a man on the run - for a murder he didn't commit - is trying to prevent an alien invasion

    Type of Series: Action-Adventure; Sci-Fi; Hero-on-the-Run;

    Similar Shows: Lots. Two and The X-Files spring to mind.

    And, of course, more than anything: The Invaders.

    Since First Wave started here the same week as Two, both will be forever linked in my mind. In the pilot of both, an "ordinary guy" has his life turned around when his wife is murdered, he is framed for it, and must go on the run. Since then both shows have followed a general pattern of Hero Arrives In Place / Meets People / Solves Problem / Leaves.

    But then, that format belongs to The Incredibly Hulk, The Fugitive, The Net, Nowhere Man, The Visitor, etc. At least in Starman, they varied it by giving him a son.

    First Wave is also a lot like The X-Files. Aliens and Paranoia are part and parcel of both shows.

    Typical Episode: Typically, the episodes start with a "sexy" scene. The sex angle was pushed a lot in articles about the show, but none of these scenes have been at all arousing. Usually, the teaser ends with the demise of one of the characters.

    After a very X-Files-esque title sequence we'll see that Cade is already arrived and undercover, investigating the event we saw in the teaser. There'll be a voice-over wherein he'll explain that the strange occurrence (from the opening gambit) was covered in some newspaper or other and once they cross-referenced it with the prophecy they felt that it might be significant. Suggested voice-over dialogue for a future episode: "We saw a story in the LA Times about a man giving birth to fully-formed talking kittens. Kittens that said things like: The aliens are here. But we thought nothing of it. Then we noticed that Quatrain 47 says: [pointless mumbo-jumbo about a man going to the sea or something] and I came down the next day.

    Okey-dokey.

    After that, Cade runs around like your typical TV hero would in this situation.

    The Inner Light: "The aliens are here!"

    Strengths: The visual style. Visually, First Wave has a lot in common with The X-Files. With basically means that it looks like a grown-up sci-fi show. Even if it doesn't always behave like one.

    Sebastian Spence is another strength. He's a personable presence. (Pity they don't give him any genuine acting to do.)

    Weaknesses: Lots.

    Lack of strong continuity. Cade doesn't seem to accomplish anything.

    Most scripts have a logic flaw somewhere. Somebody says or does something that makes absolutely no sense.

    And the ending to each story falls flat as the writer strives to make sure that nothing has changed.

    Impressive Characters: None. Cade is your typical bland TV hero. His sidekick Crazy Eddie doesn't appear very much, and he's also quite yawns-worthy. His nick-name is a bit of a misnomer, really. But then, "Sane-And-Dull Eddie" isn't quite as catchy.

    Impressive Actors: The lead actors (Sebastian Spence and Rob LaBelle) are likeable. But that's about it. The scripts never give either of them a chance to impress.

    Impressive Episodes: Three stand out. The pilot was good. It promised a lot for the following series. Something the following series has totally failed to deliver.

    Episode A10: "Marker 262" was the next stand-out episode. Written by the series creator, it resembled - in many ways - the structure you'd expect from an Outer Limits episode. And was all the better for it. As a self-contained story about ordinary folk trapped in a weird pocket of reality, it would have been a champ of a story. Unfortunately, adding Cade Foster and his alien foes into the mix only served to lessen the impact of the story.

    Still a Grade: A outing, though.

    Likewise, Episode A17: "Second Wave" was entertaining from start to finish. Again, it looked/felt more like a self-contained story than anything else (it was basically a remake of a Twilight Zone outing). Cade Foster didn't need to be there. His absence might almost have improved things, were it not for the final scene. Which - in this case - was superb. Making this: the series' only Grade: A+ outing.

    Impressive Writers:

    Less-Than-Impressive Characters:

    Less-Than-Impressive Actors:

    Less-Than-Impressive Episodes: None have been particularly bad. All have been similar. Very similar. Which is the problem. The episodes are interchangeable. Which makes First Wave an easy show to miss. Once or twice, I hadn't gotten around to watching the previous week's episode, but I wasn't bothered about cheerfully taping over it.

    Less-Than-Impressive Scenes: The final scene of each and every episode is usually excruciatingly bad. Because no matter what has gone before, the producers insist on restoring the status quo exactly for the next instalment.

    !!!

    Which, aside from being pointless in these days of five-year-arcs, makes for awkward storytelling.

    Episode A18: "Blind Witness" is a perfect example. While the episode is fine, in it's own right, the ending just about ruins it. Due to a particular passage in the prophecies, Cade went under-cover at a hospital to find an "ally" in the fight. He found her. They fought some pretty nasty aliens (in a top-notch climax), and then once he had saved/rescued her…

    …she told him she wasn't interested in using her powers to defeat the aliens, and wanted instead to live a quiet life with her family.

    What made this even worse was the writer tried to make us see this outcome as positive. Instead to seeing her as a selfish waste of space, we were supposed to see her as having fulfilled her prophecy already.

    !!!

    Why?

    Because, earlier in the episode Cade had expressed some (out-of-character) doubts about his struggle. Now, by episode's end, they were gone and the writer wanted us to see the woman as having been responsible.

    Oh man. I felt so cheated and insulted by that. C'mon!

    What kind of cop-out ending is that. Here we have a brand new character, with a super-power that can directly affect the outcome of the series, and we are about lose her. Because she doesn't feel like helping out??!!

    This show is about an alien force invading and conquering our planet!!!

    What excuse would be good enough for not using her power to help out?

    Certainly not the "I-want-to-spend-some-time-with-my-sister" one!!

    But, then, you sometimes have to wonder how seriously Cade (and, indeed, the writers) are taking the alien invasion. In Episode A08: "Book Of Shadows" Cade finally has proof of the alien presence.

    The snag?

    The proof is a teenage girl, and bringing her forward will reduce her to the role of lab experiment for the duration.

    So?

    Cade destroyed the files and told the girl to "run along". Or something equally twee.

    And, yet, we're supposed to take him seriously when he raves on and on about the imminent destruction of the plant.

    Puh-leeze!

    First Wave should have taken stronger stands on these story-points. Other-wise it's hard to take the show seriously. More importantly, it's hard to take it as seriously as it takes itself.

    Less-Than-Impressive Writers: Chris Brancato has given us an unoriginal TV concept, and is giving it a strictly by-the-numbers approach. This is 1999. We expect more.

    Continuity: Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. In fact, the producers do everything in their power to render continuity negligible.

    Episode Guide: The Episode Guide Pages is a great place to go for Episode Guides.

    Reviews:

    Other Info:

    Miscellaneous Comments:    Saturday, 08 May 1999

    When I wrote my review for Dawson's Creek I wrote that it's hard to get excited about the gang in Capeside when you've already seen My So-Called Life, the definitive teen-angst series.

    Likewise, it's impossible to think of First Wave without comparing it to the definitive Aliens-Have-Landed show: Dark Skies.

    That is how you should do this. A big back-arc, gritty no compromises story-lines and intelligent plotting.

    There are shows that come along from time to time that serve to define a genre. Shows like St. Elsewhere pop up and show us the best of the best.

    In the aftermath there will usually be a string of imitators. Some may even surpass the original.

    All, surely, will be expected to copy the better points of the one that led the way.

    None, you would think, would take a giant leap back wards.

    First Wave does.

    It cheerfully disregards everything we've seen done on the prime-time, adult, sci-fi shows of the nineties.

    It strives to avoid having a back-story. It strives to keep things mundane. It strives to avoid anything creative.

    It succeeds in being bland.

    Spence is good. The production values are top notch. And the whole venture is oddly likeable.

    But it's too flawed to even be considered average.

GRADE: B-

Review by Michael Leddy

Comments are welcome: rikerdonegal@hotmail.com

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