Synopsis:
Captain Gideon's Excalibur is called in to help Earth Force vessel Medusa when a big golden dragon threatens a mining operation on planet Regula 4. Upon arrival the Excalibur-resident technomage Galen has a pretty good idea what, or rather 'who', they're up against. Galen takes Captain Gideon down to the planet, where they establish contact with an old acquaintance of Galen's: the renegade technomage Alwyn.
Alwyn has been living amongst the local human colonists for 12 years, and he's grown pretty protective of them. The recent earth-led mining operation is dangerously close to the colony, and he's been trying to scare the miners away with his techno-tricks since.
Galen and Captain Gideon try to reason with Alwyn and the colonists, since the agent that is being mined for can potentially save lots of lives on the virally infected earth. But things get out of hand very quickly when the colonists take a group of miners hostage. The captain of the Medusa sends down an armed rescue team, but does he know what he's sending them up against...?
Review:
This second episode of 'Crusade' is, on the whole, marginally stimulating to watch. But, if you're curious enough about the potential of the series and its characters, it can be entertaining in a fact-revealing and getting-the-feel-of-the-series kind of way. Bare in mind, the crew, cast and writers were, of course, still trying to find their stride and the series' identity.
A few things I'd like voice though:
Most TV series that are still in their infancy focus on getting to know the regular characters right through the first ten or twenty episodes. In my view, 'The Long Road', being only the second episode of the series, focuses too much on its guest character Alwyn. Although Alwyn may have been meant as a means to shed some light on the mysterious character of Galen, in the end, Alwyn's character took away valuable airtime from the ones we're supposed to be the hungriest for. Although I must admit giving away too much about Galen too soon could kill some of the mystery surrounding him.
Captain Gideon is established as a man who's quite capable of making tough choices and decisions, but who's also pretty good at he 'diplomatic table'.
The special effects of the episode were of the same quality that we've seen in the final season of Babylon 5, so pretty amazing for a TV series with a limited budget! Nicely detailed designs and sets, and the choice of color and light effects give the images of the episode more depth than I immediately realized. Apart from some glassy see-through-ish CGI that was done of a few scenes on the planet, I'm actually quite impressed!
Finally, the score of this episode is too...I don't know...too "present" for my taste. Its experimentalism and its cold 'biscuit-tin'-sound reminds me of the first season of Babylon 5, or one of Babylon 5's TV films (I don't recall which one exactly). In essence, too much percussion and too little strings. But of course that's a matter of taste, as is everything about TV. ;-)
Best regards,
Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands
Captain Gideon's Excalibur is called in to help Earth Force vessel Medusa when a big golden dragon threatens a mining operation on planet Regula 4. Upon arrival the Excalibur-resident technomage Galen has a pretty good idea what, or rather 'who', they're up against. Galen takes Captain Gideon down to the planet, where they establish contact with an old acquaintance of Galen's: the renegade technomage Alwyn.
Alwyn has been living amongst the local human colonists for 12 years, and he's grown pretty protective of them. The recent earth-led mining operation is dangerously close to the colony, and he's been trying to scare the miners away with his techno-tricks since.
Galen and Captain Gideon try to reason with Alwyn and the colonists, since the agent that is being mined for can potentially save lots of lives on the virally infected earth. But things get out of hand very quickly when the colonists take a group of miners hostage. The captain of the Medusa sends down an armed rescue team, but does he know what he's sending them up against...?
Review:
This second episode of 'Crusade' is, on the whole, marginally stimulating to watch. But, if you're curious enough about the potential of the series and its characters, it can be entertaining in a fact-revealing and getting-the-feel-of-the-series kind of way. Bare in mind, the crew, cast and writers were, of course, still trying to find their stride and the series' identity.
A few things I'd like voice though:
Most TV series that are still in their infancy focus on getting to know the regular characters right through the first ten or twenty episodes. In my view, 'The Long Road', being only the second episode of the series, focuses too much on its guest character Alwyn. Although Alwyn may have been meant as a means to shed some light on the mysterious character of Galen, in the end, Alwyn's character took away valuable airtime from the ones we're supposed to be the hungriest for. Although I must admit giving away too much about Galen too soon could kill some of the mystery surrounding him.
Captain Gideon is established as a man who's quite capable of making tough choices and decisions, but who's also pretty good at he 'diplomatic table'.
The special effects of the episode were of the same quality that we've seen in the final season of Babylon 5, so pretty amazing for a TV series with a limited budget! Nicely detailed designs and sets, and the choice of color and light effects give the images of the episode more depth than I immediately realized. Apart from some glassy see-through-ish CGI that was done of a few scenes on the planet, I'm actually quite impressed!
Finally, the score of this episode is too...I don't know...too "present" for my taste. Its experimentalism and its cold 'biscuit-tin'-sound reminds me of the first season of Babylon 5, or one of Babylon 5's TV films (I don't recall which one exactly). In essence, too much percussion and too little strings. But of course that's a matter of taste, as is everything about TV. ;-)
Best regards,
Stephan Lodewijks from The Netherlands
