First Wave

Not for a long, long time have I been drawn into a continuing series to the point that I just have to watch it week in, week out. "First Wave" has captured my imagination. Sebastian Spence as our hero Cade Foster should, in my opinion, be a big star and hopefully he will be, as audiences around the world get to see his work. "First Wave" is better than the X-Files and reminiscent of "The Fugitive" - if that confuses you, watch the show and you'll understand. You won't be disappointed.

Simply put, this is one of the finest Sci-Fi shows on television today. The show is not driven by special f/x, it's driven by solid stories, solid acting, in sum it's character driven. Each week Cade and his pal Crazy Eddie, try to stop alien experiments and expose the truth about them. This is not your typical show, this show has it's own identity and a following the grows weekly. In this day and age, we look for something to carry us into the future. The X-Files is coming to a close. First Wave is the show, that will carry the ball for high quality, sci-fi dramatic television. Chris Brancato is the genius behind this gem of a show, he was once worked on the X-Files. He is brilliant, just as this show is. This show will capture not only your imagination but your heart as well. This is one solid show, that harks back to the days of sci-fi shows that made you think, and not blow something up every five minutes. This is a show that will make you think, and say wow. This is high quality tv at it's very best.

I think it goes without saying that Sebastian Spence really made this series work. He had that quintessential generation X (Markie Mark) look with an attitude to boot. Rob Labelle was also very distinguishing as Crazy Eddie. Traci Lords Character was a good addition in the 3rd season, but someone like Cynthia Rothrock could have given you just as much sex appeal along with the ability to kick some SERIOUS butt.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the series from beginning to end, and hope to see it available on DVD soon. This was a youth driven project looking to reach a young audience. It was also good exposure for Spence who displayed the ability to fulfill the demands of an action lead role. Roger Cross also did an excellent job in the anti-hero role of Joshua as well.

Contrary to the views of another reviewer, I find this series outstandingly entertaining and my wife and I have been addicted to every episode. I am in my 50's and have a postgraduate degree - so much for moronic, sex-craved teens only! It is excellent escapism. No-one is suggesting that the programme is 'realistic' - that could hardly be described as the purpose of most SciFi TV series - but it does hold one intrigued from the beginning of the first series to the end of the last to find out how, if at all, everything is going to work out. The 'prophecies' of Nostradamus add a novel twist to everything and since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I should imagine that Nostradamus would feel well flattered indeed by this programme and the only somersaults he will be turning in his grave will be one's of delight. I would suggest that this programme be accepted for what it is and that one should not expect it to be deeply meaningful or anything else that it does not purport to be. It is well acted and directed throughout and I would recommend it unreservedly.

This show was at best, mediocre. The premise was interesting. A reformed thief is framed for murder and discovers that a race of aliens were using him in an experiment to test humans in preparation for an invasion. One of the executive producers was Francis Ford Coppola. The Sci-Fi Channel picked it up for three seasons right from the start. This show had a lot of promise, but it was all for not.

Most of the episodes focused on rooting out individual experiments, but rarely tackled the big picture, the impending invasion, head on. The series was decent, but it appeared to be stuck in neutral most of the time. At the beginning of the third season, they attempted to bring swift changes with the introduction of Jordan, played by Traci Lords, the leader of an underground resistance movement, but they were unable to get the jump start they were hoping for.

There are some series that, despite short runs, make an impact on the audience. The original Star Trek is the best example of that. However, now that the third and final season of First Wave is over, the series will quickly fade into the background. It was an OK series, but it just couldn't get over the hump.