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Total Recall 2070 |
a cop wonders who he can trust in a world where crooked corporations can buy anyone and his wife, partner and lieutenant turn out to be something other than they seem
Type of Series: Cop Show; Sci-Fi
Similar Shows: Despite all the sci-fi trappings, more than anything else Total Recall 2070 looked and felt like a cop show. If you weren't fortunate enough to see it, think Law & Order with ray guns and you've got the general idea.
Apart from that, one of the central characters had a story arc that was very similar to the development of Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, Total Recall 2070 added a paranoid twist not found on the other show. Namely, the android in this case, while appearing friendly, stood a very real chance of being the vanguard for an invasion force dedicated to the eradication of mankind (that kind of thing). Whether he was to be trusted or not, was the theme behind all the later episodes.
Typical Episode: Typically, the episodes would start with a murder of some sort. Farve and Hume would arrive and the rest of the episode would play like a typical cop show.
Except...
Farve is actually an android placed with Hume as part of a hidden agenda.
And Hume's wife is also a plant, with a second personality. She - too - appears to have been placed with a hidden agenda.
Both these factors played a part in nearly all episodes (to varying degrees) with Hume gradually learning more about his partner and his wife (and the forces behind them) from week to week. It was these scenes, these revelations, that truly lifted Total Recall 2070 to Grade: A status, making it a not-to-be-missed part of the week's TV.
The Inner Light: Trust is earned over time.
Strengths: Total Recall 2070 had an impressive cast, top notch writing and eye-catching visuals.
Weaknesses: While the ongoing arcs were fresh and innovative, the actual crime stories used to fill each hour tended to be fairly stock cop-show fare. Exactly half the episodes started off as by-the-numbers murder mysteries. While that never bothered me (I'm a huge Law & Order fan), I could well see how it might be a turn off for some viewers (particularly [i] casual viewers, unaware that there were subtle developments in each episode that were not part of the case being solved, and [ii] sci-fi viewers, wanting up-front, in-your-face innovative story-telling).
Impressive Characters: Hume and Farve: the cops at the centre of each episode.
I also developed a strong regard for Ehrenthal, their lieutenant.
Impressive Actors: Michael Easton and Karl Pruner: the stars at the centre of each episode. Each took to their role like they were born to play it. Pruner can well afford to stand proudly beside any other actor who has tackled the role of an android. Easton (who convinced me of his considerable talent on Stephen J. Cannell's Two) brought a whole new persona to the screen for his portrayal of Detective David Hume. A persona I will miss.
Impressive Guest Actors: Peter Firth made an impression as recurring bad guy Vincent Nagle. Titus Welliver, one of the best bad-guy actors out there (check out his episode of Spy Games if you don't belive me) does his thing to perfection in (the otherwise ordinary) "Personal Effects". Chad Allen (always a top notch actor) gives a stand-out performance in "First Wave". And "Assessment" is itself a stand-out episode, featuring two of the two top sci-fi stars of the decade: Steven Williams ( The X-Files) and Xenia Seeberg (Lexx), both giving sterling performances. Two more reliable sci-fi stars David Warner and Anthony Zerbe (both men linked to Star Trek movies) also appear in a few episodes.
Impressive Episodes: I thought all the episodes were equally impressive, particularly the second half of the season, when the format was well and truly in place (75% cop yarn, 25% arc advancement). "Meet My Maker" was a great finale, the perfect pay-off for being held in suspense all season. "First Wave" by Elliot Stern was the first really impressive break-with-format that the show offered. "Brightness Falls" is another murder-mystery, but the location (the HQ of a new cult) makes its really cool. Likewise "Astral Projections" stands out because Hume and Farve are trapped on a vessel, crashed in an icy wildnerness.
Impressive Writers: Series creator Art Monterastelli (seven writing credits) seems to be at the top of the pyramid, with Creative Consultant Elliot Stern (five), Consulting Producer Ted Mann (four), Supervising Producer Jeff King (four), Michael Thoma (three), W.K. Scott Meyer (two) and Kris Dobkin (two) in close formation.
Continuity: Strong. While the cases were self-contained, everything else advanced in subtle - but noticeable - fashion. By the time mid-season rolled around, episode-to-episode advancement was much more in-your-face.
Rewatchability: So-so. I have none of the series on tape, but if it is reshown at some stage I will probably watch some of the better outings.
Episode Guide: EpGuides.Com is the best place to go for Episode Guides.
Reviews:
Other Info: If it's information you want, then I suggest you check out Athena's Citizen's Information Bureau.
Three Things I Really Like About This Series:
That fact that whether or not Hume should (or could) trust Farve became the underlying theme of all the later episodes. This was - I feel - a theme unique to this show and on the occasions when Hume was forced to shut Farve out of his investigations, it packed an emotional punch not found on most cop shows.
The hard-boiled nature of the story telling. Hume emerged as an archetypal cynical cop in a tough world. Easton's performance, the visual look of the show and the scripts themselves all contributed to this.
Most episodes contained genuinely impressive shoot-outs/action sequences.
Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Series:
Miscellaneous Comments: Monday, 01 May 2000
And another one bites the dust!
All winter I've been watching this rather sophisticated sci-fi cop show, and what happens?
It gets cancelled.
While dreck like First Wave continues on to a third season.
Disappointing.
GRADE: A-
Review by Michael Leddy
Comments are welcome: rikerdonegal@hotmail.com
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