Terra: Conflito Final

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.

Well, WHAT have they done to my favorite show?? Earth: Final Conflict used to be a wonderful series. In the first season, it was about a contact with a truly _different_ alien race, called the Taelons. Outwardly peaceful and benevolent, secretly altering the future of humanity. They weren't evil, just desperate (although we didn't know it). They weren't good, because they did bad things to us. Then came the second season. Lots of action. Little thought. Liam. Liam is a hybrid. Half Kimeran (another alien race), half human. He quickly became Mr. Superman-like-character. This was _BAD_ TV. Now we are presented with season 3. Pretty good, although Liam is as stiff as ever, Renee is his sidekick (both characters are so flat they could practically interchange lines at any point). Perhaps season 4 will be better. I doubt it though. There is something wrong with the writers on this show. Unless you are looking for disappointment when s4 gets here, don't get too involved.

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)

It was clear from the beginning of the series that the story had been fairly carefully mapped out. The early ambiguous characterization of the Taelons became clearer as their motivations were revealed, and the righteous fear of the Resistance was confirmed; such gradual exploration of a complex storyline is one of the best elements of Sci-Fi television (I have no idea what semantic distinction is supposed to exist between "science fiction" and "SciFi"--fanatics are always inventing new layers of obfuscation to objectify their opinions). Unfortunately, E:FC has suffered from apparently unplanned cast changes: the departures of Kevin Kilner after the first season and Robert Leeshock after the fourth (though both have made brief return appearances) have plainly disrupted the story. The latter disruption has sapped the drama of its narrative drive, unfortunately; Jayne Heitmeyer's Renee was fine as a secondary character, but just doesn't have the stuff to carry the show. The introduction of the Atavus has the feel of last-minute scrambling too. The Taelons were a deft, sophisticated creation of a fascinating mind, while the atavistic hybrid that succeeded them would be more at home in a cheap horror story. If I'm wrong about the ad hoc storytelling, then Gene Roddenberry's bible wasn't as good as I had thought. In either case, the final season of Final Conflict has been a distinct disappointment.

E:FC Review:

This part goes for the first season: E:FC was one of the most promising science fiction series I ve ever seen. The talons where so completely differnt from all the other alien races in other series. These were no humans with cheap makeup in the face (star trek anybody?), or the nasty nasty aliens from trash sci fi. This race were different. They had their goals, they had their owns definition of moral. But even though they have made "mistakes" in the first season too you always believed that they wanted to help the people. But not only the talons were good. The leading character (Boon), a spy working for the talons and the resistance at the same time. Wearing a alien life form as weapon, lost his wife due to the deeds of the talons, getting a good friend of Da'an. This character was really promising. So was Sandoval, who acted like he acted cause he had a working CVI. IMO the best story of the show was Sandovals freed from the CVI for a short time. Thats were you were able to see the real depth and tragedy of this character.

Now to the later seasons:

I hate them. They destroyed everything that was differnt about E:FC. Just take the new main character Liam. This guy got no past, no personality and he even loses his alien side! "Wheres your shakarawa liam? Oh, I lost it..." DOH!!! And on the top of this the talons became more and more the evil aliens we all know from thousand other science fiction stories...

I suggest you watch the first season of this series. Its really worth it. But then forget it. Dont watch the later seasons. They are destroying everything.