With casting additions and its origins in comics discussed in part one, FOX TV’s Human Target has not only been full of nail-biting action, but richly drawn characters whose buddy banter and ‘got your back’ loyalty has been very engaging and seductive, earning it a fan following and a renewal for second season.
By the end of season one, with the search for the kidnapped Winston underway, the self-appointed solo mission Guerrero undertakes to eliminate a threat to Chance, and Guerrero and Chance beating on each other like squabbling brothers, there’s no doubt that these teammates are tightly bonded. So the allure of these characters and their relationships was on reporters’ minds in the pressroom at San Diego Comic Con.
Asked about how Winston felt about the other characters, Chi McBride said, “The relationship between these three guys is a dysfunctional family. We put the fun in dysfunctional. Like any family, there’s tension. And we don’t always get along, but at the end of the day, we defend each other against everything outside of our family.”
The relationship between Winston and Guerrero is the most fascinating as Winston started off not liking Guerrero much and objecting to his presence. Is he more appreciative now? “It’s like any relationship,” Chi explained. “Sometimes when you work with a person, even if you don’t like him, sooner or later, you’re gonna need their help and at that time you discover a person’s loyalty, you discover a person’s particular skill set that you actually need, and like it or not you have to grit your teeth, and deal with that person. This is a relationship that’s not going to go away. So they just get down to business.”
When Mark Valley was asked the same question, he replied, “How does Chance see his relationships? Chi came up with a pretty good analogy one time. If Chance were maybe a recovering drug addict or alcoholic, the Winston character is more like his sponsor, Jackie’s character is more like his old drug dealer. And you guys can chew on that a little bit.”
Which, given their pasts, is an amusing sound bite, but isn’t really borne out by what was seen in season one. Interestingly, Chi chided Mark for this answer, concerned for the kids reading the interviews, saying “You don’t want them to relate to that.” This sparked off one of many impromptu banter exchanges in the pressroom that shows why their characters are so comfortable with humor and banter:
Mark: Not to say that Jackie is or was ever a drug dealer.
Chi: Or I was ever a sponsor.
Mark: And I was never a… anyway. Next question.
Trusting Guerrero
Luckily, these answers were expanded on in the panel following the press conference. There when Chi was asked if Winston trusted Guerrero, his answer was: “Hell no… Winston is ex-law enforcement. I have a lot of friends who are coppers and most of them are just suspicious by nature and I think that Winston is that way. Especially due to the history of Guerrero’s character and what Winston knows. Like when they were getting ready to go down in a plane crash, and Winston starts going down the list of stuff that Guerrero didn’t even realize that he knew. Winston always maintains a little bit of arms-length distance between him and Guerrero, but I think at the end of the day, we’re all family.”
A family where there will always be tension between Guerrero and Winston, Chi maintained. “There’s always great opportunity for physical comedy. I mean you just have me and Jackie in the same frame and it’s like… [Chi tilts his head off-kilter]. So I think we’re going to continue to explore that but at the end of the day, as much as there is mistrust, it’s like we all protect each other against everything that is outside that circle. That’s what makes the relationship work.”
Although the question to Jackie Earle Haley was what it was like squaring off with Mark in the first season finale, the answer revealed a lot about the relationship between these two men. “That was awesome,” Jackie enthused. “I mean it was really, really cool. Me getting that script and seeing that… all along we knew these characters kinda had a past and it was neat to see that it had gone … that Guerrero had been there 6 years earlier, and the way the guys wrote it was interesting. We learned something about these two guys, but at the same time, it raised more questions about their relationship – the extent and how far back and what do these guys mean to each other?”
Mark then added, “What was fun about that fight was it was a little more like… you could tell that our characters both had lots of martial arts experience, but it ended up just being like two brothers wrestling on the kitchen table.”
Mark Valley talks Baptiste
In the pressroom, Mark was asked about Chance’s relationship to former friend turned foe, Baptiste, returning in season 2. Once again, this led to a lively banter exchange:
Mark: It has been established that he did have a friendship in the past. We were sort of brothers in arms but at this point, he’s also kind of a burr in Chance’s saddle right now. A really big spiky burr.
Chi: Yeah, that’s really uncomfortable.
Mark: Spiky sharp. Actually, no saddle at all. Just the burr.
Chi: Oooh…. I feel it.
Mark: The burr. No saddle.
Chi: Hee, ne- hee
Like having something in your shoe?
Chi: No, that’s not as bad as a burr. Stuck inside the shoe, I can pretty much get over that. But a burr stuck on your ass, that would be uncomfortable. Yeah.
Mark: I can see where that would be annoying.
Chi: Yeah. Annoying, yeah.
Mark: We have people who tie our shoes for us now.
That these guys are very comfortable with each other is readily apparent and delightfully entertaining. Showrunner changes, auditions and superheroes will be discussed in part 3.
Season 2 premieres Friday, Oct. 1 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
Crystal Taylor - I'm a writer of TV one-hour scripts, screenplays, novels, short stories, articles, and poetry. I'm most proud of a story (episode outline) ...
