Objective Comparison of Season 1 and Season 2
Jennifer Silverman
Let's compare the most basic plot structure of EFC. It's as objective a
way to compare the seasons as possible ... no I love this character or
that character or insults needed.
Season one - We are presented with the Taelons who are facing a
technologically advanced enemy (witness the mysterious
probe) and need to determine if earth is the right place to find help
(witness Da'an's emphasis on maintaining trust between Taelons and human
"partners"). Approach involved the development of advanced weaponry
such as the skrill and the information zapping thing in "Devil You
Know".
Season two - At least one enemy race is identified by name. Taelons now
act as though they have not yet discovered gunpowder. Their approach
changes to creating human beastie thingees with lots of rage . Kind of
like sending in professional wrestlers to fight the Borg.
Does this help in showing why season two appears to make little sense
and why a lot of people are having difficulty liking it ?
Jeanannd
>From: JF...@webtv.net (Jennifer Silverman)
====================
Your analysis of the situation is simple yet precise. Now if we can make the
producers understand this.
I thought I could organize freedom - Bjork - The Hunter
jeanad
Code Blue
In Season One, we had Boone. A Human in a complex situation. One of the
driving forces in the show was What Boone Knows, What he doesn't - what
he can and (often far more important) can't do and who (if anyone) he can
trust. Boone was trapped and constantly treading a thin line. "Stop the
world, I want to get off" was written all over him - but that wasn't an
option. Despite the fact that none of us has ever been in the same
situations - you could ALWAYS idetify with Boone being trapped (or torn
apart) by his circumstances.
Now we have a part-alien character that has (apparently) knowledge and
powers that he and we don't understand. It's difficult to identify with
or even care about Kincaid.
So, point 1 - We liked to watch Boone squirm - with Kincaid - we'd rather
see him dead and be done with it.
Point 2 - All (well, alot of) the mystery is GONE.
If you'll pardon my comparison - look at Babylon 5 or pick ANY daytime
soap-opera. A major part of the attraction is seeing "What's going to
hit the fan next". It's all a big tease - and thats the point - it's
SUPPOSED to be a tease. In the opener of Season 2 - a big chunk of the
mystery vaporized before our eyes. Many of us SUSPECTED that the
Scarecrow WASN'T Taelon and something like the Jaridians and that MAYBE
the Taelons were here to breed "warriors" - but in about 5 minutes of
dialog - all those cards got put, face-up, on the table. Personally, I
LIKE a good mystery. The season 2 opener was like reading the last
chapter of the book first.
EFC has been reduced to the same old, safe, easy formula for an action-
adventure show. I'm sure that Season 1 was a bitch to write and produce
- it's HARD to do something so innovative.
One can only hope the producers come to their senses and put things back
they way they were. I'd LIKE to see Kevin Kilner back - but,
realistically, we'll probably have to settle for another actor.
I'm certain that Gene wouldn't have done this to the show or to us -
regardless of whatever pressures were put on him.
- Save Gene's vision -
CodeBlue
In article <19981111133000...@ng-ft1.aol.com>,
jean...@aol.com says...
Tina Price
Code Blue!
I do NOT want to have a "Star child" saving every
situation with his
sudden, miraculous abilities!
I do NOT want to see a new-born wonder child telling
Da'an what to do.
I do NOT want to see a character I really liked last
year (Augur) thrown to
the dogs every week and otherwise basically overused.
What I DO want is to follow a true hero (Boone) on
his tightrope quest for
the truth. I want to bite my nails over his situation, cheer
him on and feel sorry
for him when required.
I DO want to see him salvage bad situations using
his head and some help
from his friends, rather than with heavy duty fire power.
(If you want to make
things go BOOM every week, then please produce a different
show - don't be messing
with Gene Roddenberry's ideas).
I Do want to watch him slowly build a relationship
with Da'an and create a
bridge between the humans and the Taelons. Isn't the show
basically about
humanity's struggle to reach an understanding with another
race and to grow as a
whole? Why in the hell do we need our hero to be a part
alien plot device?
Code Blue wrote:
> In addition -
>
> In Season One, we had Boone. A Human in a complex situation. One of the
> driving forces in the show was What Boone Knows, What he doesn't - what
> he can and (often far more important) can't do and who (if anyone) he can
> trust. Boone was trapped and constantly treading a thin line. "Stop the
> world, I want to get off" was written all over him - but that wasn't an
> option. Despite the fact that none of us has ever been in the same
> situations - you could ALWAYS idetify with Boone being trapped (or torn
> apart) by his circumstances.
>
> Now we have a part-alien character that has (apparently) knowledge and
> powers that he and we don't understand. It's difficult to identify with
> or even care about Kincaid.
> So, point 1 - We liked to watch Boone squirm - with Kincaid - we'd rather
> see him dead and be done with it.
> Point 2 - All (well, alot of) the mystery is GONE.
Gary
the depth of character were tossed out. Simplicity, 2 dimensional, younger,
male/adolescent characters have replaced them.
Though the one I feel changed the most was Augur. His paranoia is gone, his
"hidden" existence is gone. He is now the embodiment of a 13 year old boys
fantasy about what a hacker would be in the future:-(
Though all characters have suffered to one extent or another.
What would be really nice to know, is WHY?
WHY did EFC producers do this?
What was the basis for this change?
It didn't just "happen".
Somewhere, there must have been email, notes, letters discussing these changes.
Why won't any of the producers at EFC discuss this? It'd be nice to have an
explanation besides the obvious that they are morons.
Merrick Baldelli
Silverman) wrote:
>Let's compare the most basic plot structure of EFC. It's as objective a
>way to compare the seasons as possible ... no I love this character or
>that character or insults needed.
See Message ID's:
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Merrick Baldelli
wrote:
>I'm certain that Gene wouldn't have done this to the show or to us -
>regardless of whatever pressures were put on him.
Actually, I was thinking about this. Season One was
definitely not produced with the same theme Gene Roddenberry would
have done. In fact, Season Two is more what Roddenberry would produce
rather than Season One. Take a look at some of the work he's
produced, TOS, the First Two Seasons of TNG, The Questor Tapes, The
Lieutenant, and so on. The man made some interesting work -- but
subtlety was not his forte.
doogie
I thought season 1 was innovative, but season 2 is following formula TV
In Season 1 I liked seeing different sides to the characters, in one
situation they were characters I could admire but in another situation I
would despise that same character. Sometimes the line was blurred in
determining who was the "good guy" and who was the "bad guy"
Now, In Season 2, we see the bad Taelon, the bad human and then there's
everyone else caught in the middle---nothing new or innovative about that.
Bill Boyer
<wa...@erase.bestweb.net> wrote:
>On Wed, 11 Nov 1998 15:43:50 -0500, Code Blue wrote:
>
>. . .
>>EFC has been reduced to the same old, safe, easy formula for an action-
>>adventure show. I'm sure that Season 1 was a bitch to write and produce
>>- it's HARD to do something so innovative.
>. . .
> I entirely agree, and feel a similar disservice was done to NBC's Homicide
>. . . now one of the more lame cops and bad-guys shows on TV.
>
>My $0.02,
>
>- Wade
>
>
I agree.
I really enjoyed season 1 and was expecting season 2 to be a
continuation.
But no, the caracterizations in season 2 are unstable, there are loose
ends all over the place, and there is nothing even kinda like a
logical connection between the events of the first season and the
second. We not only have 2 different seasons, we have 2 different
series, IMHO.
Unless there is some freat improvement, I doubt that I will bother
watching a 3rd season, if there is one.
Bill
Ross Martin
second. I still read this newsgroup though, hoping someone
will tell me it is all just a bad dream. EFC was my favorite
show last year, and now it is not even worth watching. It is
so sad. I mourn the lost show.
Ross Martin
Voyeur Mailman
wrote:
>> I really enjoyed season 1 and was expecting season 2 to be a
>> continuation.
>>
>> But no, the caracterizations in season 2 are unstable, there are loose
>> ends all over the place, and there is nothing even kinda like a
>> logical connection between the events of the first season and the
>> second. We not only have 2 different seasons, we have 2 different
>> series, IMHO.
>>
Reminds me of the War Of The Worlds series change between Season's
1 and 2... so radically different. Both had certain attractive
features (except the pathetic replacement for Colonel Ironhorse... no
one beats Chavves), but a better connection between the two would have
been cool. They seemed to be totally different series.