Human Target 201-203

[amberfocus]

Sometimes you just want to watch boys blowing things up.  That's the appeal for me on what in season one was a strictly masculine show.  Well, that and Mark Valley, who let's face it, in no universe would ever be mistaken for someone who is unattractive.  That chiseled jaw, those dimples, the blond hair, the light blue eyes, and a body that's muscular, but not scary muscular.  He fills out jeans in a way that jeans should always, always, always be filled out.  He's a man's man, and for a woman he definitely goes straight to the GUH UNF part of the brain.  And not only is he pretty to look at, he's one heck of an awesome actor.

 

Mark first came to my attention in 1996 when he played Jack Devereaux on Days of Our Lives.  Although he wasn't Matthew Ashford (and no one ever will be), he did an admirable job in a challenging role, and when he left the soap I was happy to follow his career.  Most notably to Keen Eddie, a quirky police drama set in the U.K.  Eddie was a fish out of water as a New York cop on loan to a British precinct.  It was awesome, well written, well acted, intriguing, weird, fun, interesting, and of course, after 13 episodes promplty cancelled by FOX.

He's done other things, bits and pieces here and there, but it wasn't until a couple of years ago when he showed up on season one of Fringe as Olivia's boyfriend that I saw him doing anything on par with Keen Eddie.  When his character was "killed" off I was disappointed.  Even though I was already feeling the Olivia/Peter vibe, I adored this actor so, so much and I hated to see him go.  Fortunately he was immediately cast in Human Target and was back on my screen with a vengeance.

As Christopher Chance he makes no apologies for being what he is, a former assassin gone straight, trying to right the wrongs of the world by protecting one victim at a time.  He's rough and he's a little bit crazy and he's smarter than he'll ever give himself credit for.  He thinks on his feet and he's fast and clever (not the same thing as smart) and he's definitely a man you'd want in your corner if someone were trying to kill you and you had indeed become a human target.  He's flawed, rather deeply, but that's good, because you don't want your action hero to be perfect.  Where's the fun in that?  He's great with the banter and he's just so fun to watch.  If it's a bit plot light at times, who cares?  You're thoroughly entertained.

As for diversity, the show also has black actor Chi McBride as Winston, a sort of mentor, ex-cop, father figure for Chance who is their man in Havana at the computer and yet still gets out there in the field as backup when needed. Jackie Earle Haley is marvelous as Guerrero, a specialist in weapons and information gathering through any means necessary.  Winston is overweight, and Guerrero is short, wears glasses and is scarred .  Not your typical action hero sorts, and yet they play the parts beautifully, well, and believably.  It makes me feel like I'm watching real people when not everyone on the show is drop dead gorgeous, you know?

So how did I feel when I found out that with the new season my testosterone fix was suddenly going to be skewed wildly by the addition of two female cast members?  A bit like that monster at the end of Buffy episodes.  The one that goes, "Grr, argh."  It wasn't broke, why did they feel the need to fix it?  And also was it going to get all girly and emotional?  Because I have other shows for that fix.  A lot of others.

The only saving grace to me was the fact that one of the new female characters Ilsa is played by Indira Varma who was brilliant and slightly psychotic in the role of Suzie Costello in Torchwood and also played that lady cop in the episode of Bones where they went to England.  Indira is from the U.K. so we get the lovely accent, plus she's of Indian/Swiss descent so the diversity of the show just shot up two-fold with her addition.  The character was pretty strong in the first episode and I really liked her right off the bat, but I do think she's a bit...whiny in the third episode.  And just because she's now bankrolling the boys, doesn't mean she should get to interfere so much.  She said she was going to be a silent partner, but that is not how it's turning out.  She's getting her nose in the way.  I think, right now, it's just growing pains, but I hope they even out soon.  She's got great depth as an actress and I like her chemistry with Chance and with Winston.  She has little to do with Guerrero, which is probably a good thing because his methods would horrify her sensibilities.

The other new character is Ames, played by Janet Montgomery.  She's completely unknown to me, though she does have a few things up on IMDB so she's not a total newcomer.  She's pretty, brunette, and definitely there for the eye candy.  She's young, has a history with Winston (he arrested her a lot as a juvenile offender), and has a penchant for blowing things up and stealing.  In the first two episodes she's a little too pushed forward as someone who can save the day.  I see a lot of people throwing around the term Mary Sue (I hate that term), but I do think the writers set her up like that.  Having her do some of the things she does in and of themselves weren't bad, but in the process they made the boys look stupid and incapable and that's why she's being labelled the way she is.  In the third episode she was more vulnerable, wearing her heart out on her sleeve and being the one who needed help instead of the one who could help.  If they balance it like this in future episodes, where sometimes she does the saving and sometimes she gets saved then I think I will actually grow to like her a lot, because she's charming.  Balance show, balance.

I think it's going to be okay.  The boys still blow things up, but now the girls are around to keep them a bit more well-rounded and focused.  I'll definitely keep watching.