Origin

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Origin)

The series had to take a dip at some point and this is where it's not quite as strong as the opening two-parter. Part two left you wanting to know what was going to happen, where would this pale Palpatine figure lead Daniel and Vala, what was going to happen with Gerak and the new leadership of the Jaffa, would Carter be in an episode properly? This part is heavy with analogy, the theme clearly set as a mirror of our world's current state as encountering religious terrorism and it's not hard to see the solid parallels between the Ori and certain Earth factions right now, but also heavy-handed in its explanation. It's a bit of a wearing episode as so much is told to us, no doubt essential scene-setting, but at times it did feel like homework, keeping track of developments and the realisation of the Ori's purpose and intent. I was also dismayed by the lack of concern for the people Daniel and Vala inhabited, as if their escape from fiery execution was enough of a relief that the episode could bow out satisfied and content that the important characters are back where they should be. Salad and Harris, or whatever their names were, are left to burn, and although their friend, who was also murdered for his heretic status, assured Daniel he and the others were willing to die for their cause, and we see the pair looking peaceful as their doom overtakes, the lack of empathy, of any scene where Daniel, at least, showed some remorse or sadness that his freedom and life was purchased through the deaths of others, left the episode seeming callous and unfeeling.

It's 'unimportant character syndrome' of most TV shows, but on the other hand I'm not sure how else their story could have ended because Daniel and Vala had made the mistake of going to that place, and sometimes just the act of opening the box is all it takes to spread death and chaos on innocents through lack of knowledge and good intentions. It reinforces the harsh religion of the Ori, that of convert or die, so it was effective, but the episode just needed a tiny scene to reflect on charging into places without foreknowledge. Not that they could have done anything, their very presence in that galaxy is what makes our galaxy known to the Ori and a target for their harsh doctrine. There is a kernel of promise and interest from the idea that the power vacuum left by the defeated Goa'uld has meant opportunists setting themselves up in place, and promises myriad enemies to deal with, and the Ori's approach of at first sending these ghastly priors via Stargate to convert the weakened and surviving peoples in their post-Goa'uld existence, while also allowing the usual build up to something like a grand scale invasion. The Crusades are mentioned, and it could be in reverse.

The story was a little untidy in terms of its clear message about the Ori, and humans and Jaffa, the differences in belief and faith, and faiths, and it's always a tricky topic to try and cover in sci-fi when real religion and personal beliefs are attempted to be shoehorned into the backdrop, yet America is still largely a Christian country, so they do try not to alienate the viewers by suggesting that despite all this that has happened, the Ancients and the Ori could still be superceded by a higher power. But the tone of it is difficult to ascertain, I wasn't sure if Mitchell was proud of his Grandma's faith or sceptical of it, a burden upon his young self or a security, though General Landry seems more positive in that direction. Whatever the case I can see the writers trying to walk a fine line so as not to offend believing viewers, while also not being afraid to pursue the idea of a system that has ditched its (false) gods, as in the Jaffa. So at a time when the Goa'uld have been swept away and uncertainty reigns, even in the relative peace, power struggles have already led to Gerak becoming leader through political manoeuvring. We get to meet the guy here, and he is as uncompromising and difficult to read as Teal'c used to be, so not a man to be trifled with and perhaps more likely to become a problem than a reliable ally.

While the major powers try to come to some sort of understanding and work out what's to be done in the new regime, perhaps the common threat of the Ori will become a new banner to march beneath and help to bind alliance stronger? Or not. It struck me that the Ori were very much in the mould of the Pah-Wraiths of 'DS9,' the powerful opposing force cut from the same cloth as the Prophets, one set on goodness, the other on destruction (complete with fiery red eyes when taking a humanoid host). The questions of intervention by the Ancients and why/why not they would or wouldn't deal with the Ori are nimbly but shortly dealt with, basically saying the Ancients won't get involved, neither will the Ori directly, though they'll send their priors to convert and the human populations will become the threat. It's the fear of the enemy within, who is the enemy and what do they look like, how will we know they are the enemy until they strike? So some unnerving stuff and a bit heavy compared to the old fun-loving planetary adventures O'Neill used to preside over. A small taste of that warm comfort is remembered through his cameo at the end where he visits Daniel and goes flying with Mitchell. I didn't get what he'd come to tell him, but I guess it was something along the lines of they were going to make sure SG-1 didn't disband after all now that the Ori have proven a new danger. It was so nice to have him, but it makes you long for him and Carter, Daniel and Teal'c to get back together and do what they always did, even though I know that's not what will happen. It's just good enough to have the series continue, however that may be. But come on Carter, where are you?

**

Reply Box No. 666

DVD, The Champions (Reply Box No. 666)

The stand out for me in this episode was the quality and collection of the assorted villainy. In the first episode our champions of law, order, and justice were up against soldiers of a foreign power, while in the second it was a crooked surgeon and his associate. This time it's a gang of four with the impression they're part of a larger organisation intent on retrieving a special device that can make planes invisible to radar. I wasn't entirely clear if they were working for a power or wanted to get their hands on it to offer to the highest bidder, but they were an interesting bunch, not exactly cutthroat enemies that would be a match for Craig and his fellow super-humans, but not without threat. Corinne, the cold female pilot is able to dispatch Craig when she learns his alias is false and he's not the real contact they were expecting, and the story makes a good use of the fact they haven't yet mastered their powers, and shows the human limitations they're still under: Craig is still vulnerable to a well-aimed bullet (fortunately to the arm rather than the heart), and Jules, the heavily accented, womanising Frenchman can bundle him out of the airplane to what would be almost certain death for the average man. Except Craig exceeds that title and is able to swim however far he has to with one arm in a buffeting sea until he makes it to land.

The villains are rounded out by Nikko, the proprietor of a gift shop on Jamaica where the adventure takes place, a jolly character who gets his own catchphrase ("Enjoy your holiday in the sun, enjoy it!"), something that actor George Murcell would have in his next role on the series, so either it was the way he said it, or they liked giving him a little extra character to suit his performance. He's a fun guy that looks like a Klingon who's escaped from 'Star Trek,' though quite different in temperament. I'm pretty sure he was artificially darkened in skin tone, so that's probably the main reason I drew the connection, as I think in 'The Iron Man' he was light-skinned! The final member of the group is Bourges, the real contact sent to meet them on Jamaica, though at first I thought Jules called him 'boss' because of his thick accent! Jules was quite fun to see as I recognised Anton Rodgers who'd been in a lot of films (I only recently saw him in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,' made twenty years later), and I get the impression they were often comedies unless I'm getting him mixed up with Clouseau. He didn't learn the vital lesson of this episode, which was propounded early on: don't let women interfere with your job! The episode begins with a James Bond character, Semenkin the explosives expert, whose weakness is women, and who gets knifed for his lack of professionalism. I wondered if this was a sly dig at 007, showing what was more likely to happen with such shenanigans, after all, the Bond films were highly popular at this time and 'The Champions' must have some in its DNA. Semenkin's mistake was not to have an author writing multiple books about his character!

As I said, Jules doesn't learn from Semenkin's mistake and is quick to fall for Sharon's relatively sober routine in order to get him alone and mesmerise him so she can get information about what's going on and where Craig is. The fact she has a case of differently sized rings makes me wonder if she was already into the dark art of hypnosis when she hovers over and selects the biggest, rather than an ability she'd discovered since her Tibetan operation. That's one thing slightly frustrating about the series, harking back to its time, when there could be next to nothing carrying over from episode to episode: we don't get to see them discover each power and first learn to use them. Either way, it proves effective at subduing Jules' amorous attentions (only just), but his mind is too well trained to give anything away. If it shows the limits of Sharon's power, Richard getting stuck in Nikko's storeroom does the same for him, as he has no way to escape until the big man's had his big lunch and gone off to sleep, an ironic position for Richard considering all the resources he could call on if he needed to batter his way out. But brute force and speed are only one set of tools, and the professionalism and experience of these agents is just as important in their successes. Yes, they often have shortcuts and can take on tasks a normal person could not, but they were very good operatives before their powers, and those powers are almost incidental to this story.

I don't think there was even a scene at the end where Tremayne shows confusion over how this or that could have happened, and it's all played very realistically, it seemed to me. Another example of their limits is when Sharon gets a feeling Craig's still alive, though under immense stress, while Richard senses nothing - she is able to draw a direction on a map, but they have to go to another part of the island before she can make a cross-reference and narrow down the exact island Craig must be on. Apart from rugged survival and the easy besting of the villains in a fight at the end, the only other ability on display is Craig's super-hearing, able to pick up the conversation Corinne has via radio with Nikko, so he knows the game is up and is ready to fight. Dodging bullets would have been a good skill to have, but he isn't Superman and remains vulnerable, which is one reason the series works: they need to have dangers to face that can be just as deadly as they would to an ordinary person, yet the edge they possess adds something different to the spy genre. Another example of the trio not having a full grasp of their powers is when Sharon visits Nikko's shop and her concern that the real Bourges shows up is communicated to her associates. She didn't know she'd communicated until later when Richard mentions it, though he didn't know exactly what was up, only that she was concerned. When Craig closed his eyes after looking at the map of the area the villains had covered I thought he was sending a message, but he must have been merely memorising it.

The quirky title and the reason for it is a little sketchy. Did they use the devil's number on purpose, or was it just an easy number to adjust to another? It all sounds a bit 'Avengers' to me, having an advert in the local paper, the Jamaican Daily Gleaner: 'Wanted: a parrot that speaks Greek.' Craig gets to show off a little of another tongue with his Greek and I think a bit of French, but the connection between it all was a bit slight. I also felt the villains were dealt with too easily, but the mystery was more in finding out what they were actually up to than any question of not being able to stop them. Craig gets a buddy called Clive, a native visiting the island where the original plane that contained the device had crashed, miraculously the vital equipment all in one piece! I'm not sure it made sense for Clive to ask if Craig had been in that plane, since the crash must have happened some time before, perhaps a number of days when you consider that two-thirds of the area had been searched already by the time Nemesis get involved. Craig wouldn't have survived several days lying on the bank the way Clive found him, but maybe he didn't know when the plane had crashed, although I'd have thought he would since he knew about it, and how else unless he'd heard it? It's a wonder he didn't go to it to find survivors (maybe he did?).

I must say the production values were particularly good, the use of stock footage, whether it be the plane, the views of the islands and the sea, or the speedboat Richard and Sharon use to get there, coupled with crewmembers lashing the windscreen with foliage to simulate their passage into jungly rivers: it all sold the effect and made the episode feel bigger, as if they really were on location. I sometimes couldn't tell if the scenes were shot outside or on a set, the foliage was that good! Even the fact that some sets were reuses or would be reused many times throughout the series weren't a problem at this stage. The plane set was the obvious one, already seen in 'The Beginning,' but I think this marks the first appearance of the room with the large staircase which would be in tons of episodes, this time dressed as a Jamaican bar where Sharon lures Jules. The kettle drums and the musicians wearing dark glasses, coupled with Semenkin's similarity to a double-0 agent made me think of 'Dr. No' and I half expected them to pull out pistols or sing 'Three Blind Mice'!

Although they are separated for most of the episode, a common device on the series, the team were all working towards their common goal admirably and I liked how the dynamics worked, so all things considered everything came together quite well. I think perhaps I couldn't rate it higher because it's all just fairly good rather than being thrilling or genuinely tense like the first couple of episodes. It wasn't really doing anything different enough, and though I liked the villains, the setting and so on, it wasn't quite there. Nothing wrong with it, just not doing as good a story as they might. I did enjoy the post opening credits scene with Craig locating a girlfriend's lost watch in a field, his sensitive hearing able to pick up the tick easily, though I mentally amended the triumphal opening narration to: '…allows them to use their powers to their best advantage to impress girlfriends'! I'm not sure the Tibetan race had that in mind when they passed on these amazing abilities, but it adds a human touch to the characters, far from boring, po-faced superheroes that never have any fun.

**

Avalon Part 2

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Avalon Part 2)

For a moment there I really thought the series had crossed a line into something much less innocent, quite a step for a series made for a general audience rather than the modern urge to go more 'adult' in content. It was very effective, but it was soon made right and the cloud fell away from the sun again. I'm referring to Vala's public burning in a pit of liquid fire, and all the time I'm expecting Daniel's words to change the alien people's minds, or some other outside force to prevent Vala burning to death, but it never happens and she is literally consumed by flame in a shocking development. Now I knew Vala herself wouldn't die because I know she becomes a regular at some point, but I was still aghast at the apparent violent destruction of the woman whose body she was inhabiting, and even though we don't know her, it was still a raw experience seeing an innocent treated so horrifically. But whether you come down on them, on the side of 'not having the courage of their convictions,' or on the side of relief that such a horror could be undone, it can't be denied how effective it portrays the power of the Orai, assuming the Emperor Palpatine-like figure who reverses her death, returning life to the burnt up corpse, is one of these.

As so often used to be the case in 'SG-1,' there's a ton of information, alien names, and lore to take in, and it continues to take me back to the earlier seasons when it was necessary to concentrate to keep track of all the races, friends, villains and planets that were established and returned to on multiple occasions, again making the start of this season feel like the beginning of a whole new series in some respects. The last couple of seasons had perhaps become slightly comfortable (though no less dramatic), relying on the long established lore to draw their stories from, but that pretty much got resolved as if the series had concluded, and pastures new had already been opened up for the spinoff, 'Atlantis,' so now they seem to be taking the idea of expanding the mythos on board the parent show, something they'd continue with 'Stargate Universe' as well. Speaking of that series, this episode marks the debut of a most important technology of The Ancients, used to great effect there: the communication stones that can allow people to Quantum Leap into the bodies of others vast distances away, while the consciousness of the host is 'leaped' to theirs. It was a fascinating device for 'Universe' as the only means they had of maintaining contact with Earth and Stargate Command, so if not a shock to see it implemented for the first time, it's still a pleasure, and yet another indication of the season's desire to explore in other ways than we've seen - I don't think we've even witnessed anyone go through a 'gate yet so far!

It's standard 'SG-1' fare all the way, as Daniel and Vala (still linked by the bracelets of doom, if you're keeping track), take a little trip within their minds to a far-off realm, inhabiting the bodies of some simple peasants in a basic agrarian community that happens to be ruled by fear of aliens known as the Orai. We haven't seen a trip quite like it in the manner of the execution (probably not the best word considering what happens to Vala…), but it's essentially the same visit to a backwards planet ruled by so-called 'gods' that have abused their power to lord it over the human population. So it still feels comforting and familiar, even without O'Neill or Carter (I'm not sure why she hasn't been in it yet, maybe Amanda Tapping had another job that kept her from starting the season in the same manner as everyone else, or perhaps Vala took her spot?), helped by the fact that the two main plots are Daniel or Teal'c centred. Teal'c's is slight in comparison, the political turmoil quickly turning to bad news on Takara, Rak'nor reporting what's going on. At first it appears to be about conflicted loyalties because Teal'c is spending too much time with his ol' buddies when he should be overseeing the direction of the Jaffa government system, but it becomes more about some guy called Garok (sounded like Garak!), who's used his position or Teal'c's absence to make short work of his brethren and rise to power. It's all said and not shown, and I imagine it would have been more effective had we been privy to the machinations as they transpired, but it makes me interested to see where it's going to go after this whirlwind rise to authority for someone Teal'c clearly doesn't esteem, and what else they'll do with it when they've so far sidestepped the drama there.

Bra'tac and Rayac score mentions, but aren't seen, and you can tell they're still operating on a TV budget in spite of such grandiose plotting. But I also wonder whether serialisation is going to be much more apparent as the story doesn't end with this second part, and while the next episode isn't named 'Part 3,' it must continue directly by the way it was left. The series has always tended its running threads through many episodes, but they've leaned towards the episodic format in general, so I will wait to see how far they go in the serialised direction, having already observed its use in 'Universe,' and to a lesser extent 'Atlantis.' The cliffhanger from Part 1 was quickly dealt with in traditional style and moved on from (I'm sure the mention of 'long ago and far, far away' was a 'Star Wars' reference), with Mitchell getting to be the action hero in an innovative semi-holographic sword fight with a knight in which only Cameron can use the sword as he pulled it from the stone, and the twist that it too is holographic was a good one. There are new developments in the form of General Landry and his connection to a new, presumably recurring, character, Dr. Lam. Dr. Lee is as useless as ever, and Daniel gets to spout a whole load of lore about The Ancients being known as the 'Al-Terra' or some such monicker which I didn't follow entirely, but the Orai appear to be a nasty version of them. Where Jackson and Vala have gone to, and what the result of their meddling will be I await in the next part of the story, but so far the series has looked good, felt 'Stargate,' yet new, and has shocked, so it's doing well so far.

***

Avalon

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Avalon)

It's so nice to come back to this series after being away for some time, but things are not as they were at the end of Season 8, and this is my first encounter with the series after that point, so it's a true voyage of discovery for me. It was a wise move to open the episode and carry it along for much of the time from the point of view of our new main star, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, played by Ben Browder. I didn't realise he was going to be the lead, although I knew he'd be joining. I assumed he'd be just another soldier, but I hadn't really thought through who was going to replace the departing General O'Neill. His position has been taken by Beau Bridges as a new General (though we are treated to a Richard Dean Anderson cameo as is only right and proper), so it's two new characters joining the team. Actually, SG-1 has been reduced to 'SG-me' in the words of Mitchell, himself a hero of the battle of Antarctica when the Goa'uld forces attacked Earth at the  end of Season 7, I think. So we get some spectacle from clips of that battle with some new footage (a bit like how the 'DS9' pilot showed part of the battle of Wolf 359 that occurred in 'TNG'), flashbacks to Mitchell's role that prompted decoration and visits from SG-1 to his hospital bed for his valiant efforts. I like that he's already part of the series' history and so has his foot in the door rather than being completely unconnected and having to do the old 'revealing the Stargate' stuff that's usual with new human characters.

Mitchell starts off rather disappointed, since the great SG-1 whom he chose to join after he was offered any assignment he wanted, has disbanded, Dr. Jackson packing his stuff for a trip to Atlantis, Lieutenant Colonel Carter off at Area 51 to dig into some research and development, and Teal'c getting into politics in the new Jaffa government. It looks like it would be a backward step for any of them to just return to being part of the famous SG-1 team again. But fortunately for Mitchell, (and Browder), Vala shows up (Claudia Black was of course his costar on 'Farscape' so it's a great reunion, bending the laws of TV and time), wanting to go on some quest for treasure, pops some old tech bracelet on her and Daniel, meaning they can't be separated or they'll die, and we're off on a mission again. Teal'c's there to assist after his concern for Daniel, but Carter's too busy (charming!), and Mitchell's newly formed, though likely temporary, team, heads for Glastonbury in England to go beneath some hill there and locate a 'door to the underworld.' There's shades of the past when we get a hologram of Merlin, who may have been an Ancient, appearing to give them a message, just as one of the Asgard did in the early seasons, and we've probably seen it on more than one occasion, so it definitely feels like the same series.

Not that any aspect of it doesn't, there's still the same sets, the ships, the corny humour and general jolly japes, it's just that things aren't quite as they were. Which is always a bit weird. But if you don't change anything it could begin to feel stale, especially when you consider this is the almost unprecedented ninth season, when so few series' last half as long, so I can understand their wish to shake things up, and this does have the impression of almost a pilot for a new spinoff series, just as the start of Season 8 had that flavour, except that time it was setting up for an actual spinoff in 'Stargate Atlantis.' This season would run in parallel with 'SGA' Season 2 (another season I haven't yet seen), so I wonder if there'll be any crossovers - Jackson has already been wanting to visit. For now, it's less about getting the band back together and more getting everyone singing on the same hymn sheet, something that goes awry when they all end up trapped in the underground caves having failed to beat the 'Indiana Jones' traps that will unlock the way to the 'underworld.' They're going for a more modern mythical approach this time, with the English lore of King Arthur and the fabled Knights of The Round Table, even down to a sword in a stone. Nothing wrong with that, and I do wonder what this is all leading to as they can't just keep bringing back the old Goa'uld foes, or Anubis' warriors, so no doubt there's going to be a new threat to face, aside from the innuendo-laden Vala tagging along and getting on everyone's nerves.

Too early to tell whether the new setup will work, bringing in new characters to an established and long-running series is always tricky, so changing half the cast is going to be tough. But the important thing is, I remembered how much I love watching these guys, and it's so lovely to be back with them again. Familiar recurring characters such as Dr. Lee and 'Chief Master Sergeant' Walter Harriman (as well as Siler, I think, and Obi Ndefo's Jaffa character), bring some comfortable recognition and the episode has plenty of the usual wry amusements to enjoy. If you've already seen 'Farscape' it's easier to accept Browder, rather than see him as a usurper, especially as the cast was in flux the last couple of seasons when General Hammond left and O'Neill became essentially a part-timer. So they must have realised there was room for one or two new faces to bolster the numbers, and as much as I'd have loved to see it, they'd have had to change the recurring characters too much to fit into the series as a regular, so it's probably for the best that new people were brought in. I'm not sure why Claudia Black isn't in the cast officially, only a Special Guest Star, but maybe she joins further down the line, or in the final season, it's all so exciting not to know what's going to happen from here on in. Can't say I favoured the new title sequence, something else that made it feel like a pilot for a new series, the CGI made it look a little lightweight rather than the solid and chunky film of the 'gate in previous iterations (or the pharaoh's sarcophagus), but I'm sure I'll get used to it and I was too busy seeing who was actually credited this season to worry too much. The main thing is that SG-1 are back, hurrah!

***

The Invisible Man

DVD, The Champions (The Invisible Man)

This is the episode that first made me think highly of the series when I saw the DVD featuring the opening two episodes, and realise that it might be more than just a nostalgic curio, but contain some strong drama. 'The Beginning' was a good beginning, but 'The Invisible Man' hit it out of the park. The main credit must go to the villain, and long before I'd even heard of 'Department S' and Jason King, or the man who played him, Peter Wyngarde (who died earlier this year), his cunning and immoral surgeon, John Hallam, set the bar high for the whole series. Wyngarde just had that ability to play the character as seeming in control of every situation, yet allowing us to see the cracks of his evilness coming loose every now and again. It's the contrast between Hallam's calm, professional detachment even in the surprise of seeing Craig show up at his Winslow Private Nursing Home unexpectedly, compared with his barely contained rage at his accomplice in the crime, Charles Sumner, going against his orders not to try and kill the unconscious agent because he could prove useful. His callous nature shows itself most powerfully in the final moments when his gleeful attempt at trying to crash Craig's pursuing vehicle turns round on himself and he loses control of the flatbed lorry. Sumner's crushed under the weight of the solid gold presses and cries out pitifully for help, but Hallam staggers away, a last attempt to evade his pursuers, and lets his associate die.

That Hallam was willing to trade in his professional badge as a medical practitioner for the carnal desire of ill-gotten wealth is a stain on his character, but throughout the episode he displays dispassionate cruelty and complete lack of empathy for those he inflicts pain on, all under the cover of a doctor which somehow makes it worse. I sense that he was the instigator of the whole plot as Charlie shows occasional shock at what he's had to do, such as when he's stabbed the disoriented Sir Frederick Howard, Director of the bank they were robbing of its gold (I wonder if the passersby on the streets during the chase were extras or real people they filmed around - because there were a lot of them). He tries to brazen it out in front of Hallam, but it's clear he was shaken up, despite being a surgeon himself by implication (Hallam reminds him he's cut open plenty of patients). Yet when his dreams of avarice are threatened he's quick to want Craig dead and shows how quickly he recovers from his first murder to want to do it again. Hallam never has any compunctions, anyone that stands in his way will die, and you can predict that he may even have planned to kill off Sumner if he ever became a problem. Just look at his murder of Van Velden, his contact at the port of Rotterdam in Holland - when he discovers the nature of these presses, "Eets not enough" for a £500 bribe, and Hallam just shoots him and throws a covering over the body. Nothing's going to stand between him and his money.

The plan wasn't a bad one: rob a bank of its gold by influencing the Director, melt it all down and transform it into printing presses, paint over, and transport it to a South American country. Easy. The episode starts with a much more mysterious approach that makes it seem more like 'The Avengers' as we're shown Sir Frederick dealing with what appears to be an invisible man. I'm surprised he didn't realise that he had an implant from the way the 'vibrator' spread pain through his ear and the voice was a little tinny and radio-like, unless it sounded much clearer to the actual patient. It was a very good premise because you at first assume he really is being 'haunted' by an invisible enemy and there's something about an important man in his later years being brought down to rock on his knees with cries of pain, plus the way it introduces him in the throes of agony was a good shock to start us off. He regathers his pride and haughtiness when dealing with Craig later, but you can never remove that image of a man reduced to a crybaby and he had the perfect floppy hair to emphasise his powerlessness.

If the villain is a great one, then the episode is also improved by practically no showing of the seams. Like 'The Beginning' they use a variety of devices to create everything they need, with a bit of back projection here and there, stock footage of the Alps or London, and doubles for some of the external filming, but they also filmed in London and other outdoor locations, they went to the trouble of seeing the truck on the road, or having a car chase, and when you think of many episodes being created on sets, even when they were supposed to be outside, or not bothering to film establishing shots, this production looks lavish by comparison. Lavish might be a bit of a stretch, but it all holds together much better than most and has a scale that impresses - for example we see New York on Tremayne's map, then an image of a skyscraper followed by Richard trying to convince a bank they may be in danger. It's only a few seconds but it sells the idea of these people jetting around the world. We also have Geneva, where they're based, the James Bond meeting on a cable car for Craig and his Swiss contact, Boursin, and travel from London to the countryside in England, and Holland, both countryside and port, and never do you think that this is trickery, it feels real. When these things work you don't think about them, but you really do when they're doing it in a soundstage or reusing sets.

So the episode succeeded both in villain and in settings and scope, and the only area it could be said to fall down is in the integration of the three Nemesis agents, since for much of it, Sharron and Richard are little more than bystanders. But Craig has a lot of good stuff, and the others are part of it, just not as big a part, so it doesn't hurt the episode, though I always prefer when the three are used equally and to their best advantage. One area where they were allowed to do so in the series is introduced here: the opening scene which demonstrates one or more of their powers, this first time being one of the best as a hulking bodybuilder enters the gym where Craig and Richard are working out and starts showing off. They may be the champions of law, order and justice, as the voiceover says, but also of putting showoffs in their place, and they do so by not only repeating his weightlifting feat, but throwing it between them and putting the showoff to shame! It's funny (although I wonder if they really need to exercise with the powers they have), and holds more interest for the fact that I believe the bodybuilder was an uncredited Dave Prowse, a decade before he became famous for playing Darth Vader in 'Star Wars.' He's not the only one to lack recognition, as there are several minor roles not included in the end credits: the nurse at Winslow; a patient called Muriel who also has a line; Burton, the assistant of Sir Frederick, as well as his chauffeur. Even the Winslow receptionist, Carol, is uncredited, which I'm surprised they were allowed to do since all these people had lines.

One part of the story throws up a negative aspect of their powers that hadn't been considered before: Craig's enhanced auditory sense allows him to hear the voice inside Sir Frederick's inner ear (he reports he hopes it's not a Joan of Arc complex!), but this comes back to bite him when he has the same operation performed on himself and is forced to have the implant - I should think in that situation improved hearing would actually be a detriment because the pain would be even more intense (a bit like whenever the Ferengi in 'Star Trek' were subjected to loud noises and were shown to be far more susceptible to it). It's not touched on in the episode, but it is clear that Craig is in intense pain, and it would have to be to bring him down. One of the best examples of his superhuman abilities in a more interesting way is when he's been gassed by Hallam in his operating theatre and even barely conscious and weak, the doctor can barely hold the door closed with all his strength as Craig pulls from the other side! It shows both how powerful they are, but also that they aren't infinitely gifted, there is a point that is too much even for them. Before that we get a terrific fight where Craig takes on both Hallam and Sumner, with Hallam using his brain a bit more after realising Craig's too strong to subdue, which is why he turns on the gas and vacates the room, an inspired solution to use what was at hand to achieve his goal.

I'm not convinced giving Craig an implant was as inspired, they really should have killed him, but they couldn't do that for the sake of the series, and we know they aren't bulletproof. But what did Hallam hope to gain from turning him loose in the country, was it just so they could listen in on his conversations to his associates and keep track of what was going on? That would make sense if they were monitoring him all the time, but how could they expect to listen in the moment he phoned home? Obviously for the sake of the story they did just that, and there was an excellent increase in tension as they realise this guy, who's 'as strong as an ox' for not staying under long despite the drugging, somehow made it to Rotterdam far quicker than they'd expected, and finally he's within sight of Wharf 52. It made me think of 'Star Wars Episode 1' when those in the command centre are hearing the Jedi coming and nothing can stop them! It's also important to note that, unlike Superman, they aren't faster than a speeding bullet, Craig dodging between crates to get closer, though ultimately brought down by the vibrator in his ear and held at gunpoint. But he is fast enough to act when a truck drives past, nipping in front of it, then hanging onto the other side for a free ride, until the screaming tone loosens his grip. One thing that always bothered me was when he jumps into the lake to destroy the implant the underwater part of the scene is just a swimming pool with a ladder and grid pattern on the floor! It doesn't really matter because it's another great moment and though doubles had been used for most of the location work we get to see the real Craig exit the lake which shows dedication to the cause.

On top of improved hearing and reflexes, strength and greater resistance to anaesthetic (which could be unfortunate if he ever needed a serious operation!), Craig is able to hold his breath for longer than any normal man, the part of the mission Tremayne calls attention to in what would become his customary questioning of their methods at the end of episodes. With Sharron and Richard kept out of it for most of the time they don't share much, but they do get a telepathic warning that Craig's in danger. Strangely, it doesn't happen when he's fighting Hallam and Sumner, it occurs after, when Hallam's drugging him ready for his ear op. Maybe the sense was attuned to only activate when their colleague was really in trouble, and at first he was holding his own against the pair, so it was only when he was helpless they had the sensation of danger. If Sharron doesn't get to do much she does at least use her expertise in the autopsy to discover the little bug that had been sewn into Sir Frederick's ear, so that was an important contribution. I think the villains made a mistake when they killed the man, though, as that would only draw attention to the bank and a great scandal, but Hallam seemed to enjoy exercising power over people, a typical villain of evil. If his crime had merely been a large heist (such as hadn't been seen at that bank in two hundred and fifty years, says Sir Frederick, also pointing to the disposal problems of that much bullion, though he mustn't have seen Ealing comedy, 'The Lavender Hill Mob'), he wouldn't have seemed so bad, but his relish in causing pain and using his cover of healer, made him despicable. He's so bad he even has time for an evil laugh when driving along thinking they've got away with it, and Wyngarde even makes that seem natural and real!

It's said that nobody could pull off a heist of that magnitude, but then they hadn't dealt with 'Jason King' before! Craig had a good line in response to Sir Frederick's claims of the impossibility, that, "records only attract record breakers." All too true, but thanks to the Champions of justice they don't get away with it. It's a horrible end for the villains, one crushed under the weight of avarice, the other shot in the leg by his partner in crime, staggering away as his senses become jumbled and the avenging angels stride purposefully after him until he collapses. I wonder what happened to him, was he sentenced to life imprisonment, killed by one of the states, or rehabilitated? That's not the concern of the Nemesis agents, they did their job and it was only the devious planning of Hallam that stopped Craig from being murdered in cold blood. I'm not sure there was ever as fascinating and dangerous an opponent they faced, so the series peaked very early and this may just be my favourite episode, though there are a couple of other contenders. Something I thought of seeing the opening montage again was how much better it is that they filmed a special sequence just for that where each of the agents is looked at by the others as their name comes up, followed by the famous fountain. It's all very simple, but much better than the common flinging together of clips and shows their bond apart from the rest of the human race.

****

Finale

DVD, Smallville S10 (Finale)

There was really no way 'Smallville' could end in a satisfying way because it didn't proceed in a satisfying way for much of its run, so to finish at the top of its game would have been impossible. Any series that goes on for years and years will drop in quality, simply because an idea, a concept, even one as compelling as 'Superman before he became Superman,' can only last so long before the juices stop flowing and it either reinvents itself or dies trying. In part it's to do with business practices and the ways of TV production that lessen budgets in order to allow a series to keep going, and there comes a point when it loses the quality it once had. With 'Smallville,' it's difficult to say when that happened, because, though it began well with a strong first season and managed to hold onto a fair amount of that quality into the second, by the third it had gone off the boil. From there on, seasons, and even arcs within seasons, rose and fell at different times, there was no specific decline, it had just stopped being satisfying, at least for me, so I bailed out early in Season 3 and never looked back. Not until a few years later when DVDs had become cheap enough that I felt it worthwhile to visit the other seasons out of curiosity, even though I'd seen the odd episode here and there, and of course had no attachment to any new characters I hadn't been introduced to organically. But after enjoying Seasons 1 and 2 again so much, it made sense to keep going, which is how I came to write reviews on the series, because, although it's not one of the best series' ever, it would still grace the top ten of sci-fi series' I've enjoyed.

Season 4 had some good moments with the football career, Season 5 featured the one hundredth episode, Season 6's introduction of Green Arrow made for the best arc I'd seen post-Season 2, Season 7 was a step down for continuing the mess they'd made of Lex, Season 8 had some interest for featuring Doomsday, then Season 9 was the first time I felt a level of consistency with the characters in a long time. They hit the nail on the head when they paired Lois and Clark and had them basically doing what they did in the films, and while that season had its ups and downs, when it focused on those two characters it worked. Season 10 has been the same, succeeding on the level of Lois and Clark, and with a bent towards nostalgia for the series' past that saw many of the main characters and some side characters brought back, a running theme of the year. But they saved the most surprising till last: Michael Rosenbaum returns as Lex Luthor, completely unexpectedly! I had heard he never came back to the series, but at the same time I had high expectations that, following the trend of the preceding episodes, they'd bring back as many characters as possible for one last hurrah, perhaps with the setting of the wedding a good excuse. They didn't live up to my wishes, of course, because I hoped to see everyone together, smiling and joking somehow, a great group scene of every major character I liked, and we never saw that. The wedding would have been the ideal setting, but that turned into a confrontation, and if Clark had had all his super-powered friends around it would have lost the personal jeopardy of Clark facing Oliver Queen alone.

Sadly, Lana Lang never showed up, except in flashback footage of other episodes, Pete didn't pop up even in those, unless I missed him, having to be content with a cameo in a comic book telling the story of Superman that Chloe reads seven years later, presumably to her and Oliver's child. And I know it was daft, but I even hoped for people like Whitney from Season 1, or Martian Manhunter, and certainly the group of heroes that made up the Justice League. But you can't have everyone, and as much as I try to forget, this wasn't a film, nor was it graced with that level of budget. Yet they still felt the need to end with something big, because that's what's expected. Endings are always tough to do in one sense, and in another, easy. It's easy to ring the bell of sentimentality and nostalgia, another reminder of our own short lives and the experiences we've gone through by seeing the past of these characters sped up into the present, and they did a good job with that side of it. Easy too, to feel the sadness and poignancy of people playing characters one last time, and to remember the good times. Nowhere could they have done this better than with Jonathan Kent, returning as some kind of ghost or vision, just because the writers wanted him to, and we want him to, it doesn't matter that it doesn't make much sense - I'd have happily pretended he'd never died in the first place and seen them all at the farm again as if no time had passed! But that's the theme, time has passed, the past has passed, for both viewers and characters, yet is still with us.

What is much harder to do is to throw up one last challenge for the hero, the thing that he's been gearing up for, to become who he was born to be. They'd been setting up Darkseid all season, but he's one of those faceless characters it's hard to care about, so inevitably he takes over the body of a human villain, the vile Lionel Luthor. But even then, what do you do? You can't have Clark punching Lionel's head in, can you! So he merely flies into him, yes that's flies, finally awarded his birthright for getting through the trials he'd been groomed for, and entering his Kryptonite heritage. It was a good symbol for wearing the suit, because otherwise it'd just be about a guy with powers putting on a costume for reasons of better publicity. Yes, it's supposed to be a symbol of hope for the world, but that's a bit vague, so assuming the mantle of a Kryptonian made sense and gave ridiculous clothing that can seem cartoony in superhero productions, a reason for existence, though it doesn't really explain how the power of flight was unlocked within him. I'd always thought the final episode was called 'Superman,' a perfectly exemplary title that would have summed up the series neatly, but instead it has the less inspiring title of 'Finale' and I found that to be indicative of the blunt way the writers curbed everything to a close.

There were a lot of things to tie up, but they were also going big by giving us Lex again, the real one (okay, technically a clone, but with Rosenbaum back after three years away), something that wasn't strictly necessary, but I can see they were trying to take things full circle. It was wonderful to see the flashbacks of Clark's life, as shown in the series, and equally fitting to see Lex' memories shrivel up as he becomes a blank slate upon which to build, a hopeful ending for a character that had long ago been written out. It was hard to really see what they were doing with him, he plays the part of killing Tess, his sister, to prevent her becoming like him, and there were a number of things like that that had already been sorted out previously and didn't need revisiting. That she still felt she needed redemption took her backwards. I get that she says Clark's already saved her, so his killing of her wasn't required, but it was one of those things that didn't ring true. Another would be the massive planet hurtling towards Earth, sent by Darkseid. As too often happens, the villain doesn't have much of a plan, and it's really only a setup for Clark to show off his flying skills and save the whole world. It was all a bit hokey that Lois gets herself onto Air Force One to see the President and stop him launching nuclear warheads that alone will irradiate half the planet as the only chance to stop this big ball from crashing into the globe. She suddenly becomes conscious that she's got the ID badge of another reporter, but she wouldn't even have got near the plane in that situation!

Then there's Lionel so desperate to recreate a Frankenstein version of his son, using Tess' own heart as the final piece (she gets some good action breaking out of the medical bed and shooting Lionel). It's just hard to buy some of what was going on, but then that's in keeping with a greater part of the series in which far too often the writing was awful, things didn't make sense or were skipped over, using all the stereotypes and attitudes to character and drama that makes me dislike superhero stuff all too often. So from that perspective, they kept up their own standard to the end, it's just that the first part of the episode was much better, the sensitive questioning of both Clark and Lois whether they should get married or leave the past behind (filmed in a great circling through the walls, revolving around the pair, separated by a door). I have to admit that, as much as I loved all that stuff with Martha being upset that Clark had sold the Kent Farm and he was essentially moving on from that past, and it was affecting to see them there with all those cardboard boxes, probably the most moving part of the episode in some ways, it was also confusing. I didn't get whether they really meant it, or who we were supposed to see as right, it was muddled: Clark thinks he should move on, Martha's upset about it, ghost Jonathan shows up to tell Clark his past will always be with him (and I did like every second with Schneider back in that great role, being Pa Kent, and especially the different times someone could see him, and other times not, and they all share a group hug in the barn), but then Clark thinks maybe he does need to keep hold of the past so he will marry Lois…

It was all a bit perplexing, but a lot more engaging than the expected 'action' side of the story. They fired off their guns in the first half, all the emotional, family stuff, nice seeing flashbacks to the whole series as the opening, and then went to Darkseid and the Luthors, which wasn't nearly as compelling, as much as I liked seeing Rosenbaum back. Seeing the rundown of names in the guest credits was pleasing, though as I mentioned, it was slightly disappointing not everyone could have been there, nor was there a proper sendoff with everyone together. There was a lot of hokeyness, like Clark saving Oliver Queen just by telling him he inspired him and believed in him, and the idea of the Gold Kryptonite ring that would take his powers permanently was easily defeated, and there was way too much spouting the word 'hero' throughout. It was like all the moments when the series could be grounded and impressive in its storytelling (like Chloe reminding Clark he's not God and can't be aware of every bird and blade of grass, in defence of him being able to live and not be exhausting every second to save people and use his powers to the max), were cast off and it degenerated into superhero speak. I am judging harshly because it's the cap on a ten year viewing experience that spanned a sixteen year period for me (I found it highly amusing that they skipped forward to 2018 at the end, the year I'm watching it, and Lex is finally President - though I didn't understand why Clark and Lois had waited so long to go through with their marriage after all). So, although I understand the vagaries of TV, I still hoped for better.

That being said, the good outweighed the perplexing. So we didn't get to see a proper image of this version of Superman, except from a distance, or when he runs toward the camera as he reveals the 'S' in classic form. So they didn't use the John Williams theme quite right, using bits and pieces here and there, making the rest of the episode's score sound really cheap and cheesy much of the time (though when the classic theme was used it was wonderful, and fun to see the initial end credits flash up in some small way like the old films). So we didn't get to see all the goodies of past and present together (though Aaron Ashmore got to play Jimmy Olsen's brother in a little cameo at the end, and we hear Perry White's voice!). None of it really takes away that much from the fact that they finally got the series to a close, they brought Clark to the point of being Superman, they had Jonathan and so many elements that had made the series in the past. And it can't be underestimated what having a feature-length finale adds. That alone makes it a bigger experience. If you look at its contemporary, 'Star Trek: Enterprise,' which began the same year, 2001, it didn't get that luxury (although the finale of that series was far superior), and 'Smallville' outlasted it by two and a half times its run. I don't know how, but it did.

The series will always have a special place for me, and even though I can't see myself buying all the seasons to watch again (each bar 1 and 2 was sold on ebay once I'd had the pleasure of reviewing them), I can see myself going through Seasons 1, 2, 9 and 10 again (1 and 2 I'll have to, as I haven't watched it in the era of writing reviews!). At its best it was essential and exciting, provocative and shocking, but also homely and reassuring. That it wasn't able to be consistent in those qualities must rest on the writing, because the actors were generally good, and when they had money, the effects were impressive. It did squander its potential, and was too small and enclosed in its outlook (killing off recurring characters, the film sets outside of the main, classic ones), but it was a TV success that neither lived up to the potential pitfalls I assumed it would at first, nor its genuine chance at being terrific. A mixed bag of a series: it wasn't 'Super,' but it was about being pre-super so may have taken that too much to heart.

***

Paul Merton in China (Episode 4)

DVD, Paul Merton in China (Episode 4)

In Paul's final days in China he packs just as much in as in the other instalments, and also seems to lose some of the inhibitions or avoidance of things he's not used to. Perhaps it was the welcome prospect of going home, or maybe he'd gotten used to the travelling and the strangeness, but either way he continues the quality of documenting and enjoyment of this alien culture without flagging. Rather, he tries out a number of experiences from golf, which he's never played before (you can tell), to cutting loose on a ballroom dance floor, and even dressing up in traditional garb at the request of his dance instructor who confides to the camera that he's 'a very gentleman' in an endearingly shy way. Along the way he continues to explore the differences in generation and finance that speak volumes of the society the Chinese people were living in during the late 2000s. For a start there's Shanghai, described as a city on steroids, and full of 'raw capitalism' that you'd think would stand at odds with traditional Communism, but it has somehow subsumed these values into itself, including the vast numbers of Western brands and ideals. His golf partner believes it will be the number one city in all of Asia in ten years and makes me wonder if it did indeed come true. It's interesting to hear things like that because although it's only eleven years since the series came out, the pace of change was already demonstrably excessive so you have to question what life must be like since even that time.

For example, it's interesting to note that the Chinese consumption of newspapers was suggested as a potential problem - if they all read as many newspapers as the English there wouldn't be enough trees in the world! Okay, so the golf guy was probably being flippant, but it sheds a light on the vast quantities of material the sheer size of their population consumes, although considering the state of the print world today in the UK, you suspect there are as few readers of newspapers in China, especially as they love their technology. And with the law on only having one child that came into effect in 1979 since repealed in the years after the series, you can imagine the population growth would have skyrocketed. But if the pressure placed on that one child are anything to go by, it was probably a good law to relax: as Paul said, many children are pampered into becoming 'little Buddhas,' their term for it, so allowing them to relax a little and parents not put all their eggs in one basket could ease some potential tension in society. But at this time the law was in full effect and we see a side effect of that being parents going to special dating areas to try and find a prospective husband or wife for their child. The young woman Paul agrees to meet shows she has high standards and a mindset that is more open than her parents, willing to wait and not rush into such things, which also demonstrates the growing divide between generations of younger people that want to embrace the freedoms then appearing.

Not everyone is free, with the gap between rich and poor widening, millionaires created on a regular basis, and while you get the impression Paul could have been a bit more hard-hitting and journalistic when eating with the high society women, he was rather outnumbered and probably didn't want to seem impolite. But it's fascinating to see their views of free speech, believing they have it, yet also saying they have no political prisoners. This suggests they were either blind to reality or making sure they didn't speak out of turn, but I think it most likely that the rich and privileged are comfortable enough that they don't have any radical views, as Paul said, and are very happy with how life has progressed there. In their own way, the poor are also quietly comfortable with the status quo, it seems, as when they visit a huge rubbish dump where they can make a tidy business scavenging material for recycling if they're willing to live in squalor, and have the freedom they wouldn't have in state-controlled occupations. Neither side wants a Westerner blundering in and causing an upset, and it's too late for Paul to really delve into the issues at hand, though he's already done a good job across the series of showing both sides: the glamour and money, and the poverty.

As ever I wonder who was in the know during the filming, as Paul clearly has no clue when it comes to golf, yet they've obviously arranged it purposefully to be a humorous moment. On the other hand, he'll occasionally meet some eccentric Chinese person that puts him to shame, as Tailor Lee does, a most enthusiastic and expressive man that makes him a suit and is very far from the usual reserved or unfriendly stereotype. But stereotypes are still popular, as shown by the strange evocation of an English village that is Thames Town - like the massive hotel and building works in the first episode, this place is more for show than reality, a location for couples to take their fairytale wedding photos, even if they're already married or are yet to be! As Paul says, no one under five hundred will ever have seen a style of church like that looking so new, but there is something pleasing about the Chinese appreciating old English style so much that they want to recreate it for themselves, although the facade of it all once again reminds us of the vast emptiness the country has away from the packed-out cities.

I sensed that Emma, the Chinese translator and guide, had also relaxed somewhat by the end, just as Paul had, so that she could be frank about considering English people to be more 'delicate' than their Chinese counterparts. Although it seems insulting, she probably has a point, because we haven't had the tough and aggressive life that many there were forced into amid so many other people. My presiding memory is of the best line Paul gives us: 'No hurt, no shirt,' which has always stuck in my memory ever since! As I said before, I'd love to see Paul revisit the country now, a decade on, to see all the changes that will have taken place, long after the Olympics, the end of the one child policy and the continued increase of capitalism. His other travelogues weren't anywhere near as engaging, but maybe it was the choice of place, because China just holds a fascination for its pace of change, as fast as the 430kmh bullet train that Paul travels on. He's been a delightful companion and a good sport, even if he would rather close the curtains on a colossally high hotel view than look out, and the many other instances of backing away or disapproving. He's just quintessentially English and the perfect host for such an offbeat, slightly comical approach to what is a serious country, and his irreverence and politeness went hand in hand with the mix of people going about their lives, and the authorities overseeing them.

***