Tag: space above and beyond

Originally aired November 26, 1995

Continuation of “Hostile Visit,” in this episode a captured 58th faces imprisonment, torture and execution at the hands of the Silicates who are working with the Chigs. But the Silicates made one mistake; they didn’t capture all of the 58th.

“Choice or Chance” is another great episode of SAaB after a few disappointing ones. In “Hostile Visit,” the 58th took a captured Chig bomber, attacked one of their planets and were shot down after delivering their payload. “Choice or Chance” opens with an escape pod from the wrecked bomber literally crashing into the planet with most of the 58th injured and Cooper Hawkes and TC McQueen being the only two who are able to escape into the wilds of Chig held territory.

Those who can’t get away are captured by the Silicates who are allied with and are running the Kazbek Penal Colony for the Chigs. There, it’s revealed that the Chigs have taken prisoners from their attacks on human colonies and Nathan West finally finds Kylen, his girlfriend missing since the pilot episode.

“Choice of Chance” deals with the POW experience soldiers sometimes face. Much of which here is culled from the experiences from the Vietnam War and especially experiences from, what’s all but a footnote now, the first war in Iraq. Paul Wang is separated form the other survivors and is tortured by a Silicate named Elroy. Like POW fliers of the first Iraq war who after being beaten had to give canned taped testimonials on how they thought the war was wrong, Paul must do the same at the hands of Elroy.

Played by  Doug Hutchison who’s had a career at playing bad guys from The X-Files to The Green Mile and even Lost to name a few, Elroy is terrifying as a soulless machine who literally has no limits when it comes to forcing Wang to do and say what he wants. Interestingly enough Elroy was originally a model of robot to act as a comedian with a catch phrase, “Your boy Elroy!” before the Silicates rebelled against the human race.

With the Silicates that you can kill them, as the 58th did to many of them in “Dark Side of the Sun” and Wang does to Elroy at the end of the episode. But since they’re machines with many models that all look alike much like cars you can meet virtually the same Silicate later on that looks and acts basically the same as ones you’ve met before but is a different robot off the production line. Elroy returns in a few episodes later in the season.

The other members of the 58th do have a bit of story from McQueen and Hawkes going “Rambo” on the Silicates, Shane Vansen and Vanessa Damphousse being held together and doing the old “we’ll pretend to fight so we can trick the guards to get out” routine and Nathan West escaping the prison along with captured colonist girlfriend Kylen who isn’t who he thinks she is. But what holds this episode together is the Wang/Elroy story.

Looking at this episode now what’s odd with it, but was a staple of similar shows of that same period, is that while the characters go through some substantial change in this episode — Wang is pushed past his limits with Elroy and is a different person when he returns to the Saratoga, Nathan West goes through turmoil to the point where he questions his whole reasoning behind why he’s a Marine — but by the next episode most of this growth and change is totally forgotten and we’re onto the next adventure.

Grade: A

Stray observations:

Paul Wang’s service number is 9483034828.

Elroy’s full name is “Elroy-L 1327.”

The Chigs nickname for humans is “Red Stink Creatures.”

McQueen was a POW during the AI War.

Favorite dialog:

‘T.C.’ McQueen: “It’s frightening how much pain an in-vitro…a human body can stand. You’d like to believe the body would break before the will. I held out three days. Once when they were doing stuff to me I heard screaming. It sounded far-off. I remember thinking, that poor bastard. What must he be going through? Then, when I came to, I realized the screams were coming from me.”

Elroy: “This war is being run by a bunch of Harvard white guys.”

Elroy: “Your boy Elroy!”

Paul Wang (About Elroy): “Hey eyes were like the living dead. They’ve got no souls.”

Goofs:

The Chig bomber is shot down by a missile and its escape pod falls from space and crashes into the ground and not one of the 58th are killed in all this mayhem?

How does Commodore Ross know that the place the 58th are being held is called the “Kazbek Penal Colony?” We only know it’s name from an on-screen title. I suppose this info could be common knowledge, but it seems like the Saratoga is pretty far behind the lines for Earth forces to know this sort of information.

The Chigs reveal another awesome piece of technology here — they’re able to perfectly duplicate a person and mimic their speech and mannerisms. To the point that one of the main characters is fooled by someone he’s known for years. It would seem that if the Chigs had this sort of tech they could quietly infiltrate our ranks and destroy us from within. But, unless memory fails me, much like the weapon in “The Enemy” this would never be seen again.

Originally aired November 19, 1995

During an attack a Chig bomber is disabled and captured by the crew of the Saratoga. The question becomes should be bomber be disassembled and studied to better learn the enemy’s technology, or should the 58th use it to fly a suicide mission to attack an enemy planet for a little payback?

The first of two parts, “Hostile Visit” is actually one of the better episodes of the SaAB series so far. Here, the Chigs attack the Saratoga but in the melee one of their ships is left behind with its crew dead but the bomber relatively intact. Which is something that hasn’t happened before in the SaAB universe. We’ve never captured a Chig whole anything and mostly undamaged so this bomber is a bit of a bonanza.

Enter Aerotec, the big meanie mysterious corporation that serves a conspiratorial function in SaAB that was trying to harness some of the then very popular The X-Files vibe. Aerotec wants to take the ship apart so they can reverse engineer the tech and eventually use it against the Chigs. But the Marines want to learn to fly the ship and take it back to where it came from and attack whatever’s there using the ship as a Trojan Horse right away.

Which is interesting logic from the Marines. Since the Chigs have never heard of the Trojan Horse story using the bomber to sneak in and attack a Chig base just might work.

The real meat of the episode here is of the 58th coming to terms with the idea that they might have just gotten elected to a mission that would almost certainly end with their deaths but that these deaths might have a bigger meaning in the overall war with the Chigs. The 58th like to think that they’re going on a Doolittle-like raid where US flew bombers off an aircraft carrier during the early days of WW2 to attack Tokyo. But as “Hostile Visit” progresses it becomes clear that while their mission might have some aspects of the Doolittle Raid, it’s more like the Japanese Kamikaze missions during the fading days of WW2 too.

There’s also a through-line here about the military and privatization. The private company Aerotec can fully study and develop new technologies from the bomber faster than the military can. But can a private corporation be expected to do what’s right in a situation where extinction is on the line or will they watch their bottom line instead?

The 58th does manage to fly the craft to the Chig planet, and before they’re shot down themselves they’re able to fire a missile at (what looks to be from above) a Chig city. But after all their effort and sacrifice the missile misses and falls just short of its target.

Which I find amazing. In just about any other show they payoff here would have been the crew of the 58th hitting the target then being shot down to continue the story. But when SaAB is at its best and is firing on all cylinders it’s able to subvert the viewer’s expectations and deliver something a bit more hard hitting.

Grade: B+

Stray observations:

They’re already setting up here (spoiler) that the Chigs originated from the Earth by having Vansen remark that it’s interesting that humans are able to interact with alien Chig technology as easily as they do.

“Geaked” — Means “get psyched” or “let’s go kick butt.” Maybe a replacement for “Gung Ho” in SaAB?

The Chig planet the 58th attacks is located in the “Cerus Region.”

The front-line between the Earth forces and the Chigs is called the “Von Bruan Line,” almost certainly named after Wernher von Braun, the father of modern space travel.

The Saratoga has a crew of about 15,000.

Favorite dialog:

(About the Chig bomber)
Crewman: “Is that thing dead?”
‘T.C.’ McQueen: “If it’s not, we are.”

Shane Vansen: “At least Armstrong had an idea what he’d find on the Moon.”

Cooper Hawkes: “I ain’t no kamikaze – ’cause I’m coming back.”

(About the organic insides of the Chig bomber)
Paul Wang: “I feel like I’m being digested.”

Originally aired November 12, 1995

The 58th are assigned to drop cargo on the planet Tartarus in order support Earth forces battling Chigs there. But after they’re hit by a weird Chig weapon that enhances fears and phobias the 58th find that their greatest enemy on Tartarus might be each other.

“The Enemy” caught me a little off guard. It’s an episode that I remember being one of the good ones, but looking back on it I think I was confusing “The Enemy” with parts of the later episode “Sugar Dirt.” Essentially, “The Enemy” is a take on the same sort of story that was handled so well in “Mutiny,” but dealt with a much less skilled hand in this episode.

Here, the 58th are inexplicably sent on a cargo-run — which begs the question; why send highly skilled fighter jocks to do a job any Marine could handle? The planet that’s being fought over is Tartarus that’s a hellish place of unrelenting heat, bad weather and an unbreathable atmosphere. After they’ve landed the 58th are confronted by a squad of other Marines engaged in a firefight with each other. And when the 58th goes to investigate the situation outside they’re hit by a weird light that turns out to be this secret Chig weapon.

Much of “The Enemy” deals with the 58th freaking out over the effects of the weapon, turning on one and other and finally figuring out that they have to work together to survive.

Which could have been interesting, except that at no point in any other episode did we ever get the sense that Wang was scared of bugs or Hawkes claustrophobic or Damphousse afraid of blood or Vansen scared of the dark or West worried that he’d never find his girl. And all these fears and phobias are multiplied many, many times by the weapon where the 58th are almost incapacitated by them.

Worst of all West once again ditches his friends to run off to try and find his girl like he did so annoyingly in “The Farthest Man from Home.” At least at the end of that episode we got the sense that he had learned his lesson about abandoning his friends, but apparently not.

The set used for the planet Tartarus isn’t up to snuff from what’s come before either. Tartarus looks manufactured from its flat floor to sculpted rocks. I’m guessing this was a redress of the Mars set used in the pilot episode which worked well there but doesn’t here. Why they didn’t use the real outdoors like with “The Dark Side of the Sun” or with the visually interesting “Ray Butts” is beyond me.

If “The Enemy” does have one redeeming value it’s of the character of Sgt. Jackson, a ghost soldier. One of the times West runs off he finds Jackson huddled in a trench in a scene that sent shivers down my spine. But other than that “The Enemy” is mostly forgettable, much like this highly effective Chig weapon was by the writers who would fail to use it again in any other future episode.

Grade: C+.

According to the Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology, Tartarus was an “…underworld zone of eternal torment, where the greatest sinners were punished for their transgressions.”

Stray observations:
The radio aboard the ISSCV is a “T-15-40 LOS Sattellite Radio.”

Shane Vansen’s full name is Shane Autumn Vansen and her service number is “5605103184.”

The Chigs use a kind of mine that when stepped on cuts the person in half. The Marines call them “Buzz Beams.”

Favorite dialog:
Sgt Jackson: “You’ve been here before. Anytime you wake in the dark in a cold sweat…moments before you were here.”

Paul Wang: “Ain’t physics a bitch?”

Nathan West: “So much for working together.”

Marine cadence: “Born in the woods. Trained by a bear. Double set of dog teeth. Triple coat of hair. M – mean as hell. A – all the time. R – rough and tough. I – in the mud. N – never quit. E – everyday. S – Semper Fi.”

Goofs: 
After the 58th’s ship is attacked on landing, in all the shooting the non-58th flight crew are killed in the cross-fire. Except shouldn’t the cockpit be MORE shielded than the cargo container the 58th are in that actively deflects bullets?

Maybe a goof: Wang calls Tatarus a “failed star.” Except in reality failed stars are gigantic, bigger than Jupiter that would have such high gravity the planet would smoosh a Marine flat. But maybe this is just scuttlebutt, not an actual fact in 2063 SAaB but something Wang heard from someone else?

Originally aired November 5, 1995

When the Secretary General of the UN (the leader of the Earth) is assassinated by an invitro, the planet falls into turmoil and another leader needs to be elected. It’s up to the 58th to keep the leading two candidates safe aboard the Saratoga as dark forces plot another assassination. But will their target be the ultra right-wing French ambassador Nicholas Chaput (George DelHoyo) or the US ambassador Diane Hayden (Harriet Sansom Harris)?

I remember this episode as being a bit dull, and nearly 20 years since I last saw it I still think “Eyes” is dull and the least interesting episode of the series so far. It almost seems as if series creators Glen Morgan and James Wong were trying to insert some The X-Files paranoia and conspiracy theory elements in S:AaB but it doesn’t come off well here.

In “Eyes,” an invitro shoots and kills the Secretary General live on TV which leads to riots planetside and paranoia across the galaxy. After the assassination, the election for the next Secretary General is held at the only safe location there is; high above the planet aboard the USS Saratoga.Which is interesting, but tonally “Eyes” is a different kind of dark than what I’d come to expect in the S:AaB universe.

Here, there are weird loyalty tests given to the only two invitros aboard the Saratoga McQueen and Hawkes, mysterious people literally hidden in the shadows, a big conspiracy about what the Aerotec company knew about the alien Chigs and when they knew it, Manchurian Candidate style assassins, the idea that Chaput might be trying to assassinate Hayden in a power play and so on and so on.

All this does is to shift the focus of the series onto people we’ve never met before, mainly Hayden and Chaput, and off the 58th who become little more than glorified extras here. There’s also a few plot lines that go no where here like the silicates being invited to the Saratoga for peace talks and new members of the 58th who are seemingly only a part of the 58th for this episode never to be seen again.

One thing I did like about “Eyes” is that we got to learn a bit more about McQueen than we have up until this point. We come to see is that his love of the higher cause of the Marine Corps knows no bounds, to the point where even if the Corps is ready to abandon McQueen he won’t abandon the Corps.

But that was about it. Otherwise, though, “Eyes” is one big mess.

Grade: C

Favorite dialog:
Lt. Shane Vansen: “We can fly faster than the speed of light, control weather, create artificial life and nothing ever changes.”

Lt. Nathan West: “I’d rather have the truth than a medal.”

Stray Observations:
The war with the Chigs is called a “galactic conflict.”

The names of the replacement 58th members are: Lt. Richard Swirko, Lt. Stone, and Lt. Rick.

The Saratoga is a “space carrier.”

Nathan West’s brother Neil who was in the pilot episode has enlisted in the Marines.

Goofs:
Chaput says of the position of Secretary General, “Nine people have ruled the world.” Dictators “rule,” elected officials “governs.”

Originally aired October 22, 1995

When the mysterious and unpredictable Lt. Col. Raymond Thomas Butts arrives aboard the USS Saratoga with orders to take the 58th on a dangerous mission to a Chig held planet, the only question is who is coming back alive and who won’t be coming back at all?

“Ray Butts” is another strong early episode of S:AaB, so much so that it might be my favorite episode of the series so far. Here, the character of Ray Butts, played by Steve Rankin, arrives aboard the Saratoga with the expressed mission of making the lives of the 58th squad a living hell. First, he challenges the entire team to a fight, which he wins, then he “auditions” them for a dangerous mission via a game of paintball which he tags out the 58th in a matter of minutes.

Butts’ assignment, which only he knows the details of, allows him to pick his own team on this practically suicidal mission only he has the details of.

Which at first doesn’t make much sense. Even if Butts is as well connected as he says he is with headquarters, would he really be able to take the 58th on a top secret mission not even the commanders of the Saratoga know about? It’s later revealed that, spoiler alert, Butts needs the 58th to parachute onto a hostile planet so they can recover and fly out some jets Butts and his last team stashed there sometime in the past.

But Butts real mission is to atone for a mistake he made with that previous team who were ambushed while Butts was away and killed by the Chigs. And Butts has really returned to find and bury his comrades.

Which does make me wonder if that isn’t a cheat in the episode? With Butts being Mr. Mysterious so much in the first half of the episode and we as the audience not totally knowing what’s going to happen to the 58th after they leave with Butts this all adds a whole mess of drama to “Ray Butts.” I suppose if when Butts would’ve first landed, gotten out and said, “I’m here under orders to take the 58th to recover some jets,” that would have made for a lot less interesting an episode.

One thing I noticed in the special effects dept. was that from the ring around the planet Butts and the 58th arrive at to recover the jets to the orange/yellow sky of the planet once they get there this episode has to be visually the best episode of the five I’ve seen so far. Even modern sci-fi series don’t go to the trouble of recoloring the skies of alien planets so to see it done here nearly 20 years ago was awesome.

“Ray Butts” would also be the second time a song, here Johnny Cash’s “I walk the line” would be used as a sort of character calling card; here for the character of Butts. The first was in the pilot episode with The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” for both the character of Cooper Hawkes and ‘Pags.’ This character calling card as a particular song would be used in later episodes too.

Grade: A

Favorite dialog:
T.C. McQueen: “Kind of a bummer getting your butt kicked by a dead guy.”

T.C. McQueen: “I will pull every string to get you away from my people and off this bucket and back to the slime pit you crawled out of.”
Ray Butts: “Maybe you can pull every string, but I pull the rope.”

Ray Butts: “Easy as eating pancakes.”

Ray Butts: “I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.”

Stray Observations:
Ray Butts service number is “9247158437.”

The planet the mission Ray Butts leads the 58th to is called “Planet 2063-F.” Which to me says they’ve given up creatively naming planets in fictional 2063 SAaB. 😉

The mission they’re on is codenamed “Get Rhythm.”

In the episode after they parachute onto the planet, Nathan West asks Paul Wang who’s looking at the sky, “What are you doing?” Wang responds, “I’m waiting for my testicles. They should be dropping in any second.” This line was censored when the S:AaB episodes originally aired on SCI FI Channel in syndication.

According to the names on the side of their aircraft, four of the five soldiers Butts lost were named:

• Robert Joseph Grant
• Joseph Hodges
• Teddy Sharps
• Eddie Duncan