Obviously on a shoestring budget, I-Man still took less than four episodes to capitalize on the all-too-rare chemistry between virtually all of its characters. All of the modern Star Trek series have taken three years apiece to get anywhere near this level. The crackling and hilarious dynamic between Ventresca and Ben-Victor as Fawkes and Hobbes is a prime example of what happens when good writing actually gets into the hands of good actors. When Fawkes and Hobbes team up and play a scene opposite The Official, The Keeper, Eberts, or Arnaud De Fehrn (AKA Da Phone), the result is ten times better than this show has any business being. This is not to knock the production team at all, but the cast and the writers definitely make this show.
The recurring character of Allianora (and her organization, Chrysalis) as both love interest AND principal opponent for Fawkes was handled better than many series of "greater" import and certainly of higher budgets have managed. All in all, the first season of I-Man was a terrific success.
The newly-introduced second season has a question mark on it, however. The introduction of uber-agent Alex Monroe left me wanting. While I am not yet willing to pronounce Brandy Ledford's efforts as pointless, a character with too much power has much bigger shoes to fill dramatically. Her serious and lonely quest to find her son separates her from the rest of The Agency even further than does her titanic skillset, and to hammer a point home again, it's the relationships that make the show.
This show's other great strength is its ability not to take itself too seriously, a precious gift in an all-too-serious world. If I-Man can keep it up, I might almost forgive the Sci-Fi Channel for dumping Good Versus Evil (just when it was getting REALLY good) after all.
Almost.
Check this show out for a couple weeks, especially if you're lucky enough to see the episodes, "Flowers for Hobbes" and "The Importance of Being Eberts". You'll be glad you did.
Shut up, Eberts!