First Wave: 'The Box'

Returning to Chicago on his anniversary to visit his wife's grave, Cade is caught after a brief chase by the police, and held for interrogation. Can he convince them of the truth of his situation?

Apart from the well-done opening chase to a top rock track, this episode is set entirely within a police interrogation cell, and is more or less a two-person show between Cade and the cop questioning him. The sudden death of the cop's partner comes as a shock, although it's not a huge surprise to discover who the alien is.

What keeps things interesting throughout the story is the constant table-turning, with first one then the pair gaining the upper hand and taking over the questioning. Sadly, in another script from Chris Brancato, the dialogue is frequently risible, with far too many people shouting 'son of a bitch' at each other, and lots of references to ass-kicking. We also discover two friends of Cade's we never knew about before: the guy who picks him up at the end of the episode, and his Uncle Harry. Obviously having established that Cade is alone apart from Eddie is no use when the aliens need someone to threaten to get Cade talking.

Although there are a few new disclosures, most of what Cade discovers here merely restates First Wave basic principles. For those who've been keeping up with the series, it's kind of frustrating, but for those just coming in, this stuff could be useful. It's certainly not a bad episode, and for a show done on one set with two actors it holds the attention well. It's just a shame that when the episode finishes, nothing has really changed, and the reasoning used by the cops to not tell Cade's story to the world is extremely desperate.

***

Back to the First Wave guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, or return to the main page?

This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page