Dear FOX (or whoever is in charge of Human Target),
I’m wondering if you can help me out. I think I’m losing interest in Human Target. I don’t want to be trash-talking about this show (and I’ll always thank you for giving Mark Valley the role of his life), which is still a solid action adventure show. My husband, Keith, actually likes this season more than the first season, but I’m not with him. Adding the two females has completely changed the dynamic of my favorite trio on TV. That is, you’ve left us with virtually no trio dynamic at all.
Where’s the love, FOX? You has something special at the end of the first season, with the Chance / Winston bromance, the Chance / Guerrero fierce loyalty and the Guerrero / Winston sibling rivalry. Seriously, you recreated Bert and Ernie in the form of an enormous black ex-cop and a weaselly little criminal — how did you pull that off? Nothing short of brilliance.
You cannot match the first season magic by having Guerrero stick up for Ames. It’s just not the same. She’s not without her charms, and if you gave me the choice, I’d keep her over Mrs. Pucci, but have I mentioned that you’re messing with my trio?
Chance was definitely more awesome in this episode, “Taking Ames,” than last week … I loved it when he leapt on Brody and the bomb went off. The dude will do anything. Don’t ever lose that (um … like you did last week).
You almost had me at the end of the episode, when the five were all drinking scotch together and having a bonding moment that they really all were a team. The team. I began to think I could get on board and just enjoy the new chemistry as it plays out the rest of the season. Then you went and ruined it with the flirty look between Chance and Ilsa. Really? Watching Chance answer to a boss is bad enough, but watching him flirt with her is entirely another matter. Don’t force chemistry where there is none; build upon the trio that made us watch last season.
All I ask is for a little respect … respect for the male trio — the likes of which has not been seen since Magnum, P.I. — and for Chance’s nearly superhuman awesomeness.
Sincerely,
Debbie
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Dec 01, 2010 @ 21:00 EST5EDT
It’s like you read my mind. I couldn’t agree more. The show is still decent, but you’re right about it missing that chemistry and character interaction. I’m not loving it like I did last season and I fear it won’t get “fixed.”
I didn’t think I was going to like the new additions, but I kind of am. I’m sure they added two female characters to draw in more female viewers, but if you are disappointed with the new additions that could spell trouble. Of course, the male views now get action and eye-candy, so maybe not all is lost. Maybe if Mark took his shirt off more, that could balance everything out.
Personally, I am enjoying this new Season of Human Target. I loved last season, and while the dynamic of Chance/Guerrero/Winston would probably have 1-2 more seasons of storylines to it, the addition of Ames and Mrs. Pucci, while unnecessary (for now), it is more than welcomed (for me at least).
This actually reminds me of the time House fired Chase/Cameron/Foreman, and some fans were mad with the writers of getting rid of that original team. I think that turned out well for them..
To the critics, I’d would ask to please give them more time; it is just the 3rd episode of the 2nd season, and I would hate for an awesome show such as Human Target to lose it’s audience..
I agree, the new “dynamic” is not very dynamic. I had a few moments watching this week (and last week) when Pucci played “boss” and I wondered why Chance didn’t just tell her to have a good life and walk out the door. He was doing fine without all the glass walls to throw people through.
Debbie, I don’t envy you seeing a beloved show go down an unwelcome road, yet still having to watch and review it each week. Episodes 2 & 3 sit unviewed on my DVR, and I find myself trudging through even middling fare instead. I even turned it on once, and the rock music opening the teaser just made me turn it off. I’m reading this post because I no longer even care enough about the show to avoid spoilers.
The most frequent thing I’ve read repeated online about Ames is that she’s an inferior knock-off of Leverage‘s Parker. Did she rise above that this week?
Matt Miller has stated that the ridiculous (and expensive) action movie stunts are a thing of the past, and that the fights and acrobatics in season 2 will be more realistic, and therefore grittier, and therefore better. So there’s going to be a lot more people being thrown through glass walls in the future, and I doubt Chance, a frickin’ comic book character, is superhuman any longer. :P
I thought last season that Chance was still too attached (or in love with) Katherine to ever be close to a woman. Flirt, yes, but nothing serious, no matter how hot the FBI Agent was. To dump all that over for Ilsa of all people is a travesty, especially as there’s no way Katherine’s dead without even a direct witness, much less a body.
The funniest, yet most painful observation, is that nearly everything I liked about the show was sacrificed to make it more appealing to the broadest possible audience. Yet its ratings thus far, 1.8, 1.4, and 1.6 against such sterling competition as Undercovers, are all below what it was doing last year before it was fixed (2.7, 3.4, 3.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.1, 2.4, 2.3, 2.0, 2.3, 2.2, 1.9).
I’m glad you mentioned music, because the first thing I noticed that I didn’t like is the modified theme song. It’s slow and drawn out like someone’s holding it back, which is how the show feels now, too. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s just another change that lessens the enjoyment of the show for me. No one else in my house even watches it any more, they all decided to walk away after the first episode this season. And they’re all female, which I think is what the changes were intended to attract. It’s worked completely backwards, at least under my roof.
If the majority of viewers like the changes, then I can live with it. I’m still watching the show, but it seems a shadow of what it was. Obviously a lot of people feel the same way if the ratings are near half of season 1.
My friends who watch Human Target are almost all female. Luckily, they’re not nearly as picky as I am when it comes to brainless entertainment. Supernatural is the only show they keep up with from week to week, though.
The ratings aren’t that bad, as I listed them in chronological order. We have to discount the first few when it was hitting over 3.0 because it was a new series. The 1.9-2.2 range it was doing toward the end is probably the most indicative.
The season 2 premiere is obviously an outlier, as it would be with any other sophomore show. It scored the 1.4 on Thanksgiving Eve, when most shows were down across the board. Thus, I would judge the current season average to be 1.6, based on the single remaining data point. Unfortunately, that’s still below Fringe and Lie to Me.
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh Ryan, I’ve been thinking about your comments from the first episode as I watched these next two … why did you have to be right? And what you just said about the stunts is a complete bummer. I want fight scenes like in the monastery and I want Chance shooting guns from the bottom of pools….
I want the crazy action stuff, too. If they’re a thing of the past that’s really disappointing because, for me at least, that’s a big part of what made the show so fun. The ridiculous, couldn’t-really-happen stunts were just great.
Like you said…bummer.
They definitely ruined Human Target in the offseason. Chase has become a babysitter for Ames and a lackey for Ilsa. If that wasn’t enough, they tweaked the opening music theme and ruined that as well. I will not be watching this show again until the two female “leads” are disposed of either by the door or by the coffin. What a shame. The dvd of the first season is out now. That’s the real Human Target now.
I agree but sadly since when does fox listen to the viewers? I’ve seen so many shows on fox that i liked and they ruin it. Rather it be adding two female chars to make the show more likable by the female viewers (and by the way from what I’ve heard on the net the women hate Pucci and Ames just as much as the men) to changing an awesome theme. It’s bad enough they all most ruined the show during season one with the normal lets air the eps when every we need instead on a semi regular basis ( sadly they doing the same crap with lie to me another show i think is being screwed over by fox). I’ve held bad feelings towards fox ever since they ruined one of the best shows that never got a chance (FIREFLY) but that’s ok once american idol dies out (which thank god seems to finally going to happen hopefully in the next couple of years) they will realize the average non reality viewers just doesn’t care how they treat normal scripted shows. I for one am tired of fox and once target gets canceled (which it will from the looks of the ratings) I’ll be done with this hack of a so called tv station. Just sad to see another good show ruined by the monkey’s in suits at fox headquarters.