Television, Intelligence, "Athens"

For a while there I was enjoying Intelligence more than Almost Human, but after the past couple episodes I've tipped in the other direction.

This episode was the: "What happens if Gabriel's chip becomes disconnected?" one. Or, really, "What if the data is faulty?" Or something like that.

In short, the bad Chinese guy from the pilot was back and he cut the WiFi or something and Gabriel couldn't remember anything. (This is me rolling my eyes. Why the memory malfunction? I assume Gabriel's brain still works without the chip? Is he now storing all his memories in the chip instead of in the part of his brain that holds memories? Even if that were true—and it's ridiculous—he should have memories up to a certain point before the chip was installed. And don't they have a backup drive for him or something? A reboot protocol?)

Okay, whatever, the sum total of the episode was the good guys trying to convince Gabriel they were, in fact, the good guys. Meanwhile, Gabriel was helping Jin Cong instead.

Now let's talk simple logic. Cuz even if his chip is dysfunctional, shouldn't Gabriel be able to look around and see that all the people there are Americans and that Cong is the odd man out? His American uniform notwithstanding? Does Gabriel believe the Americans have kidnapped him and that he's actually working for the Chinese? I'm just saying, surely Gabriel is capable of assessing the situation outside of whatever data he's receiving from his chip.

Take the interaction regarding his wife. Lillian and Riley attempt to remind Gabriel of Amelia. At first Jin Cong tells him that it's a lie, but when Gabriel "checks his files" he sees that he did love Amelia. Cong immediately changes his tune to, "And Riley killed her!" Dude, the guy was lying. Quite obviously. Like, right to Gabriel's face. But Gabriel sided with him anyway?

Ostensibly the reason for Gabriel's adherence to Cong is a list ("Athens" seems to have been the name of the project) Cong has of children who are candidates for Clockwork—that is, they have the right mutation to be chipped the way Gabriel is. Gabriel is angry that Cyber Command would consider such a thing. Okay, yes, but . . . Siding with the enemy isn't necessarily the best answer.

In short, I feel like there is a lack of logic in favor of what are supposed to be highly dramatic situations and moral dilemmas, but the flaws are too great for me to buy in. The show wants to play in grey: grey matter, grey areas. That's great, that's fun stuff, but the massive holes suggest no one has really thought this through. And if I don't have faith in the writers and creators, that they know what they're doing, I can't really invest in or enjoy the show.

I will admit that my attention was divided and that there may have been perfectly acceptable explanations given for all the problems I perceived in the episode. If I missed something, feel free to enlighten me in the comments.