save Chance. Poor Winston, he just can’t win. “I swear if you weren’t my boss I’d shoot you”. Really, who gets to say that? Winston does, because he’s awesome.
Poor Winston, still can't win!
So, Chance and the client are back at the house where her husband was killed, going through the papers, and Chance has to admit that he killed her husband, which we all knew was going to happen. So, the client takes the gun and aims and shoots! Wow. That’s one of the things I like about this show, it isn’t afraid to do some unexpected things, like shoot the main character. Only in the arm, of course. The best part about this is watching the next fight where Chance has to avoid that arm as much as possible. I have to hand it to the choreographer, they do work around the arm most of the time.
She shot him!
And Mr. Friendly is back! Not that I had any doubt we would see him again. He plays the exposition game for the client just before aiming his gun at them. Fortunately, Winston saves the day. I like the way that show sets itself up so that there are reasons for people to be in place to save Chance. I mean, I still expect it, and it’s still got a deus ex machina sense to it, but I give credit to writers who plan ahead.
Finally, we find out that the dead husband really was a bad guy, but they aren’t going to tell the client that. What they are going to do is give Ilsa a chance to prove that she can handle this business and let her talk to the client about how awesome Chance is. I can certainly see her playing the role of both the legal compass, to a point, and the person who can talk nice to the clients. Winston used to play that role, but he’s funnier and more interesting when he can do his cop thing and not always have to be the good one. Verdict is still out on Ames. Next week better wow me or kill her off, that’s all I gotta say.
I’ll leave you with Chance’s smile, because he done good this episode.
Rosalind is a wife, a microbiologist, a Jersey girl, and a trekkie. Rosalind’s geekiness starts with her long-standing crush on Wil Wheaton (since she was 12!). She loves reading and watching science fiction like Issac Asimov, X-files, Many Star Treks, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, the Vampire Chronicles, and Supernatural. She also has a love of puzzles, charts, Venn diagrams, science!, and unusual math. She can typically be found obsessing over these things at girlsaregeeks.wordpress.com which she runs along with her two geeky sisters.
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Rosalind is a wife, a microbiologist, a Jersey girl, and a trekkie. Rosalind's geekiness starts with her long-standing crush on Wil Wheaton (since she was 12!). She loves reading and watching science fiction like Issac Asimov, X-files, Many Star Treks, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, the Vampire Chronicles, and Supernatural. She also has a love of puzzles, charts, Venn diagrams, science!, and unusual math. She can typically be found obsessing over these things at girlsaregeeks.wordpress.com which she runs along with her two geeky sisters. 
