Human Target “Imbroglio” 

A night at the opera for the team (minus Ames, who called in sick, but Chance offers that he heard slot machines in the background—hee!) goes sideways when they find themselves in the middle of what would seem to be a high-class kidnapping. The episode begins with Ilsa dressed to the nines but somehow standing alone in an alley while she flashes back to the Hector Lopez debacle (which various folks refer to as “in light of recent events” throughout the episode). A stretch limo pulls up and another equally decked-out lady, Connie, steps out of the car and puts on airs for about a minute before telling Ilsa to give her sister-in-law a hug.

They head upstairs to meet to the team, because Connie is there under the auspices of a Pucci Foundation board review only to find Guerrero about to shoot Chance, who’s wearing body armor over his clothes and a catcher’s helmet while standing in front of a mattress. The appropriately-aghast Ilsa demands to know WTF and they gleefully announce that they’re testing new body armor because they can’t outside, where there are “kids and stuff.” Winston wanders in mid-sentence, spies Ilsa, and launches into an “I can’t leave you two alone for a minute” diatribe before Ilsa pulls him up short to introduce Connie. Guerrero breaks out his swagger, pronouncing her a stone fox. Hee. I didn’t know he had it in him. Connie has a security man with her, which Chance finds unusual, so he chats the fellow up and finds out there was a ten-second security feed breach at the opera house. Chance asks if he’s sure if it wasn’t 15, and the man doesn’t know. He “hmmms” that and then Ilsa, Connie, and the security guy depart.

They get to the opera house and Connie is proud to show off her brother’s chandelier, which is part of the stage setting. She suggests that Chance must clean up nice (Weird thing to espouse to your brother’s widow. Just saying.) and Ilsa says she doesn’t know and Connie points out he does, because he’s standing right there in a lovely tux, alongside an also-tuxed Guerrero. Ilsa wigs and thinks he’s still on her about the Lopez thing and he tells her about the security feed, which she pronounces ridiculous. In short order, masked gunmen enter and Chance announces he hates to be right.

We then commence with the usual round-em-up hostages thing while another set of gunmen  (led by Carlos Rota, who our new writer, Rueben, profiled, as Eli Rosko) are actually down in the basement scoping out another mission—breaking out a high profile CIA prisoner, Eli’s brother, Victor, who’s housed next door. Chance fake-vomits to get the upper hand on one of the captors and then he and Guerrero get the drop on another of the gunmen while Winston mans a van outside, and he’s pretty quickly snapped up by the Feebs because Connie unwisely 911’s it. Guerrero, still in Tribbiani mode, surprisingly doesn’t wipe the floor with her about it. He stays with the hostages while Chance heads to the basement to confirm that he’s right that the hostages are a cover for another job.

On his way back from scoping it out and relaying the details to Winston, he’s brought down by a couple of guys (thankfully the shiny new Kevlar works) just as Guerrero is getting tossed by a group of gunmen upstairs. He throws Ilsa his earpiece as they haul him out, so she ends up having to rescue Chance, which grates on him. Winston, meanwhile, is clueing the Feebs in to the real crime as his cover comes undone, so we have Guerrero and Winston out of commission. Eli does a taunt session with a tied-up Guerrero before staging the hostages to look like gunmen (a la the Joker) and the gunmen strip their gear off to reveal they’re already in tuxes to blend with the hostages and walk out the front door.

Winston and Chance figure this out in time, and Guerrero confirms it with Morse code via rifle sight light while Chance takes out the rest of the crew. The Roskos take the Puccis hostage again and Chance pre-apologizes for endangering the chandelier, which he drops as a distraction before shooting the brothers. All saved! Winston is let go by the Feebs after they realize it doesn’t matter that he wasn’t who he said he was because he was right.

Later on, Connie is “you’re right- ing to Ilsa and Guerrero suggests they’re on for Venice, where they’ll share her opera box, and she just laughs but doesn’t say no. Ilsa starts toward home as Chance is lacing up his sneakers and she confronts him that he’s been following her home. She tells him it’s not necessary; that she’s fine. He takes her at her word and watches her go to the elevator before heading upstairs.

Fun outing this week. Everybody got to play dress up and Ilsa saved Chance again. I like that they’re letting Guerrero throw down pretty much every week now. There was another episode after this one on Friday (delayed from Wednesday due to the Tuscon tragedy), which I’ll review next. It was a darker outing. They’re off this week and next and then back on the 31st. Only three episodes to go before they wrap. The bigger question mark is whether we’ll get a third season. Hope so.