HUMAN TARGET 1.8 - "Baptiste"

WRITERS: Matthew Federman & Stephen Scaia
DIRECTOR: Paul Edwards
GUEST CAST: Lennie James, Autumn Reeser, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Giles Panton, Serge Houde & Eric Breker

[SPOILERS] This was the episode a lot of people have been waiting for, as it explained a great deal of Chance's (Mark Valley) backstory, while also giving us a fantastic nemesis for him to contend with, and a welcome injection of estrogen with the overdue return of FBI Agent Barnes (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and the recruitment of nerd-gal Layla (Autumn Reeser) from "Lockdown"...

This episode began, as so many episodes of Human Target do, in media res, with a bloodied Chance sitting next to an injured British man called Baptiste (Lennie James) on a subway's bench, before we flashed back 8 hours to see their connection and how we reach that point. It turns out that Baptiste is a highly skilled hitman and onetime protégé of Chance, who's been hired to bomb a building containing Chinese and Taiwanese dignitaries. As Chance used to work alongside Baptiste for the "Old Man" (the mysterious leader of a secret society of assassins Chance used to be part of, it would seem), he's the only person capable of stopping Baptiste before he completes his mission. To aide him, Chance enlists the help of foxy Emma Barnes, the FBI Agent he partnered in "Embassy Row", who still holds a grudge because his disappearing act left her looking foolish in front of her superiors.

The storyline in "Baptiste" was actually quite thin, even by Human Target standards, while there wasn't really much genuine reason for Chance to need Emma's assistance. It also felt a little strange that Layla's been added to Winston's (Chi McBride) team, because while I'm glad she adds a feminine touch to the series, didn't Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) handle all the computer stuff? I hope Layla's presence doesn't create an imbalance, or mean the show struggles to find stuff for Guerrero to do.

However, this episode's success rested squarely on the shoulders of Baptiste, who's essentially a look at the kind of cold-blooded killer Chance was before he turned his back on that life and started to ply his trade in the name of good. I doubt it was coincidence that Chance and Baptiste were sat in front of a poster for "Paradise Lost" througout their subway scenes, as that was perhaps intended to signify Chance's own fall from grace.

Lennie James (Jericho, The State Within) was fantastic throughout, instantly becoming not only the best guest-star Human Target's had yet, but a genuinely mesmerising and absorbing character I hope we see more of. I'd be very surprised and extremely disappointed if we didn't. Baptiste's presence helped to demystify a lot of the mystery surrounding Chance, too -- as it was confirmed he fell in love with one of his targets, Katherine Walters, which prompted him to leave his job rather than kill her, thus forcing his friend/colleague Baptiste to kill the woman he loved instead.

Overall, "Baptiste" was a must-see if you've been craving answers to a few of Human Target's questions, and have felt you needed more of an insight into Chance's background to really get behind him. I'm not sure if the show will come to regret answering so much, so early, but I think it was probably a necessary step because constant teasing can become irritating in a show that's otherwise pretty straightforward. Now that so much has been confirmed, we can begin to explore the exact nature and scope of the organization Chance was part of, and the season will hopefully continue building expectations over Chance's mysterious employer, the "Old Man". In some ways it feels like The Old Man is essentially the "Bill" figure to Chance's The Bride (to take a Kill Bill perspective), although their fraught relationship is obviously more a father/son dynamic than lovers.

I really enjoyed this one, did you?

Asides

-- It seems like Guerrero was maybe part of Chance's old outfit, too, or at least affiliated with it. It also turns out he's a father!

-- I've been waiting for Emmanuelle Vaugier to reappear, as the actress signed up for a number of episodes, and she was as personable and delectable as before. She has great chemistry with Valley's stoical hero, their characters have some fun banter, and she's incredibly easy on the eye.

17 MARCH 2010: FOX, 9/8c