Fox cancel 'Chicago Code' & 'Human Target'

The Shield writer-producer Shaun Ryan has been dealt another blow; just months after his show Terriers was canned by Showtime, his cop drama The Chicago Code's been axed by Fox! The 13-part series starts its run on Sky1 tomorrow, so it'll be interesting to see if Brits aware of its demise will bother to tune in

Of more interest to me, action-adventure drama Human Target has also been cancelled by Fox after two turbulent years, which included a major revamp. It's not a show I'm upset about losing, because it had a fair chance to succeed and did everything its format allowed in its lifetime. It's just a little surprising because Human Target was bounced around Fox's schedules but always managed to perform wherever it landed. It was also a bigger hit in the Friday night "death slot" than Fringe. It seems that Fox would prefer to take their chances with brand new shows for the 2011/12 season. I wouldn't be surprised if Target's direct replacement is J.J Abrams' new mystery drama Alcatraz.

Lie To Me, Breaking In and Traffic Light have also been cancelled by Fox.

Jump the Blast #7 - 'Human Target'

'HUMAN TARGET' - "Marshall Pucci"

It's the second Human Target offering in this meme already! This one comes from the recent season 2 finale and it's probably THE archetypal "jump the blast" visual; a badass walking away from a large car explosion, without turning back to look, in sweet slow-motion. It's so cliche, I love it. The badass in question is Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley), the goat-faced assassib who's just dealt with a rogue CIA agent who dared threaten the life of his young son.

Have you noticed a shot in a film, trailer, advert, or TV show that features someone jumping/walking away from an explosion of some kind? If so, why not email me a screengrab and you can be credited in the next installment of "Jump the Blast".

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.13 - "Marshall Pucci"

The season 2 finale of Human Target was a curious mix of exciting moments (most in the first half) with a slight feeling of dryness, primarily because the backbone of Ilsa (Indira Varma) and the weird circumstances of her billionaire husband's murder hasn't been as interesting as intended. It's been referred to occasionally throughout this year's episodes, but was anyone desperate to see this mystery explained? The whole storyline only really took a notable step forward recently, with Guerrero's (Jackie Earle Haley) discovery of a photo showing Marshall with a mistress, so it carried an unshakeable feeling of tedium.

Still, the first half of "Marshall Pucci" was impressive and fast-paced entertainment, with the surprise arrival of Marshall's alleged mistress Julia (Emily Foxler), seeking protection from the people who killed her boss to secure his silence, because Marshall had discovered a weapons cache in medical supplies his company was providing to Africa. Ilsa, relieved to hear that Marshall's rendezvous with Julia was only to provide a colleague with a ticket to safety while he exposed the smuggling, arranged to have Julia taken into her team's care. And it wasn't long before Chance (Mark Valley) and the team come to realize Marshall's killers were a crack CIA squad, led by a rogue agent called Bill Fickner (Jake Weber), who is now targeting Ilsa and has an enviable technological advantage that puts Chance's gang on a weaker footing.

There were undoubtedly some great moments in this finale: Fickner's squad manipulating events out of Chance's control during a rendezvous in a town square, the unexpected reveal that Julia's in cahoots with Fickner and was tasked to bring Ilsa out into the open, the moment when Guerrero realized his young son was in danger (apparently the only "pressure point" he has), and a smattering of decent actions sequences (most memorably a scene when Ilsa got her foot caught in a rail track with a subway train thundering towards her.) Indeed, "Marshall Pucci" was never truly dull, but it also had far less emotional clout than I think was desirable in a big finale.

There was no flashpoint moment when the accumulation of season 2's narrative really took hold, just the feeling this bookended the premiere (in title, and fact it ended with Ilsa taking another literal "leap of faith" with Chance off a building.) The Chance/Ilsa relationship, which can sometimes feel truthful and sweet, still appears slightly stilted and false most of the time. It didn't help that Ilsa was back to being a limp damsel-in-distress for the finale, which is a real pity considering mid-season episodes like "Communication Breakdown" started to give her more depth and range. Ilsa's plucky when required, and has grown from the over-privileged dunce she started the season as, but there's still something in the Ilsa/Chance relationship that hasn't quite gelled.

Overall, I still enjoyed this finale on a superficial level -- it was fast, fun and the action was delivered well. It just lacked that killer spark and emotional resonance I want to see from finales. There wasn't enough to differentiate this from a decent mid-season episode, really. As a whole, season 2 actually became one of the more enjoyable TV shows I've been watching every week, with the only bum note being Ames (Janet Montgomery), who's supposed to be hilariously straightforward and sassy, but just comes across as rude and annoying. Winston (Chi McBride) also suffered through a pretty thankless season, relegated to sitting in a surveillance van providing earpiece chit-chat most weeks, and the show sometimes struggled to provide material for five regular characters. The show worked better with three leads, so in an ideal world one of the core triptych would have been female from the start.

What did you think of this finale and season 2 in general? And what do you hope for in season 3, if Fox renews the show?

Asides

• Showrunner Matt Miller was interviewed by Give My Remote, where he reflected on season 2 and his hope for the show's renewal. It's particularly fun to hear Miller admit he should never have changed the theme tune, in retrospect!
• I keep talking about the ratings, but they're really fascinating with this show. It started its run on Wednesdays nights with 6.59m, which dropped to around 5m most weeks. Now, at the end of its run, the last two episodes on Wednesday achieved 9.22m and 8.30m (for this finale). And that's after the show was bounced to Fridays, and aired a few weeks of double-bills! It's proven itself a robust show that a loyal audience will stick with, that's also capable of drawing newcomers in if it's scheduled better. For what it's worth, I think it'll be back for season 3.

written by Matt Miller & Heather V. Regnier / directed by David Barrett / 9 February 2011 / Fox

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.12 - "The Trouble With Harry"

The penultimate episode of this sometimes erratic but hugely enjoyable second season gave us another prime slice of Human Target, from the pen of Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine, who usually deliver more of a season 1 flavour to their storylines. In "The Trouble With Harry", we found Chance (Mark Valley) handcuffed to a booby-trapped bar stool, waiting for a hostage exchange to happen, only for bungling private eye friend Harry (Tony Hale) to wander into the middle of the operation.

In flashbacks, the result of Chance apprising Harry of the situation, we followed the circumstances that led to Chance's predicament, which began 48 hours earlier with a client called Sarah (Nicole Bilderback), who had accidentally discovered evidence that her rich husband Claypool (Michael Massee) is running a hit squad. As a recluse with an extraordinary amount of security, a plan was set in motion for Ilsa (Indira Varma) to meet with Claypool to discuss a philanthropic business venture, sneaking Chance and Ames (Janet Montgomery) into the residence with Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) posing as Ilsa's driver, with Winston (Chi McBride) orchestrating events from his nearby surveillance van. Ilsa was tasked with ensuring cagey Claypool drank an expensive bottle of wine they've spiked with a truth serum, in order to get his computer password, while Chance and Ames had to negotiate a room full of invisible laser beams and temperature sensors.

I like Human Target when it's finding a use for everyone and the dynamic shifts into full-on Mission Impossible territory. Having to break into a seemingly impregnable country retreat brought its own delights, with Chance finding himself stretched-out between a table and desk (just above invisible beams, like a shoestring version of the iconic moment Tom Cruise dangled above a pressure-sensitive floor in Mission Impossible), together with the natural comedy of the operation resting on Ilsa being able to convince Claypool to drink his tainted wine. Guest star Michael Massee is also very reliable as a screen villain, often raising the poorest of TV shows out of the doldrums whenever he's around (remember his turn as mad scientist Dyson Frost in FlashForward?), and while Claypool was a slightly underwhelming character for Massee's talent, it was still good to see him involved.

I even enjoyed the sometimes irritating plot-device of starting the story in media res, then telling the majority of the story using flashbacks. It's often the sign of an episode with a lack of plot, which is perhaps true here, but it somehow worked in the case of "The Trouble With Harry". Even Tony Hale, reprising his hapless character from the recent "Communication Breakdown", managed to make his lazy role as expositional aide quite entertaining. And how can you really hate an episode that involved the leading man and woman evading a gun-toting biker with a stolen horse from a stable? A good action moment a pleasing romantic undertone, which led to the breakthrough scene with a drunken Ilsa kissing Chance, having been given proof her beloved husband was cheating on her before his untimely death.

Look, it's hardly rewriting the rules of action-adventure television, but with a capable cast, strong guest stars, a steady stream of decent action sequences, snarky humour and clear storylines, Human Target's carving a niche as a consistent source of disposable in-the-moment entertainment.

Aside

• Last week I commented about Human Target's fascinating leaps around the Fox schedule and the according rise and fall of ratings. This episode actually aired on a Tuesday, following a Monday night episode, and gained the show's best rating all year: an impressive 9.22m. I really don't see any reason why Human Target shouldn't come back for a third season now. It can get almost 10m in a decent timeslot, and even on a Friday it almost gets 5m.

written by Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine / directed by Peter Lauer / 2 February 2011 / Fox

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.11 - "Kill Bob"

I don't have much to say about "Kill Bob", so I'll be reasonably brief. This episode was entertaining and had good action sequences, but the idea behind it didn't quite take flight, and the subplots were very weak. The central premise was solid, though: a scientist working on weather satellites called Bob Anderson (Todd Grinnell) became the credulous target of an assassin, with Chance (Mark Valley) realizing the hitman is none other than his beautiful wife Angie (Lauren German). In shades of the recent Angelina Jolie action movie Salt, it transpired that Angie (named after Jolie?) is actually an undercover Russian spy called Natalia Petrovic, who has been ordered to kill her husband by her OSA handler Ivan (Richard Zeman), as he's outgrown his usefulness.

Human Target often takes a familiar idea and runs with it, which is exactly what happened here. Fortunately, "Kill Bob" wasn't a facsimile of Salt and, despite its title, also had little in common with Kill Bill, but it certainly amounted to a rather formulaic hour of entertainment. Chance simply played bodyguard to Bob; initially waiting to be sure Angie was the person responsible for the attempt on his client's life. The early scenes worked best, with the lurking doubts over Angie's guilt and Chance (rather weirdly) joining the Anderson's on a day trip to the country, and once the cat was out of the bag "Kill Bob" got added mileage by revealing Angie's actually trying to fake her husband's assassination to satisfy Ivan.

Unfortunately, the subplots this week were very poor -- especially in the case of Ames (Janet Montgomery), who arrived back from a trip to Las Vegas with Ilsa (Indira Varma) and announced she's married to a man she's only known a few weeks. This news irritated Winston (Chi McBride), who places a great deal of value in the institution of marriage, and there was the expected frosty atmosphere. Trouble is; who cares. Ames has been season 2's biggest misfire, mostly because she's so petulant and nowhere near as charismatic and sexy as the writers hope. Most of the time she just doesn't fit into the needs of the show itself, and she certainly hasn't managed to endear herself to the audience. The news of her irresponsible marriage didn't have the desired impact, and it was annulled by the end of the episode anyway.

Overall, "Kill Bob" was distinctly average and wasn't helped by the fact it spoils what's been a brilliant run of double-bill episodes that turned Human Target into must-see TV for much of January. When this show has a really exciting story and is pushing its characters into new territory, it's a great deal of fun. When it's riffing on lukewarm ideas and filling the gaps with pointless filler, it risks being a washout. Still, it was mildly interesting to see the show turn the spotlight back on Ilsa's dead husband Marshall Pucci, who was seeing a mysterious woman shortly before his death. I'm predicting he's not really dead and will re-enter Ilsa's life before the season's over -- probably coinciding with the moment Ilsa realizes she's falling in love with Chance. Anyone agree?

Asides

• Human Target has pinballed around the schedules this season; from Wednesdays, through a run of double-bills on Fridays, to Monday. Interestingly, this Monday episode delivered season 2's best rating yet (7.7m), which is almost double its Friday performances (which were still good for that notoriously tough timeslot.) The Wednesday night ratings seem to hover around the 5m mark. It just goes to show how much scheduling can affect a show! But wherever you put Human Target, it seems to do quite well, which is a promising sign for the show's future.
• You may recognize Lauren German from Hostel: Part II, making her the second actor from that movie to appear in Human Target, after Roger Bart. She also appeared in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake and the short-lived TV series Happy Town.

WRITERS: Brad Kern & Zev Borow
DIRECTOR: John Terlesky
TRANSMISSION: 31 January 2011, Fox, 9/8c

Jump the Blast #6 - 'Human Target'

'HUMAN TARGET' - "Communication Breakdown"

Here's a shot from a recent episode of Fox's action-adventure drama Human Target, showing bodyguard Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) and his partner Ilsa Pucci (Indira Varma) escaping the wreckage of their private jet, moments after it crashed in the South American jungle after getting hit by a RPG. The classic "hero-and-girl run away from a downed plane sequence", just as its leaking fuel is ignited. Only, those are clearly two stunt doubles. Huh.

Have you noticed a shot in a film, trailer, advert, or TV show that features someone jumping/walking away from an explosion of some kind? If so, why not email me a screengrab and you can be credited in the next installment of "Jump the Blast".

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.9 & 2.10 - "Imbroglio" & "Cool Hand Guerrero"

After an unsteady start, season 2 of Human Target's really starting to rock! These two episodes eclipsed last week's double-bill very comfortably. A few more episodes of this caliber and the show's edging into must-see status, which is quite an achievement for a series I was considering giving up on five episodes ago.

"Imbroglio" spun a familiar scenario for action TV shows, as it was essentially Die Hard at the opera. It's incredible how many shows use that '80s classic as a template (not least Chuck, which showrunner Matt Miller wrote for previously), but the results are often robust and entertaining. In this episode, Ilsa (Indira Varma) accompanied her sister-in-law Connie (Olga Sosnovska) to a lavish opera house to see La Traviata, only to find Chance (Mark Valley), Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) and Winston (Chi McBride) have decided to join them, as Chance was intrigued by a 15-second hack the opera house's computer systems suffered recently. His suspicions are proven right, when masked terrorists pour into the building, seal the exits with plastic explosives, and announce they're holding the wealthy audience for ransom. However, Chance doesn't think their plan is so modest, particularly when Winston (who's safe outside in a surveillance van) picks up signs of drilling in the building's basement.

This was a great episode of the show, even if the storyline followed some predictable beats; Winston locking horns with an asshole FBI Agent (Daren A. Herbert) over the handling of the crisis, Chance doing his best Bruce Willis impression to defeat hackneyed Euro-villain Eli Rosko (24's Carlo Rota). But there's comfort in familiarity, and Robert Levine's script found freshness in the details: like a fantastic scene with Chance trapped in a flooding chamber, trying to explain to Ilsa how she can help him escape (topped with a laugh-out-loud moment with Ilsa attempting to clobber a henchman over the head with an oversized metal pole.) The balance of action, comedy and drama was deftly handled throughout. I particularly enjoyed seeing Guerrero strapped to an upright gurney once captured by the villains, Hannibal Lecter style. He even bit someone.

In-between the opera hijinks, it was also great to see Ilsa Pucci continue to blossom. Her character felt like an irritating third-wheel when this season began, but her occasionally frustrating naivety is now diluted by a significant amount of pluckiness and playful humour. Varma's chemistry with Valley also seems to be improving, after a noticeable upswing in "Communication Breakdown", and it was nice to see the actors mix well together. The shock climax of the previous episode, with Ilsa killing a man in self defense, thankfully wasn't forgotten about here, with Chance's guilt over not managing to spare Ilsa's innocence fuelling a tender scene near the end.

Overall, "Imbroglio" was a slick, entertaining, coherent and amusing episode from a show that's finding form. It played to the show's strengths, with good action and an ensemble that were all given opportunities to shine (ignoring the fact Ames was conspicuously absent, again.) It's a pity the week's villain was so passé and Connie Pucci didn't get much to do, beyond realize Ilsa's extraordinary business venture isn't to be sneered at, but those are relatively minor issues. For the majority of its time, "Imbroglio" was a kinetic hour of fun that succeeded as a great Die Hard imitation.

WRITER: Robert Levine
DIRECTOR: Steve Boyum
TRANSMISSION: 14 January 2011, Fox, 8/7c

If "Imbroglio" was in deference of the hostage drama subgenre, "Cool Hand Guerrero" paid respect to jailbreak movies. In another terrific episode, Guerrero was framed for the murder of a drug-runner friend he was helping escape to a new life with fake IDs. Amusingly, his friend's corpse was planted in the trunk of Guerrero's prized Aldo, during a rare period when Guerrero didn't already have an incriminating body stashed in there.

Thrown into a Louisiana state prison, lone wolf Guerrero wasn't best pleased when Chance and Winston arrived to prove his innocence, especially as he's already working on an escape plan. The episode thus split its time between Guerrero's exploits in prison (beating a thug senseless in-between reading Stephen King's It), Chance's investigation into who framed Guerrero, and an attempt by master thief Ames (Janet Montgomery) to pick the lock of a suitcase found in Guerrero's office locker, which may hold the key to why he was framed.

Giving Guerrero the spotlight worked very well, with the episode managing to avoid revealing too much about his character to totally destroy the sense of mystery the show loves to play with. Instead, it spent time making you realize just how reclusive, mysterious, strange, and fiercely independent Guerrero is. He's a man who finds it impossible to accept help from others, even people he regards as friends. "Cool Hand Guerrero" wisely didn't end with Guerrero having gone soft with a big group hug, but moments of surprising emotion burst through the cracks.

In particular, the reveal Guerrero has a young son was nicely handled, with Chance doing his friend a favour and giving Guerrero a snowglobe to pass on for his boy's birthday. The Chance/Guerrero relationship isn't something Human Target highlights very often, probably because Guerrero's played for black comedy that's tough to penetrate. It's far easier to write the brotherly affection between Chance and Winston, or the sexual frisson that exists between Chance and Ilsa, but this episode proved there's value in seeing Chance and Guerrero as dysfunctional buddies. Lest we forget, they were comrades-in-arms back in the days when Chance was a less than savory character, so there's a feeling both men bonded over shared horrors, and Guerrero has found it harder to adjust to this new life.

Overall, this was another fine hour of thrills and spills, casting light on the show's inscrutable Guerrero (first name indeterminate.) A shootout in a Gun World store was darkly amusing (trigger happy customers!), guest star James Remar (Dexter) put on a southern drawl as the villainous prison warden, the storyline did an admirable job giving everyone something to do, and the touches of humour were very well judged (such as Ames's belief Guerrero's ubiquitous fish food contains deadly poison.)

WRITER: Matt Whitney
DIRECTOR: Craig R. Baxley
TRANSMISSION: 14 January 2011, Fox, 9/8c

Aside

• Over the past few weeks, Human Target was moved from its Wednesday night slot to Fridays, to avoid presidential speeches. Predictably, its ratings dropped by around 24%, to sit at an average of 4.7 million. However, that rating's actually pretty good for a Friday, so maybe Fox will be encouraged to move Human Target there permanently. Ironically, Fridays is when the show was originally set to air last year, before Fox showed faith in the series by delaying its premiere and finding a Wednesday timeslot. Also, Fringe is due to continue its third season on Fridays this week, so it'll be interesting to see if it does similarly well.

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.7 & 2.8 - "A Problem Like Maria" & "Communication Breakdown"

This loose two-parter was a welcome jolt of energy for a show that hasn't quite found its feet, following a half-successful revamp this season. Most surprisingly, it managed to turn Chance (Mark Valley) and Ilsa's (Indira Varma) simmering will-they/won't-they relationship into something more tangible and likable. It's still a shame the storylines amble down well-trodden paths, littered with cliches, unspooling largely uninspired plots, but the action and character moments took a noticeable step-up here.

In "A Problem Like Maria", Chance was reunited with old flame Maria Gellego (Leonor Varela), whom you may remember from season 1's "Salvage & Reclamation". She wanted Chance's help rescuing a friend held captive by her country's dictator Hector Lopez (Jordi Varela), but Ilsa wasn't happy about the operation into South America. Unfortunately, Ilsa had a rude awakening when her perceived authority as "the boss" was proven untenable, as Chance and his crew ignored her misgivings and mounted a rescue mission themselves. Of course, considering the fact even Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) and Winston (Chi McBride) don't trust Maria, viewing her as a manipulative liar Chance needs to be steered away from, it all led to a particularly turbulent joint-operation.

I'm sure it's just coincidence, but Human Target episodes set in South America always manage to be a damn sight more entertaining than usual. Maybe it's simply because the production can replicate the continent's jungles fairly easily, and it gives everything a vague Indiana Jones feel that plays into Human Target's '80s-ness very well. Maria is essentially Chance's own Marian Ravenwood (she even gets into bar brawls), and it was great to see another callback to last season, following the return of Baptiste awhile back. Unfortunately, Maria's reprise wasn't as focused or interesting as I'd hoped for, perhaps because there are so many characters who need to be juggled in season 2. Maria wound up getting a little lost in the mix, making this episode her very own Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

Still, it was great to see Guerrero get a bad-scene (pinning the armed Lopez's sleeves to a table using two hidden belt-daggers), rather than have the usual allusions to Guerrero's tough guy reputation and shady past. But I'm still unconvinced by new recruit Ames (Janet Montgomery), who's being written as an extremely irritating and uncouth "badgirl" type. In many ways she's the petulant child of the cast's family dynamic, which is fine, I wish they'd tone her down and deepen her personality. Right now, she isn't as funny or as relatable to audiences as I think she's supposed to be.

Overall, "A Problem Like Maria" was a big bundle of fun, mainly because everyone got involved and there were memorable moments throughout -- such as Winston's joy at finally getting to use a rocket launcher, which turned to dismay when he realized the instructions are in Hebrew. A climactic helicopter stunt, while hardly film-quality, was still a very decent sequence for a TV series, and I was pleased that Ilsa's obstinance was used as part of the story. She wasn't just a pain in the neck for the sake of giving her something to do on the sidelines; she had valid concerns about her role and the level of respect she has as the bankroller of this unique group's controversial activities.

WRITERS: Dan McDermott & Andrea Newman
DIRECTOR: Guy Ferland
TRANSMISSION: 5 January 2011, Fox, 9/8c

The second part of this double-bill was an interesting hour, as only the Chance/Ilsa subplot was a direct continuation from the preceding episode. Following the climax of "A Problem Like Maria", which saw Lopez avenge the death of his brother by shooting Ilsa's private jet down with a RPG, the episode opened with a rather exciting plane crash that Chance and Ilsa survived, before heading off into the jungle for safety. Shades of Romancing The Stone swept across Chance and Ilsa's situation, as they tried to make their way to civilisation through the brush, tracked by Lopez, before taking refuge in a cabin crawling with poisonous spiders and a corpse. There was a lovely scene that reverse genre convention, when Chance noticed a deadly spider on Ilsa's shoulder, told her to freeze as fear gripped his heart, only for Ilsa to calmly brush the arachnid off without a second's thought. A very funny switch of expectation.

Indeed, a sizable chunk of "Communication Breakdown" was intended to flesh-out Ilsa and change our perception of her. Like Chance, we've come to believe she's a bored widow happy to splash her dead husband's billions on a very boyish enterprise, but it turns out she had a rough upbringing in Northern Ireland during the Troubles (sporting the gunshot scars to prove it), before relocating to London and getting herself an education. I'm not sure I totally believe in that back-story, but it was still nice to see the show treating Ilsa as something more than a vapid, snooty, rich bitch.

In the San Francisco-based subplot, we got an entirely separate story involving Winston and Guerrero. Harry (Tony Hale), an incompetent lawyer they both know and find irritating, walked into their office seeking protection, following the collapse of a case he was working, which has made him a target of dangerous gangsters. Said bad guys had followed Harry to the team's HQ, intending to kill him, which meant Winston and Guerrero had to barricade themselves and think of a way to defeat the intruders. Unfortunately, Ames isn't answering their calls (busy sunning herself in a bikini while listening to her iPod), and Winston's pride means simply calling the cops isn't an option (a little implausible when the situation became life-and-death serious, but we'll let it slide.)

It's funny -- last season it could be argued that the guest stars got more screen time than the regulars, except for Chance, but the reverse is true this year. Tony Hale was pretty much wasted here, in a less forgivable way than Leonor Varela; both characters who lit the fuse of the week's adventure, then stepped back to comment on the ensuing mayhem and carnage. This episode was written by Human Target's developer Jonathan E. Steinberg, and marks the second time he's been involved with an episode that really soars. Maybe showrunner Matt Miller is kindly giving his predecessor key episodes to chew on, out of respect, or maybe Steinberg just has a natural way with this show? His episodes are often quite formulaic, and he still doesn't seem to see any value in Ames (keeping her at arm's length until she became a bikini-clad plot-device at the end), but "Communication Breakdown" was nevertheless very entertaining work and, at times, gripping.

In particular, Human Target suddenly found real emotional impact during its final act, with Ilsa returning home and being attacked by Lopez, after he forced her to raise the alarm with Chance to draw his brother's killer into his midst. The intercutting of Chance's race across town to Ilsa's house, with shots of Ilsa struggling with Lopez, were very nicely edited. The resolution, with Ilsa tarnishing her innocence by shooting Lopez dead in the chest, seconds before Chance arrived, was an effective climax -- signalling the moment Ilsa gets blood on her hands. I get the feeling she won't be quite so interfering or carry the same air of superiority in future, now she knows what it's really like to mix in Chance's world.

Overall, these were two strong hours of Human Target, only letdown by humdrum plots and poorly-used guest stars. The action sequences were highlights, there was a grander sense of occasion to everything, Chance/Ilsa really started to click together (finally!), and it managed to throw a surprisingly good punch in its tense climax.

What did you think?

WRITER: Jonathan E. Steinberg
DIRECTOR: Steve Boyum
TRANSMISSION: 5 January 2011, Fox, 10/9c

TV Bites: 'HUMAN TARGET' 2.5 & 2.6 – "Dead Head" & "The Other Side Of The Mall"

To prevent me going insane this year (especially during mid-season, when new shows add to my existing schedule), a few of my reviews will be given the "TV Bite" treatment -- which is, basically, "shoot from the hip"-style reviews. TV Bite candidates will be the shows I can't always find enough enthusiasm or time to write regular-length reviews for.

First up for 2011, the final two episodes of Fox's Human Target from before Christmas, which I slipped behind on...

"Dead Head"

Human Target plays the memory loss card, in a story where the gang's latest client (Roger Bart) suffers retrograde amnesia shortly after contacting them asking for protection and narrowly surviving a car-bomb. "Dead Head" was largely a mystery -- but one that, poised for Memento-like genius, fell short of its potential. Here, Chance (Mark Valley) had to not only protect his client (nicknamed "John Doe"), but try and unravel the mystery of J.D's background and why people want him dead. It also offered some character development for Winston (Chi McBride), who was forced to ask his ex-wife Michelle (Tracie Thoms) for help cracking the case, while trying to take down crooked cop Lt Broward, who was indirectly responsible for his divorce.

What worked about "Dead Head" was the strong note of ambiguity. Bart's an actor with a face that spits opinion: is he a likable everyman, or a twisted nutjob? Eli Roth used Bart's peculiar look well when he cast him in Hostel: Part II, playing a seemingly innocuous businessman with a dark desire to torture people. Throughout "Dead Head" you were never sure if J.D would turn out to be a dangerous villain once his memory returned, or if he was only pretending to have lost his memory and was leading us to a Keyser Soze-esque reveal. Right up to the dying moments, I was expecting a twist. The fact one didn't come was, perhaps in its way, a good double-bluff... although some might disagree. It was certainly an episode that could have been so much more in the right hands.

WRITERS: Dan E. Fesman, Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman (story by Tom Spezialy)
DIRECTOR: Paul Edwards
TRANSMISSION: 15 December 2010, Fox, 9/8c

"The Other Side Of The Mall"

The ostensible "Christmas episode" was unnecessary window-dressing for a story that could have taken place at any time of the year, making the plot's attempts to feel festive look desperate and unconvincing. Chance hates Christmas, Winston loves it, they argue over getting a tree to brighten the office, and that's your Christmassy fill, until a last-minute sleigh-based stunt in a shopping mall and a kiss under the mistletoe.

Zeb Borro (a prolific writer on Chuck, brought onto this show by his colleague Matt Miller) had his fingerprints all over "The Other Side Of The Mall". This was a very Chuck-esque storyline; in that it was goofy and simplistic, with a peroxide blonde Euro-villain and an extremely irritating family in suburbanites the Applebaums. Said family were being targeted by cliched assassins, possibly because Mr Applebaum (Michael John Higgins) is poised to blow the whistle on a dangerous anti-cholesterol drug his firm's developing

I really wasn't convinced by this episode. It feels that Human Target has taken its title very literally this season, too, as nearly every episode boils down to protecting the guest stars from a procession of bland hitmen. There wasn't much going on here, and the show again struggled to justify its expanded cast -- forced to write Ilsa (Indira Varma) out of the episode, on a charity visit to Uganda.

Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) went undercover as a creepy janitor (twice*), Chance spent the day as an office drone (his idea of hell), Winston got to play a mall Santa, and Ames (Janet Montgomery) had a frankly awful subplot as the teenage Joel Applebaum's (Taylor Boggan) bodyguard/matchmaker. Shades of a young Chuck Bartowski with geeky Joel, too -- working a dead-end job flipping burgers, only to find himself paired with a sexy, ass-kicking babe. But it wasn't much fun; just awkward, cliched and tedious.

Added to that, the denouement made a more overt attempt to suggest sexual chemistry between widow Ilsa and lonely Chance, but I'm not convinced by any of it. The actors look rather bored around each other, actually. It may have been scheduled around the season of goodwill, but I had nothing but bad thoughts about this clunking dud.

WRITER: Zev Borrow
DIRECTOR: Peter Lauer
TRANSMISSION: 22 December 2010, Fox, 9/8c

* And three times in 2010, remembering the Nightmare On Elm Street remake.

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.4 - "The Return Of Baptiste"

This episode was co-written by Human Target's creator, Jonathan E. Steinberg, and involved the return of popular badguy Baptiste (Lennie James), the erstwhile partner of Chance (Mark Valley) when they worked as assassins-for-hire. With so much harkening back to last year, it was no surprise that "The Return Of Baptiste" felt like a missing episode from the show's pre-revamp days; and, considering it was the best hour season 2's delivered so far, maybe showrunner Matt Miller should take heed. Some of his changes have been worthwhile and logical (female regulars, a billionaire's bankroll, more location footage), but this was the first time Human Target really felt like Human Target.

This week, a British reporter and friend of Ilsa's (Indira Varma) was being held hostage by South American criminal Mr Cervantes (Jorge Montesi), so she asked Chance to rescue her. Unfortunately, Chance knew that the only person capable of locating Cervantes is his old partner Baptiste, who's currently residing in a Russian prison. After brokering his temporary release, Chance and Baptiste flew into South America to find Cervantes and liberate Ilsa's friend -- but, naturally, Baptiste had one eye on a permanent escape. Back in San Francisco, Chance's getaway was jeopardized when Ilsa's private jet wound up grounded by US authorities, prompting Winston (Chi McBride) and Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) to implement a "Norma Jean" plan to get the plane airborne again. Unfortunately, success rested on sending Ilsa out into the field, to sweet-talk a military official...

In some ways "The Return Of Baptiste" was a jumble of plot elements from season 1, telling a story that was also quite familiar, but you just can't underestimate the appeal of Lennie James as Baptiste. He's a really enjoyable presence; playing Chance's antithesis, who maybe close to redemption if he'll likewise relinquish his selfish, opportunistic ways. Valley's performance has never thrilled me on this show, but his reserved demeanour felt more like confident superiority when held against James's outgoing, "evil twin" reflection of himself. It's a screen partnership that works very well, making me wonder if Human Target would be improved if there was a Chance/Baptiste duo at its tip.

Overall, "The Return Of Baptiste" was a definite throwback to season 1, but a pleasant one, despite too much adherence to last year's overdone formula (Chance's damsel-in-distress being an attractive woman, the climax involving extraction from a foreign hotspot). Everything involving Chance and Baptiste was confidently handled (although the bad blood over Baptiste once killing Chance's soulmate could have been pushed more), the action/fights were great, and James was again very entertaining to watch. It was also curious to see writers Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine struggle with some of season 2's format changes: Ames didn't feature whatsoever (another sign she's one newcomer too far), while Ilsa was suddenly required to expose some cleavage and purr over a man in uniform for the sake of the mission.

What did you make of this episode? A welcome return to last year's vibe?

WRITERS: Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine
DIRECTOR: Bryan Spicer
TRANSMISSION: 8 December 2010, Fox, 8/7c

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.3 – "Taking Ames"

This third episode turned the spotlight on new recruit Ames (Janet Montgomery), the sexy thief who joined the team in the premiere; a somewhat flaky addition, designed to add estrogen to the show alongside billionairess Ilsa (Indira Varma). "Taking Ames" saw her character drawn into a diamond heist to help childhood friend Brody (J.D Pardo) pocket a seven-figure sum, only to sense that their African client Mr Markus (Hakeen Kae-Kazim) has no intention of letting them live when the job's done. Ames therefore requested Chance's help, resulting in him going undercover as part of Markus's assembled gang (posing as "Mr Chicago" the torturer/cleaner), and sabotaging the heist from the inside.

Chance: Look at this place,
Guerrero: Yeah, looks a bit different than it used to.
Chance: Worse?
Guerrero: Too early to tell.

I agree with Guerrero. It's too early to tell if Human Target's revamp by Chuck producer Matt Miller has worked or not, but "Taking Ames" was a decent episode of this fledgling season, mainly because the story was simple, tight and sprightly. However, in its intention to flesh out Ames's character, it failed. We still don't really understand much about her motivation for stealing or her history, beyond the cliché we started the year with -- that she's plied her gift as a thief all her life, but has now decided to go legit, like Chance and Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley). Ames's relationship with Brody wasn't anything revelatory or special (just brotherly affection), and the episode ended with you appreciating Montgomery's presence solely for a scene where Ames had to squeeze through a narrow air-vent in her underwear, smeared with oil. No prizes for guessing this episode was written by a man. If that's the take-home audiences got about Ames (that the actress who plays her looks great in her knickers) then that's not really worth celebrating. The intention was more to show how loyal Ames is to her friends, which is fine -- but is that all we were supposed to learn?

I'm still unsure about Ilsa Pucci, who again spent most of her screen time interfering and in a tizzy about the situation unfolding with Ames and Chance. Her role as "the boss" also feels like it diminishes Chance's status on the show, and I'm becoming very worried about exactly what Winston's (Chi McBride) role is now. He's essentially Chance's "agent" and go-between with Ilsa, but once Ilsa becomes au fait with this business she's financing and in dealing with Chance, Winston might become even more redundant. Maybe if Human Target could get Winston involved with the operations more, away from a desk, it would be better, but with Guerrero and Ames around that's not so easy to achieve now. Is season 2 a case of "too many cooks..."?

Overall, "Taking Ames" was still a solid hour's entertainment that I enjoyed while it lasted, but nothing stuck with me afterwards. Chance's homespun way of restarting a dead man's heart using a fizzy drink and electrical cable was eye-opening, the episoe's two fight sequences were brutal affairs, and the pyrotechnics had a real kick to them, but all of that's a very technical appreciation. On a story and character level, there wasn't much going on here, and as a showcase for Ames, it wasn't particularly impressive -- partly because Ames herself melted into the background once Chance got involved on the heist.

Asides

• Ames's codename "London" was probably because Janet Montgomery is British. Incidentally, is her American accent good, viewers in the USA?
• I'm pretty sure the warehouse set used for the scene of the thieves planning their heist was the same set used throughout season 4 of Prison Break. The stairway of the museum also looked like the one used in Matrix Reloaded.
• I'm not sure the insertion of contemporary pop songs is helping this show. Or, perhaps more accurately, the choice of music can be suspect. Far East Movement's "Like A G6" basically killed a scene at one point.
• You may recognize actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim from 24 (where he played Colonel Dubaku in season 7), X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End.

WRITER: David Simkins
DIRECTOR: Paul A. Edwards
TRANSMISSION: 1 December 2010, Fox, 9/8c

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.2 - "The Wife's Tale"

I don't have time to do an extended review of Human Target this week, and "The Wife's Tale" wasn't an episode that stretched the show anywhere very interesting. Chance (Mark Valley) was tasked with protecting the widow (Molly Parker) of a man he killed seven years ago, without her being aware of his past, to try and absolve himself of some guilt. The show again demonstrated its renowned skill with action sequences (the parkour multi-storey car park pursuit was phenomenal, a bruising poolside fist-fight had you wincing), and we got our first look at how the show's new five-sided dynamic is going to work. I wasn't that convinced.

Thief Ames (Janet Montgomery) is being written as the spunky protégé of laid-back Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley), trying to prove her worth to her idol; while Ilsa (Indira Varma) appears to be the show's moral compass, questioning Winston (Chi McBride) and the operation back at their HQ. Or, rather, testing everyone's patience with her interjections. Obviously, it's still early days. The new setup is bound to develop as we go along, with Ilsa becomes more accepting of the business she's bankrolling, and Ames getting on better with Guerrero. But still, there were times when it was noticeable how straightforward the storyline was, and how it therefore didn't really justify five people's input.

Creatively, I'm beginning to dislike Tim Hunter's plinky-plonk music score (which is a hair's breadth away from mimicking his work on Chuck), but at least it's often swallowed by pop songs. I also remain in two-minds about the casting of Mark Valley on this show, as you could probably put an Easter Island statue in a suit and get a comparable performance most weeks. Valley's good when you need stern reassurance and a plausible action-man, but there doesn't seem to be many strings to his bow. He plays a few notes well, but you'll never get a symphony from him.

Are you watching Human Target now it's back on-air? What did you think of "The Wife's Tale"? Is it too early to tell if showrunner Matt Miller's changes are for the best, or do you likewise suspect that four characters is overkill for such a simple show's requirements. Maybe they should alternate the involvement of Ames, Isla and Guerrero on cases?

WRITERS: Andrea Newman & Zev Borow
DIRECTOR: Mimi Leder
TRANSMISSION: 24 November 2010, Fox, 9/8c

'HUMAN TARGET' 2.1 - "Ilsa Pucci"

Forward roll to Obsessed With Film, where I've reviewed the season 2 premiere of Fox's HUMAN TARGET, brought to you by an eyeball in a Petri dish.

Last year, Human Target was a curious misfire. Blessed with three strong lead actors (Mark Valley, Chi McBride, Jackie Earle Haley), the best action sequences on television, a lucid premise accessible to newcomers, and a procession of celebrity guest-stars (often very attractive women), it refused to come together. Many reasons have been suggested for why it didn't connect with a bigger audience, and writer-producer Matt Miller (formerly of Chuck) has been drafted in to solve the problem... Continue reading...

Human Target hires Janet Montgomery

The Human Target producers seem to value British actresses. A few days after signing Indira Varma for season 2, as the team's new wealthy boss, they've now added Janet Montgomery (Entourage, Wrong Turn 3) as a master thief called Ames.

Is the addition of two women to the existing three-man team a step in the right direction? We'll find out when Human Target returns to Fox on 24 September.

Indira Varma joins Human Target

EW's Michael Ausiello is reporting that British actress Indira Varma (Rome, Luther) has been cast as a regular on the second season of Fox's Human Target. She will play Ilsa, a "sophisticated, driven and principled" widow with a vast fortune she uses for philanthropy. Her character will come into conflict with Chance (Mark Valley), who has a very different philosophy when it comes to helping the world.

How do you feel about this news? Personally, I think it's great. Human Target really needed some estrogen in its cast, and Varma's an interesting choice to join the existing lineup. I just hope this doesn't mean we've seen the last of Emmanuelle Vaugier's recurring character from season 1...

Fox: 2010/11 premiere dates

Fox has announced premiere dates for the start of the 2010/11 season. Of those that interest me: Glee (Tue 8pm, from 21 Sep), Fringe (Thu 9pm, from 23 Sep) and Human Target (Fri 8pm, from 24 Sep). You can read the full list of dates here.

HUMAN TARGET 1.12 - "Christopher Chance"

WRITERS: Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robbie Thompson
DIRECTOR: Steve Boyum
GUEST CAST: Amy Acker, Lennie James, Armand Assante, Timothy Omundson & Lee Majors

[SPOILERS] The finale of Human Target was its best episode (just edging "Baptiste" because of a better story), and it was certainly the most revelatory hour the show's given us. We've been teased about Chance's (John Valley) background throughout the season, clues dropped here and there, but this namesake finale gave us firm answers via extensive flashbacks...

In the present-day, a man known as the Interrogator (Timothy Omundson) breaks into Chance's office with an armed team, managing to overcome Winston (Chi McBride) and Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) and threaten their lives as a way to extract information from Chance about a mysterious "Book" he failed to deliver while in the employ of the "Old Man" (Armand Assante). Flashbacks filled us in on Chance's life six years before, when he was working as an assassin on a mission to kill a woman called Katherine Walters (Amy Acker) on behalf of the Old Man's latest client, the Interrogator, because she witnessed a murder at the docks.

Inevitably, Chance finds Katherine a sweet adn sympathetic person who doesn't deserve to die of the fatal poisoning he has planned, not least because her description of events doesn't match what he's been told, so he decides to go rogue and protect her from those who want her dead. Chance and Katherine piece together the reason there's a price on her head, which has something to do with a mysterious shipment container at the docks, all while Chance is pursued by the Old Man, the Interrogator, and his colleagues Baptiste (Lennie James) and Guerrero. At the same time, hangdog Detective Winston became involved after meeting Chance at a bar and later being assigned to the Katherine Walters "kidnapping" case.

"Christopher Chance" was in many ways a prequel to the entire show, and one that did a great job filling in some blanks, expanding on clues we'd already been given, and throwing in plenty of amusing references and moments for fans. We met Chance's dog Carmine as a puppy (who belonging to Katherine), learned Winston's first name (the effeminate "Laverne"), witnessed an exciting fist-fight between Guerrero and Chance, finally met the mysterious Old Man, and there was even time to pay homage to '80s action shows when Chance sought refuge with his ageing mentor, played by Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy.)

Majors' grizzled bodyguard character was known as Christopher Chance, revealed to be a pseudonym passed down to honourable men who protect innocent people, which duly became a monicker Chance inherited when his eyes were opened to what he's become. The mysterious "Book" (a device hidden in one of the shipment containers), was apparently lost in the river during a struggle, prompting an angered Baptiste to detonate a bomb aboard Katherine's boat that killed her, and it turned out Winston had secretly retrieved the Book shortly thereafter. The finale ended on a big cliffhanger of separation, with Chance escaping from the Interrogator's men in the present-day, only to find Winston has been kidnapped by the Interrogator, seconds before the Old Man finally catches up with him and whisks Chance away to help him find the Book, too.

As finale's go, Human Target's was very good and inkeeping with its lightfooted, square-jawed tone. The pace was strong, the flashback device worked nicely, the explanations provided to explain Chance's history didn't hit too many snags, and there were some very entertaining action sequences. The romance between Chance and Katherine wasn't potent enough to have me believe she'd leave an indelible impression on him, but Amy Acker was one of the show's better love-interests just because she's a more compelling actress. The casting of Lee Majors was also perfect for a series that takes it cues from the kind of shows Major became famous for starring in. The only major disappointment was that the Old Man didn't really figure into the finale as much as I expected him to after so much buildup, and while Assante sounds like great casting on paper... I thought his performance here was very rough and occasionally quite laughable.

So ends the first season, and I can't deny I hope Fox pick it up for another year. There's nothing special or original about Human Target, but it's a rare episodic show you can just dip into and can catchup with. Similarly to Chuck at the same point in its history, it feels like a show that can build momentum and grab an audience if word spreads over the summer. Hopefully the writers will approach season 2 with a keener understanding of what worked and what didn't, if they get picked up. I personally think it needs to have a few smaller arcs to keep people's interest week-to-week (instead of just one stretching over the entire year), a female face in the regular cast (computer-geek Layla or FBI Agent Barnes?), perhaps a few two-part episodes, and storylines that don't feel so formulaic and predictable. There was a reason these kinds of shows died out in the '80s, so Human Target needs to modernize in a few areas other than the sophistication of its action sequences.

Asides

• If the original Christopher Chance was Chance's mentor, what the hell went wrong for Chance to hookup with a guy like the Old Man and travel the world executing people for faceless clients?
• I'm surprised this is just hitting me now, but isn't Human Target just a lighter and more entertaining version of ITV's The Fixer? A few weeks ago we had an episode revolving around MMA fighting, and the finale took place in a shipyard jumping around containers -- both reminding me of Fixer episodes.

14 APRIL 2010: FOX, 8/7c

HUMAN TARGET 1.11 - "Victoria"

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