Renegades

DVD, BUGS S3 (Renegades)

The end of an era was marked with this episode. Not the end of the series, though it was originally only guaranteed three years by the BBC, but the input of the series' best writer (and co-consultant), Stephen Gallagher, and perhaps the series' best actor, Craig McLachlan. It's hard to comprehend that it's been almost twenty-five years since I first saw this, but it must have meant a lot because I recorded some audio on a cassette tape in the build-up to the episode, as well as the theme music. It also marks the end of when the series could be said to be great, as with decreasing budgets and less well executed ideas, not to mention a whole different Ed (in this episode he claims he's wearing a new jacket to change his image - little did he know!). But they threw everything into making this finale a slam-bang success, and it wasn't just the shocking cliffhanger that closed out the story, it's genuinely one of the strongest episodes of the whole series and sad that Gallagher had to leave to pursue his own projects, though he may well have contemplated returning if the series had gone on for a few more years. If the episode hadn't been up to scratch then the sudden disappearance of Ros wouldn't have been enough on its own to save the series for another year (the same trick was tried at the end of Season 4 with no result), but combine it with a terrific, if simple, story of a plot to resurrect Cyberax, arguably the team's most devastating villain, and the clamour was going to be too much for the BBC to ignore!

Talking of villains, the only missing piece is that they didn't bring back a deranged, mutilated Jean-Daniel as part of this story - it works superbly with Roland Blatty as the chief enemy, this man Ros was close to (she tells him he's no match for Beckett and he disinterestedly replies he might have been interested in such sentiments once, but not any more), that the team respected (okay, they never really respected him!), and liked, with all the knowledge and know-how of an ex-Bureau Chief, is the one they have to go up against, and not only that, but he's been transformed by Cyberax in his brain into a physically more powerful, intent zombie with singleminded purpose to fuse the surviving pieces of Cyberax back together. It's aliiiiiive! He does seem to be Borg-like in his superior strength and emotionless exterior, like a Terminator - it seems that franchise (all two films of it back then!), was an inspiration when we hear Ros' imaginative doom-laden speech about robots building weapons for a war humanity can't win, a scene that sends chills down the spine as Jan tries to hold onto the idea that part of Cyberax must survive in order to be able to fight the next such threat. Except there won't be a next time if Cyberax survives as Ros says so eloquently in her persuasiveness. It's the fight between the mentality of preserve and study compared with destroy at all costs because there's no other option, and Ros would know.

As I say, Blatty was one of the team's greatest threats, but what if JD could have appeared in some small way. Maybe we see Roland communicating with someone else, transmitting the codes to him, or reporting on progress. The cliffhanger is excellent as it is because you really are left with such wonder and concern for Ros, so I'm not saying it would have been improved if JD had walked into frame. But just imagine if, rather than the actual culprit, it had been JD and she had been convinced to work with him? What a story that could have been! It seemed like they were teasing us with the possibility in 'Fugitive' by saying his body was never found, and now the creation he tried to set free is the threat our team face, and then Ros is apparently kidnapped, what could have been better, and I don't see why Gareth Marks wouldn't have come back if they asked him. I wouldn't complain about this episode for lack of JD, however (maybe Season 4, but not this episode!), and instead Blatty has a couple of automatons alongside him, Sam and Jenna. They aren't quite as dispassionate as Blatty comes across so I'm not sure it had been completely decided how these 'Children of Cyberax' should act. Mind you, Roland does express some emotion sometimes so it's not that jarring, but the women do emote more for sure, whether it was Sam baring her teeth and charging about with a pole to batter her way out of the hospital (or whatever - seemed like they were each in some kind of secure facility), or Jenna eagerly building up to smash through the toughened glass cell.

For the most part they do behave like mere puppets being controlled by an alien presence, yet there's also the suggestion that something of them still remains as when Cyberax is destroyed Roland thanks Ros and Beckett, then his head lolls back as he tells Ros 'no,' when she asks him to come back, as if he couldn't live without Cyberax, even if he was relieved to be free of it. The way it was concluded was so strong, the best part of the episode as Ros is forced to choose between her duty to Jan and Beckett's life, then when Jan sees she can't stand in the way of such a strong bond, it becomes between Roland and Beckett. I suspect Ros would have saved Beckett even if Roland had been his usual self and she'd had to make the same choice in different circumstances. Typical of Gallagher to find a plausible, realistic solution to defeat the plans of the villain, yet also so simple. It puts the writing of today that I see so often in sci-fi (I'm specifically thinking of 'Star Trek,' once so strong, now so awful), to absolute shame, where they prefer increasingly outlandish and fantastical resolutions to problems. The key to great drama is not to make the situation ever more epic but to make it ever more personal, and that's exactly what makes this episode sing. Yes, the chills of this dystopian vision of war with AI works brilliantly, and yes they also achieve a sense of scale in moments such as Roland crashing through a wall in a massive Caterpillar truck, but none of that has any meaning until and unless Ros must make a personal choice.

It wasn't too hard a choice, let's be honest - if it had been to allow Cyberax to live and Beckett will live, or destroy Cyberax with Beckett as the only way to defeat it, then that would have been even more dramatic, but it would also have stymied the series which relied on the interactions of the three main characters, and it couldn't have continued. Which is why perhaps it could have been Ed whose life was threatened, killing off him would have been a tremendous shock, as was originally planned at the start of the season. But I'm really just speculating, I wouldn't have wanted to see any of the three die, even though Craig didn't come back. It was necessary to write it as it was because this wasn't some standalone film, this was the culmination of a season's worth of dilly and dallying as regards Ros and Beckett, and it was pulled off well - I especially like how their coming together isn't some over the top Americanisation, all face-hugging and overly sentimental, it's a much more English attitude, some real affection and warmhearted understanding. It's just that I do feel sad we never got to have that group scene where they're all together one last time, but then if that had happened we wouldn't have got such a terrific shock ending. I wonder if McLachlan knew he was going to leave when they were playing these scenes and whether it was all designed to try and keep him onboard just as there were hopes to continue the story?

The story itself is fairly simple, it's just an episodic trip round to each of the four discs where the villains make their play to steal them and assemble the code of Cyberax. It's so believable that the authorities wouldn't have learned from the horror of this AI danger, but instead convinced themselves they needed to keep it for future reference, and even Jan says it's the key to artificial intelligence technology, a subject that has had increasing relevance in today's world. That's part of the scariness of the story, that rather than realise this is a path humanity shouldn't go down, much like nuclear weapons, whatever can be done, will be, while Ros is more practical about it all: destroy it and be vigilant so no one can make the same mistake again. I noticed the colours our team are wearing in this episode were generally more muted as if this is no time to be bright for such a dark mission, with Ros in a black suit and turquoise top, Beckett in suit and waistcoat with purple tie and light mauve shirt, and Ed in more naturalistic colours such as the tan jacket - it all takes place in daylight, but that doesn't make it any less of a daunting or dangerous prospect, and the direction sells this better than anything else: we see a distorted reflection of Roland as he stalks along a corridor, or similarly 'off' images of the others, and the camera tilts spookily as if to emphasise the off-kilter nature of what is happening. If it had been Season 2 it would have taken place in darkness, but it's at least as sinister that these half-human creatures are out and about in broad daylight as it would be to have them hiding in the shadows - it shows they'll stop at nothing to achieve their programming.

There was some question over the history of Roland's associates as both Alex and Ros seem to know them. Alex is understandable since she was an actual member of the Bureau of Weapons, though only in a small way, but when would Ros have had the chance to get to know any of Roland's people? Or was she just trying to play with Jenna's mind? The demises of the three are all equally dramatic, with Sam losing her mind and turning catatonic once her purpose has been fulfilled, a dreadful presage to what will happen to Roland, Jenna making a suicidal leap from high in the Bureau's offices, living long enough to pass the disc she's protected at all costs, to Roland, and then he himself, though blasted with a shotgun, is still 'alive' enough to sit up again and when realising the lead-lined roof of the church won't allow transmission of the completed Cyberax program, he pitifully tries to drag himself and the computer out of there. What he should have done was execute all three of his human opponents and then he'd have had leisure to crawl away, but Cyberax is inexperienced in the real world it seems. You think Beckett's going to kill him with the shotgun, but instead he blasts the computer, shutting Cyberax down for good, but also that which was keeping Roland alive. It's a sad end for a character that had been in the series since the second episode, 'Assassins Inc,' coincidentally the first written by Gallagher, so there's some nice symmetry with him creating the guy and killing him off in his final episode.

On that subject it's a shame we couldn't have Wence back for SSD since they do go to a facility belonging to that organisation, one of the big three of the series, or that's what I thought while watching. SSD was never actually mentioned in dialogue, you see it on the paper Ros miraculously recovers from the ashes, and it's much more militaristic than other SSD appearances, standard soldiers as the guards at this place rather than SSD agents - going over my notes from previous viewings I find it was actually the 'Secure Storage Depot.' It seems unlikely they'd have used those initials by mistake when SSD was so recognisable in the 'BUGS' world, so perhaps it was the SSD's SSD! It would have been nice to get a little more on that, but there was a lot to pack into this episode. For one thing we get the unceremonious end to the visual hallmark of the series: Beckett's Cherokee Jeep. It gets crushed beneath Roland's gigantic wheels as he makes his getaway and Beckett looks on with dismay. I'd have liked them to mention this event in some way, but again, there wasn't really time for it, but that vehicle had been in it from the first episode and was in almost every one (twenty-five out of thirty by my count!). It was so recognisable it was almost a fourth member of the original team, long before Jan and Alex came along. They'd already started bringing in other cars this season (on top of Ros always having her own sporty little number before), such as the Toyota Ed drives (which Beckett seems to use this episode), and the Grand Cherokee Jeep Ros had (which Ed drives here!). On that, it's a bit confusing as sometimes it's dark blue, sometimes dark green like the Cherokee and in this it could be black, unless it's just the light on the dark blue version. She's rich enough to have multiple vehicles, of course (she has a lovely new place where she allows Beckett to stay in this one - was that purple sofa from Gizmos?), but we never get to hear more about the team's motors.

It was certainly a rough episode for Beckett, losing his faithful Jeep, being kicked off the houseboat and then held hostage by the former Bureau Chief, but at least he got Ros in the end. Just a shame that brief moment of happiness would be followed by a season of misery and strife! And while this is McLachlan's final appearance in the series (unless there's a slight moment where we see him in the flashback at the start of Season 4), he really doesn't have enough to do, mainly once again trying to impress Alex or chatting to her, though they do get that moment up against Sam where she keeps her busy and he tries to shut down the computers. Maybe they should both have attacked as that would have been even more exciting, though it was very effective seeing Alex get smashed through a partition wall! I'm not sure Alex really got to shine in her debut year as much as I thought she did in memory, or from her first couple of episodes, she's often there to have things explained to her for the audience's benefit (such as a primer on Cyberax, the only Code Red file she couldn't sneak a look at!). I think they were far too concentrated on pairing her and Ed up when they should have focused on the team as a unit, and as much fun as she was she tended to detract from Ed's role. Jan was handled better as this mystery woman you're not sure whether to trust or not, with most episodes not featuring her heavily, yet 'Identity Crisis' providing a much more personal story and integration.

As a whole, the season was undeniably a success, but I do miss the more claustrophobic style of Season 2 with its concentration of technological locations and night scenes. Season 3 was definitely an attempt to get back to Season 1's more naturalistic presentation and less of the pure sci-fi elements that make 2 superior for me, and not just because that's the one I started with. It's been a great ride, however you look at it, and I see Season 4 as more of an addendum. A bit like the Bourne films after the initial trilogy, where it ended so well they better have something really good to justify continuing, and… oh, they didn't. But at least there is more, though increasingly as I've got older I've realised that more is generally not better. Less truly is more. And yet if given the choice would I really have turned down another ten episodes of the series, even if they weren't as good? Of course not! You need to see a series play itself out so you know there wouldn't have been much to miss with a Season 5, although even then, if they offered it, I'd have been there. With this being the final appearance of the original triumvirate I feel it only right to salute Ed, Ros and Beckett, Craig, Jaye and Jesse, and say thanks so much for what you brought to Saturday evenings in the 90s. And for those interested, by my calculations this episode marks one hundred and sixteen explosions, thirty-eight countdowns and fifty-six deaths. So there you go, roll on Season Houghton.

*****