Earth: Final Conflict

The pilot episode written by Gene Roddenberry is excellent, but the show goes nowhere, all hugger mugger and no real story. Roddenberry's basic idea, that contact between humans and superior aliens will not be all black and white but will be filled with ambiguities, is a good one. Later writers, however, think in terms of good aliens and bad aliens. The use of female actors to play androgynous aliens was a good idea, but in later seasons everybody except Da'an overdoes it. In the third season, there are a number of scripts by Howard Cheykin, who is an excellent writer, and who wrote some memorable episodes of The Flash TV series, as well as some great graphic novels. However, he is unable to do anything here, because he is locked in to what is really not a workable story line. I have not watched the fifth season, but I have read that it throws out most of what was established in the first four. For scifi completists only.

There is no doubt Gene Roddenberry is a genius. Earth Final Conflict deserves to be measured in the same greatness as Star Trek. Equally superb vision and equally enjoyable.

What set EFC apart was it's amazing realism. The producers went to great lengths to fuse Taelon technology into earth's daily lives. The atmosphere alone is awesome. The characters are very human, even the Taelons. Despite their tranquil and sedated movements, they have their good and evil sides just like the rest of us. It is amazing how Gene Roddenberry was able to conceive that in a believable alien context. In the show, the Resistance is fighting as much against the Taelons as against humans. Every episode was filled with suspense. EFC is the prove that good story can win without huge SFX budgets. Mr. Roddenberry, YOU'RE THE BEST!

The consistent cast changes did hurt the show. But every thing was still in order: the Taelons with their hidden agendas, the humans still mixed with conflicting thoughts about their alien visitors. It's sad to see characters come and go, but the spirits were not lost. It is a little sad to see such a good show on a slow downward spiral. The realism is slowly taken over with special effects. Open land is replaced with Taelon-styled interiors, our heros' pistols are replaced with energy weapons, etc. But all were still in order......until the Atavus arrived.

That spelt the end of EFC (much like the marriage killed the Lois & Clark show). It took away a large part of what made the show interesting. The Taelons are gone, the humans no longer seem human, and the plot gets slower and slower by the episode. All the original characters are gone except Palmer. And the intelligence that was seen in earlier seasons are gone. I'm not going to get into details of why people didn't like season 5. It held together only long enough to give EFC a decent ending. I guess Mr. Roddenberry's notes were all used up by season 4. I bet this show would have excelled if he himself were here to steer it as it goes.

Despite its evident failure in season 5, EFC remained one of my favourites. It's a look into humans, and what we would have done if aliens do come. ("aliens" here refering to higher intelligence, not every other race of destructive monsters seen in other shows and movies)

I really enjoyed this series when it first came out. Although the idea of benevolent-seeming aliens with ulterior motives is not new (see the original Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man"), EFC gave it a new and fresh approach. Add to that the intrigue between Da'an and Zo'or and the other Taelons, the power struggles within the Resistance, and the Machiavellian Sandoval, and you had a story with some real promise.

Unfortunately, the loss of Kevin Kilner as Boone towards the end of the first season, signaled the beginning of a string of cast changes that disrupted the continuity of the series and the story line (to paraphrase a line from "The Outlaw Josey Wales": when I get to liking a character, they don't stay around very long). Robert Leeshock put in a fine performance as Liam Kincaid; but I felt Liam became less interesting the more "human" he became. As part alien, he straddled both sides of the fence and could bond with Da'an in ways that no human ever could; but as a human, he was just one more resistance fighter.

Another disturbing trend--and maybe it's my own imagination--was the tendency to cast women based on their brassiere sizes. I thought nothing of it with Lisa Howard--I thought her portrayal of Lili Marquette was first-rate--but then with the introduction, shortly after Lili's disappearance, of Jayne Heitmeyer as Renee Palmer, I became more suspicious. The final straw was Lori Alter's well-endowed and scantily-camisoled Ehrengraf wrestling with Liam in the final moments of "Emancipation". All we needed was the Jell-O. Were they TRYING for the adolescent male audience? I'm not criticizing the acting abilities of any of these women; I'm just saying that it was hard to take the series seriously after that.

Finally, would it have been rocket science to choose a less transparent name than Doors International? Jonathan DOORS--Bill GATES??? (Not to mention Microsoft WINDOWS(R)!)

I can't comment at all on the fifth season--once I saw the Atavus appear and started reading some of the story lines, it just became too painful to bear.

I have been watching EFC since the beginning. For the most part the show is very good (season 1 to 4). During the fourth season the plot began to go down hill and the fifth season is only watchable for laughs (as only one person from the first season remained). Over all the scripts a well written and complex yet understandable. If you like shows about the little guy winning watch EFC.

Year 1: near genius, entertaining, thought provoking.

Years 2-4: Mediocre, some nice short skirts from time-to-time but that's about all.

Year 5: Deus Ex Machina, and not in a good way. This season was a form of insanity. Watching the principles struggle through this silliness was very painful.

There are so many good TV shows today there's no point in watching this.

For older TV that blows away most of today's TV and movies check out:

The Prisoner (1967) The Singing Detective (1986) I, Claudius (1976)