Suns & Shadows

Sci-Fi Friday Presents - Space : Above and Beyond ; Mutiny

“Cooper and McQueen, both In Vitroes, face a difficult decision when the captain of a space cargo hauler decides to sacrifice his In Vitro cargo in order to save his ship after it comes under attack.”

Welcome back to Space : Above and Beyond where this episode effectively shifts gears to the group dynamic and less on singular character-centric episodes. This allows a little more freedom for the actors to grow together. I have to say, James Morrison absolutely stole the show in this episode. While everyone played their roles very well, no one else stood out performance wise more than James Morrison. The ability to use his eyes and facials to express emotion while still being an effective leader let's you read more into his character. There is a such a degree of subtlety to him that when he shares a scene everyone comes up to his level.

The best example is West, whom they have not shared much time with as of yet. As he still has Kylen on his mind, West is still not as focused as he should be. It took McQueen to step in and take the pendant away and remind him of his duty and place. This was a much needed development before West fell into a potential rut and turned into a pivotal character moment. It was definitely interesting to see West acknowledge his selfishness, get focused and understand where he is now.

I don't want to stray too far from the main plot with Hawkes and McQueen. The dynamic between the two is captivating to saw the least. Hawkes is still very much young and full of ideas, feelings, etc... The intangible desire for family and learning your place in the world, whilst McQueen has lived through all of this and comes with a different perspective. Rodney Rowland played his role to a “T” in their scenes, looking for wisdom. Yet often hearing things he didn't want to hear but had to hear. It's a strong dynamic, akin to father-son, between the two but it's not all roses. The confrontation about the killing of the In-Vitro cargo put McQueen on his heels. It forced McQueen to really think about what's going on. It's not that he wanted to singular with his experience, but he needed to be confronted with “How can you kill your own people?” before the plot could move. In my opinion, the most dynamic scene came at the end of the episode when McQueen acknowledged their differences. Especially in regards to how he never looked for his family. “It's not because of what I might find. It's because of what I might feel.” It's refreshing to see dialogue and character development like this allowed his character to open up for a brief moment. Many television series around this era lacked this level of touching character moments.

The rest of the cast did fairly well as they mostly took to playing within their own subplots. Damphousse, Wang were definitely more involved and are growing as characters with our group. This was the point in the series I was looking for. The point when all the characters and stories really start to come together and focus on the 58th as a whole rather than one character. You could argue that still exists in this episode, but I felt that dynamic shift to include the group and it was much needed. I found the Wang and Vansen conversations about internet dating to be pretty hilarious. Lastly, it was great to see more for Damphousse to be more active and standout with her intelligence and background coming together.

The only downside to this episode, was the supporting cast who made up the freighter crew were a bit paint by numbers. They still played well to the mutiny in order to avoid the killing of the In-Vitro's in cargo. The actors did their parts, but the characters just were not defined well enough, nor relatable enough to make this more impactful. It was a weekly tv series, so I get it that not everyone can have a standout character to relate to. I highly enjoyed how the episode played with the idea of the ship being an attack before confirming it really was an atttack. It made great use of West, McQueen and reminded the audience that the Chigs are still hanging over the series. The concept and core plot was tight though delivering a compelling episode with a good message.

Overall, while Mutiny was not part of the overall story arc it did further characters and the world building of the In Vitroes. Technically this is a filler episode, but it acts like it's not. It's not vital to a watch through for the main points of Space: Above and Beyond. I would still advise to watch this episode. There's a great energy and dynamic to this episode. Yes, it falls a little flat at times with the crew of the freighter, but it makes up for it in spades. Especially when you're talking a great cameo in Tony Amendola, of Stargate SG-1 fame, who played the role of Captain Lewelyn. Now that was simply awesome for the sci-fi geek in me! Especially when I see him and say, Master Bra'tac?1? I'm dropping that alien attack ship with 8/10 Hammerheads.

Not to mention, but stay tuned for next weeks review. It's a personal favorite of many, Ray Butts!