Dont' lie to me - Human Target is back.

So now we've seen the first episode of Human Target. At least a few of us have, as the ratings were pretty dismal. That's too bad, because this is an entertaining show. Mark Valley is cool throughout, Chi McBride is Chi McBride in his best role since House or Pushing Daisies or all the way back to Laroquette, and Jackie Earle Haley is a hoot, especially when he decks new cast member Janet Montgomery's Ames with a right to her face. Good stuff.

But - and this is a huge but - they wrapped up last season's cliffhanger in the first three minutes, without a hint of Armand Assante. Assante was previously Chance's (Valley's) boss, mentor and father figure in the assassin game, and he appeared out of the blue at the end of last season's cliffhanger to help Chance get back Winston. And not even a mention? Bad. Cheap. Copout. The whole episode seemed hurried. Entertaining, but hurried. If it would have been 90 minutes instead of an hour, they could have included Assante, wrapped up the storyline with Timothy Omundson's baddie (and his mysterious book, which we've still got no clue about), and then gotten on with the rest.

The new cast members are fine, though Haley's still a little too funny to be scary. Needs more darkness. And I'm still looking for more Autumn Reese as Layla, the computer tech who appeared in a couple shows last season. Still, it's fun. A great way to spend an hour. And great explosions!