Check out what they had to say after the jump, andbe aware that there are some spoilers.
MICHAEL SEITZMAN: It becomes a big theme for us, throughout the season.
The questions are questions that we all deal with, every day.
But, we ask the question all the time.
What does it mean for the character when hes facing the fact that hes not completely him?
And we thread that through the whole season.
TRIPP VINSON: Theres another danger, as storytellers, when you have a hero with superpower.
How do you define that?
How do you limit that superpower?
What is his Kryptonite?
What are some of Gabriels abilities, and what are his limitations?
SEITZMAN: If its connected, somehow, he can get it.
BARRY SCHINDEL: He cant turn off and on lights, unless theyre connected to something.
Can the chip be used to make him physically stronger, in any way?
In fact, we have a character him that a couple of times.
You make a run at approach it from that angle.
Storytelling is conflict management.
Where does the tension come from?
The tension is always going to come from what he cant do, or what other people cant do.
You get a certain amount of satisfaction and wish fulfillment from the things that he can do.
You see those powers given to heroes, all the time.
Thats how this all began.
SEITZMAN: We take a stab at think about, Whats the most fun storytelling?
The idea of measuring between man and machine permeates all the stuff that we do.
We do a lot of what ifs, like What if I had that chip?
What if I could do that?
What would I do with that?
The more hes like us, the better.
Thats whats fun for us.
What else are you setting up, to keep the series going for five or seven seasons?
SEITZMAN: The series can work, as long as you continue to tell good stories.
TheSix Million Dollar Mancomes up from journalists a lot, and that had a lot of legs.
You had one conceit, which was that he had these superhuman parts, but they told a procedural.
Were only limited by the amount of ideas we can come up with.
By the way, that doesnt mean were not limited.
SCHINDEL: Ultimately, the series is about the characters and how they react to each other.
Its still about the emotions between Gabriel and Riley.
We have plenty of character stories to tell, in addition to the procedural element.
SEITZMAN: Well, she didnt die.
She turned into a great character for us.
She became really fun because shes Gabriel without the conscience.
Shes also a terrific actress.
Shes sexy and fun, and has a great presence and confidence that the character needed.
Its just fun to write a character who doesnt really have a conscience.
As a villain, youre always looking for somebody more powerful than your hero.
As they say, if you play with a better tennis player, your tennis game gets better.
With Gabriel, maybe he gets better because of her.
But, it became really fun for us, and she became fun.
Were really excited about it.
Will there be a rivalry between them?
She seems to feel that she and Gabriel are the only ones on the planet.
I wanna say that its a love-hate thing, but theres not a lot of hate there.
I think she loves him, in her own way.
She thinks theyre Adam and Eve.
VINSON: Theyre set up as rivals, though.
When she re-emerges, shes doing things that he needs to stop.
Who is she working for?
Is she a free agent?
She emerges as this really powerful, really mysterious mercenary for hire.
We dont really know that much about her, when he first encounter her.
But, she re-emerges as a really fun character with a lot of abilities, who works for clients.
Were never quite sure how she meets them or how they pay her.
We just know that shes a gun-for-hire.
Is Amos (Elden Henson) still connected to her, in some way?
SEITZMAN: He might be.
You want us to be a little bit coy.
Is the story with Gabriels wife over, after Episode 2, or will that remain unresolved?
SEITZMAN: Were not sure if shes really dead.
Shes dead, as far as we know, at the end of Episode 2.
We dont want to give it up too soon.
It will continue, over the series.
We dont quite know for how long yet.
There are a few threads that we take throughout the first season, and then into the second season.
We have several story arcs that traverse into the second season, if there is such a thing.
That leaves him in a quandary about, What do I do now?
I got the chip to find my wife, and that mission is now over.
SEITZMAN: I dont know.
We dont want to reveal too much for the audience, but we just liked the idea.
It was one of those things.
You start to write it and go, Well, what if this happened?
And you like it, so you do it.
Most of the time, when youre writing, youre just trying to c’mon yourself.
Youre trying to write the show you want to watch.
What do I want?
You try not to think too hard about where it should take place.
You just think about how its going to be satisfying.
It gives him more bandwith because weve put a pin in that, for now.
What did Josh Holloway bring to the role that made him the right actor?
SEITZMAN: Hes really human.
Everybody calls certain people by their first name because you just feel like theyre in your living room.
Josh has that thing.
He smiles and the whole planet seems to shift.
SEITZMAN: He was highly sought after because he had decided he could be convinced.
He was putting his toe in the water.
There are 80 or 100 pilots getting ready to go, and people are vying for the same people.
But, everybody wanted Josh.
Just the idea that he was coming back to television had the whole town lit up.
So, we put our hat in the ring, and we won the sweepstakes.
Where would you put this show in the realm of previous shows on television?
So, we have a very strong, athletic, military experienced character.
Will this show be in a case-of-the-week structure?
And how are you balancing serialized aspects on a data pipe that is so heavily focused on the procedural?
SEITZMAN: Yeah, its more than normal, although theyve been doing more of that lately.
Weve tried to be very mindful.
And we try not to be too mysterious.
We take a stab at let people in to the show.
And we also have to stay loyal to the people who are loyal to us.
We think about it, all the time.
Were really mindful of it.
What are the serialized aspects?
SEITZMAN: We have a bunch of characters who reappear, over the course of the season.
We have other characters who our characters know.
We bring back an ex-boyfriend of Rileys.
There are little storylines that we return to, or that we dip a toe into.
That allows us to populate a world, so it feels like a real world.
Its not just new characters, every week.
Youll feel like there is a community that weve created.
Will you delve into the characters personal lives, at all, or have any flashbacks?
SEITZMAN: Weve had some flashbacks, and weve gone home with them.
We venture to begin the show with a moment that we pay off, in some way, later.
What was it like to develop the visual aspect of what Gabriel can do?
SEITZMAN: Thats a great question.
It was a real process that we went through.
Its just not as compelling, as it was to you when you were dreaming it.
Its been really fun.
Our visual effects company, Zoic, is really terrific.
Weve created a real visual vocabulary for Gabriel that you become used to, very quickly.
The big idea for that was that hes always seeing that stuff.
Its just about what he chooses to focus on.
That was right for that character because hes a robot, but thats different from what our needs are.
We wanted him to play it like its just a part of him.
And Josh was very mindful of that.
He didnt want to feel like a robot.
Its just a part of your life now, and thats the way the character has to respond.
Will viewers actually get to see when Gabriel first got the chip, in a flashback?
SEITZMAN: Not this season.
But next season, maybe.
Thats a good idea.
Intelligenceairs on Monday nights on CBS.
