By: Stephanie Sigafoos
The pilot episode of “Human Target” is set on a train, but believe me when I tell you this is not your grandfather’s locomotive. This modern marvel is capable of reaching cruising speeds of more than 200mph, still has shrink-wrapped seats among its many bells and whistles and is making its maiden voyage across the great state of California when all hell breaks loose.
Enter Christopher Chance (Mark Valley), an all-in-one threat assessor, bodyguard and human wrecking ball – on board to protect engineer Stephanie Dobbs (Tricia Helfer), piece together who’s trying to kill her and eliminate the threat. It all sounds easier said than done, except Chance makes gunfights, knife fights and fist fights about as routine as getting dressed in the morning. The action-heavy sequences become interchangeable, the special effects mildly distracting and the overall mystery anything but mysterious.
The show (premiering 8/7 C Next Sunday on FOX before moving to Wednesday) is an inversion of the DC comic books and graphic novels of the same name, but apparently that’s where the similarities end. Chance is a self-deluded character, his fears and discontents nonexistent even after an opening sequence in which he’s nearly blown to itty bitty pieces by a man with a serious grudge against his former employer. The show simply rolls forward a month, giving Chance plenty of time to recuperate (save for a large gash on his chest), his masculine psyche no worse for the wear. Before we can blink, he’s back to risking mind, body and soul for perfect strangers – rewarded with aged booze and diamond rings instead of the cash that can ultimately keep a business running.
Along for the ride are Chance’s partner, Winston (Chi McBride), whose sole purpose in the pilot episode seems to be worrying about his buddy’s health, and Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley), a tech expert who also appears to have shades of sociopath written all over him. Indeed, the little man with the odd facial hair concedes to taking his lumps in a back alley brawl before vowing to break into the perpetrators’ homes and kill them while they’re sleeping. His disposition and speech pattern never change, but you can’t help but take the threats seriously.
Ask me to describe the show in one word and ‘glossy’ comes to mind. The action sequences are like the shiny wrapping paper and large bow covering the ho-hum present underneath. What’s needed – and finally hinted upon in the second episode “Rewind” – is a deeper characterization of the main players. Winston is hilarious as the less-than-eager sidekick, and we learn that Chance had a job he really used to hate. He’s also prone to giving people second chances and unless prodded to engage, doesn’t seem overly focused on using violence as a means to an end. (When asked by a Federal Air Marshal to face the wall and place his hands behind his back, he does so with an almost apologetic demeanor, even if we know he won’t be wearing those handcuffs for long).
Overall, “Human Target” has a good chance to be better in the long run than it shows in the beginning. With a resume a mile long, Valley carries himself with a charisma and self-assurance that makes Chance seem every bit the modern day action hero, but there are chinks in the armor. How long he’ll be able to shirk help and hide those little vulnerabilities remains to be seen, but at least makes the show something beyond a generic thriller audiences will chew up, spit out and forget to watch next week.
