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Comic-Con: CBS' Intelligence Is Not the New Chuck
A secret agent with a computer chip in his head may sound like a familiar premise, but CBS' new drama Intelligence is a far cry from Chuck.Lost's Josh Holloway stars as Gabriel Black, a man whose computer chip allows him to access every piece of information on the internet through a program called Clockwork. If that doesn't sound nearly as cool as Chuck Bartowski being able to do kung-fu with the Intersect 2.0, that's because Gabriel doesn't need those skills — he's already a badass on his own. His "powers" include being able to render a 3D version of a crime scene so he can walk through it, and also get a fact sheet on his enemies so he can exploit their weaknesses. And you better hope your compound isn't controlled by electronic doors, because it'll be far too easy for him to escape.
A secret agent with a computer chip in his head may sound like a familiar premise, but CBS' new drama Intelligenceis a far cry from Chuck.
Lost's Josh Holloway stars as Gabriel Black, a man whose computer chip allows him to access every piece of information on the internet through a program called Clockwork. If that doesn't sound nearly as cool as Chuck Bartowski being able to do kung-fu with the Intersect 2.0, that's because Gabriel doesn't need those skills — he's already a badass on his own. His "powers" include being able to render a 3D version of a crime scene so he can walk through it, and also get a fact sheet on his enemies so he can exploit their weaknesses. And you better hope your compound isn't controlled by electronic doors, because it'll be far too easy for him to escape.
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"I thought Chuck was a great show," Holloway recently told TVGuide.com. "But it's not Chuck at all. The computer can't enhance what I am. I can't download how to fly a helicopter and suddenly fly a helicopter. I'm basically just connected to the information grid, so it can assist me in more practical ways than that concept of Chuck. I'm still Gabriel and I get my tail kicked most of the time."At Comic-Con on Thursday, the producers stressed that the technology being used in the show is actually current. "We talk about Six Million Dollar Man all the time," executive producer Michael Seitzman said. "That was about human advancement. They ask a lot of the same questions. We try to make a show that feels as much human as it is technology. We ask the question all the time, 'What part of the human is left when you augment humanity?'"Because of his skills, Gabriel is a huge and expensive asset to the United States, which is why Lillian Strand (Marg Helgenberger), the head of U.S. Cyber Command, hires Agent Riley O'Neil (Once Upon a Time's Meghan Ory) to protect (or babysit) Gabriel. Naturally, there will be an element of will-they-won't-they tension between Riley and Gabriel. But that will be made difficult because of Gabriel's wife. Not only is he a married man, but his wife was also deep undercover and apparently turned against the United States, which sends Gabriel and Riley on a hunt to track down the truth about her apparent terrorist activities."I really loved the idea of this," Holloway says. "It's a dramatic thriller with hot, strong women characters and a mixture between James Bond, Borne Identity and Mission: Impossible. I grew up always wanting to play a secret agent of sorts. This was very interesting and very current with the way our world is changing every day with technology."Intelligence premieres midseason on CBS.(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)