HUMAN TARGET: Matt Miller Teases the Chance-Ilsa Relationship and the Season Finale - Give Me My Remote : Give Me My Remote

HUMAN TARGET: Matt Miller Teases the Chance-Ilsa Relationship and the Season Finale

February 9, 2011 by  

After nearly a season of dancing around each other, HUMAN TARGET’s Chance and Ilsa shared a kiss to close out last week’s episode.

With the season finale airing Wednesday night on Fox, I chatted with HUMAN TARGET showrunner Matt Miller about the fallout from the Ilsa-Chance kiss, where the duo go from there, the “nefarious, dangerous plot” that threatens the entire team and whether the season will end on a cliffhanger…

When we last left off with HUMAN TARGET, Chance and Ilsa had kissed. Is it safe to say that will be addressed in the season finale?
Matt Miller:
Yes, that will certainly be something that we’re going to deal with in the finale. Basically, the whole finale on some level or another is about that, but it’s masked behind a very large bad guy — a nefarious, dangerous plot, which is hopefully the most formidable opponent these guys have gone up against in two seasons. And so what happens is that Ilsa and Chance desperately need to try to come together and discuss or work out what happened in the last episode, but they can’t because of all the circumstances that come up.

And they’re choosing to deal with it in different way — Chance, because he’s a guy that’s not that comfortable with his emotions, has chosen to ignore the situation as if it never happened. Ilsa, because of who she is and what she’s gone through with her husband and all of that, has chosen to deal with the situation by moving back to London. She’s just going to take off and go handle her charitable organizations there. And in this episode, it’s both of their desire to not conflict those things and having it have to play out in a very big, epic, action sequence kind of way.

And the big enemy they’re facing in the finale has a connection to Ilsa’s dead husband, correct?
MM:
Yeah. What happens is that Ilsa says, “I’m going to go back to London and not deal with this and what happened with Chance and what I’m feeling.” And since Chance is ignoring the whole thing, we have Winston, who is deeply suspicious that something has gone on between Chance and Ilsa, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. And what happens is the woman from the photograph, the mistress that Ilsa and Guerrero and whoever else has been quietly looking for, she ends up coming back into our world. And so that pulls our whole team [together] and makes Ilsa not able to leave for London. And it suddenly puts Chance and Ilsa on this mission to find out what these bigger, darker forces were behind the murder of Ilsa’s husband. And if in some way, Ilsa can move on from the murder of her husband, maybe that would make her a little bit more emotionally available to start a new relationship with Chance.

It sort of feels like in order for them to pursue their relationship, two things have to happen: one is Ilsa has to be able put her husband behind her in order to have a new relationship with Chance. In order for Chance to have a relationship with Ilsa, he has to be able to put behind a whole bunch of [his] past, all the things he’s done in his life and be able to open up and emote and make [himself] emotionally available to have a real relationship with a real woman.

In season one, he had that relationship at the end of the season with Katherine — that was really a short-lived, met her, thought she was great, but suddenly she was out of his life. This is someone who has been in his life for a long time — for at least a year — and you know, has proven herself on many levels to be someone he actually knows and actually is compatible with and could be something real. So for him to take that step forward and have a relationship with her would be leaving himself exposed — and this is a guy that, as you know, is professionally very dark.

When we talked in the beginning of the season, one of the things you mentioned you wanted to inject into the show was romance. Did you intend to have the Chance-Ilsa relationship turn romantic all along or were you just fortunate the actors had chemistry and it made sense for the series to go there?
MM:
I think it was a combination of the two. I think at the beginning of the season when we were thinking of these ideas, we knew we wanted something to click romantically with Ilsa and for Chance — the whole season has sort of been about them coming to a place where they can be a little bit more emotionally available. And through the season it kind of evolved to such a place where he was more of a regular kind of human being. And we knew that we wanted to draw that arc out for him.

What ended up happening was that the Chance and Ilsa relationship proved to have quite a bit of chemistry [between] those two that we didn’t realize necessarily that we would have that. And if it wasn’t there between them, we would have had to have found that with a new female, bring a third character into it. You never know. You put this stuff in your head, but the Ames character came in and maybe she was going to be a romantic interest for Chance [if Ilsa hadn’t worked out]. But it ended up working out through the actors, through the writing, through the way the chemistry worked, Ames has become a little sister to the whole team and doesn’t feel any way romantically connected to them. So that sort of stuff you can think about, you can think it out, you can map it out, but ultimately you have to go with what’s working.

Understandable. So let’s talk about the rest of the team. Do they have any of their own storylines aside from Ilsa’s husband’s case?
MM:
Yeah, well the idea was to try and make in this episode as much of the stuff as we had [from] the early part of the season come to fruition and come full circle. And so what happens is the whole team is involved in helping Ilsa find out who these people are and because of their relationship and their involvement in trying to protect Ilsa, they all end up with targets or bullseyes on their head halfway through the episode. So halfway through it, they’re all on the run. And they end up having to go on the lam, and Ames ends up on the lam with Guerrero. Which that combination of Ames and Guerrero proved to be our money this season with their constant bickering. They don’t end up getting very far — they were supposed to go to Mexico to lay low, but Ames’ constant talking into Guerrero’s ear makes him so crazy that he realizes he’d rather stay and die than spend another minute alone with Ames. So they end up getting back into the fray.

We also play the thread of Guerrero’s child — where the bad guys are trying to find pressure points on all of our characters, one of the things that they discover when they’re going through this is that little nugget that we planted a few episodes earlier in “Cool Hand Guerrero,” when we learned that Guerrero has a child. So they’re able to attempt to use that as leverage against Guerrero, which is not an advisable thing. We have a very satisfying conclusion to that [threat].

I can’t imagine Guerrero will react well to someone threatening his child…
MM:
[Laughs] He does not react well. We’ve seen Guerrero handle people very unkindly that he didn’t even have an emotional connection to. If someone is actually targeting his child, he ratchets it up a notch. It may be my favorite shot of the season — there’s a shot in Act 5 of Guerrero handling his business with this character and a pretty cool song is playing. I won’t give away anything else, but it’s a pretty cool moment.

I cannot wait to see it. Can you say whether the season ends on a cliffhanger?
MM:
No, it doesn’t. Season one ended very much with a cliffhanger with Winston being taken and the helicopter and a lot of things. My feeling is networks never pick you up [for the next season] based on a cliffhanger. If the ratings aren’t there or financially they don’t think your show works for the network or whatever reason, you’re not getting picked up. You can have your guy dangling in the air or any other thing happening and that would just be the end of it. If you’re not looking at it in the point of view of “we’re going to try and force their hand in some way to make them pick us up” and just go with what is the most satisfying conclusion or open-ended [finale that] sort of paves the way for season three — but in the same way feels like a satisfying ending to season two — that is hopefully what we have done by the end of the episode. I would classify it as more of an emotional cliffhanger as opposed to a person hanging from a cliff.

Are you looking forward to HUMAN TARGET’s season finale tonight?

Make sure to check back with Give Me My Remote after the episode airs for more from our interview with Matt Miller!

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Filed under #1 featured, Human Target

Comments

19 Responses to “HUMAN TARGET: Matt Miller Teases the Chance-Ilsa Relationship and the Season Finale”

  1. kendallcorner on February 9th, 2011 12:28 pm

    From the article I can tell they haven’t been picked up for next season yet, but there’s still a possibility. But did the show get in a full season this year? It’s odd that the finale is in February. I can’t quite remember if the show started early or what.

    I hope it gets picked up. The first season was just ok, and I sort of kept up on Hulu, but the addition of the female regular characters in the second season was just perfect. I even watch the show on … (gasp) television from time to time … amazing.

    Will be watching tonight.

  2. ColoradoKila on February 9th, 2011 4:29 pm

    This show has really come into it’s own this year. I liked it last season, but this season the characters have come alive and the storylines are fantastic.

    I really wish Tony Hale could become a series regular, the two times he has been on have been magic.

    Hoping for a season 3!!! Make it so.

  3. Paul Roper on February 9th, 2011 11:38 pm

    Human Target is one of the best shows on TV…if FOX doesn’t realize that I hope it gets picked up by USA or another station willing to give it a FAIR shot…
    Sorry the season seemed to end so quickly but the ending did give hope of another season…or maybe a MOVIE?

  4. Mrs darling on February 10th, 2011 12:01 am

    Great show! Concerned about where they might be taking Guerrero’s character. I hope we’ll at least be able to find out what happens there.
    Great Character development. Excellent plot lines, Action, and suspense.
    Will be waiting patiently for season 3!

  5. Natalie on February 10th, 2011 9:04 am

    Best show on TV. Needs to be renewed. So many talented people on it… Please FOX, let it live or let someone who cares take it on…

  6. Tim on February 10th, 2011 10:21 am

    One of the best shows on TV that I’ve seen in many years. This show has me locked in and just wanting more. I know many others who feel the same way. Even my wife loves the show, and she usually watches those garbage reality shows.

  7. Maureen on February 10th, 2011 2:03 pm

    RENEW THIS SHOW! It’s the BEST since 24……give it time and know people are watching it at other times on Tivo, on demand,internet..Don’t cancel.

  8. Andrea on February 10th, 2011 3:18 pm

    AWESOME show!! LOVE it! We’re so hoping for Season 3, and for it to start soooon!! Loved last night’s show but hated it being a ‘finale’ because now there’s no good shows to look forward to next week 🙁

  9. Mike 'Stu' Stuhler on February 14th, 2011 9:36 pm

    Great show, and the better ratings of the last couple of eps can’t hurt, either. Fox needs to give it a break since it got moved around so much, and let’s face it, it makes for great escapism–sp?–tv!
    Go Human Target and Go Fox–pick this one up for a 3rd season, please!!!

  10. Vicki on February 15th, 2011 2:46 pm

    Great Show and really loved the finale. Great action, suspense, emotion and really thought all of the actors did a fantastic job! Hope to see it in the fall. Loved the new arc with Ilsa and Chance…this really appeals to many of the people that did not read the comic

  11. Oksana on February 16th, 2011 9:01 am

    I have several favourite shows, but for some reason I keep comparing these two – Castle and Human Target. Castle has gotten a bit dull, while Human Target, on the contrary, turned into something more shiny.
    So I’d really love for Human Target to be renewed for the next year! I’m going to miss it, since in many ways it changed me and helped. Kind of hard to explain.
    But anyway, please let it continue!

  12. Debbie on February 17th, 2011 9:01 pm

    My husband and I have really enjoyed watching Human Target…..for us it’s in the same category as Blue Bloods, CSI Miami and NCIS…..we think it’s a winner, and are hoping for Season 3….will be a disapointment if it’s cancelled. Sure hope more folks come forward and inquire/respond.

  13. Sharon on March 5th, 2011 11:00 pm

    I am not a big TV fan, but I do watch a few shows. My husband was watching this past season and it caught my eye. Now I am running around wanting to know is there going to be a season 3. I would watch it on Sunday. Friday would be the best day. But please bring it back. Like I said I do not watch much tv,due to health issues, and one of the ones I liked to watch the most was Human Target and American Idol. Human target gets my attention because it is entense, dramatic and also funny. Please bring it back for a thrid, fourth and so on seasons. My husband and I have been watching to see if it will be back out again, but nothing has gave us a clue. So my husband had me look on the internet. So I am just voicing my opinion. Please bring it back and keep the same cast. Or give this show to another station. PLEASE!!!!!

  14. Layali on March 10th, 2011 4:37 am

    I’m still waiting to hear if there will be a third season of Human target or not, if not then I’ll BREAK the TV. There is not other intresting show like Human Target, so come on pepole on FOX , don’t lets us HEAT you.

  15. sue on March 23rd, 2011 6:04 pm

    I discovered Human target and Castle this season. I Don’t think there is a show as well done as Human target. Except for the airing schedule, of course. This show should have a re-run this summer and a season 3 in fall. There are some wonderful music videos of season 2 on YouTube — great advertisement for the show as well an example of loyal fans!

  16. Livian on April 10th, 2011 10:46 am

    I love Human Target, its the best show I saw last season, I hope Fox renew it for a third season, I can’t wait for the new season, if fox don’t renew it for a 3rd season, I hope another network will. The storylines were great, the characters are great, I love everything about the show.

  17. Joan on April 15th, 2011 8:36 pm

    For season 3 in Human Target, I’d hunt it down no matter when Fox airs it. In essence, the absolutely incredible and most entertaining show on TV, Human Target, would become my own personal TV Target!

  18. Francisco Dieppa on December 11th, 2011 6:15 pm

    Human Target is by my standards the best “crime-spy-action-drama” series ever.
    I’m no kid, I’m 69 years old, and I had not enjoyed a series as much as I did this one. And, believe me when I say I’ve seen them all. Since I live in Puerto Ricvo and the series has not aired here, I am only able to mention it because I collect episodes from my “favorite” tv series and searching for some episodes of NCIS, I came to a website where I fould Human Target episodes. I soon learned there were only two seasons available and began to download them both. As soon as I had them I began watching the first episode (which I viewed at least three times) and went on to view the rest of the episodes. Now I have collectedf all episodes of NCIS, NCIS LA, Bones, Homeland, Person of Interest, Charlie’s Angels (2011 recently cancelled), and several others, and I can thruthfully say that although I love NCIS and NCIS LA for the longest time, I find the Human Target is an even better series. I certainly look forward to a third season and more after that. I hope they get to provide at least 10 seasons like NCIS seems to be doing.
    What ever I need to do as a viewer to help this happen count me in.

  19. Sti Hasinah on October 16th, 2012 7:10 am

    I like to watching HUMAN TARGET..the storyline very interesting.I like the combination between Chance and Ilsa.They are suite together and keep it up,so cute..i like they character that were different.I really hope that Human Target will never end..please.:)..!thank you..