Intelligence 1.03 "Mei Chen Returns": You Are Not Alone

    Intelligence, “Mei Chen Returns,” was written by Shintaro Shimosawa and directed by Stephen Williams. Shimosawa has also written for The Following, Ringer, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and Stephen King’s Dead Zone. The episode reunites Williams and Josh Holloway (Gabriel) who Williams directed regularly on Lost. Williams other credits include Person of Interest, Touch, Prime Suspect, and Dark Angel, giving him lots of experience directing science fiction, action, and special effects.

    The episode features two great guest stars. Lance Reddick (Fringe, The Wire, and Lost) joins as a recurring character, DCI Jeffrey Tetazoo, Director of the CIA. We learn that his unit has been spying on Cyber Command. Annie Wersching (24, Dallas, General Hospital) plays Kate Anderson, one of Tetazoo’s agents who has stolen the surveillance material on Cyber Command, project Jana, and is attempting to sell it to the highest bidder. They did a nice job providing a credible back story for Kate who is trying to make up for the deaths in her past.

    Interesting watching Lillian (Marg Helgenberger) stand her ground with her superiors and defend Gabriel as a person to them. I like how they are layering her character. She holds her own against her superiors, but defends her people – it’s a different face than what she shows to those under her command, but that’s as it should be. I know that we are going to start to see her life fleshed out with the introduction of her husband and children, and I hope that that will simply introduce another layer to the character. Too often the introduction of family members turns the action to melodrama – but that will be the subject of another review.

    The briefing scenes are a good way to provide exposition in a reasonably natural way. I’m still impressed by the special effects used for Gabriel’s cyber-rendering. The episode also includes some great fight and chase sequences. This may be the series best feature: its ability to blend effects, action, and great dialogue. Topping it off is that the core cast are all solid.

    We see the return of Mei Chen – hence the title. However, the role has been recast and is now being played by Faye Kingslee. I wasn’t able to uncover why the actor was recast. It may be as simple as the original actor not being available after the Pilot, though that would be unusual. It may be that they hadn’t anticipated an on-going storyline with her – again not likely, especially considering that Elden Henson reprises his role as Amos Pembroke. I’m still not completely convinced that Amos was being held against his will. But I loved the scene in which he tells Riley (Meghan Ory) that Mei Chen “is really mean!” I wasn’t impressed by Kingslee’s performance, and she is slated to return for three more episodes. Hopefully, Gabriel is able to defeat her before the end of this season.

    This episode continues to solidify the different team member’s roles. Jameson (Michael Rady) does the heavy lifting of gathering the agency intel. I wonder if they decided to scale back the field work of the other agents – Rady and the other agent who didn’t make it out of the Pilot because Ory is clearly up to the physical task of protecting Gabriel.

    John Billinglsey (Shenendoah) continues to be a highlight of the series. I loved the scene in which he briefs Lillian, Weatherly (Tomas Arana), and Tetazoo. He makes the ridiculous suggestion of keeping Gabriel safe by putting him in a Farraday cage for the rest of his life. Weatherly and Tetazoo see Gabriel as a tool, not a human being. Shenendoah is affronted that they didn’t recognize is reduction ad absurdum.

     We see Shenendoah is clearly worried about Gabriel when he returns from Mexico and while fighting Mei Chen in the final scene. He does argue against letting Gabriel render when he first suggests that someone else is in his render, but is overruled. Like Gabriel, Shenendoah doesn’t think the chip alters Gabriel’s basic humanity. I also loved the scenes in which Shenendoah is obviously proud of and concerned about his other “child” – Mei Chen herself. He immediately comments on Gabriel mentioning her while rendering. He is pleased she survived, that the chip is viable and wishes he could see her. Holloway and Billingsley have great chemistry as well. It’s another great scene as Gabriel wonders if Amelia is the one in his render. Shenendoah is as gentle as possible as he relies on science and explains that the chip can’t provide a bridge to another plane of existence.

    The interaction between Mei Chen and Gabriel is a great scene that highlights the differences between them. Gabriel was carefully chosen, and while Mei Chen may have the superior chip (software), Gabriel proves he has the superior hardware and defeats her, sending her out of his head. Mei Chen is concerned with what the chip has made her, what it has done to her soul, relying on sexual deviance to prove that she is still human. Amos has clearly not provided the same quality of support as Shenendoah has for Gabriel. She wants to start a new race with Gabriel, and she tells him that she stole the intelligence to protect them. She tells him she is alone, they are alone together. However, Gabriel sees her as the serpent, not Eve. Furthermore, Gabriel is not alone. He doesn’t hesitate to tell Riley that there is something wrong with his chip, and he trusts the team to tell them too. Gabriel has embraced the chip as part of himself, and he’s even concerned that Shenendoah will turn it off.

    I liked that they were able to hack into Mei Chen’s chip, and then update Gabriel’s. It seems unlikely that scientists like Shenendoah and Nelson (PJ Byrne) wouldn’t keep tweaking their pet project, finding weaknesses and holes and making them better. After all, they designed the second chip after they’d been fired from Cyber Command.

    With Amos out of the picture, it’s likely that Mei Chen will have to find someone else to help her maintain the chip. I’m anticipating her going to Shenendoah at some point. It will be interesting to see if his clearly fatherly feelings toward her will be enough to bring her to the “good” side and save her. I suspect, however, that the deviance and ruthlessness that we’ve already seen in her will prove too strong. There is a nice dichotomy here between nature and nurture – though I think Gabriel is winning on both counts.

    While I was curious as to how Gabriel could have slipped past Riley to get to Mexico on his own at the beginning of the episode, I’m willing to overlook that particular logic gap. She appeals to him to come “home” to the “people who care about you.” I loved that Riley took the physical solution of punching Gabriel instead of zapping him to snap out of the render when he gets stuck in it on the plane. I really like how Riley matter-of-factly does her job. She denies having punched Gabriel, but she also doesn’t tell him that he pulled a gun on her, putting her in danger because that’s her job and she knows he will feel guilty for it even though he had no control over it. I was also happy at how quickly they dealt with the tension between the two. It was nice to see him recognize that she saved him – not the chip – and forgive her for pushing him out the window in the last episode. It was also nice that she didn’t back down, and said she’d to it again.

    This episode nicely wove the theme of humanity throughout. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be alone? While the overtones of spiritually with the discussion of souls, the afterlife and the analogy of Gabriel/Chen to Adam/Eve were perhaps a bit heavy handed, especially setting her up as the temptress who ruined the Garden of Eden, I liked the depth this added to the show. What did you think of the episode? Were you excited to see Mei Chen back? Do you think she is going to be the big bad going forward? Were you excited to see Reddick join the cast? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.