Suns & Shadows

Sci-Fi Friday Presents - Space : Above and Beyond ; The Enemy

“The members of the 58th turn on each other after they land on the planet Tartarus and encounter a Chig mind-altering weapon that wreaks havoc on the area of the brain that controls fear.”

In this next episode, titled “The Enemy” the 58th faces off against the greatest enemy to date. The enemy within themselves. I found one quote in particular in this episode very succinct in how it covered the premise. “Here the light is an enemy, an ally with the darkness. There's no place to run. There's no escape.” A bit on the dark side, but also served to convey the greatest enemy is the one within. This was a heavy episode.

The nicest part about the narrative structure of this episode is how to told different stories from the 58th, without contradicting itself. Despite getting a bit goofy at times, this episode does go a bit sideways at times, we do get different perspectives played in one singular story. This was good, but also contributed to some pacing issues. The metaphors were strong and well executed, the reference to the planet being called Tartarus, the electronic nerve gas and all the subtlety within each characters fears. None of the fears themselves over powered one persons in particular, giving weight to each character and a pivot point for development. This also showed a reliance on the cast to carry the episode with minimum guest appearances. We've blown past the introduction phase of this season and we're rolling right along. I didn't hate the writing of this episode, but it felt off at times.

The stand out character of this episode, at least to me was Lt. Wang. He's been steadily becoming more and more a unique and fun character in the group. He's story in particular about the roaches and why he hates them really brought a quality to his character that's been missing. Wang was the glue of this episode, while Damphousse played the opposite of being the agitator. The rest of the 58th each had their moments but were quickly followed by the paranoia and fear running through them. The cast really hit a home run playing off of each other with their intensity and emotion. It was almost enough to make McQueen and Ross, feel like the background characters to the story. My one complaint is that Damphousse's fear about blood wasn't addressed at all and was glossed over. Now, everyone in some way had a chance to explain their fear except for her.

Conspicuous bu their absence the Chigs ultimately did not appear but their presence was certainly felt. It was a great touch to see that the 58th is picking up another detail in the Chigs. As that the Chigs have to understand the concept of fear and understand human physiology to construct a weapon like this. The mystery grows deeper from their interaction with the enemy. As I watched this episode, I must confess I felt like this was more like what Starship Troopers should have been like. Granted I like that movie, but this has the right tone and chemistry going for it. I don't think it was a jab, but the bug hating was pretty funny!

Overall, The Enemy is an interesting episode. Aside from pacing issue, getting goofy at times and glaring over subplots this is a solid episode. Now despite feeling like this episode took a step back, it did give great play to the group dynamic. It feels like a calm moment before the storm. I'm going to give this 7 / 10 Hammerheads.