MyTwoCents – 10 Reasons Why I’m Fighting For Human Target

I love Human Target.

I really do. I adore this show in a way that’s sort of like a great romance: hopelessly devoted and unable to keep my mouth shut. I get excited over it in a way I haven’t since 24 premiered almost nine years ago. I’m so hoping that it comes back for a second season that I’m motivated to do anything I can to make sure it does. And my affection for it is so pronounced that I want to spread the word about how it’s so downright awesome. If you’re not watching FOX Wednesday nights at 8 PM, you are truly missing something special. Here’s my top ten reasons why I’m pulling for a second season of this great series.

10. Outstanding fight sequences. Human Target has probably the best fights I’ve seen on TV, possibly ever. Every single fight sequence has really captivated me. They’re intense, they’re frenetic, and they’re breathtaking to watch. I can only imagine how much work goes into them. These aren’t your typical ‘good guy and bad guy go back and forth for about two minutes’ fight sequences. These are knock-down, drag-out fights where (as in real life) anything is a weapon and any weakness is pounced upon. They’re beautifully shot and on their own, are works of art. Every victory is earned.

9. The unique plot structure. The show has a non-linear plot structure, taking the audience from a moment in time to what happened before or after, and letting the pieces fall where they may. It sounds frustrating, but on this show, it’s really come to work. Take, for example, the episode “Baptiste,” which begins with what is actually the end of the conflict – and as Baptiste gives Chance his rhetoric, we see events begin to unfold. We realize with growing dread and horror what the heck he’s talking about, and the breaks in the action only serve to heighten the tension and improve the reveal. Human Target never toys with you too much, but it knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat.

8. It’s fun. It would be easy for Christopher Chance to fall into the brooding hero archetype. Yet he never does, because the show finds its moments for humor just as easily as it does for action or drama. There’s always a few lines each week that make me laugh or smile, and I like that. Not everything always has to be so serious, and when you have the comic timing of someone like Jackie Earle Haley, why not utilize it? The show makes me laugh, and it makes me quote it when it’s over. Not everything is a matter of life and death. And not every moment of every episode has to have some big grander point. This is a show you can simply sit back and enjoy, but is so much more at the same time.

7. It’s avoiding cliches. Chance isn’t your brooding, dour hero. Winston isn’t “the boss figure.” And Guerrero definitely isn’t just the token computer geek. Human Target doesn’t come up with the obligatory stable of characters that most shows do. These characters are three-dimensional, not just there to be in one form or serve one function. They all have a little bit of everything. The show also avoids some painful, overused cliches. Chance doesn’t have an obligatory love interest, nor does he feel the need to sleep with every beautiful woman who happens in his path. The show is perfectly comfortable letting him be a strong, single man who is not a chauvinist. Just like it’s fine having the so-called key-punching computer geek go out and shoot someone point blank. Nor is the show entirely made up of big, loud flashy action and no plot or character development. The show avoids the cliches that would make me roll my eyes and tune out for good.

6. It’s got heart. This is a show where people can really rally behind their protagonists. They don’t have to be so cynical as to be unlikable, as with some other series, or be cool or otherwise gimmicky. These are people that I became invested in on their own merits, and I really do care what happens to them and how they feel. I enjoy their victories, and I feel pain at their defeats. I feel a real sense of the good guys winning, and the bad guys getting what they deserve. The characters have depth and heart, and so do we then become invested in what they think and feel.

5. It reminds me of a better era. I’ve compared it to classic Bond. Executive producer Jonathan Steinberg has cited several 80’s era cop shows. Even the title sequence is a bit of a throwback. And you know what? That’s more than alright. Aside from giving Human Target its own distinct identity and look, it’s refreshing. Things weren’t so glitzy and glamorous then. You didn’t have to have a bunch of beautiful people running around your show. Your plots weren’t as stuffed with language or innuendos trying to be “edgy.” They were just good, fun, solid stories, and that’s what this series is. A good, fun, solid show that people can watch with their families just as much as they can with their friends.

4. The casting is first-rate. The casting directors on Human Target deserve recognition. Each of their three leads is spot on. When I first heard the names, I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it works and then some. Not only do Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley perfectly inhabit their roles, they have a unique chemistry together that can’t be duplicated. I can’t picture anyone else in those roles now, and when they try to add to the ensemble – no offense to Autumn Reeser or Emmanuelle Vaugier – it makes me bristle. These guys are perfect as a trio, no addition or subtraction necessary. And let’s not forget about the coolness of Lennie James as Baptiste, who is a perfect foil to Chance both physically and psychologically. Every good hero needs a good adversary, and Baptiste is it – because James gives him that presence and menace, but also that gravity of character. Which brings me to the one person who holds it all together…

3. Mark Valley is in it. And I adore Mark Valley. It started with another FOX show called Keen Eddie, and I remember looking at the people in the room with me and saying, “Watch this guy, because he’s good and he’s going to break out someday.” That someday is now. Valley’s always been a capable leading man, but no one has really noticed that until this show. Everyone is standing up and taking notice, and rightfully so. Human Target is his bus to drive – he’s the hero, the face of the show, the character on which it all rides. He delivers on every level. Emotionally, he’s got a tug on my heartstrings making me care about Chance, wanting to know what makes him tick. He makes me laugh. And yet, he also has the intensity to make me believe this is a man who used to kill people without remorse. A man who has a great deal of inner conflict. Physically, I believe – and am pretty much ready to call it a fact, considering he’s ex-Army – that he can really break me in several pieces. He has the complete package. Mark Valley’s a star, and this is the perfect role for him. He deserves all the success that’s come to him.

2. Christopher Chance is my hero. If ever there was a fictional character I’d want in my corner, Chance would be it. Thanks to Mark Valley, I really do believe he can do all the things he’s been tasked to do. He’s the guy who’s smart enough to outsmart you with his brain, but is also capable of kicking your butt if it comes to that, and who has an honest heart in the right place. He is the whole package. And for someone like me, who has days where I can barely walk without being in pain, I get to live vicariously. I’ll never have the chance to be a hero to someone, or to fight for the greater good, no matter how much I want to make some difference in the world. It’s just not physically possible for me. But I can watch Chance save somebody and feel good about it. He is the hero that I wish I could be, and even though it’s just a TV show, at least I feel like one of us is doing something amazing. His character is all that I wish I could be.

1. These guys really love what they’re doing. Having spent more than once interviewing the creative team, it’s obvious that from the top on down, Human Target is a real labor of love. I sat back and listened to Jackie Earle Haley talk about the obligation he feels to fans of the original comic iteration not to mess up something they love. To Mark Valley talk about how great it was that one of the creators of the original comic character was also helping them shape the TV series. And Jonathan Steinberg point-blank told us that when looking for people to work on the show, he wanted people who understood what was fun about it, and could get excited about it – otherwise everyone would lose out. Yet it’s obvious everyone loves this show. It’s in listening to them talk about it, the pride in their voices. It’s in seeing the obvious effort, in how each episode has the quality of its own one-hour movie every week. Both behind and in front of the camera, these people really love this show.

As a result, we the fans can’t help but feel the same enthusiasm toward it, because it’s obvious that they love the show just as much as we do. They’re as invested as we are, and so it’s not “us” and “them.” It’s a “we” together kind of thing. I talk about the show a lot, and I’ve found out that most of my friends watch it – not because I told them to, but because they discovered it on their own and have become fans. We all sit around on a Wednesday night and talk about it, whether it’s the plot twist or the last Guerrero one-liner. We’ve all embraced the show. Human Target is that rare show I can (and do) watch with my family, but that I also know my friends watch and we can talk about, too. I’m always discovering new fans. Now we can only hope those fans will make their voices heard, and that this amazing show will come back for a second season.

I know me, personally? I’m not letting it go down without a fight. I think that Christopher Chance would approve.

Human Target airs its final two episodes of the season April 7 and 14 at 8 PM on FOX.

Brittany Frederick – Staff Writer
brittanyfrederick@thetwocentscorp.com