REVIEW OF INTELLIGENCE 1×04: “ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO THREATEN ME?”
“Secrets of the Secret Service” was yet another fantastic episode for the CBS freshman drama Intelligence. In addition to allowing us a glimpse into Riley’s former life as a Secret Service agent and revealing to Gabriel and to the viewers that President Finnegan was the one who ordered the creation of ‘Clockwork’, this episode of Intelligence also kept us on the edge of our seats with a ‘Mission Impossible’ style op in Syria that featured more twists and turns than a roller coaster ride. And all of that wasn’t even the highlight for me.
For me, the highlight of the episode was what I felt was the escalation of what is sure to be an epic battle: CyberCommand vs. the CIA, more specifically, Lillian Strand vs. Jeffrey Tetazoo. The exchanges between Lillian and Tetazoo throughout the episode are just electric — the intense stares, the fierce dialogue, the hints from Lillian regarding their professional history together: “We both know where the bodies are buried and who put them there. Are you sure you want to threaten me?” I think it’s safe to say that regardless of what DNI Adam Weatherly says about it being time to kiss and make up, that’s just not in the cards. In fact, it appears to be quite the opposite when, under the guise of the President wanting “checks and balances,” Tetazoo and Weatherly attempt to back Lillian into a corner regarding Gabriel’s unpredictable behavior. I sure hope Lillian comes out swinging in the next episode.
Don’t miss the new episode of Intelligence, “The Rescue”, which airs Monday, February 3, at 10PM ET/PT.
“FROM BONER TO BOSS” – MARG ON ‘THE QUEEN LATIFAH SHOW’ (1/27/2014)
Here are some highlight clips from Marg’s appearance on ‘The Queen Latifah Show’ today. In this entertaining interview, Marg and Queen Latifah discuss football, the strong female roles Marg has played over the years, Helgenberger Avenue, and more. Marg also plays a steamy and very amusing round of “Blankety Blank”.
Credit: queenlatifah.com
INTELLIGENCE 1×03 ‘MEI CHEN RETURNS’ – “HE’S NOT AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER. HE’S A HUMAN BEING.”
“Intelligence” delivered another stellar hour of television this week with their third episode, “Mei Chen Returns”. In this episode, Gabriel’s chip is hacked and the Cyber Command team quickly realizes that not only has Mei Chen survived the surgery that we witnessed in the Pilot episode to implant a chip similar to Gabriel’s in her brain, but her chip also appears to be even more powerful than Gabriel’s. Unlike Gabriel, however, Mei Chen has no interest in using her chip for good; instead, she uses her chip first to taunt Gabriel by invading his cyber renders, but her ultimate goal is to steal the technology behind the chip and sell it so that it can be mass produced and create a new species. As Gabriel aptly proclaims, she is one ‘crazy bitch’ and so Lillian and her team have their work cut out for them: they need Gabriel’s help to stop Mei Chen, but to not take Gabriel “offline” is to leave him vulnerable to the mindgames that Mei Chen seems to enjoy playing with him.
The highlight of this episode for me was watching Lillian at odds with the leaders of some of the other federal agencies. She held her own quite well against her counterparts and even took the CIA Director to task for daring to spy on her agency. Her hard-nosed approach to dealing with them also countered nicely with her staunch defense of Gabriel and his right to mourn his recently deceased wife and her complete faith that he will come back to them and do his job. She might be tough as nails because she has to be, but like Gabriel, she is not a machine. I do still have a lingering question about Lillian’s motivation for not telling Gabriel the truth about Amelia, especially since his unanswered questions are obviously plaguing him and his cyber renders, but I’m sure she has her reasons and that all will eventually be revealed.
In addition to my continuing love for Marg’s character, other highlights of the episode for me were Jameson, Nelson, and Dr. Cassidy. I think Lillian’s boys makes a great team, and I especially enjoy Nelson’s humorous one-liners and his enthusiasm when he’s getting his ‘geek on’: “Booyah!, I’m in!” I also enjoyed the unexpected comic relief that the return of our ‘fat friend’ Amos and his four buckets of fried chicken provided. Those unexpected moments of humor interspersed throughout all of these otherwise intense moments are probably what I enjoy the most about “Intelligence”. It’s just a fun hour of television and I look forward to tuning in each week.
INTELLIGENCE 1×02 RED X: IT’S LILLIAN’S CALL
As blown away as I was by the Intelligence series premiere, I thought that “Red X”, the second offering from its freshman season, was an even stronger episode. Packed with action and full of plot twists, the episode kept me on the edge of my seat from its opening sequence to the final scene.
I especially enjoyed that we were immediately plunged into some pretty major character development now that we’ve gotten through the business of explaining where everyone fits into the picture at CyberCommand. I don’t want to give anything away for those who haven’t seen the episode yet, but let’s just say we have three very strong personalities in Lillian, Gabriel, and Riley, which leads to many tense moments. I think it’s safe to say that Lillian and Riley will have their hands full each episode trying to protect Gabriel, both from terrorists and from himself.
Marg continues to impress, no surprise there. She’s very convincing in her role as the head of a federal government agency and I just love Lillian. She is downright fierce when she needs to be (i.e. when she needs to reel Gabriel back in), but she can also dial it down and be quite nurturing, such as in her scene with the little boy in the episode’s closing moments. I think she’s going to be a character with a lot of depth and I look forward to learning more about her throughout the season.
Thanks to the cast and crew for another entertaining hour of television. I can’t wait to see the next new episode, “Mei Chen Returns”, which airs on Monday, January 20 at 10PM ET.
Click thumbnails below to visit the screen capture album for this episode…
‘THE TALK’ INTERVIEW: MARG TALKS ‘INTELLIGENCE’ & CO-STAR JOSH HOLLOWAY
Here’s the interview clip from Marg’s appearance on CBS’ “The Talk” earlier today. Special thanks to Sharon for putting together the clip for me. Summary: Marg discusses her hit new CBS show “Intelligence” and playing Lillian Strand, the director of the United States Cyber Command. She also reveals co-star Josh Holloway’s on set nickname: “We call him ‘peaches’…I think because he’s from Georgia!”
CBS has also just made the complete episode available as well, so you can watch that at CBS.com.