Prey: A Flawed Series, But Very Original

Prey

Science fiction never does the theory of evolution justice. Not that it hasn't tried, though. In "Prey" (1998), a Bio-Anthropologist named Sloan Parker (Debra Messing) discovers evidence of a new species of hominid that has evolved separately from Homo sapiens. They're called the "Dominants." They are, so the series says, to us what we were to neanderthals: a new and improved breed. They are organized like a secret society, and they brainwash their own children into lethal killers. Their goal is to displace us, like we displaced the neanderthals. And no, none of this makes any scientific sense at all.

Firstly, the idea that humans were directly responsible for the neanderthals' extinction is not given much credibility in modern anthropology. Scientists look to other factors like disease and the environment to explain the disappearance of Homo neanderthalensis. They weren't picked off one by one by modern humans with more advanced technology. Rather, nature selected against their survival, and modern humans moved in after they were gone.

The idea that another species of human has evolved to occupy our same ecological niche and is now competing with us is alluring. Making the enemy an alternately-evolved human immediately meant that the Dominants of "Prey" were complex and layered. Adam Storke played the token Dominant teammate of the good guys, a Dominant who broke his mental conditioning and worked with the heroes to stop the extermination of mankind.

The science is silly: Dominants are superbeings, with superior strength, intellect, mental abilities similar to ESP, and the females have four uteruses. Of course, the Dominants have access to advanced genetic engineering, so some of these traits maybe artificial, but it begs the question of how such a species as humans would have evolved in the first place if evolution is capable of producing superbeings. Evolution, of course, does not produce superbeings, much less ones that can blend in unsuspectingly among the populace despite all of them supposedly sharing a more recent common ancestor than with any other human groups (there are Caucasian Dominants and African-American Dominants, and no explanation is given as to how they evolved these appearances when they are all supposed to have been from one abandoned village in Mexico). It's probably a good thing that they didn't cast Latino actors exclusively as the inhuman Dominants, as that would have had some very unfortunate implications. Nonetheless, "Prey" presents ancient mysteries such as a mysterious stone pillar, destructive nanite technology, and genetic engineering by superhumans, all with some significance to the overall plot. Unfortunately, in 13 episodes, it never had a chance to wrap up half the plot threads it started, and the episodic nature of the storylines felt dated when it aired. The creep-factor is strong, and the acting is top-notch. Vincent Ventresca, of "The Invisible Man," plays Sloane's geeky lab partner, and Larry Drake appears as the shadowy Dr. Atwood, a government scientist who knows more about the Dominants than he's letting on.

"Prey" is worth a watch, at least for a chuckle at the bad science, but it was no "First Wave."

Dark Skies: The TV Show, Not the Movie

"Dark Skies"

"My name is John Loengard. I'm recording this because we may not live through the night. They're here, they're hostile, and powerful people don't want you to know about it. History as we know it is a lie."

- John Loengard, opening narration

As I said in my previous review of the Sci-Fi Channel's "First Wave," there was a time in the mid-late nineties when every network and cable station was hard at work trying to copy the success of "The X-Files." Not to be confused with the recent series of movies by the same name, "Dark Skies" may be the most obvious of the "X-Files" clones, but it only lasted one season out of a planned five year arc. That first season distinguished itself from the competition by taking place entirely during the 1960's, beginning with the Cuban Missile Crisis and ending in the Summer of Love. Had the series continued, each season would have spanned another decade in the alternate history of "Dark Skies," where aliens had made contact in 1947 and were planning a parasitic body-snatching invasion.

The aliens, the Greys, were actually a peaceful race not unlike Earth who had been conquered by a parasitic species of insectoid creatures called the "Hive." John Loengard (Eric Close), a young idealist recruited to work on Capitol Hill, discovered evidence of the cover-up and was subsequently drafted by Captain Bach (J. T. Walsh) into the fold of Majestic, a top-secret organization dedicated to fighting the aliens and hiding evidence of their existence. John, however, disagrees with Majestic's forceful methods and goes on the run, taking his girlfriend, Kimberly Sayers (Megan Ward) with him as they go into hiding and work from the outside against both Majestic and the Hive.

At first, "Dark Skies" struggled to find its pace with episodic storylines where, similar to Cade Foster's role in "First Wave," John and Kim would defeat a plot by the aliens or by Majestic each week, but events took a strange turn when Kim was abducted and implanted by the Hive and John found himself once again working with Majestic, paired with Agent Julia Stewart, a Russian operative played by a pre-"Star Trek: Voyager" Jeri Ryan.

"Dark Skies" is a conspiracy theorist's wet dream. From Roswell to JFK to cattle mutilations and a secret space program, the show tackled virtually every alien/UFO conspiracy theory to grace the internet and print. In the pilot episode, John goes from being an idealistic young politico on the rise, to a Man in Black, to a fugitive fleeing Majestic. Once can't help but identify him with the "X-Files" character of Bill Mulder, Fox Mulder's regretful father, who both collaborated with and worked against the alien conspiracy. The Black Oil here is given another face, the "Hive," a race of squirmy brain-parasites with nefarious intentions, that took over one planet already and is now working on us. Familiar faces abound, as the show features the likes of J. Edgar Hoover, William Paley, Bobby Kennedy, Carl Sagan, Jim Morrison, Colin Powell, the Beatles, and a number of other real life historical persons.

Ultimately, "Dark Skies" feels incomplete with just its one season, which ended on a spectacular cliffhanger where John Loengard infiltrates the alien mothership in search of his abducted son. Had the series continued, according to the Bible prepared by the showrunners, Majestic would have transformed from a government cover-up to a resistance cell, and in the last season, concurrent with the 1990s, the alien invasion would have been given a public face. One can't help but wonder how the show would have played out over 5 decades, but unfortunately we are left with one somewhat uneven season split between episodic storylines in the first half and more arc-based plotlines in the second half, after Kim is abducted and John returns to Majestic. It's a well researched show, and the research helps to maintain some sense of historical plausibility. J. T. Walsh is delightful as Frank Bach, Majestic's shadowy leader, and Eric Close and Megan Ward are adorable as a young couple thrust into a battle which they could never have dreamed of.

"Dark Skies" rewards the viewer with its carefully constructed alternate history, its use of real life events in its plotlines, and its fun, mid-nineties special effects (the puppet used to portray the aliens was even acquired by Rocket Pictures and used in a hoaxed "alien interview" several years later). Unlike "The X-Files," which rarely showed actual aliens and UFOs, and then only in the dark, "Dark Skies" features elaborate special effects sequences that still look good today. Only the CGI is a little dated. While not quite as original as "First Wave" or as broad as "The X-Files," "Dark Skies" is definitely worth a watch. The sixties setting is refreshing, and intriguing, and the show's incorporation of real life events is unique and admirable.

First Wave: This is how Sci-Fi should be done

"First Wave"

We were like you once. There’s a time for peace and inner-growth, but we became complacent; and when the invasion force landed, they took us down. One rebel led us to freedom. That’s when we took the name Gua; it means “power to overcome”. Over the centuries, science and industry achieved perfect focus. We created a military machine to ensure our freedom, permanently... We’re here because we’ll never be victims again.”

— Joshua Bridges, episode 109, “Joshua”

Back in the nineties, every network had its own "X-Files" clone. Two of these series stood out among their peers for their originality and their creep-factor. Francis Ford Coppola's "First Wave" starred Sebastian Spence of "Battlestar Galactica," as Cade Foster, a reformed thief of the run from alien invaders who, as part of a complex psychological experiment, framed him for the murder of his wife. Guided by prophecies from a lost book of Nostradamus and joined every week by conspiracy theorist hacker and cyber-journalist "Crazy Eddie" (Rob LaBelle), Cade roamed the country, hiding from cops and tracking down alien experiments each week with the ultimate goal of stopping the invasion..

"First Wave" might seem formulaic at first: each week, Foster finds himself foiling another plot by the aliens to figure out what makes humans tick and how best to enslave us. But the scope of the show was far from episodic. Foster's status as an outlaw distinguished his fight for justice from that of Fox Mulder, who worked primarily within the system to convince nonbelievers of an impending alien invasion. The show had many quirks which made it unique: the aliens did not use spaceships; instead, they sent their consciousness through wormholes in small, encoded metal spheres that could be downloaded into cloned "husks." The aliens, called the Gua, were never seen in their true form. They showed up in the form of cloned humanoid bodies that disintegrated violently upon death, turning into orange slime and then ash. Their culture was fascistic, ruled by a single leader, who divided the Gua into castes: Empiricist scientists, Osmosist spies, and Acolyte warriors. An Acolyte named Joshua (Roger Cross) with doubts about the invasion occasionally provided Foster with information and eventually joined him as an ally. In the third season, Traci Lords joined the cast as Jordan Radcliffe, leader of Raven Nation, a secret army dedicated to the defeat of the Gua.

Despite the similarities to "The X-Files" (an impending invasion by aliens in human form who spontaneously dissolve when killed), "First Wave" distinguished itself through marvelous scripting and continuity, and the outlaw status of its hero, Cade Foster. Foster became more and more obsessed with revenge against the aliens as the series progressed. Unfortunately, "First Wave" was cancelled after three seasons, without a resolution to the alien invasion plot. The final episode saw Foster, Eddie, Jordan and Joshua imprisoned in a mental asylum that very effectively bent the audience's concept of reality. In its three years, "First Wave" tackled time travel, mind control, psychic powers and ancient prophecy all within the context of the invasion. A chilling and dark series, "First Wave" presented a late-nineties world living in obliviousness of its impending doom. Cade Foster drifted, week after week, through dreary towns at the edge of nowhere where dark forces conspired against the human domination of this planet, aided by the apathy, greed and lust of our own darkest impulses. The aliens inhabited beautiful human husks and were enamored by their ability to manipulate us with sex, but as a collectivist species, on their own they lacked human willpower. The idea that they had once been a peaceful and spiritual people was elaborated by the character of Joshua, a reflective and reluctant conqueror who eventually turned against his own people to fight against the invasion.

I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes intelligent science fiction. Fans of "The X-Files" will no doubt find the intense, paranoia-driven and arc-based plot lines appealing. The show's use of allusion to other science fiction is effective, especially in an early episode where Cade infiltrates a group of people who have been hypnotized into recalling graphic alien abductions by a seductive Gua agent. The alien abduction experiences are false, a smokescreen for the psychological experiments that make this series truly creepy. As Eddie puts it, "Reptilians and Insectoids, typical tabloid aliens." The Gua are smart invaders. They know human culture, they know our media tropes, and they're willing to use them against us. "First Wave" is currently available on DVD.