Earth: Final Conflict - 1st time watch thread

[The Habs Fan]

Abduction

When a young woman who has been held aboard the Mothership escapes, Liam uncovers the lost relic of Ma'el, which not only proves that humanity is the lost evolutionary link between the Taelons and Jaridians, but shows that neither race can survive without the other.

The episode where Scully is abducted. Wait, it isn't?

This episode actually deals with Ma'el's document that I'm guessing was found in a previous episode that I can't remember at the moment. The person studying this document is bombarded by painful memories, that in hindsight, were stupidly implanted by the Taelons (why not give her good memories?) The whole subplot dealing with Emma/Philip and lost memories and regained memories is good but not very important.

What is important is the document which proves that Humans are the evolutionary link between Taelons and Jaridians. I suspected this was the case already, but it's nice hearing it confirmed. Of course, Ma'el being the King of practical jokes has rigged it so that the document could only be opened by a human and a Taelon and only those original 2 who opened it first. As coincidence would have it, Zo'or and Liam were the ones to access it meaning they will be working closely with each other in the future (does Liam become Zo'or's protector in season 4? I guess I'll soon find out.) Sandoval is exposed in his betrayal of Zo'or (because he was working with Da'an to retrieve the document) but smoothly talks his way out of an execution. Will his relationship with Zo'or change? I hope so. If this turns out to be a stand-alone episode, I'll be annoyed.

RATING: 4/5

 

[The Wormhole]

If this turns out to be a stand-alone episode, I'll be annoyed.

You'll be annoyed then. Okay, I'm being slightly sarcastic. Although Ma'el's document does become siginificant in the fourth season, none of your predicted dynamic changes come to pass.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Arrival

Lili's shuttle crash lands on Earth carrying a Jaridian, forcing Zo'or to demand its return or he will declare war on Earth. Meanwhile, Sandoval makes contact with Vorjak, the leader of the Jaridians, so that together they can eliminate the Taelons.

Here we are at the end of season 3 and we have the next chapter in the Lili Marquette storyline. I'm happy that the writers tied a lot of previous plotlines into this episode.

First of all, we have the reveal of Sandoval's plan regarding Lili. (She is to become the savior of the Jaridian race). It makes sense, considering the Jaridians are also sterile like the Taelons. To be the savior, Lili was modified a bit before being sent off in order for it to be possible to bear a hybrid human/Jaridian baby. Also, nice to see that device that renders Taelons immobile make its return. He even mentions that he is now in control of all the Taelons and their money (referencing that previous episode where Zo'or pulled off the biggest heist in history).

I also liked the point in the episode when Liam finds Lili's dog tags. I'm glad the writers didn't forget about that, though I wish he had found them earlier and an ongoing subplot through this season was Liam finding out what happened to Lili.

The Bond villain-lite, Federov, is an interesting character and is played by an actor who I'm sure I've seen in every Canadian-filmed scifi show.

Of course, this episode ends with a cliffhanger: will Da'an survive? Will Lili survive? Considering all of the cast changes this show has had over the first 3 years, I don't know what to expect.

RATING: 5/5


And that concludes season 3. Overall, I felt this is the weakest of the 3 seasons I've seen. It had a few good ongoing plotlines like Ma'el's ship and the Lili/Jaridian storyline, but overall it had the most standalone episodes of any season. I also felt the character of Augur was underused in many episodes (just called upon to offer a technobabble solution). Later in the season he got more involved (like in the episode The Fields), but overall there should be more Augur. At this point, I rank the seasons (in descending order from best to worst): 1, 2, 3.

 

[The Wormhole]

Overall, I agree season 3 is kind of meh. Good episodes here and there, but the season as a whole is hardly memorable. Season 4 really picks up, IMO.

The Bond villain-lite, Federov, is an interesting character and is played by an actor who I'm sure I've seen in every Canadian-filmed scifi show.

Including two different roles in the Stargate franchise. Thankfully, in his next appearance Federov loses that silly-looking moustache. "I'm vague and enigmatic, not a supervillain with a hidden agenda. Just ignore this huge moustache I'm twirling."

 

[The Habs Fan]

The Forge of Creation

With Lili about to give birth to a Jaridian hybrid which may not survive, Da'an sacrifices himself to save the child. Liam does what he can to protect Lili, but her Jaridian mate Vorjak believes humans can not protect a Jaridian from the Taelons, and so he, Lili and their newly born daughter Ariel go on the run. Meanwhile, Sandoval is forced to explain to Zo'or why Lili is still alive and working with the Jaridians.

So much for my hope of more Augur.

But before I get into that, this season has a different feel to it than the previous season. I don't know if it's the way it's filmed or what but I like it.

Anyway, we continue where we left off and Da'an has sacrificed himself to save Lili and Vorjak's baby. This being E:FC, I assumed Da'an was no longer on the show and I was sad.

Also no longer on the show (I think) is Augur who is running away from Volunteers who have finally caught up to him. (I don't really understand why he has to change his identity and go into hiding since he's been in similar trouble before, but whatever). On the way he replaces himself with a new character who also happens to be a good-looking actress so I guess I can live with it.

But seriously, any reason as to why Augur's exit? Was it just a money thing with Tribune or did the actor want out?

I don't remember Sandoval leaving the ship in the last episode, but he has and he's lost it and wants to find it again (why did he leave in the first place). I liked the choice to make Lili work against Liam/Renee and kind of on the same side of Sandoval. That is, until Sandoval strangely switches sides back to Zo'or and tries to kill Vorjak (if he has the power to control all Taelons, why is he so afraid of Zo'or?)

I won't hold the little changes and plot holes against this episode as it's an excellent episode. I think I just have to view each season as a separate series, kind of like Andromeda.

Surprisingly, considering all of the cast changes this show goes through, Da'an ends up not actually dead, Lili gets away with Vorjak, and Augur assumes his new identity. I assume Da'an will remain a main character but it also looks like Lili and Augur may re-appear in future episodes. The opening was the same as season 3, I guess to keep the cast changes a secret.

RATING: 5/5

 

[The Wormhole]

The nex episode will have new opening credits to reflect the cast changes. I don't know the behind the scenes reason for Augur's departure, I just assumed they were required to make changes to the cast every season, and his name was drawn out of the hat.

Augur does have a few more appearances this year, but this is the last time we see Lili. Vorjak returns and let's us know she's doing just fine though.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Tribune was always cutting the budget so maybe Auger was a causuality of that.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Sins of the Father

Liam and Renee must do their best to uncover the existence of a second Kryss facility on Federov's space station Freedom. However, the closer they get to uncovering the truth, the more disturbing the puzzle becomes. Meanwhile, Da'an conducts his own experiments on Kyrss as Sandoval begins investigating the low allotments of Kryss which Federov is supplying him.

This episode gives off a Mission: Impossible vibe, especially with Hubble Urick sending a holographic message to Liam and Renee with their next mission. I almost expected it to self-destruct when it finished. Not that I'm complaining, as this episode is very good in a dark kind of way.

We have the return of Federov who is becoming even more like a bond villain as now he is in charge of a space station (obviously some time has passed since the previous episodes). On this space station, he is enslaving humans for kryss (the Taelons still need the drug somehow). My first question is, what happened to the kryss farm on the moon? Are the writers retconning this by having a kryss farm on the space station or does the moon farm still exist? Anyway, one of the human slaves taken is a daughter of a senator (conicidentally, a pro-Taelon senator). She was taken by mistake because she lived under a different identity.

Meanwhile, Federov is providing kryss on the side to a mysterious hooded figure bearing a striking resemblance to Darth Sidious. It turns out to be Da'an who is addicted to kryss! It would have been nice to see evidence of this in previous episodes, but I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't Babylon 5

And this episode has the classic EFC ambiguous ending with Sandoval tempting Da'an with kryss. (Sandoval is pretty evil in this scene).

Between the human slave storyline and the addiction storyline this is a pretty dark episode. I think it's darker in tone than any episode since season 1.

​

RATING: 4/5

 

[The Wormhole]

Honestly, I don't remember if the kryss farm on the moon is ever mentioned again. I want to say it isn't, but for some reason that doesn't seem entirely correct.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yeah it's mentioned.

Barely.

There's a clipshow of the season at the very least.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Uh oh, the dreaded C-word. Don't tell me I have another one of those coming up.


First Breath

As countries all over the globe begin to unite under the Atlantic National Alliance, Renee admits she has been working with Hubble Urick to help make it possible. However, when an old friend resurfaces, Renee discovers that she may be in grave danger, and her friend isn't exactly who she seems.

Will Hubble Urick appear in more episodes of season 4 than Jonathan Doors appeared in season 3? Bets are now open.

This episode has some good ideas but something felt a bit off. We first have the ratification of a new alliance that I think is similar to NATO, called the Atlantic National Alliance. The Taelons are, of course, opposed to this new alliance as its purpose is to retake control of Earth from the Taelons. It does get ratified at the end of the episode so it'll be interesting to see how this affects the EFC plotlines (if it affects them at all).

The other plotline that is loosely connected has to do with a company called DonorMed, a company that is cloning human bodies to harvest the organs. Oh, and they're connected to the Taelons (is there anything shady that the Taelons aren't connected to?) DonorMed is run by an old friend of Renee's and the clone of her lover (actually her lover is the clone but whatever).

I felt both plotlines were interesting but underdeveloped.

​

RATING: 2.5/5

 

[The Wormhole]

Don't worry, there won't be any clip shows until season 5.

Hubble Urick does appear quite often in seasons 4 and 5, but never gets added to the main cast in the opening credits.

And yes, the ANA (as the Atlantic National Alliance will become known as) is a prominent force in EFC now.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Limbo

The Murder of General T'Than on board the mothership leads Liam to discover the Taelon's darkest secret, while the late Jonathan Doors returns in cyber-form to administer a deadly attack upon them.

Jonathan Doors returns... from the DEAD! Will the dead Jonathan Doors appear in more season 4 episodes than the alive Jonathan Doors in season 3? Bets are now open.

Seriously, this turned out to be a much better episode than One Taelon Avenue and a much more fulfilling ending to both Jonathan and Joshua Doors' storylines.

First of all, I have one niggling problem with this episode: why would the energy depleted Taelons provide some much needed core energy to Joshua Doors?

Jonathan is still making his presence felt from beyond the grave as sometime before his death he programmed an AI with his personality to help Joshua run Doors International. Joshua, still feeling guilty over the part he played in his father's death, is hanging on the AI's every word and command (though sometimes he has no choice). Interestingly, this storyline is a bit reminiscent of the AI storyline in One Taelon Avenue, but here it is much better written.

Meanwhile, the Taelons are running out of energy (once again, I wish we had seen evidence of this in previous episodes) and are about to become extinct. T'than is the latest to succumb to a lack of energy and goes into hibernation in a secret chamber on the Taelon mothership along with hundreds of other Taelons already asleep. Zo'or uses this opportunity to kill T'than once and for all in what is an anticlimactic death of a semi-important character but is believable since I think Zo'or would take advantage of T'than's vulnerability.

Joshua finally rebels against his AI father who is controlling his life and erases the AI. (The AI is surprisingly calm about this development, unlike the AI in One Taelon Avenue). But what is a nice twist, Joshua still carries out his AI father's plan by using up all of the core energy that the Taelons generously lent him. Sandoval arrests Joshua for this act and now Joshua will probably be consigned to a life of torture on the mothership.

Even though it appears as if Joshua will not appear again, unless he escapes from Taelon prison, I liked the ending of his character. It was much better than the rushed One Taelon Avenue and also provided redemption for the character (after his turn in season 2).

My one worry is that this is the last we'll hear of the Taelon energy depletion plotline. I hope I'm wrong.


RATING: 4/5​

 

[Daneel]

My one worry is that this is the last we'll hear of the Taelon energy depletion plotline. I hope I'm wrong.
​

You are in fact very wrong. The Taelon energy depletion is an important part of the storyline for the rest of the season.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yeah, the Taelon core energy is a huge deal this season. As for Joshua Doors, I guess Sandoval must have sent him through the Stargate where he ended up being implanted with a Tok'ra symbiote.

That's a sly referance to the fact that the actor played a recurring Tok'ra on SG-1.

 

[The Habs Fan]

My one worry is that this is the last we'll hear of the Taelon energy depletion plotline. I hope I'm wrong.
​

You are in fact very wrong. The Taelon energy depletion is an important part of the storyline for the rest of the season.

Good to hear!

Yeah, the Taelon core energy is a huge deal this season. As for Joshua Doors, I guess Sandoval must have sent him through the Stargate where he ended up being implanted with a Tok'ra symbiote.

That's a sly referance to the fact that the actor played a recurring Tok'ra on SG-1.

A likely explanation (somehow I didn't recognize the actor from his role in Stargate, usually I can tell right away).

Motherlode

While Liam and Renee investigate the suspicions of false imprisonment and infringement of civil rights, an amoralist associate of Augur's plans to steal Zo'or's gold onboard the mothership.

Ok, so maybe it's easy to escape from a Taelon prison. At least that's the impression I get after watching this episode. I know, all of the prisoners are in deprivation tanks and can't escape without outside help, but still the escape was a bit too easy.

Augur is finally apprehended and is sentenced to the aforementioned deprivation tank prison. Luckily for him, he is going to be freed by Declan Connors, a previously unseen member of the Amoralists (first and last mentioned in the episode Thicker Than Blood). Like the previous episode, this episode is a much better Amoralist story than the season 3 episode that introduced the concept. (Plus, there are no contrived sword fights).

Declan has a plan, and that is to steal Zo'or's mountain of gold with Augur's help. I can't believe the gold plotline has become as important as it has, so kudos to the writers for surprising me. Of course, with Augur's help he is able to pull off the 2nd biggest heist ever (after Zo'or's original bank robbery) but is foiled at the last minute by Liam and Renee. However, they don't give the gold back to Zo'or but instead return it to where it belongs, Fort Knox (where it will be used to help fund the ANA).

It was nice seeing Augur again and part of me was wishing that he would accept Liam's offer to return, but obviously it was not meant to be.

I can't finish this review without mentioning that Hubble Urick sends another holographic messenger to Liam and Renee with their next mission. Unfortunately, once again the message didn't self destruct

​

RATING: 3/5

 

[The Wormhole]

A likely explanation (somehow I didn't recognize the actor from his role in Stargate, usually I can tell right away).

I exaggerated a bit when I said "recurring." Aldwin the Tok'ra had three appearances.

Ok, so maybe it's easy to escape from a Taelon prison. At least that's the impression I get after watching this episode. I know, all of the prisoners are in deprivation tanks and can't escape without outside help, but still the escape was a bit too easy.

If it helps, we learn later on in the season that the warden or whatever he was (the guy interviewing Liam when he was posing as a guard looking to be hired) received a severe punishment for losing Augur.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Take No Prisoners

The ANA manages to negotiate amnesty for all resistance members, Liam tries to convince resistance member Haley Simmons to take up the offer. Sandoval uses parasites to make volunteers do suicide missions against the Resistance.

I'm glad to see that the ANA didn't turn out to be one of those 1-episode storylines and has become pretty important to the EFC universe. It has now somehow negotiated an amnesty for all Resistance members.

I liked seeing the character of Haley Simmons again and learning more about her background. This episode touches on an interesting point that never occurred to me before: the families of Resistance members. Do they know that their family members are in the Resistance? In the case of Haley, she had to pay quite the price to be in the Resistance (faking her death and "abandoning" her younger sister). It also made sense that she would jump at the chance for amnesty in order to see her sister again.

Of course, all hell breaks loose as some rogue volunteers start attacking and Haley is injured. These rogue volunteers are part of an experiment by Sandoval using a parasite that kills a person within an hour of implantation, but in that hour don't experience fear, turning these volunteers into fearless killing machines. I also liked this plotline as it humanized the normal volunteers. Previous episodes have portrayed the volunteers as evil and not too much else, but this episode contrasted the normal volunteers with the parasite infested ones and the normal volunteers actually seem like normal people, but misguided.

This episode also surprised me when Haley died suddenly after everything seemed to be going well for her. Death is often a surprise in real life so instead of feeling like a cheat to end on an emotional note, it felt very real to me. Is it just me or is EFC killing off a lot of recurring characters this season? I don't mind, but by the time season 5 arrives there won't be anybody left.

RATING: 4/5

 

[The Wormhole]

by the time season 5 arrives there won't be anybody left.

You may have picked up that season five is by no means a fan favourite...

 

[StarTrek1701]

by the time season 5 arrives there won't be anybody left.

You may have picked up that season five is by no means a fan favourite...

Actually season 5 was the best! So good that I didn't even see it. Nor did I ever get to watch the series ending. And this was my favorite show at the beginning of the millenium.