Earth: Final Conflict (beware spoiler)
- Thread starter theblitz
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Yea, I enjoyed S1 - S4 mostly as well. S5, I think was a pretty bold idea, and could've been a Classic, because of going where few shows would dare, out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Sadly, the execution (And probably the budget as well) didn't live up to the potential of the idea
In all honesty, I've always preferred Liam Kincaid over William Boone myself.
Actor-wise, I found Robert Leeshock more likeable than Kevin Kilner. But writing-wise, Boone was a much richer character and I loved his relationship with Da'an. I've already remarked on how I felt Liam and Renee had no personality to speak of in seasons 3-4.
To be honest, Boone was always bland and unmemorable to me and Liam just seemed to have more presence. Plus I found Liam's alien origin more interesting than Boone's ex-army officer turned cop background.
Actor-wise, yes. Writing-wise, no.
I could never get past the idiocy of his origin, growing to maturity in like 30 seconds. Not to mention the sexism of bringing in a new male lead in such a stupid way rather than just having Lili Marquette become the new lead character (which would've been a natural -- they were setting up a Lili-Da'an relationship late in season 1 that could've easily taken the place of the Boone-Da'an relationship which was the philosophical heart of the show).
I didn't really like the whole "born and grown before the credits" thing either, but I got over it. Interesting idea about promoting Lili. Of course, if they had done that and introduced Liam anyway, he'd probably end up becoming the lead anyway a year later when she was written off. I think that would have likely happened anyway, since it was Lisa Howard's choice to leave the show to focus on her family life.
Lily's character never worked for me. I don't know if it was Lisa Howard's acting skills, or the Direction she was given, but, the character always seemed so wooden to me, not natural at all (And I do like the Sinclair character in B5 who is often called wooden), so I was happy to see Renee take over her spot.
I know a lot of people are going to accuse me of uttering blasphemy here, but I found a lot about season 1 came off as wooden. Not just the acting, but the writing as well.
Kevin Kilner was definitely wooden, but I liked Lisa Howard. Okay, I liked her largely because she was really hot, but I had no problems with her acting. And Von Flores was always extremely good. In later seasons I kept hoping he'd be written out so he could get a gig more worthy of his talents, but he just stayed with the show, and since then I don't think I've seen him in much of anything, which is a shame.
Oh Yea, Von Flores is top notch, I enjoyed him in Tek War also.
Von Flores is totally the highlight of the show and all four seasons do some excellent things with Sandoval.
This fifth season though Sandoval turns into a moustache twirling bad guy as opposed to the ambigous playing both sides with a personal agenda of his own he was previously. Admittedly, my memories of season 5 aren't that good, I never bothered with it on DVD. Though in the past year or so EFC has been on at the same time I take my breaks at work (we have a TV in the lunch room). And damn, I caught one season 5 episode where Sandoval is actually boasting his evil plan to rule Earth. That year truly is an embarassment to the show.
This fifth season though Sandoval turns into a moustache twirling bad guy as opposed to the ambigous playing both sides with a personal agenda of his own he was previously. Admittedly, my memories of season 5 aren't that good, I never bothered with it on DVD. Though in the past year or so EFC has been on at the same time I take my breaks at work (we have a TV in the lunch room). And damn, I caught one season 5 episode where Sandoval is actually boasting his evil plan to rule Earth. That year truly is an embarassment to the show.
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^I felt so sorry for Von Flores. He was the best actor on that show, the one who most deserved to leave it for something better, but he was the one and only guy who stayed with it for its entire run and just kept getting saddled with worse and worse writing and characterization.
In the US, none. It was a syndicated show while it was on. These days it only seems to be available on DVD.
In Canada, re-runs are shown weekdays on Showcase and TV Tropolis. Although, for some reason, TV Tropolis only shows seasons 3-5 (Showcase shows all five seasons).
OK..so even if there is some difference of opinion on Boone& Liam...it seems we ALL agree than Von Flores was a great actor, and did his part in making Sandoval a great character (even if the writing, especially in season 5, undermined that work).
I wish there were re-runs..because my recollection of season 4 was that they seemed to be going back to things that made EFC an interesting series and where they were going with season 1. ANd then season 5--- like Andromeda, a cheap alternate version of the previous 4 seasons.
I wish there were re-runs..because my recollection of season 4 was that they seemed to be going back to things that made EFC an interesting series and where they were going with season 1. ANd then season 5--- like Andromeda, a cheap alternate version of the previous 4 seasons.
From what I remember of season 4, I didn't think it was much of an improvement.
Season 4 benefitted from having a story arc mapped out for the entire season and advnacing the storyline for the Taelons and Jaridians, which effectively wrapped up the series. Granted, the finale isn't much of a series finale, other shows have done worse, and it is much better than the actual series finale.
Also, the episodes Trapped by Time and Attonement are excellent and show Sandoval at his best. These might even rival season 1's highly praised Sandoval's Run.
Also, the episodes Trapped by Time and Attonement are excellent and show Sandoval at his best. These might even rival season 1's highly praised Sandoval's Run.
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