Suns & Shadows

Sci-Fi Friday Presents - Space : Above and Beyond ; Stay With the Dead

“West's plan to lure Chig soldiers into an ambush works, but after he's rescued, no one believes him when he insists that the rest of the 58th is still alive and needs to be rescued too.”

I like to kick off each review with the official synopsis from the DVD set, some times I make comments about them and some times I don't. This is going to be one of those times I think it's completely freaking idiotic and stupid. Not only does it have flaws, but it spoils the point of the episode. Now, none of us are naive enough to think the 58th were really dead in this episode but that's not the point. The point is to keep people guessing and see if the series may pull a two-parter or longer term story arc which we have seen before and will continue to see. It was not West's plan, it was Hawkes and Vansen who came up with the idea. It was West's idea to volunteer to be the bait.

The base of this episode is relatively simple, but it's the execution and the acting that drive this episode home. Yes, we get another West is the main character episode but this one is different. Morgan Weisser is absolutely stellar. It is without a doubt that Morgan jumped into this episode with every fiber of his being. You could feel for him and what his character. The lines were blurred and the investment in his character hit an all-time high. That's even if you didn't like him as a character. I think it's safe to say that if you're not buying him or the show at this point. Maybe you should stop watching, because this show is clearly not for you. In the most touching moment of the episode, West breaks down begging McQueen to listen to him. He even goes so far to confront his feelings about Kylen and whether she's still alive to prove everything. I was choked up at the end for this scene and when the 58th were reunited.

The 58th as a whole, did well in this episode but I liked how the center of the episode was West. There were definitely good character moments for everyone sans Damphousse. I liked Hawkes in this episode that despite the dark material he had some lighter moments. “We were only dead three days!” McQueen was a solid opposite of West to anchor the main plot. I'm not disappointed by the blending and secondary plot points with the characters. It all made sense and not out of place.

The main plot was good, nothing too outlandish or crazy for narrative. It was not as in-depth as it could have been. However, it took another sensitive topic and pushed it into focus. The Chigs are getting all nasty and un-relatable in the series. They are attacking Red Cross camps, making traps of the injured humans, etc... We are seeing the ratchet up of them as the enemies in this series. It's been a slow build but it's starting to pay-off. The pacing was excellent as was the development of what really went down, how the 58th switched uniforms for their own ambush. Nothing ever goes as planned and that's the beauty of this series.

Overall, Stay With the Dead is a simple, yet effective episode. It's emotional, it's raw and it's an incredible episode. The acting in Stay With the Dead is just stellar from Morgan Weisser. I'm giving this 9.5 / 10 Hammerheads.