Season Four Episode Reviews

4X22    Point of No Return 
Plot: The discovery of Ma'el's secret to regeneration lead to a race for survival between the Taelons and Jaridians.

A poignant end to the storyline, with the final end of not only the Taelons and Jaridians, but Liam as well.  Sure it seems a bit convenient that Street solves the Ma'el at the last minute like that.  Too bad there was never an actual full out final battle between the Jaridians and Taelons.  Ma'el found an Atavus colony on Earth that was 8 million years old?  Gee that's convenient!  Would have made more sense if he just figured out a way to replicate core energy, but it is a surprising twist.  What's with Renee suddenly wanting to save the Taelons?!  Gotta love more Sandoval-Jaridian plotting.  Zo'or's death was surprising, fitting, but a little anti-climactic.  The ANA nuking the Mothership was cool, but I wish we learned if it survived, and what happened to Sandoval for that matter.  Street's last minute revelation that she and Liam are part of the "unifying field" seemed a bit of left field, and not sufficiently explained.  The final joining of the dying Taelons and Jaridians made for a truly poignant scene, as they had to give up millenia of hatred and put their fates in one another's hand, particularly through the eyes of Da'an and Vorjak.  Liam's acceptance of his fate was a nice end too.  This is a wonderful end to the storyline, but I really have to wonder how what comes after can be any good.  Renee as the series lead?! No more Taelons, no more Jaridians, just Atavus?!  But we'll see.

4X21    Dark Horizons 
Plot: A Jaridian probe drives Protectors to murder Taelons, including Sandoval.

Another spectacular episode featuring major changes in the story line, things are really reaching a conclusion now.  The Jaridians turning the Protectors against the Taelons is a particularly neat and sinister idea.  Sandoval threatening Zo'or was extremely cool, though it's a shame it wasn't actually Sandoval.  Sandoval in a Jaridian battlesuit looked terribly silly was the only major misstep in an otherwise excellent episode, it really broke the mood.  Having every Taelon in existence aboard the Mothership is an absolute joke given all the previous revelations about the Taelons commanding *several galaxies* in a massive war with the Jaridians!  Zo'or loosing all arrogance and weakly begging Liam and Urick for help was wonderful scene; will his agreements for equality and an end to implantation and experimentation hold after this episode though?  The Jaridians taking control of the Mothership in Jaridian space was totally shocking, and it was absolutely wonderful to see the Jaridians totally victorious over the Taelons like this.  It's a shame the Jaridians are so set on destroying Earth for its Taelon contact, because otherwise they seem like decent enough people.  I particularly like the idea of the Jaridians putting the Taelons on trial rather than just killing them outright.  Great mention for Lili and Arial, it's a shame Vorjak is about to die.  The Jaridians having Core Energy to spare for the Taelons is surprising, and now I fear an easy solution to the crisis.  Liam's speech to save Sandoval was actually pretty good, and it made a nice mention to the baffling plot twist on Sandoval spreading his genetic seed in "Lost Generation".  Liam and Renee manage to get the Mothership back to Earth way too easily though, but it's only a brief reprieve.  Great lead in for the season finale!

4X20    Epiphany 
Plot: The Taelons leave for stasis as Liam is mysteriously stricken by his Kimera side.

Some spectacular stuff, some disappointing stuff.  The Taelons departing for stasis is of course the huge event that I expected in the season finale.  The first Da'an/Zo'or scene was truly spectacular, and one in which they actually emote to great effect, it was great touching, especially Zo'or's terror at stasis and Da'an's determination to stop him.  For the first time, something is actually happening to Zo'or, and his honest scene with Sandoval was also very neat, there are no more masks between them now.  Liam openly defies Zo'or for Da'an, but apparently everybody conveniently forgets this (just like Renee ordered being shot on sight on the Mothership), which is very disappointing.  Not to mention the fact that Sandoval suddenly has a Skrill again after loosing it in "Atonement".  Da'an and Zo'or actively turning on each other is also important stuff.  Unfortunately the Liam/Kimera part wasn't very good, most especially the DeMay part which unfortunately another retro-continuity character stuck in.  Liam dying was surprising, but it patently obvious it was just to talk to Ha'Gel, which has always been a weak aspect of the series.  Liam waking all the Taelons from stasis, with the promise of saving them, is interesting, but we don't really know anything about it yet. The Taelons robbing Zo'or's Core Energy was another important and great scene that was really unexpected.

4X19    Hearts and Minds 
Plot: Renee's undercover Volunteer lover is caught by the Taelons.

Watchable but forgettable.  Renee's romance with Jeff is not believable or interesting, most especially since we haven't heard a peep about this before, an unfortunate spot of retro-continuity in an otherwise excellent year for continuity.  Unfortunately there's not more to the episode aside from the Renee ghost romance stuff.  Zo'or kicking out all the Volunteers was interesting, as was him getting to use his TK blast again, not seen since "Crackdown".  Best of all, we learn the Taelons have Jaridian weapons now (from "Second Wave" apparently?).

4X18    Blood Ties 
Plot:  Zo'or is killing humans embued with core energy; Da'an gets the Synod to try Zo'or.

Good but not great episode, the easiest one to follow in forever.  The Taelons killing off humans given core energy to get it back makes perfect sense, but that's about all there is to the plot unfortunately.  Great continuity nods to "Motherlode" and most especially "Phantom Companion".  The best part was the heavy Tate involvement, he's a very enjoyable supporting character and it's great to give him the spotlight, betraying everybody around.  The Synod trial of Zo'or was great and about damn time is all I can say; Zo'or faces consequences for killing T'Than in "Limbo" and Da'an gets caught with Jaridian energy from "Gauntlet".  Great stuff!  It's wonderful to finally see the Synod as more than a rubber stamp for Zo'or.  Plus Da'an promises to go hard on Zo'or now!  But again I must question why isn't Da'an in major trouble for trying to form an alliance with the Jaridians in "Gauntlet"?  Charles Green, new VIU head, was an interesting bit character.  The only real complaint is the retro-continuity of this Alistair being like Liam's best friend during his first six months of life.

4X17    Atonement 
Plot: Sandoval agrees to testify against the Taelons but comes under fire.

Another classic, though the ending is a bit of a cop out.  Sandoval finally defecting to testify against the Taelons was incredibly cool, and the whole fugitive race to Montreal was very cool, especially the stuff on the train.  Great to see the darker side of the ANA in Urick, and a new ANA character the AG Van Hoeck.  Sandoval's treason finally getting revealed to Zo'or was a big shocker, as was loosing his skrill.  Nice continuity with the Jaridian camo suit from "Second Wave" and Jantzen from "The Vanished".  The trial was the best part, though it's tragically rushed.  Gotta love the ANA deciding to sentence Sandoval anyway for his arrogance.  Sandoval's speech against the court was a beautiful scene, one of the series' best, and there's very real Nuremburg parallels here.  Zo'or threatening to bombard Earth if he's not given Sandoval is another shocker (though if he was watching the trial, doesn't he now know Liam and Renee are Resistance?!), but the biggest shocker of all was Zo'or keeping Sandoval in his job because now he can never return to Earth and they're stuck with each other.  It's a cop out ending, but it's a great cop out ending, because there's a tragedy to Sandoval now, he's stuck with the Taelons no matter what now.  But will anything change?

4X16    Trapped By Time 
Plot:  The discovery of astronauts from the future exposes a conspiracy; Sandoval is blackmailed through his wife.

Another winner of an episode that promises some major changes in the series!  This was a wonderfully complex episode that had a lot going on.  Though it was never actually directly dealt with, I'm extremely interested to learn about this government conspiracy that knew about the Taelons coming and going since the 1970s, I really hope we see this again (though the ending confused as to whether this was a fabrication, if Rusk wasn't in this conspiracy, or if he was and working with Zo'or which doesn't make any sense).  I wonder if this government conspiracy is related to Season Two's Operation Knight in "Message in a Bottle".  It was also great to definitively see that Zo'or knows the truth about Sandoval, and to use it against him through the return of his wife.  Very cool!  Not to mention the promise of a third alien race chasing out the Taelons according to those future astronauts!  Nice to see North from "Motherlode" again and to put her in the ANA Pan Global Security job from "Take No Prisoners".  They're really constructing a story arc here!  Interesting to see the Protectors loose their CVIs and Skrills (it's another major step in the Taelons' defeat).  Liam and Renee capturing Sandoval was also pretty shocking (and did they put surveillance nanos in him like he did with Street the last two eps?), but at least they downloaded some of his memories!  Sandoval dealing with the return of his wife was very cool, I really love how much use he's getting this season.

4X15    Street Chase 
Plot: Street flees Sandoval and the Taelons.

If not for the 'it's all fake!' first half it'd be a real classic, but still excellent.  For the first time Street has a character, I really liked the whole deal on her refusing to trust anyone.  It was very cool having a bit of a trilogy here leading into one another, the deal with Street's abilities and Ma'el's formula.  The first half was damn exciting full of shocking events (though it's a total cop out not having it real!).  The second half is unfortunately repetitive, but still good.  I'm starting to get worried by yet another mention of Liam's alien nature though...  Now that Street is officially dead let's see how long before she pulls an Augur and starts making public appearances again...

4X14    Keys to the Kingdom 
Plot: Ma'el's artifact is stolen by Augur, promising the secret to creating core energy.

Interesting stuff though I expected more.  Great to see the return of the Ma'el Artifact, promising the secret to making core energy, though in the end nothing actually happened with it.  Wonderful to see Augur again of course!  It was great continuity to bring back Vera from "Once and Future World", too bad the character is so annoying.  Zo'or threatens to destroy a US city, that was big too.  Street's backstory was not very interesting and too over the top, and it's just too convenient making her the smartest human on Earth capable of thinking like a Taelon, it's just too much.  Sandoval capturing Augur and Street and forcing them to work on the Artifact is an interesting idea, so it's a shame it only lasted all of five minutes.  The ending was very shocking though- Sandoval has Street bugged and is watching her work on breaking the code! Woah!  I love that they set up a cliffhanger to lead into the next episode, something they should do more!  Sandoval getting demoted was also very cool, though they never explained just what his demotion meant.

4X13    Dark Matter 
Plot: A dark matter asteroid hits the Mothership, freezing all the Taelons and leaving Sandoval in charge.

One of the best they've done!  It was great to see Sandoval holding the fate of the Taelons in his hand (and again we get to clearly see what his goals are now).  The Ha'Gel revelation was certainly out of left field, I thought they had decided to drop that plotline, and I'm not sure whether I'm happy about it or not.  However it made a great ending, Liam permanently lost his alien heritage, and the promise of a greater future was cool even if I don't wanna see Liam going through that stuff.  Did like the final scene where Liam tells Da'an to lead though.  I love the concept of the ANA working with Liam and Renee towards a coup to put in Da'an instead of Zo'or, I really hope we see more of this idea in the future.  Once again tons of great continuity and events coming out of previous things (most notably the otherwise horrid "Phantom Companion").  Nice to find out the original plan that when the Taelons all go into stasis the Mothership will wait in a nebula until Earth solves a complex code to prove they're ready to help.  I think this episode was supposed to come earlier because in the last ep Renee mentioned holding Da'an's energy which she does here.  I don't Zo'or being reduced to someone 'insane' though, it's too over the top.  Of course this episode is great but it has one massive plot hole, it suddenly assumes there are no Taelons except on Earth while in fact they're all over several galaxies, so killing all the Taelons on Earth would only bring the wrath of the rest of them upon them!

4X12    The Summit 
Plot: Da'an attempts a Jaridian peace summit in his dying days; Liam is given a CVI to find Da'an.

Good episode, delighted to see a peace attempt with the Jaridians.  Liam getting a CVI was a logical and cool shocker, though this bit about making a quantum duplicate of him was really just too much to swallow.  Great to see Da'an recruit Federov and his space station into it!  Plus we learn some important facts on the Taelon-Jaridian situation, like the Atavus split was 8 million years ago, Taelons triple life and Jaridians one third.  I'm glad they had Da'an running out of Core Energy and getting a reprieve from the Jaridian's sacrifice (might Da'an be the only Taelon to survive now?).  The end of the episode didn't really explain how Da'an being labeled a traitor was resolved though; Zo'or sends Sandoval to kill him but Da'an returns and suddenly all is forgiven?!  Not to mention Zo'or agreeing to have Liam's CVI removed.

4X11    Lost Generation 
Plot:  An infertility center is creating babies with Taelon CVIs.

Pedestrian but vaguely entertaining, though it all feels like a rehash of earlier episodes.  Yet another Zo'or-Sandoval plot against humanity that Sandoval secretly subverts to his own means.  Liam and Renee go inexplicably undercover (and you have to laugh when Renee gives a BLOOD SAMPLE while undercover- this has to be the 2nd most ridiculous 'undercover' thing they've done!).  I'm not sure if this CVI-baby plot really goes anywhere either; Sandoval spreading his DNA all over the place is a real head-scratcher especially if he wants to keep it a secret from anyone.  There isn't even any action to spruce it up.  There's only two things that stand out: Renee finding out she's infertile (which manages to be a nice little plot twist) and the implication that the Taelons' presence is slowly driving humanity to infertility.

4X10    Dream Stalker 
Plot: Someone is using dream technology to drive people to murder.

On the whole a forgettable and unoriginal episode.  About the only interesting things were Renee being locked up for murder, Sandoval attack Da'an, and Liam defending Sandoval to Zo'or.  The whole dream-murder thing was just completely unoriginal and uninteresting.  The 'bad guy' was incredibly lame too, but not nearly as lame as ripping off the double-lightsaber from Star Wars Phantom Menace.  Nice continuity nods to Sandoval working with the Jaridians and Da'an's kryss addiction from "Sins of the Father".  I'm starting to worry that the promising quality of the opening batch of episodes was just a fluke here...

4X9    Phantom Companion 
Plot:  A Protector thought dead living hidden on the Mothership abducts Renee.

Worst episode in exactly two years since "Isabel" aired.  The entire concept of a 'phantom protector' on the Mothership is laughably ridiculous and the costume of Malley is extremely embarrassing to say the least.  Renee getting kidnapped by the 'phantom' then falling for him was pretty horrible as well.  Fortunately there were a few interesting bits to keep this from being complete crap.  It's interesting to see Liam interact with other Protectors and learn they ALL have broken CVIs and to see Sandoval give Liam a loyalty test (especially after them being revealed to each other in "Arrival").  The Mothership being sentient and turning against the Taelons is vaguely interesting but this was NOT the way to do it.  I'm glad the "Limbo" crisis continues to be major.  I'm still trying to decide if Malley's 'death' was a reference to "Subterfuge", "Through Your Eyes", or a completely made-up event.  Since Renee was shot at by Volunteers on the Mothership here this would logically mean that she can never again interact with the Taelons though I wonder how long it'll take them to conveniently forget about that.

4X8    Essence 
Plot: Renee's brother is drained of emotions as part of a Taelon project.

Pretty mundane.  Aside from Renee having a brother and Da'an experiencing emotion there isn't much to elevate this one above mediocrity.  Another Zo'or/Sandoval plot gone awry exposed by Liam and Renee involving using Taelon tech on unwitting human subjects.  Yawn!  However I will say that Renee actually got a personality in this episode though it would still be nice to get some actual background on her.  Nice to see Sandoval getting tortured though I find it hard to believe he was so easily captured.  On the up side there was several great continuity mentions, most of all Da'an's kryss addiction in "Sins of the Father" and the Taelons still dying off from "Limbo".  I'm delighted to hear that they're still dying from the "Limbo" situation!!  Plus we learn Da'an has FOUR children in stasis in addition to Zo'or.

4X7    Second Wave 
Plot: The Jaridian invasion is coming; the Taelons prepare to leave while the Resistance fights saboteurs.

All right in the end the episode was a cop-out, but everything before that was just absolutely stellar.  This is one of the best they've ever done despite the ending.  Through the entire episode there was a palpable sense of dread and foreboding; this felt like armageddon!  Everything was just incredible.  The city riots, the infrastructure falling apart from the Taelon's departure, the Resistance moving forward as a kind of riot army, Tompson co-ordinating with Renee, the Taelons bugging out, Sandoval being left to the wind, Zo'or questiong Sandoval's loyalties, Da'an apologizing to Liam and Earth, the revelation that the Jaridians tried to warn Earth but the Taelons blocked it, it's all amazing.  Also loved the whole thing with the Resistance fighting Jaridian saboteurs, though I always knew something was up with Kera.  As disappointing as the ending was, it makes sense in the end and it was very interesting to see a Jaridian woman.  It's a shame they didn't use Lili but at least she was mentioned.  I can only hope that when the series ends they can reproduce the feeling of this ep!

4X6    Take No Prisoners 
Plot: The ANA grants amnesty to the Resistance but the Taelons use a parasite infection to atatack them.

Pretty good episode slightly marred by the parasite thing.  The ANA granting amnesty to the Resistance was a huge event in the series.  All the character work with Hayley Simmons was really great, though her death seemed a tad silly in the end.  The creation of Pan Global Security out of the FBI, CIA, and so on was also a major new change.  I'm delighted there's moving stuff like this, and I loved the Sandoval-Kalen confrontation.  I'm very disappointed Sandoval killed him, I was hoping for a recurring character.  They also finally resolve that Sandoval's CVI doesn't work thankfully.  The big shootout at the amnesty meet was absolutely fabulous, it was like a war movie!  I really like getting to see this one Volunteer colonel with a mind of his own.  The ending where Liam breaks in the base to destroy the worms was pretty silly unfortunately.

4X5    Motherlode 
Plot:  A black ops government team pursues Augur for helping Amoralists steal Zo'or's gold.

This is episode is a bit too confusing for me and some really great story elements seem to get mixed up.  We get introduced to this USGov black ops unit working against the Amoralists with Sandoval... but will we see them?  Are they important in the long run?  They discover Liam but they believe he was just working as a Protector?  Oh well.  Lots of great continuity, and I was interested to see the Amoralist try to steal Zo'or's gold hoarde.  It's too bad the actual theft was so rushed and unbelievable, once again it's ridiculously easy to get on the Mothership.  So Augur seems to be written out of the series, what a shame.  Will there be any real consequences to Zo'or loosing his gold hoarde?  I hope to see this black ops unit again and maybe we will... I just wish this episode could have been a little more explainable.  I liked the concept of the sensory depravation prison and people's civil rights being activated.

4X4    Limbo 
Plot: Jonothan Door's cyber spectre steals the Taelon's core energy without which they can't live.

Great episode!  Jonathan Doors returns and something very major happens to the Taelons.  It was very cool to see Doors again, and I really loved the whole angle with Joshua and how it was resolved.  Great stuff, once again Doors will be sorely missed!  This was episode was also shocking in how far it was willing to go.  Zo'or murders T'than!  The Taelons are dying!  Joshua is written off!  But I think the most shocking twist was when Zo'or destroyed Sandoval's homeland... though I really have to wonder how noone on Earth noticed the energy blast from the Mothership.  I was also shocked when Joshua destroyed the energy core- is this going to have long term ill effects on the Taelons?  That final Da'an-Zo'or scene was great, strangely touching, and I'm delighted they brought up their relationship again.  This episode bodes very well for this season, they're using continuity and recurring characters taking major leaps in the storyline.  Good for them!  So was Renee really fired from DoorsInt?  And did Joshua actually sell it to Federov?  They weren't clear on this.

4X3    First Breath 
Plot: An old friend of Renee's returns working for the Taelons as the Atlantic National Alliance is about to be ratified.

Bad episode unfortunately.  Most of the episode is about this Yates lady and this doctor cloning for medical organs- WHO CARES?!  It's just intensely uninteresting not to mention the emphasis on Renee.  The Atlantic National Alliance talk was intensely interesting however, I really wish the episode focused on it more.  It's great to see such a major movement in the storyline, to see the US and European nations uniting militarily to resist the Taelons, I can't wait to see what happens in the future with this!  I am getting really sick of cloning stories on this show!  Oh, and it was interesting to see Renee's apartment.  The break-in in the teaser was a cool sequence.

4X2    Sins of the Father 
Plot: Liam and Renee discover Federov is running a kryss operation for the Taelons.

A pretty good episode with some great continuity nods.  Great to see Federov again and the return of kryss, something that looked to be quite important but destined to disappear after its one appearance.  Also, I really liked the Space Station being bought by Federov and used for training or whatever, interesting concept.  Da'an's kryss addiction was an interesting plot twist, and I like the way they deal with addiction since Taelons have never encountered it before.  The stuff with the Senator was on the whole pretty forgettable.  On the negative side, this episode has to be the WORST in terms of Liam and Renee revealing their secret identities.  I could go on and on about all the times they exposed themselves, suffice to say it was absolutely ridiculous!  It looks like Liam lives under the Church now, interesting, particularly since he's a Protector and he's living in the former Resistance HQ!

4X1    Forge of Creation (part 2 of 2)
Plot:  Liam and Sandoval fight to help Lili evade the Taelons.

Pretty disappointing especially given all the now empty promises of the finale.  It feels like nothing happened in the long run; Lili's gone again, she had a Hybrid baby but Da'an says it won't help the Jaridians, the Jaridian Invasion didn't come (?!).  That said there were some good scenes.  All the stuff with Lili was pretty touching, and Vorjak was interesting.  It was neat to see Zo'or openly questioning Sandoval and even threatening him.  Liam and Sandoval openly confronted each other in a scene marred by overacting, though I can't wait to see how they'll interact from now on.  Sandoval openly says he wants to ally with the Jaridians to destroy the Taelons (nice to get it in writing).  I was shocked when Sandoval bombed the entire hospital to cover for Lili.  But I really don't understand why Sandoval would plant a bomb to kill them after that, it just doesn't make sense even to makeup to Zo'or (unless he hoped they would find the bomb and detonate it).  The whole subplot where Augur leaves the show is just ridiculous; out of the blue he's being hunted by Volunteers for no apparent reason (yet in episodes like "Interview" last season he met with Liam in front of Volunteers!!!!) and this new character Jay Street looks to just be more T&A (notice her introduction where we see a rave party with quick cuts to her body as she dances around- please).  Da'an having a faux death was pretty cheesy, plus it takes away the threat of the cliffhanger.  I really liked Lili's final good bye message to Liam, and the way it ended the show.