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A flying saucer crashed in the Mojave Desert and its inhabitants
turn out to be alien slaves, bred to be super intelligent
and strong, and controllable by their Overseers. These Tenctonese,
or "Newcomers", have been assimilated into the population
of Los Angeles. One of them, George Francisco, is a police
detective with a human partner, hard-edged Detective Matt
Sikes. George and Matt fight crime together, walking the beat
in Slagtown, Los Angeles, a Newcomer slum teeming with vice
and corruption while learning to respect the other's culture,
and question his own. They also fight prejudice, as personified
by the Purists, and fear, in the form of the unseen Overseers,
who seek to regain control over their slaves...
Alien
Nation: The Complete Series
contains all of the episodes from the 1989/1990 TV series.
The show follows the lives of George Francisco, an alien police
detective, and his cop partner, Matthew Sikes, as they fight
crime in Los Angeles. It also examines George's happy home
life, as well as Matt's more lonely private life and his "will
they, won't they"? relationship with Cathy, his alien
neighbour.
At
it's heart though, the show is all about racism. Right from
the show's opening we are shown that the aliens (or slags
as they are known when being insulted) are resented by some
members of the human race for invading our planet and taking
our jobs. This is a clever way for the writers to tackle racism
in America without seeming to preach to the audience.
Matt
ranges from being supportive of the aliens, to being racist.
For example, in the opening episode he helps George's daughter
to enter her school (there is a large demonstration with protesters
chanting that they don't want slags in their schools). Matt
gives a patriotic speech about how everyone is equal, and
then goes home to discover that a newcomer is moving into
his apartment block, much to his disapprovement. While at
work Matt is occasionally racist towards George too.
This
collection starts off with the pilot episode (or TV Movie
as it's more commonly known) which helps set the scene. This
also introduces the world's most annoying theme tune. Remember
that Ewok song at the end of the original version of Return
of the Jedi? Well the Alien Nation theme is almost
as annoying.
Highlights
of this collection include:
The
First Cigar: George is being investigate by the IRS. He
accepts a loan from a newcomer loan officer and accidentally
winds up running drugs.
Night
of the Screams: A Halloween episode - just ignore the
fact that George's household seem to be ignorant of America's
Halloween celebrations despite the fact they've been on earth
for a number of years now. But while Emily is getting ready
to go to her first Halloween party George is investigating
the case of a serial killer who only kills newcomers, and
is re-creating one of the Tenctonese's most grisly legends.
Three
to Tango: This episode is noteworthy as it delves a little
deeper (no pun intended) into the sexual habits of the Tenctonese.
The
Game: When the bodies of newcomers are found with holes
bored through their chests, George has to relive horrors from
his past. It appears that an old Russian Roulette style game,
that was used for entertainment by the Overseers on the spaceship,
has started being played on earth.
The
Red Room: Sikes and George become involved in a federal
search for a Newcomer who was programmed to kill while in
the quarantine camps. George seems to know more than he is
letting on, but he can't explain how he seems to know so much.
Generation
to Generation: Sikes and George are on the trail of a
mysterious ancient Tenctonese box which is deadly for those
who open it. What is inside the box, and why is someone so
keen to keep it hidden?
Partners:
Matt's old partner turns up. George is under investigation
after it appears that he is one of only two people who could
have stolen some drugs that were seized in a raid - the other
person is Matt's old partner. Matt is determined to prove
George is innocent. The episode also sees Susan preparing
to transfer the pod that contains her and George's baby, to
her husband so that he can carry it inside his pouch until
it is ready to be born.
Green
Eyes: While investigating a series of mysterious Newcomer
deaths, Sikes and George discover a plan to eliminate the
Newcomer population with a lethal bacteria. This episode ends
with a cliff-hanger which must have been frustrating at the
time - as the series was pulled. Thankfully a number of TV
movies were made a few years later, so at least we got to
catch up with the characters again.
Extras
are a little thin on the ground. All we get is a three minute
look behind the scenes featurette and an audio commentary
with writer/director Kenneth Johnson on the TV movie. Johnson's
commentary is one of the best I've heard - although I was
a little concerned (for his sake) to see that he gives out
his personal e-mail address for fans to contact him. Johnson
also takes us through the numerous amusing alien names used
as well as a few they didn't managed to fit in, including
Sarah Bellum, Beverly Hills and Ann Teake.
The
show feels a lot older than the '89/'90s period it was shot
in. If I had to make a guess I would have put it around the
early to mid-'80 period. Those hair styles and fashions really
have aged the show quite badly. But that doesn't take away
the fact that this is still an enjoyable series.
Pete
Boomer
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