Earth: Final Conflict - 1st time watch thread
- Thread starter The Habs Fan
- Start date
Yes, I believe you're right. I didn't notice that, but I was too busy trying to care that this guy we've never seen before was going to die.
Just what are you implying?
Epiphany
The Taelon's decision to enter death stasis causes a rift between Zo'or and Da'an, who refuses to share the core energy he has accumulated. Meanwhile, Liam learns that he only has days to live.
I get the distinct impression that the show is ending soon. Then I look at my DVD shelf, and no, there's still one season left. Season 4 has been a very consistent season so far, not counting the last 2 episodes, and it has seemed to bring back plotlines from past seasons and tie them up. This episode is no exception as it returned to the storyline of the core energy and also tied up Liam's Kimera storyline in a neat little bow.
The episode begins with the announcement that all of the remaining Taelons will be entering stasis and trusting in humans to find a solution to the core energy crisis, which could take thousands of years. This took me a bit by surprise as there are still 2 episodes left this season, plus another 22 episodes next season, that I doubted this would actually happen. No Taelons for 24 episodes is not going to happen. As I suspected, a wrinkle to this plan appeared in the form of Zo'or. Zo'or was acting like a child, which he actually is in comparison to the other Taelons, and refused to enter stasis because he was scared. Well, part of his reason is he didn't trust Da'an who had a full complement of energy thanks to his joining a few episodes ago and suggested that maybe Da'an should share his energy with the rest of the Taelons. This started a bit of a conflict between Da'an and Zo'or which eventually ended with Zo'or capturing Da'an and taking all of Da'an's energy for himself rather than sharing it with the rest of the Taelons.
Meanwhile, Liam's body is rejecting his Kimera DNA since he is no longer Kimera, and he eventually dies. I have to admit I did think for one second that he might actually be dead, you never know with this show, but Liam has a vision with Ha'gel who explains to Liam his purpose (that he is the agent of his own salvation, something the Taelons must learn). Liam revives a moment before Renee is about to launch him into space (and moments after Renee professes her love for him). How's that for good timing?
Liam races off to the stasis chamber to revive Da'an. After Da'an is revived, Liam says something in Kimera which I guess taught Da'an what needed to be taught who then revives the rest of the Taelons. The Taelons, having learned of the message from the Kimera, now decide to take Zo'or's energy and share it amongst themselves. In so doing, the Taelons do not have enough core energy to re-enter stasis and only have a few months to live. The countdown is on.
RATING: 4/5
Oh, you'll find out. I feel quite certain of that.
Meanwhile, I think Epiphany is the last time in the series we see the Taelon embassy in DC. Not that we've really seen too much of it lately anyway.
No, there's one Taelon that ran around in season 5 who was a waste product of the joining process, and I believe that Zo'or comes back as an Ativas because Sandoval suggests that it's a good idea he can micromanage results out of.
Yes, I know there are Taelons in seaosn 5, and the Mothership is still there. But I am pretty sure Epiphany is the last time the Taelon Embassy, that building in DC that Da'an hangs out in, is seen in the series.
Gets out the popcorn to watch The Habs Fan's WTF moment when Season 5 starts...
I was a few years off. Very observant!
It was something I caught by accident. I wondered for years when the series took place, and it wasn't until a few years ago when I caught a re-run of Time Bomb that I caught the referance to "05" and began working things out from there.
Dark Horizons
After a Jaridian energy beam turns several Taelon companion protectors into assassins, Zo'or demands that they be turned over to him in 24 hours - or he will open fire on Earth. Da'an, meanwhile, dispatches Liam to take the assailants alive; and Sandoval becomes a pawn of the Jaridians.
Continuing season 4's parade of recurring characters from previous seasons appearances, this episode has the return of Vorjak (without Lili, though she is mentioned).
The Jaridians, having failed in their attempt to join with the Taelons, have decided to exterminate the Taelons. To do this, they have commandeered the CVIs of everyone who has one including Sandoval, whose CVI seems to be working perfectly, though the ambiguous ending of the episode may suggest otherwise. Anyway, Sandoval is the most important piece of the plan as he becomes a Jaridian replicant, commandeers the mothership, and brings it to the Jaridian homeworld, depleting the Taelon core energy in the process. Back in season 2 (or was it season 3) when Sandoval began working with the Jaridians to kill the Taelons, I doubt he envisioned himself as a mere pawn in the destruction of the Taelons and of Earth.
Sandoval continues to be the best character on the show. (He'd better survive into season 5!) After the events of Trapped By Time and Atonement, he hates the Taelons even more, yet he's now a man without a purpose other than his own selfish wants. At least he used to attribute his actions to what the Taelons did to his wife, whether or not that was actually truthful was left ambiguous. Well, now his wife hates him so he's basically out for revenge and will take everyone he can down with him. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to see that he has a bit of humanity left in him.
And maybe the Jaridians weren't influencing his CVI after all. Maybe he had nothing left to lose and was out for revenge, but he still stopped short of destroying Earth. Maybe there's hope for Sandoval after all.
RATING: 4/5
After a Jaridian energy beam turns several Taelon companion protectors into assassins, Zo'or demands that they be turned over to him in 24 hours - or he will open fire on Earth. Da'an, meanwhile, dispatches Liam to take the assailants alive; and Sandoval becomes a pawn of the Jaridians.
Continuing season 4's parade of recurring characters from previous seasons appearances, this episode has the return of Vorjak (without Lili, though she is mentioned).
The Jaridians, having failed in their attempt to join with the Taelons, have decided to exterminate the Taelons. To do this, they have commandeered the CVIs of everyone who has one including Sandoval, whose CVI seems to be working perfectly, though the ambiguous ending of the episode may suggest otherwise. Anyway, Sandoval is the most important piece of the plan as he becomes a Jaridian replicant, commandeers the mothership, and brings it to the Jaridian homeworld, depleting the Taelon core energy in the process. Back in season 2 (or was it season 3) when Sandoval began working with the Jaridians to kill the Taelons, I doubt he envisioned himself as a mere pawn in the destruction of the Taelons and of Earth.
Sandoval continues to be the best character on the show. (He'd better survive into season 5!) After the events of Trapped By Time and Atonement, he hates the Taelons even more, yet he's now a man without a purpose other than his own selfish wants. At least he used to attribute his actions to what the Taelons did to his wife, whether or not that was actually truthful was left ambiguous. Well, now his wife hates him so he's basically out for revenge and will take everyone he can down with him. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to see that he has a bit of humanity left in him.
And maybe the Jaridians weren't influencing his CVI after all. Maybe he had nothing left to lose and was out for revenge, but he still stopped short of destroying Earth. Maybe there's hope for Sandoval after all.
RATING: 4/5
Yeah, Sandoval is the coolest character on the show. Without spoiling too much, I will say he never does get the kind of redemption you speak of.
Point of No Return
The Taelons' fate - and possibly Liam's - is decided after Liam and Renee find Ma'el's regeneration chamber. The discovery of the secret location causes the surviving Taelons and Jaridians to seek the mechanism, which promises to restore their draining energy. Street, meanwhile, solves the riddle of Ma'el which will allow the Taelons and the Jaridians to join.
This episode is very aptly named as I'm not sure how the show can return for 22 episodes after this one. I think everything was tied up from the series except for what happens to certain characters at the end. We know that Renee, Street, and Augur survive. Sandoval is unconscious on the mothership which is about to be hit by multiple nuclear warheads in a matter of seconds. Liam is the key to the Jaridians and Taelons joining and was stuck in the volcano as it blew up. There are only 6 Jaridians and 6 Taelons left in the entire universe and now they have joined into what I'm guessing will be Atavus. And who knows what happened to Zo'or.
I have one tiny little problem with this episode as I'm still not quite sure how the Jaridians got to the mothership so quickly when they don't have id technology. Did the core energy help them with this?
Other than that little plot hole, this episode was awesome. As I said, mostly everything from the first 4 seasons has been tied up. Where possibly could the story go now?
RATING: 5/5
I enjoyed season 4 a lot. I think the writers fixed a lot of the mistakes they made in season 3. Season 3 was much too standalone and almost every plot was a "what evil plan will Zo'or come up with next?" Season 4 brought back more arc based storylines and actually had multiple episodes continue where the previous episode ended. The writers also brought back storylines and some familiar faces from the first 3 seasons. Sandoval was written much better than season 3 and cemented himself as the best character on the show. Zo'or's character also was given more purpose instead of the crazy moustache-twirling villain he became in season 3 (he still was basically a villain in season 4, just a better written one.) I felt that Da'an's character arc was a bit neglected through most of the middle of the season, but he had some great stuff in the last few episodes. Overall, I was very happy with how all of the story lines were tied up in this season.
I'm a bit nervous as I'm about to watch season 5 which I know is seen by most to be the worst season of the series. Coming off as good a season as this was may make it seem even worse. I think I have a bit of experience with this as I recently watched the entire series of Andromeda which also has a surprisingly good 4th season followed by a bad 5th season, though the last 3 episodes of Andromeda are excellent episodes (in my opinion).
In any event, I will be watching right to the end.
The Taelons' fate - and possibly Liam's - is decided after Liam and Renee find Ma'el's regeneration chamber. The discovery of the secret location causes the surviving Taelons and Jaridians to seek the mechanism, which promises to restore their draining energy. Street, meanwhile, solves the riddle of Ma'el which will allow the Taelons and the Jaridians to join.
This episode is very aptly named as I'm not sure how the show can return for 22 episodes after this one. I think everything was tied up from the series except for what happens to certain characters at the end. We know that Renee, Street, and Augur survive. Sandoval is unconscious on the mothership which is about to be hit by multiple nuclear warheads in a matter of seconds. Liam is the key to the Jaridians and Taelons joining and was stuck in the volcano as it blew up. There are only 6 Jaridians and 6 Taelons left in the entire universe and now they have joined into what I'm guessing will be Atavus. And who knows what happened to Zo'or.
I have one tiny little problem with this episode as I'm still not quite sure how the Jaridians got to the mothership so quickly when they don't have id technology. Did the core energy help them with this?
Other than that little plot hole, this episode was awesome. As I said, mostly everything from the first 4 seasons has been tied up. Where possibly could the story go now?
RATING: 5/5
I enjoyed season 4 a lot. I think the writers fixed a lot of the mistakes they made in season 3. Season 3 was much too standalone and almost every plot was a "what evil plan will Zo'or come up with next?" Season 4 brought back more arc based storylines and actually had multiple episodes continue where the previous episode ended. The writers also brought back storylines and some familiar faces from the first 3 seasons. Sandoval was written much better than season 3 and cemented himself as the best character on the show. Zo'or's character also was given more purpose instead of the crazy moustache-twirling villain he became in season 3 (he still was basically a villain in season 4, just a better written one.) I felt that Da'an's character arc was a bit neglected through most of the middle of the season, but he had some great stuff in the last few episodes. Overall, I was very happy with how all of the story lines were tied up in this season.
I'm a bit nervous as I'm about to watch season 5 which I know is seen by most to be the worst season of the series. Coming off as good a season as this was may make it seem even worse. I think I have a bit of experience with this as I recently watched the entire series of Andromeda which also has a surprisingly good 4th season followed by a bad 5th season, though the last 3 episodes of Andromeda are excellent episodes (in my opinion).
In any event, I will be watching right to the end.
Ahh...then you know what Tribune seems to do with series...Season 5 will feel as different form 1-4 as it did with Andromeda. But i am VERY interested to see how you react to it.
I ppretty much concur with your anaylsis of EFC so far... to me season 2 (at least the first half) seemed like a cliche of different sci-fi concepts (like time travel, parallel universes). Season 3 was a bit better, but season 4 brought it back.
I ppretty much concur with your anaylsis of EFC so far... to me season 2 (at least the first half) seemed like a cliche of different sci-fi concepts (like time travel, parallel universes). Season 3 was a bit better, but season 4 brought it back.
As far as I'm concerned, season 4 is the end of the series. Point of No Return is by all rights a series finale. Hell, a lot of shows don't have finales that good. And you're right, there isn't really any more story to tell.
Since I only watched season 5 once, when it first aired over ten years ago, my memory of it sucks. These reviews should be interesting.
Since I only watched season 5 once, when it first aired over ten years ago, my memory of it sucks. These reviews should be interesting.
Unearthed
The joining of the Taelons and the Jaridians create the Avatus race, a greater threat that Renee leads the fight against.
Is it just me, or has the Atavus looked and acted different every single time they appeared in an episode? Now they seem like almost-human energy vampires. This episode also wasn't quite clear about this: is the Atavus the result of the joining of Taelons and Jaridians? So is Da'an half of one of these Atavus or are these something else different that somehow appeared after the joining? Muddying the issue is the fact that a Taelon named Ra'jel seemed to be freed from an Atavus when it was killed. Why wasn't a Jaridian freed as well? And was it actually freed or is it just a Taelon ghost? Ra'jel mentioned something about returning to the room where the joining occurred so that he could guide Renee on her mission, but I don't remember her ever returning him there. Safe to say I'm a bit confused.
This is a new season of EFC and of course there are more main cast changes. I didn't expect it to change this much though, but I guess the ending of season 4 kind of foreshadowed who'd be missing in action. No more Liam, Zo'or, and Da'an, but we still have Renee, Street, and Sandoval (thankfully).
Speaking of Sandoval, how did he manage to survive the nuclear blast? Yes, I know he's burned on one side of his face, but his suit still looks perfect. After blowing up the space shuttle sent by the ANA, he somehow acquires perfect camera angles and sound showing what is happening below the surface in the submarine and the volcano. I guess he likes the look of the Atavus since by the end he beams them up to the mothership.
Speaking of the submarine, its crew is the normal characters you'd find in a horror movie. All of them eventually die, including "the new Liam" (who Renee shares a kiss with), and Street and Renee are once again left on their own. How surprising!
So if I get where this season is going (from what Ra'jel said): the final conflict has been unleashed and this is it. It's Renee's destiny to stop the Atavus just as it was Liam's destiny to join the Taelons and Jaridians. If that joining resulted in the Atavus, I'm not sure what good it did.
RATING: 3/5
The joining of the Taelons and the Jaridians create the Avatus race, a greater threat that Renee leads the fight against.
Is it just me, or has the Atavus looked and acted different every single time they appeared in an episode? Now they seem like almost-human energy vampires. This episode also wasn't quite clear about this: is the Atavus the result of the joining of Taelons and Jaridians? So is Da'an half of one of these Atavus or are these something else different that somehow appeared after the joining? Muddying the issue is the fact that a Taelon named Ra'jel seemed to be freed from an Atavus when it was killed. Why wasn't a Jaridian freed as well? And was it actually freed or is it just a Taelon ghost? Ra'jel mentioned something about returning to the room where the joining occurred so that he could guide Renee on her mission, but I don't remember her ever returning him there. Safe to say I'm a bit confused.
This is a new season of EFC and of course there are more main cast changes. I didn't expect it to change this much though, but I guess the ending of season 4 kind of foreshadowed who'd be missing in action. No more Liam, Zo'or, and Da'an, but we still have Renee, Street, and Sandoval (thankfully).
Speaking of Sandoval, how did he manage to survive the nuclear blast? Yes, I know he's burned on one side of his face, but his suit still looks perfect. After blowing up the space shuttle sent by the ANA, he somehow acquires perfect camera angles and sound showing what is happening below the surface in the submarine and the volcano. I guess he likes the look of the Atavus since by the end he beams them up to the mothership.
Speaking of the submarine, its crew is the normal characters you'd find in a horror movie. All of them eventually die, including "the new Liam" (who Renee shares a kiss with), and Street and Renee are once again left on their own. How surprising!
So if I get where this season is going (from what Ra'jel said): the final conflict has been unleashed and this is it. It's Renee's destiny to stop the Atavus just as it was Liam's destiny to join the Taelons and Jaridians. If that joining resulted in the Atavus, I'm not sure what good it did.
RATING: 3/5
Bear in mind I'm working off ten year old memories here, I may be off track or completely wrong but from what I understand, Ra'jel is some sort of amalgam of all the Taelons and Jaridians who took part in the joining. No, I don't know why he doesn't have any Jaridian characterisitcs. And it sure is lucky that he just happened to be inside that one Atavus Renee shot.
Pariahs
On board the Mothership, Sandoval tries to make a deal with Howlyn and the other Atavus. But when they turn down his offer, he soon finds himself the Atavus' next meal and is forced to ask Renee and J. Street for help.
This show is not really Earth: Final Conflict anymore, is it? That's the impression I get from this episode. Sure, it's got some of the same sets, a few of the same characters, but the show itself is different.
So it turns out that both Sandoval and Renee are immune to the Atavus. Is this explained in a future episode? It better be. And Ra'jel somehow reconstitutes himself into a Taelon. I'm not quite clear on how or why, but ok. I feel like this character would have been better if it had been Da'an or some Taelon we saw before, rather than a random Taelon who claims to be the forefather of all Taelons. Yeah, I'm still confused as to what exactly happened after the Taelons and Jaridians joined.
Nice to see Hubble Urick again, though I don't buy his attitude to Renee and his reluctance to believe her about the Atavus. And when did Renee become so stupid? First, she meets with Hubble Urick and falls into a trap, then she goes up to the mothership by herself and falls into the trap laid by Sandoval.
Speaking of Sandoval, he has certainly turned evil this season. No more shades of grey with this character, he has completely gone over to the dark side. I was kind of hoping that half of his face would be burned for the entire season, but he is miraculously healed by the Atavus. Specifically by the Atavus named Juda, who I assume is Sandoval's new girlfriend? And what is up with the scene involving Howlyn trying to seduce Renee? That was strange.
And where did Sandoval find the volunteer that became the Atavus' meal? Did he also survive the nuclear attack on the mothership?
On the positive side of things, I did like how this episode continued right after the last one. This style of arc storyline wasn't seen too often at the time. However, while not being overly bad or offensive, this episode just was. Nothing too good and nothing too bad. Just meh...
RATING: 2/5
On board the Mothership, Sandoval tries to make a deal with Howlyn and the other Atavus. But when they turn down his offer, he soon finds himself the Atavus' next meal and is forced to ask Renee and J. Street for help.
This show is not really Earth: Final Conflict anymore, is it? That's the impression I get from this episode. Sure, it's got some of the same sets, a few of the same characters, but the show itself is different.
So it turns out that both Sandoval and Renee are immune to the Atavus. Is this explained in a future episode? It better be. And Ra'jel somehow reconstitutes himself into a Taelon. I'm not quite clear on how or why, but ok. I feel like this character would have been better if it had been Da'an or some Taelon we saw before, rather than a random Taelon who claims to be the forefather of all Taelons. Yeah, I'm still confused as to what exactly happened after the Taelons and Jaridians joined.
Nice to see Hubble Urick again, though I don't buy his attitude to Renee and his reluctance to believe her about the Atavus. And when did Renee become so stupid? First, she meets with Hubble Urick and falls into a trap, then she goes up to the mothership by herself and falls into the trap laid by Sandoval.
Speaking of Sandoval, he has certainly turned evil this season. No more shades of grey with this character, he has completely gone over to the dark side. I was kind of hoping that half of his face would be burned for the entire season, but he is miraculously healed by the Atavus. Specifically by the Atavus named Juda, who I assume is Sandoval's new girlfriend? And what is up with the scene involving Howlyn trying to seduce Renee? That was strange.
And where did Sandoval find the volunteer that became the Atavus' meal? Did he also survive the nuclear attack on the mothership?
On the positive side of things, I did like how this episode continued right after the last one. This style of arc storyline wasn't seen too often at the time. However, while not being overly bad or offensive, this episode just was. Nothing too good and nothing too bad. Just meh...
RATING: 2/5
Let's just say, there's a surprise or two this season that make it fun in spots (I have about 3,maybe 4 episodes in mind), but otherwise, you're pretty much in a downward spiral in the toilet bowl now. 
I remember that's what everyone was saying back when the season aired. I really don't know why they didn't go that route.
Yeah, Sandoval is now an Evil Villain, completely gutting the excellent development done with his character over the past four seasons.
Howlyn's attraction to Renee is actually covered in an upcoming episode, though rather stupidly.
Basically, there's an episode where Renee travels back in time to when the Atavus ruled Earth, and she ends up catching his attention back then, and now he recognizes her from then.
There are still a number of Volunteers aboard the Mothership. To make matters worse, later on in the season we're going to see armed Volunteer shock troops working for Sandoval and the Atavus. No, it really makes no sense at all. I guess these must be the same guys that were allowed to stay back when Zo'or banned all humans from the Mothership?
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It's best to think of season 5 as a separate show than EFC...it's more like a spin off than the series proper. Of course that doesn't change how lame it is.
One thing I really hated about this season was Howlyn hissing. It was so damn annoying.
One thing I really hated about this season was Howlyn hissing. It was so damn annoying.
Agreed.
The next episode features even more volunteers...
The Seduction
Renee invades the Mothership in hopes of stopping a joining procedure which will be used to create a hundreds of Atavus hybrids which will infiltrate the highest levels of the Government. But when she is captured by Sandoval, Howlyn, the Atavus leader, chooses Renee to become his mate.
Didn't I just see this episode? Let's see...
Renee sneaks onto mothership in order to blow it up. Gets caught in the process. Gets seduced by Howlyn. Narrowly escapes. Yeah, that sounds like Pariahs to me.
Of course there is some new stuff like the Atavus creating Atavus/human hybrids and Hubble Urick dying at the absolute worst time, but it's basically the same episode.
So when did the President of the ANA become the Director of the FBI? That seems like a step down to me. And of course, now that he believes Renee about the Atavus and he's about to launch a strike at the mothership, he dies. I still don't understand why the government doesn't believe Renee. Especially since she gave them the hand. I really don't understand their reluctance other than the writers trying to create a problem.
I'm also not clear as to how the Atavus/humans hybrid thing works but I guess I could live with that.
Is it just me or is Ra'jel useless? Even though he's toxic to the Atavus, he somehow gets locked up but he's obviously able to escape at will as he did when he "distracted" Howlyn from his attempted seduction of Renee. First of all, how did he get locked up? And if he could escape at will, why doesn't he just kill them all or send the mothership into the sun or something?
Another question: are the Atavus supposed to be this stupid? (Just in general).
When did EFC become all about sex? I know sex sells, but this is ridiculous.
We did get the answer to why Renee and Sandoval are immune, but I can't remember when Sandoval joined with a Taelon. Did this actually happen?
And where the #%$! did all the volunteers in this episode come from? The nuclear strike in Point Of No Return must have did nothing except burn half of Sandoval's face off.
At least this episode continues right after the last episode. I just wish the writers had done this arc-based story telling during the good seasons.
RATING: 2/5
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