White attacks Terminal City while the public goes transgenic mad, Sketchy is let in on Max's secret and Max starts to get tattoos appearing all over her body.
Now, I was quite happy with the way things were going, but this episode seems to be a big of a step back. With all the hints and suggestions from earlier in the season, I was kind of hoping that it wouldn't come down to Max being revealed to be some kind of 'Chosen One'. Sadly that's what I'm stuck with, as the age-old Sci-Fi cliché is dragged out once again. All I can hope is that more is done with what is set up in this episode, even if it comes down to being told about the always-mysterious 'The Coming'.
The rest is pretty good. The greater involvement of Cindy, Sketchy and Normal here is good, especially the way Max has managed to use Jam Pony as a transgenic underground. The death of Biggs is horrific and an effective demonstration of what could be in store for all of the transgenics, and the introduction of White's brother is okay as far as it goes; were he not a bit on the loopy side it would help, and I'm not sure why he hasn't got any special abilities. Too much time is spent on him wandering about with a snake, but the twist of him turning Max in and then recanting later is a good one.
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to make up my mind about the other transgenics. Some seem passable characters but I don't know that I can cope with too many of them as regular characters and Joshua seems to get a little lost in the shuffle when he's with the rest of the Terminal City crowd which is a shame.
I await seeing what the season finale has in store; last season's was pretty classy and packed with surprises, let's hope this year's is at least half as good. It certainly ought to be well directed considering James Cameron is taking the helm…
***
Would you like to go to the Dark Angel Season Two guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, read older reviews in the Reviews Archive or return to the front page?