Intelligence 1.13 "Being Human" Review: What Makes Us Human

    The season finale for Intelligence, “Being Human,” was written by executive producers Michael Seitzman and Barry Schindel and was directed by Stephen Williams. Williams also directed episode 3, “Mei Chen Returns.” As of this writing, there has still not been any word on whether the series will be picked up for a second season. I really like this concept and the characters they’ve carefully developed. There’s great chemistry amongst the cast and there are plenty of stories left to tell. While I wouldn’t say the finale was the best episode of the series, I do feel like this show deserves another chance, even if it’s another shortened run.

    As the title of the episode indicates, the main theme of the episode is the one that’s been a central one all season: what makes us human and is Gabriel (Josh Holloway) still human? The episode introduces us to the one person who more than anyone else can tell us whether Gabriel is as human now as he was before he had the chip implanted: his mother (Debra Mooney). I loved the scene between Gabriel and his mother when he’s asking her about her drinking and she says she’s no quitter, and then he sasses her right back with it. Holloway and Mooney do a great job creating that chemistry between mother and son. In fact, the episode does a really good job, letting us know everything we need to in order to understand this new character. She’s tough, but she’s been through a lot. She understands her son and the world he lives in and she loves him fiercely.

    The final scene between Gabriel, Riley (Meghan Ory) and his mother is both hilarious and touching. I loved that she thought Riley and Gabriel were an item and how flustered they both got about it. Gabriel confesses that he’s had a chip implanted in his brain. Tellingly the first thing she asks is whether it hurts. Clearly, she doesn’t have any other concerns about it as long as it isn’t hurting her child. She then asks if there’s a downside. Gabriel explains that some people think he can be programmed like a computer to do whatever other people want him to. His mother’s response is to ask whether he’s worried that’s possible. He confesses he is. Both Holloway and Ory are fantastic in this scene as we see in close-ups exactly what they are thinking and their personal concerns. Riley is clearly distressed at Gabriel’s worry. It’s hard to say whether she shares his worry.

    In a brilliant and obvious comparison, Gabriel’s mother asks about Weatherly (Tomas Arana). She summarizes that he they got him when he was young and filled him full of crap which they then used to make him do what they wanted – they programmed him. She concludes that you don’t have to have a chip in your brain to be programmed. Riley has the final say about it when she says that she knows him, and she knows that the chip doesn’t make him less than human, it makes him more than human.

    The episode also once again drives home one of the other things that make us human – those around us. Gabriel’s mother is just one example, and she saves him both physically and spiritually in this episode. But the team also plays a role in keeping Gabriel safe and fighting for him.

    This episode did have a lot of twists and turns and surprise reveals. Tetazoo (Lance Reddick) turns out to be one of the good guys in the end. He may or may not be dead. It certainly looks like he died sending that picture to Lillian (Marg Helgenberger), but the news report doesn’t indicate that he’s dead and says the police are looking for the assailant, not the killer. Of course, that’s a bit of a plot hole in itself as it certainly looked like Tetazoo had killed him, so you’d expect the body to have been there – Mei Chen (Faye Kingslee) clean up, perhaps? We also learn that Weatherly had been a sleeper agent all this time. Perhaps the biggest reveal is that Leland (Peter Coyote) would seem to be the big bad – and I called it! There’s a nice clue to Leland’s involvement when Weatherly quotes him to Lillian. “You’re father is fond of saying we are defined by the decisions we make. I am defined by the decisions of others.” And in fact, Weatherly is defined by the decisions that Leland has made.

    Weatherly taunts Gabriel with the story of how Clockwork got its name. He tells him it was based on a 19th century story called “The Ablest Man in the World.” In the story, a simple man is made a clockwork brain by a mad scientist. The parallel between Gabriel and Shenendoah (John Billingsley) is clear. The tragedy in the story occurs when the man realizes that he is no longer human and will always be marginalized and alone. However, as we’ve seen, those closest to Gabriel recognize that he is still human. Weatherly has always referred to him as “the asset” an d even compares him to a rogue fighter jet in this episode. The parallels to the man in the story are, in reality, Weatherly himself and Mei Chen.

    Weatherly has become nothing more than a pawn to those controlling him. He resists the order to kill Cameron, insisting he’s too valuable to essentially sacrifice in this way. When Mei Chen appears in his cell, Weatherly is elated and says he knew they would save him, they wouldn’t leave him alone. Of course, she’s there to kill him, not save him.

    Mei Chen continuously tried to get Gabriel to join her, seeing him as alone as she is herself. However, she doesn’t see all of him. It’s telling that she really only reveals herself to him when they are rendering. It’s only his chip that makes him interesting to her. She’s embraced what the chip can do for her, but instead of letting it supplement her life, she has let it be her life and of course, Gabriel is the only one who can join her there.

     Jameson (Michael Rady) is sent to bring Gabriel and Riley to safety at Gabriel’s surrogate father’s house – Shenendoah’s. I loved the scene when Riley and Jameson are in a standoff and neither is sure how the dead body ended up on the floor. Lillian is unsure of her reception by Gabriel and immediately tells him that she’s always been and always will be on his side. It was another great scene, complete with Nelson’s delight as seeing Gabriel and Riley.

    Some odds and ends about the episode. It was fun to see Riley use her old partner again to gain access to Governor Cameron (Bonita Friedericy), but it seemed a bit too bad that Griff – Agent Griffin (Michael Trucco) - lost another job over it. I’d love to see this as a running gag on the show! We really didn’t get much from Nelson (PJ Byrne) and Shenendoah, though I loved Nelson figuring out how to identify the figures in the Flood photo. I loved Gabriel “MacGyvering” the microwave with the hair spray. I did think it was a bit stupid for Riley to cover the Governor and have the wounded Gabriel, who was already struggling, run after Weatherly – though to be fair, he was able to catch him using the chip which Riley wouldn’t have been able to do.

    All in all, this was a fine episode to conclude the first season. It also had enough closure to act as the final episode to the series if it has to. My fingers are still crossed that we’ll get more of these characters. What did you think of the episode? Did it leave you wanting more? Were you surprised by any of the big reveals or twists? If this is the last episode, which character will you miss the most? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!