Cade arrives on an island to meet a man who has been experimented on as Cade was. However, what he finds is a gibbering wreck and a Gua warrior recently arrived from the homeworld with heightened senses.
A curious combination of good and bad, this opening episode just manages to come out on the side of being good. Ignoring the fact that Gua warrior woman Lucas has mainly been employed for her impressive breasts rather than her acting ability, this story brings the main tenets of First Wave to the audience who may have only just tuned in. Aside from an opening narration by Cade, much of the dialogue between Lucas and Joshua acts as a reminder of what has gone before.
As last season, First Wave takes another idea from its alien-catching predecessor War of the Worlds with an unstoppable warrior with advanced recuperative powers and more finely attuned senses. This leads to a simple but effective conclusion when Cade works out that these heightened senses can be used against his foe.
The interesting aspects are Eddie, who discovers for the first time what Cade's life is like on a daily basis when he arrives to help him, and Joshua, who gives Cade a warning of what to expect and what he is up against, and whose final cry of 'No!' retains an ambivalence that leaves the viewer unsure whether he is concerned for his former lover or concerned about what the Gua will do if Cade can kill their best fighter. We'll just have to wait and see what happens...
***
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