Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

'Human Target' - 'Taking Ames': Everytime I think I'm out...

A Janet Montgomery spotlight mainly highlights the strengths of the pre-existing characters

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Dec 1, 2010 9:00 PM

Janet Montgomery as Ames on "Human Target"

Credit: FOX

A quick review of tonight's "Human Target" coming up just as soon as I give my stepkid a ride to his flute lesson...

Though "Taking Ames" is ostensibly about giving backstory to the team's newest member, its strengths lay less with her than in seeing Chance and Guerrero talk a bit about their own decisions to come work the other side of the street. We've seen the flashbacks to how Chance became a good guy, and it's never really been explained with Guerrero, but the two men have this background in common, and adding a third reformed criminal - albeit a thief rather than a killer - to the mix only emphasizes that, and again provides an easy opportunity to put Mark Valley and Jackie Earle Haley together.

As for what Ames brings to the table on her own? Well, obviously she brings the opportunity for the producers to have Janet Montgomery strip down, grease up and crawl through ductwork, ala Groundskeeper Willie. But she's definitely a much less compelling character than our main three, and even after her big spotlight episode I still don't have a sense of why she decided to give up thieving to work with this crew, etc.

Still, "Taking Ames" had a bunch of fun stuff, like Ilsa interrupting a Guerrero torture session to note that she's on the board of Amnesty International (it was the first Ilsa-messes-with-the-guys'-fun moment that was actually funny), Chance MacGyver'ing a defibrilator to save the guy he killed, and the resolution with the group letting Chicago go free to have his way with the bad guy. Chance and company may be heroes, but they don't always play clean, and it's nice that the show isn't moving away from that, even as Ilsa seems to get the vapors every five seconds from watching them work.

So what did everybody else think? And three episodes into the new regime, how's season two working for you?

Get Instant Alerts - Latest Posts from What's Alan Watching

By subscribing to this e-alert, you agree to HitFix Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and to occasionally receive promotional emails from HitFix.

Follow Alan Sepinwall and Whats Alan Watching on

RSS Facebook Twitter

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: Human Target, Alan Sepinwall

Brian

I still enjoy the show - excellent action scenes and fun interplay between the main three guys. However, I'm not a fan of Ilsa's role in the company (though I don't mind the character) since I don't understand why they would want to have a boss in that company.

And just in general, I do not like Ames at all. She is thoroughly uninteresting and I don't like her actress. She makes a lot of weird faces and I don't like her delivery at all.
December 1, 2010 at 10:11PM EST Reply to Comment
Ed W

The actress who plays Ames does well with what she's given and we can't begrudge her being chosen for looks when the lead actor was chosen partly for the same reason in every role in his career.

But my problem is with Ilsa, it's absolutely ridiculous that she's coming in there every day. No matter how much she spruced it up, she still should be elsewhere leading a likely highly scheduled active life with many old acquaintances, friends and such. But she's hanging out there? This show needs a Gabe (the Office) type character as an intermediary and have her only show up now and then.

There seemed to be more humor in this episode and it worked well. They should keep that up.
December 1, 2010 at 10:12PM EST Reply to Comment
- Really? YMMV, of course, but I'm not getting the sense that the Widow Pucci would have anything to do with Christopher Chance if being a professional lady who lunches was all she wanted out of life. She might be having "the vapours" (as Alan charmingly puts it), but I have a funny feeling she's going to harden up fast.
  December 2, 2010 at 12:39AM EST
- Ed W I was under the impression she was something like Melinda Gates with the Foundation and if Bill died I imagine that Melinda would have her hands full with daily important things to do with regard to that. To me it isn't about being soft or hard, but that she seemed to already have a lot of responsibilities elsewhere.
  
  Just my impression.
  December 2, 2010 at 11:33AM EST
- Joseph I agree, and Ilsa is the absolutely worst thing about the show. She was supposed to be an "absentee" owner, I wish they would stick with that. The last thing this show needs is someone playing the "nagging mom" role; all the fun is sucked out of the show everytime she opens her mouth.
  
  That said, I am still digging the show. The combination of the three leads (Haley in particular) and the solid action scenes make this one a winner for me.
  December 5, 2010 at 4:24PM EST
I'm loving it so far, especially Ilsa.

Ames' underwear scenes seemed very Sarah-Walker-like, but we should expect that of course.

If they ever aired episodes of Chuck, Human Target and Covert Affairs all in the same week, life would be perfect!
December 1, 2010 at 10:12PM EST Reply to Comment
Bkrzyminski

Best show on television Alan. It is a shame that the ratings don't reflect how great it is.
December 1, 2010 at 10:15PM EST Reply to Comment
I LOL'd at the "Ilsa gets the vapors" comment. This was (and is) an old-school popcorn adventure series, and I don't look much deeper than that.
December 1, 2010 at 10:26PM EST Reply to Comment
M.A.Peel

I like the slick, cinema-action polish of the show, and the trio. Would also love a Chance and team meets Michael Weston and team meet up. Last season Chance did go on assignment outside of San Fran.
December 1, 2010 at 10:29PM EST Reply to Comment
Toby O'B

I thought the ending had a big flaw - Chicago was a "cleaner", and all of them had seen his face. If you were in that bunch, would you really drink from a bottle he supplied, no matter how tempting the booze inside? Otherwise, a fast-moving and always fun hour.....
December 1, 2010 at 10:37PM EST Reply to Comment
winenegress

I don't like Ames and I'm not overly fond of Ilse. I,also don't like Guerrero becming one-dimensional Toture Guy. I recall from last season he had significant haacking skills. I'll keep watching but in this case girls have cooties.
December 1, 2010 at 11:25PM EST Reply to Comment
Grifter

"Well gentlemen, in my experience whenever women enter the picture things tend to get a little bit messy" Winston.
I have to agree with Winston, altough not at all like it's meant in the show, since to me the characters have little to no place in the show. They're both played by talented actresses but the feel of the show is far more goofier and less "business" from last season. The change in soundtrack also adds to it.
Is it that bad to have a show with a regular male cast with the occasional "femme fatale" showing up, that dispenses the regular annoying female characters that just get in the way?
Personally, I don't think I'm in for much longer...and I hope I am wrong, but I don't see it having a third season.
December 2, 2010 at 12:24AM EST Reply to Comment
Guerrero must be one of the best characters on TV. JEH steals every scene he's in with his delivery of some fantastic lines. And while the show is so formulaic & every twist is utterly predictable, I still enjoy it more than most things on TV. I'm not even bothered by giraffe-neck Indira Varma, nor how useless Ames is as a character. The three main men make this show, and I'll watch them pretty much do anything now, because no matter how cliched it gets they still make it fun. I think this is the trashiest TV I watch, and it doesn't even embarrass me. I do watch Mentalist, though.

And thanks to everyone for going on & on about the music. I finally noticed it this week & was duly annoyed. So way to go, people.
December 2, 2010 at 12:36AM EST Reply to Comment
medrawt

I like Indira Varma the actress, and for that matter I liked her character in the season opener, too much for me to want to fast forward through her scenes in these last two episodes. I'd love for Winston to remind her that she didn't form the company or hire these guys, she offered to finance them; if she doesn't like the way they do business, SHE CAN'T FIRE THEM, she can just leave and take her billions and her tanks with her. This isn't a show that's really serious enough to have somebody seriously interrogating the ethics of how Chance & Co. work, so having someone griping at them, which is to say griping at the show's whole premise, just makes her categorically unlikeable (at least for me, obviously some viewers feel differently).

Although I did like the Amnesty International joke.
December 2, 2010 at 12:43AM EST Reply to Comment
- Xeddicus I totally agree. They need to remind her that they were there before she showed up and she ISN'T their damn boss. She offered to pay the bills. That would normally engender We Owe You, but but not in the kind of life these people lead. She'd get them all killed. They should be acting like that instead of trying to talk reason into her in the middle of an operation.
  
  As for this episode/the 2 new female characters overall: They're trying too hard.
  
  Ames:
  
  The show could use the occasional baby oiled female (what show couldn't?), but it would work better if they built up Ames' loyalty and worthiness more before building a story around those things. We know she isn't going to leave, so there has to be some kind of interest in the details. We get a random guy out of nowhere she's loyal to we'll probably never see again and they're forgive and forget too quick.
  
  Guerrero sticking up for her in public would work better if he was a tad more Tough Love with her in private. The guy is a morally blank carebear that tortures people. He should make it scarily clear to her when she screws up this badly before giving her a hug.
  
  Chance would work better if he actually didn't trust/like her but wanted to. He's had to have seen plenty of people turn out bad for whatever reasons. She's kind of playing on his Knight in Shinning Armor Saving the Damsel in Distress
  complex, it be nice if he realized that even if she didn't mean to and deserves to be saved in the end.
  
  Winston should LOVE her because she isn't Ilsa.
  
  Ilsa:
  
  Guerrero should mainly totally ignore she's alive. Maybe stare at her for a few moments if she really gets on his nerves.
  
  Chance needs to remind her SHE came to HIM, not the other way around. He's too accepting of her overall.
  
  Winston has the same problem, but she mouths off at him more. He needs to tell her to shut up. Literally. He has better things to do when she's yammering at him normally.
  December 3, 2010 at 10:17AM EST
DougMac

I liked the Meta joke between Chance and Winston about the new office and if it was better or not...."too early to tell". I think they're lucky they got such a good actress for Ilsa because otherwise I would hate the character instead of just disliking her. I'm still watching though.
December 2, 2010 at 1:00AM EST Reply to Comment
OnlyMe

Now that I know "what makes Ames tick," I want her on the screen even less. Awful, purposeless character.
December 2, 2010 at 1:00AM EST Reply to Comment
- Rob Exactly.
  
  Was this supposed to be the episode that we learned about Ames' background and perhaps her motivations to join Team Chance?
  
  If it was, I must have missed it.
  
  A completely unnecessary, unneeded character being forcefully shoe-horned into a show. I just don't get it.
  
  However, I do like Ilsa.
  
  December 2, 2010 at 4:58AM EST
chudleycannonfodder

I read this review entirely because you tweeted that it included your favorite Simpsons scene.
December 2, 2010 at 1:57AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Which it did.
  December 2, 2010 at 8:23AM EST
- buck grease me up, woman!
  December 2, 2010 at 2:36PM EST
Vapors! Can she have vapors and be cuckoo bananas at the same time? Please?
December 2, 2010 at 4:43AM EST Reply to Comment
I hate it and like the new Human Target at the same time. The new direction brings it closer to the source material which is a plus. However cluttering the cast with new characters takes away from the dynamic's of the first season, which you would think would be more of in a second season. I know the show must evolve to survive but like you said in the article we still need more of a back story for 2 of the main characters.
December 2, 2010 at 9:55AM EST Reply to Comment
Richard D

The show lost me last night. The addition of the women has killed a important part of the show from last season, The male chemistry and interaction between them. Now we have Mom and kid sister and all the BS that brings. The show always was a guilty pleasure but now it's just a step above a family sitcon with some action thrown in. I don't kow why the women were added but in doing so, the show lost this viewer.
December 2, 2010 at 10:18AM EST Reply to Comment
Lee926

Not liking the new format - Ilsa is just an annoyance to me; is she going to, in every single episode, raise her moral objections to their actions only to back down and give in? She comes off as shrill in those scenes and it is a waste of time and repetitive. Bad writing or lazy writing? Both, in my opinion.

In an attempt to bring in a female presence, I think they failed in their choices and the characters they cooked up.

I'm sorry they retooled this show so dramatically (what with all the high tech stuff you see on all shows dealing with crime) - it took away the scrappy, low tech nature of the fun first season.

I'm guessing low ratings is responsible for this configuration and that is really too bad. I've erased it from my DVR. I'll check back here to see if people think it has gotten better.
December 2, 2010 at 11:56AM EST Reply to Comment
Greg Leslie

The minute I saw the new office, I figured a big "toss each other through plate glass" fight scene wasn't far behind. Kinda disappointed it only took a week or so.
December 2, 2010 at 12:57PM EST Reply to Comment
Write a comment...
December 2, 2010 at 3:18PM EST Reply to Comment
RocketDigitalPro

I dig this show so much, that I forgive the annoying girl that was cast so that she can be annoying. I don't think anyone would miss her if she simply stopped showing up, but she does not keep me from enjoying the show at all. Loved Winston typing on the Surface computer, sure was fast wasn't he? I dug how Illsa was all buddy with Ames after she had their talk and then she went cold. Most of all I really love how they let the Cleaner do his job, but I'm with Toby O'B in that I would never ever consume or even accept a "gift" from him.
December 2, 2010 at 3:23PM EST Reply to Comment
- webdiva Seems to me Winston might appreciate some of those new toys, like the surface computer, that Ilsa makes possible and grudgingly acknowledge that, if not to her then to the boys; but it also seems that these guys learn from each other, too, and internalize that learning -- and we should see some of that. Winston should be learning hacker tips from G, G should be picking up new ways to skirt bureaucracy from him, and everybody should be learning at least a few little things from Chance every so often. each of them should be getting small moments to shine before the action moves on, so that we see hints of progression and evolution (even if in unanticipated directions) over time. And none of this should mess with the interesting action.
  
  Which brings to mind something else: perhaps Ilsa just needs to get all her protests out and on the record early, then after Winston has a brief come-to-Jesus conversation with her, she swallows hard and decides that she's going to ignore a lot of what she sees at that place and becomes more concerned with unobtrusive logistics while staying out of the boys' way. she might also surprise, at some point, with a few useful tidbits of info or sills that she has only because of what *she's* involved with away from them and the connections she has that they don't and can't have. That would be intriguing; but the writers should really take the time to think about that angle and get it right rather than rushing it. When the moment happens that Ilsa has something really key and useful to contribute other than money, we want to be ab le to raise eyebrows and savor the moment -- particularly when the boys get surprised. Oh yeah, I'll wait for that moment, thanks. :D
  December 2, 2010 at 11:54PM EST
Andrew L

Neither of the new characters seem to actually ADD anything. We know more about Ames' backstory, and Ilsa is becoming more of a defined character, but neither makes anything on the screen better (aside from eye candy). The core of this show are Chance, Winston and Guererro (who we finally got to see whooping serious ass). Spending time with these women just takes away from what is essentially the best part of the show. Maybe it is just that they still feel like outsiders, but I can't imagine they will ever feel like anything else.
December 2, 2010 at 4:35PM EST Reply to Comment
HikeswithHounds

I have no problem with Ames, though that might likely be because Janet Montgomery is so easy on the eyes.

But Ilsa is really frustrating me, so far. When she was offering to be the money and a silent partner, it made sense for the guys to sign up to work with her. But now that she's constantly interfering, I can't figure out why they don't just tell her that while they appreciated all of her stuff, they were doing just fine last year without it. She can have it back and they'll keep on saving lives without her interference. I feel like they need to give a reason for the group to keep putting up with her objections since they haven't done that so far. She talks about them being betrayed, but she was the one who was going to go call the cops on the rest of the team...
December 2, 2010 at 6:49PM EST Reply to Comment
toonsterwu

I like Indira Varma, but she's been a waste early on. They need to give her something to do ... but the problem is, I'm not sure what it is. She can't join the team on missions - that would be ridiculous. What else? As others have noted, a patron that shows up this much ... odd.

As for Ames, interesting enough purpose to her, but so far, not really sticking. They haven't made me care enough about her, but of the two women, she's the one they can do stuff with, character/backstory wise, and action wise.
December 3, 2010 at 4:58AM EST Reply to Comment
While I agree it's nice to see the big three interacting together, I don't see why it's necessary to use eye candy to facilitate that. The acting from Ames is flat with an annoying accent, and like you have have no interest or emotional investment in her or see her purpose there, other than to provide another foil for Guerrero, which Jackie Earl Haley will always knock out of the park, and Indira Varma was annoying and without purpose for the second of three episodes so far. While I welcome the more ensemble feel of the show just as much as you do, if it's at the cost of lousy characters present for no reason, I'd rather be stuck in last season.
December 3, 2010 at 5:20AM EST Reply to Comment
DeeDee

I used to love the show Human Target. Now, with these two really stupid women characters, I may never watch it again. Really, the guys have the experience, the skills and the know how...along come these two females. One is rich...that is ALL she has going for her. The other one is a cheap petty theif and she is supposed to HELP these guys?????

I mean, WHAT is the producer thinking? The show is now RUINED. Sadly. Ciao.

December 3, 2010 at 10:35PM EST Reply to Comment
DeeDee

I used to love the show Human Target. Now, with these two really stupid women characters, I may never watch it again. Really, the guys have the experience, the skills and the know how...along come these two females. One is rich...that is ALL she has going for her. The other one is a cheap petty theif and she is supposed to HELP these guys?????

I mean, WHAT is the producer thinking? The show is now RUINED. Sadly. Ciao.

December 3, 2010 at 10:35PM EST Reply to Comment
jshell06

Honestly, I love this show. It's Die Hard as a TV show, in all the good ways. But I have a few problems with season 2 so far. Firstly, Ames adds nothing but a new set of boobs. I don't know why she's there as a specific character - she could be replaced by a new damsel in distress every episodde. Also, Ilsa Pucci said she would be hands-off, and then proceeded to be the "dumb chief" role that every 80's cop movie has... what the fuck? If Chance is such a badass, or even Guererro, at least have one of them tell her to shove it. That's what I'm missing in S2 I guess....
December 4, 2010 at 5:24AM EST Reply to Comment
Action_Kate

Yeah, I'm kinda bored by the two ladies myself. And Ames interrupting Guerrero's menace isn't funny; it undermines him. They won't prevent me from watching, but they're not adding anything to the show.
December 4, 2010 at 11:04PM EST Reply to Comment

News From Our Partners

Follow HitFix:

Follow @HitFix

Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching

Latest Posts

Series finale review: 'The Office' - 'Finale'

Dwight gets married and the staff revisits the documentary in a lovely farewell

Thursday, May 16, 2013
Review: 'Hannibal' - 'Fromage'

Lecter becomes interested in a local killer, and Will begins hearing things

Thursday, May 16, 2013
'The Office': A look back at a brilliant, volatile comedy mix

A show that shouldn't have worked instead became a great, popular, influential one

Thursday, May 16, 2013
Upfronts 2013: CBS tinkers with playbook with 'Hostages,' single-camera sitcoms

Some experimenting, but mostly the same old, successful CBS

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

'Human Target' - 'Taking Ames': Everytime I think I'm out...

Send to your friends

Direct link: http://tinyurl.com/35rxm55

'Human Target' - 'Taking Ames': Everytime I think I'm out...

Share this Post on ...

Direct link: http://tinyurl.com/35rxm55

'Human Target' - 'Taking Ames': Everytime I think I'm out...

Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

I'm loving it so far, especially Ilsa. Ames' underwear scenes seemed very Sarah-Walker-like, but we should expect that of course. If they ever aired episodes of Chuck, Human Target and Covert Affairs all in the same week, life would be perfect!

Bkrzyminski Best show on television Alan. It is a shame that the ratings don't reflect how great it is.

I LOL'd at the "Ilsa gets the vapors" comment. This was (and is) an old-school popcorn adventure series, and I don't look much deeper than that.

M.A.Peel I like the slick, cinema-action polish of the show, and the trio. Would also love a Chance and team meets Michael Weston and team meet up. Last season Chance did go on assignment outside of San Fran.

Toby O'B I thought the ending had a big flaw - Chicago was a "cleaner", and all of them had seen his face. If you were in that bunch, would you really drink from a bottle he supplied, no matter how tempting the booze inside? Otherwise, a fast-moving and always fun hour.....

winenegress I don't like Ames and I'm not overly fond of Ilse. I,also don't like Guerrero becming one-dimensional Toture Guy. I recall from last season he had significant haacking skills. I'll keep watching but in this case girls have cooties.

DougMac I liked the Meta joke between Chance and Winston about the new office and if it was better or not...."too early to tell". I think they're lucky they got such a good actress for Ilsa because otherwise I would hate the character instead of just disliking her. I'm still watching though.

OnlyMe Now that I know "what makes Ames tick," I want her on the screen even less. Awful, purposeless character.

chudleycannonfodder I read this review entirely because you tweeted that it included your favorite Simpsons scene.

sepinwall Which it did.

buck grease me up, woman!

Vapors! Can she have vapors and be cuckoo bananas at the same time? Please?

Greg Leslie The minute I saw the new office, I figured a big "toss each other through plate glass" fight scene wasn't far behind. Kinda disappointed it only took a week or so.

Write a comment...

Action_Kate Yeah, I'm kinda bored by the two ladies myself. And Ames interrupting Guerrero's menace isn't funny; it undermines him. They won't prevent me from watching, but they're not adding anything to the show.

News From Our Partners

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever What's Alan Watching is updated

Latest Posts

Recent Activity on Facebook

Most Popular on Facebook

About HitFix

Advertise on HitFix

Subscribe to HitFix

Popular Topics

I'm loving it so far, especially Ilsa.

Ames' underwear scenes seemed very Sarah-Walker-like, but we should expect that of course.

If they ever aired episodes of Chuck, Human Target and Covert Affairs all in the same week, life would be perfect!

Bkrzyminski

Best show on television Alan. It is a shame that the ratings don't reflect how great it is.

M.A.Peel

I like the slick, cinema-action polish of the show, and the trio. Would also love a Chance and team meets Michael Weston and team meet up. Last season Chance did go on assignment outside of San Fran.

Toby O'B

I thought the ending had a big flaw - Chicago was a "cleaner", and all of them had seen his face. If you were in that bunch, would you really drink from a bottle he supplied, no matter how tempting the booze inside? Otherwise, a fast-moving and always fun hour.....

winenegress

I don't like Ames and I'm not overly fond of Ilse. I,also don't like Guerrero becming one-dimensional Toture Guy. I recall from last season he had significant haacking skills. I'll keep watching but in this case girls have cooties.

DougMac

I liked the Meta joke between Chance and Winston about the new office and if it was better or not...."too early to tell". I think they're lucky they got such a good actress for Ilsa because otherwise I would hate the character instead of just disliking her. I'm still watching though.

OnlyMe

Now that I know "what makes Ames tick," I want her on the screen even less. Awful, purposeless character.

chudleycannonfodder

I read this review entirely because you tweeted that it included your favorite Simpsons scene.

Greg Leslie

The minute I saw the new office, I figured a big "toss each other through plate glass" fight scene wasn't far behind. Kinda disappointed it only took a week or so.

Action_Kate

Yeah, I'm kinda bored by the two ladies myself. And Ames interrupting Guerrero's menace isn't funny; it undermines him. They won't prevent me from watching, but they're not adding anything to the show.

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever
What's Alan Watching is updated