HUMAN TARGET 1.1 – "Pilot"

[SPOILERS] Inspired by a DC Comics character who would assume other people's identity to protect them from their enemies, Human Target's premise has been tweaked so that "security freelancer" Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) is now just an everyday bodyguard -- if by "everyday" you mean blessed with an abundance of specialist skills and a preternatural ability to fabricate elaborate, authentic-sounding cover stories. A "super-bodyguard", if you will. Chance works with his irascible business partner Winston (Chi McBride), occasionally calling in help from scrawny hired gun Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley), in order to place himself in harm's way and guard his clients from whatever danger they expect to find themselves in...

In this pilot, Chance agrees to help Stephanie Dobbs (Tricia Helfer), beautiful designer of a high-speed bullet train about to have its maiden voyage from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Stephanie believes she's in danger, having already survived one attempt on her life, and that her would-be assassin will likely strike during her train's three-hour journey down the coast. Chance agrees to go undercover as Stephanie's personal translator to a group of Japanese businessmen invited aboard, using his position to eliminate dangers, avoid risks, and protect her from any attacks. After thwarting an attempted poisoning, danger mounts as the assassin is exposed and is forced to go on the offensive, while a fault with the train's brakes threatens to derail the vehicle inside an approaching tunnel.

This was a solid pilot that just did what it needed to do, really. The premise is a cinch to understand, and the regulars settled easily into their roles. Mark Valley (Fringe) is an appealing mix of macho hunk with a layer of intelligence and wit to his credit, Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) again gets to make sardonic jokes, and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) has another creepy oddball to add to his resume -- this one with an oil slick moustache. In fact, the only person playing against type was guest-star Tricia Helfer, best known as the hourglass-figured babe in Battlestar Galactica, but here cast as an egghead damsel-in-distress. Kudos to Helfer for managing to make that work, too, as so many actresses with a supermodel physique flounder when asked to play brainy women. It perhaps helped that she avoided the cliché of wearing spectacles to confirm her academia.

Human Target has a fantastic pedigree, too. It's created by Jonathan E. Steinberg (who wrote/co-produced Jericho), this pilot was something of a Battlestar reunion (the aforementioned Helfer, guest-star Donnelly Rhodes, composer Bear McCreary), and there's also some Chuck in its genes (also executive-produced by McG, a credits sequence courtesy of the same effects-house*). Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider) bows to the apparent US TV tradition of having big-name film directors helm a pilot, and the result is a pretty slick and glossy action-adventure; the action sequences sometimes reminding me of levels in the video-game Time Crisis. Most memorable is a fantastic fight between Chance and this week's assassin, taking place in confined spaces, which looks like it must have taken weeks to choreograph. I doubt we'll get that level of brawling complexity in too many future episodes, but it paints Valley in an appealing light as an action hero who can certainly walk the walk.

The reason for my fairly average star-rating for Human Target's pilot is simple: beyond the fun and enjoyment of Chance's escapades aboard the train, and the star-power of the cast/crew (an '80s action star even makes a weird, surprising cameo), this all felt like a mere taster. There wasn't much depth to the characters presented, just a feeling of potential because of who they were being played by. Still, it's a great cast and there's a lot of possibilities and mileage in the premise, so it should become a fun episodic action-adventure series for the '10s. I just found this "Pilot" fun, but slightly too light and breezy.


18 January 2010
Fox, 8/9pm

written by: Jonathan E. Steinberg directed by: Simon West starring: Mark Valley (Christopher Chance), Chi McBride (Winston), Jackie Earle Haley (Guerrero), Tricia Helfer (Stephanie Dobbs), Tom Meunier (Tom), Keith Martin Gordey (Suspicious Man), Toshi Haraguchi (Mr. Saito), Michael St. John Smith (McNamara), Hiro Kanagawa (Lt. Peale), Donnelly Rhodes (Guerrero's Friend), Mark Moses (Hollis), Artine Brown (Latino Thug), Anna Cummer (Hostage Woman), Peter Kent (Burly Guy), Peyman Zaynaljan (Thug #2), Takeshi Kurokawa (Japanese Businessman #2), Alvin Sanders (Lowell), Adrian Hough (James Dobbs), Mike Desabrais (Assassin Steward), Adrian Holmes (Negotiator), P. Lynn Johnson (Older Woman), Roy Hunter (Businessman #1), Sean Allen (Lydecker) & Danny Glover (Limousine Client)

* The excellent credits sequence wasn't actually shown here, but you can check it out next week, or online here.