Cade infiltrates a Gua base where human beings are being forced to fight each other so that the aliens can use their DNA to build a powerful warrior.

With most genre shows this season doing a wrestling episode, First Wave decides to go with boxing. Not being a big fan of people beating each other to a pulp, I was dubious from the minute Cade enlisted the help of an old acquaintance to get inside a place where experiments were occurring. My fears were confirmed when the episode proceeded to not really go anywhere beyond the fight.

There’s a superbly creepy teaser sequence with some wonderful make-up effects, but it’s downhill from there as there’s lots of fighting and Eddie getting involved mainly through crawling through ducts and staying free when Cade is caught, but he merely seems to be the McGuffin to keep things moving through the escape-capture-escape-capture loop that seems to be at the root of the episode.

The concept isn’t particularly original, and the unstoppable warrior line has been pretty much milked to death this season. The fight between Cade’s associate Omar and the warrior husk is pointless as you know the outcome, even though Omar survives longer than expected considering his opponent is more than twice as strong. The means to kill the husk is helpfully supplied to Cade and the only aspect that makes things a bit more interesting is the acquisition of Foster’s DNA by the Gua, meaning they can fight fire with fire should they so wish. Beyond that, though, there’s nothing much here, a bit like what seems to pass for Omar’s addled brain.

**

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