Human Target Episode 1.04 Sanctuary

A young woman named Emily asks Winston to help her boyfriend, John Gray. Formerly the inside man for a vicious robbery crew led by Sam Fisher, Gray specialized in identifying valuable antiquities to steal. But while casing a museum, he met Emily and decided to change his life. He tipped off the cops, then led her away during the shootout.

Gray's hiding at St. Benedictine Monastery, a remote mountain retreat in Quebec accessible only by aerial cable car. While en route to prison, Fisher and his crew escaped and are now headed to the monastery for revenge.

Chance is up for the case but wonders why Winston is, since it's so risky. Winston says John is a guy who made mistakes and wants to put them behind him. If they can't help a guy like that, what the hell are they doing here? He looks hard at Chance, who was once that guy.

Posing as Brother Mitchell in a long, hooded monk's cassock, Chance meets Abbot Stevens at the monastery. He quizzes some monks and even gives an impromptu sermon, quoting Psalm 34, verses 4-6, to ferret out Gray. When they connect, Chance says he's there to get him away from Fisher. But Gray says he can't leave it's complicated. Why? That's what Stevens wants to know too.

Back in San Francisco, Guerrero tells a mysterious contact he can get the materials by tonight. But who's behind this request? The client says when he gets the item, they'll talk.

An apologetic Gray confesses to Chance and Stevens that this abbey houses the Nicene Annals, an ancient account of a secret Christian gathering. After tracing it to Stevens' predecessor, he had planned to steal the book, sell it, and run. Fisher knows about the book because it was supposed to be their next job.

Fisher and crew head up the mountain, leaving one henchman, disguised as a patrolman Fisher murdered, to guard the gondola station. Winston sees the carriage moving and tries to contact Chance, but static interferes with their commlink signal. Hiking to the station, he spots the fake trooper. Winston gets through to Chance, warning him the gondola's up there. Suddenly a gunman bursts into Stevens' office, and Chance springs into action.

Winston phones Guerrero for a helicopter evacuation, but Guerrero's got another gig, dude. He's breaking into Chance's HQ. What? He's after case file #0001, Chance's first job. Guerrero photographs the contents and listens to a recording of Winston discussing the case. It involves Katherine Walters -- a name we've heard but know little about, except she changed everything for Chance.

Fisher's crew has enough C4 plastic explosives to level the monastery. Fisher doesn't like leaving witnesses.

The book is hidden underneath the monastery, in a crypt with other relics. The only entrance inside the abbey is behind the altar in the chapel, where Fisher's holding the monks hostage. Stevens creates a diversion by ringing the bells. He gets caught, but Chance and Gray get into the tunnel. A bespectacled monk sees them, and later -- when Fisher's gang tries to beat information out of the abbot -- tells Fisher where they went.

In the tunnel, Chance asks why Gray didn't take off with the book before now. He says it's because of Emily: She made him feel like one of the good guys. Chance finds the book, actually a scroll inside a locked wooden box. It can only be opened with Pope Clement VII's ring, which Chance observes should have been destroyed when the pope died. Even unopenable, the box is worth millions.

Winston punches out the thug at the station and heads up the mountain. Fisher and the gang invade the crypt. Gray tells Fisher he has the ring that opens the box, making the relic worth even more. It's stashed in a bank down the mountain. If Fisher lets everybody go, Gray will take him to it. Deal. As they head out, Winston follows in the shadows.

Fisher leaves one henchman with Chance, the monks, and the C4 detonator. Winston arrives and shoots the thug, who still triggers the three-minute countdown to ka-boom. Winston has to defuse the detonator. Usually that's Guerrero's gig. He phones Guerrero and asks which wire to cut: red or blue? Guerrero says sometimes you just gotta go with your gut, dude. With one second left, Winston snips the blue wire. Detonator defused!

Meanwhile, Chance slings a chain over the gondola cable and slides down, crashing into the carriage. In a heart-stopping mid-air duel, Fisher and Chance struggle over a gun, thugs fall screaming to their deaths, and Gray ends it by shooting Fisher while dangling from the doorway in Chance's grip.

Back at HQ, Emily and John hug. John's turning himself in. The abbot gave the book to a museum, but Chance got the Pope's ring. Winston's not impressed by a useless trinket that opens a box they don't have.

In voiceover, Winston says he knows Chance was thinking about Katherine while watching Emily and John. Chance still hasn't forgiven himself for what happened. Winston hopes that, someday, he will.

Guerrero gives his client case file #0001, then asks who he's working for. The client smirks and turns away. Guerrero calmly shoots him in the back. The man says, "He doesn't get to just walk away, not after everything he did." He says Guerrero thinks he can protect Chance, but he can't. "We'll see," says Guerrero. He raises the gun. BLAM!