Review of Earth Final Conflict

Introduction

Sci-Fi series box-sets are very appealing. In a way, they`re an investment in a time-block of sheer escapism, not only from the dredge and drear of everyday life but from the very planet we live upon. The trouble is that not all Sci-Fi TV is created equal.

I came to EFC Series 1 hot off the back of devouring the grittily remorseless re-tread of `Battlestar Galactica` (Series 1), which was probably not a wise move. (BSG was very impressive, EFC less so…).

EFC started life as a forgotten or un-peddled quarter-baked idea from the estate of the late great Gene Rodenberry (who knocked up some obscure sci-fi thing called `Star Trek` amongst other achievements) along with an idea that would become `Andromeda` in the year 2000.

EFC is a kind of throw-back to the good old days of cold-war inspired sci-fi where the aliens were generally amongst us, though their intentions not immediately clear (`The Invaders` `V` et al). But this time the aliens were easily identifiable. Mainly because, despite their ability to manifest in human form they still choose to look, well, like aliens really. The big question (initially) in EFC is: benevolent or malevolent? To its credit, EFC ensures that the distinction between the two is slightly blurred, if erring on the malevolent.

The context is earth in the not too distant future. The aliens this time are egg-heads called `Taelons`, creepy meditative beings who seem to move in slow-motion. They are played extremely well, with distinctive and considered body-language that sets them ever so slightly apart from the norm, giving them an other worldly feel akin to Bowie in `The Man Who Fell to Earth`. In short, like us - only not quite like us.

Having arrived on earth (`Three years ago they came, forever altering the future of humanity…`) they seem initially to only have the interests of humans at heart, offering to share their knowledge and technology to eradicate disease and poverty. Only all is not what it seems.

Referred to as `The Companions`, the Taelon`s earth mission is headed up by diplomat D`aan (played by the entirely androgynous Leni Parker). Delivering a public speech outside a huge industrial HQ, D`aan witnesses the assassination of billionaire businessman Jonathan Doors (played with maximum grumpiness by David Hemblen). Top security man (and Steve Martin lookalike) William Boone is one of the first on the scene. Impressed, D`aan asks him to join Companion security as `Commander Head of Security and Inter-species Relations`.

As a good cop, with an instinct for the `not quite right`, he turns the offer down. Within screen minutes his newly-wed wife is murdered in a car crash - and things start to get very weird.

Taelon Chauffeur, Captain Lili Marquette (played by the elfin Lisa Howard), persuades Boone to go with her to a secret place where he can get some answers to the many questions now haunting him. Not only does he go for a brief ride that makes Alton Towers look like a walk in the park (bad metaphor…), he goes to an underground hideaway where Jonathan Doors, the assassinated businessman is alive and well and plotting against the Taelons. He persuades Boone that the Taelons are up to no good, and encourages Boone to take up the offered post with a view to infiltrating Taelon HQ.

Joining the Companions team, Boone is asked to become an `implant` where he is given a CVI (Cyber Viral Implant) which, amongst the many powers it will give him, should also ensure that his driving imperative will always be Taelon well-being. Only the doctor administering the implant is also one of Door`s team and leaves that element off, leaving Boone a freethinker. These viral implants (living creatures grafted onto the skin of the subject) provide one of the more imaginative elements of the story - allowing much in the way of psychological sub-plots.

This is the first of some five seasons of EFC, though is popularly regarded as the finest. It`s certainly imaginative enough with some really great episodes amongst the 22 on offer here, all originally airing in 1997. Amongst the finest are: `Float like a butterfly` where Lili and Boone investigate an Amish community where their simple idyll is interrupted when perfectly stable people begin to take their own lives. `Scorpion`s dream` where one of the captive skrill`s, used for CVI`s, attaches itself to a human and then attempts to break-free of it`s own accord. Perhaps best of all is `Sandoval`s Run`. Sandoval is the pristine and uptight do-good servant of D`aan. In this episode, his CVI is degenerating. While Dr Belman works to restore his CVI and save his life, Sandoval, free from his CVI, escapes to find his wife, who is has committed to an asylum in his bid to become a perfect servant to the Companions. Boone learns that Sandoval`s CVI contained information about the Taelon`s mission on earth, and tries to save Sandoval`s life.
But overall it`s a hit and miss affair, with some episodes working much better than others.
To enjoy the programme, it`s essential that you suspend all disbelief and stop asking the glaringly obvious question: How come the omni-present Taelon`s never hear or see Boone and Lili in their anti-Taelon discussions or work?!

The Taelon`s remain fascinating throughout, though it becomes apparent that their politicians and leaders (`The Synod`) are not so different than our own. As the season progresses, its possible to occasionally sympathise with D`aan who goes further than other Taelon`s in sympathising with and understanding humans, and respecting their rights. Things are never black and white in the series and it`s not always to establish with certainty who is good and who is evil. Which is a nice touch.

Video

Presented in original 4:3 aspect ratio, this is a nice transfer though suffers from the usual NTSC to PAL softness that seems to be a feature of US TV series DVD`s mastered from 80`s and 90`s pre-digital television.

Audio

Workmanlike Dolby 2.0 stereo. Nothing special - though has some nice orchestration on the score.

Features

None.

Conclusion

EFC ran for a full five seasons, despite generally sluggish ratings. As a consequence it went through a series of constant personnel changes as well as huge leaps in narrative in an attempt to crank up popularity. Now the dust has settled, most agree that Season One (22 episodes) was its finest run.

It`s certainly an entertaining programme, wildly imaginative and full of intrigue and adventure. Unfortunately, it`s also a little bit too earnest, a little too wooden to really make the sci-fi big time. The casting of Kevin Kilner as Boone probably didn`t help matters. His soft-spoken approach seems horribly corny and wooden, and, considering how much he looks like Steve Martin, his total lack of humour adds to the general `couldn`t care less about him` feeling I had throughout the series.

On the plus side, the Taelons are captivating - with their strange other worldly androgyny and meditative slowness. Truly inspired.

There`s certainly some very imaginative writing here. Completely crazy off the wall, out of the box ideas that are usually the stuff of Japanese anime, that take imagination and effort to follow and which are very welcome in a popular US series like this one. And if most of it is completely and impossibly improbable, well who cares? It makes for some great viewing.

So despite being wooden, full of cliché`s (get that Irish man saying `at all, at all`), and being wildly improbable and inconsistent, it proved habit-forming enough for me to want to devour these episodes at least two at a time. I may even check out Season 2.