HUMAN TARGET 1.2 – "Rewind"

WRITER: Robert Levine
DIRECTOR: Steve Boyum
GUEST CAST: Courtney Ford, Alessandro Juliani, Ali Liebert & Sean Owen Roberts

[SPOILERS] This week, we open in media res with Chance (Mark Valley) at the controls of a stricken passenger jet, with a gutsy stewardess called Laura (Courtney Ford) by his side, before jumping back in time to explain how that crisis came about. The narrative device of flitting back-and-forth in time was unusually prevalent throughout, but while it initially felt unnecessary and distracting, it came into its own once the past-timeline caught up with the opening scene, and we realized our first impression of the situation wasn't entirely correct...

"Rewind" was definitely better than last week's train-set "Pilot", if generally in the same ballpark plot-wise, with Chance having to again save innocent passengers from a faulty vehicle, while exposing/defeating an assassin hidden amongst them. The assassin in question was intent on stealing a high-tech "skeleton key" (a gizmo capable of bypassing any internet security system) from a secret hacker codenamed "Casper" who's flying in for a meeting with Chance's client, Tennant (Alessandro Juliani, the third Battlestar Galactica alumnus to guest-star on Human Target already!)

The biggest change to the formula was that Chance's cover as passenger "Martin Gill" was assisted by partner Winston (Chi McBride), who went incognito alongside him as a grumpy steward. It wasn't very plausible how Winston kept discussing sensitive details of their mission while serving drinks to Chance (don't they realize passengers eavesdrop on planes?), but fortunately there was less reason to be so secretive once the mission started to go awry. The assassin was exposed by Chance, gunshots were fired during an ensuing fist-fight which caused a fire in the plane's conduits, and it wasn't long before Chance was wrestling to keep the jumbo airborne, before realizing that their best hope for survival is to flip the plane upside-down to extinguish the fire. But then, to make matters worse, while belly-up the flight computer froze and Chance was unable to right themselves for an emergency landing!

It was all very crazy and silly, but exactly the kind of ridiculous peril action-adventure shows of the '70s and '80s used to pull on audiences every week -- or would have if they had the effects budget of a Syfy Original Movie back then. I enjoyed the sheer, unabashed ridiculousness and fun of this episode, and the show definitely has a knack constructing its action. Elsewhere, Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) was on terra firma trying to work out who the assassins were working for, with the help of a young computer hacker called Sergei (Sean Owen Roberts), and while this subplot didn't come close to matching Chance's aerial adventure, Haley's bristling performance helped keep you engaged. I can't help thinking he's a tad wasted here, though, so hopefully he'll get some opportunities to partner Chance on a mission soon, too.

Guest-star Courtney Ford was very good as the sweet attendant working undercover to help her partner kill "Casper", putting her faintly irritating performance in Dexter's fourth season into the shade[*]. It was particularly interesting when Chance offered Laura the chance to turn over a new leaf and join his team, as it seemed to imply that's exactly what was offered to him by Winston. Last week I criticized the "Pilot" for failing to give us much information about Chance's background or flesh-out his personality beyond square-jawed super-bodyguard, but it would appear the writers plan to slowly reveal Chance's history to us over the season. If true, that could be a good way to keep people invested in the show every week (collecting the clues, piecing together his history), so hopefully the producers have ways to dispense all that in a satisfying way that also surprises us.

Overall, "Rewind" felt like confirmation Human Target will be a fun show that's worth checking out if you're in the mood for some escapist entertainment taking its inspiration from '80s series like McGyver and The A-Team. It might be too disposable to sink its hooks into me as something I'll be making an effort to follow, although I'm intrigued by Chance's back-story now. I just hope Human Target starts finding some new story ideas, as the "secret assassin on a [insert vehicle here]" idea will only get you so far, but I assume this was just an unfortunate similarity of its first two episodes.

18 JANUARY 2010: FOX, 9/8C

[*] Indeed, I really liked Ford here, and it felt a shame they killed her character off. Human Target needs some estrogen in its bloodstream, if you ask me.