Did anybody watch this series? I remember seeing commercials during DS9's run. Was it any good?
Earth: Final Conflict
- Thread starter c0rnedfr0g
- Start date
Season 1 very good
Season 2: okay
Season 3 + 4 getting good
Season 5 - there is no season 5.
Season 1 was pretty decent, though I don't remember much of it. I only saw it in first run, and have always missed it in reruns.
Season 2 I remember really enjoying in first run, but I find in subsequent viewings, the episodes lose something.
Seasons 3 and 4 are the best the show produced, in my opinion. They had some really good episodes these years that made for some fine television viewing.
Season 5 shall not be spoken of.
Season 2 I remember really enjoying in first run, but I find in subsequent viewings, the episodes lose something.
Seasons 3 and 4 are the best the show produced, in my opinion. They had some really good episodes these years that made for some fine television viewing.
Season 5 shall not be spoken of.
I know I'm going to be burned on this, but I felt William Boone was overrated and preferred Liam Kincaid.
That being said, I agree Boone's departure was poorly handled.
I agree on both of these, actually.
It's a fun science fiction show and at times it even reached great.
I can' think of anything redeeming about season 5. When I re-watch the series I always watch 1-4 and then try to watch the first episode of season 5... Then always realize that it just doesn't feel worth it and stop.
E:FC is one of those shows I hope gets rebooted in a couple decades. It would be incredible of it was approached it in a more serialized fashion with tight, planned arcs.
E:FC started out as a richly imaginative, intelligent, idea-driven show with the most fascinating aliens ever created for television. Unfortunately, it was a Tribune production, and that meant its original developer/showrunner was doomed to get fired and replaced with inferior hacks. E:FC's developer had the shortest tenure of any Tribune showrunner, less than half a season. So after the episode "Sandoval's Run," about halfway through the first season, it began to drift and lose its way. The rest of the first season is still more or less worthwhile, but concepts work their way in that diverge from the original intent. The alien Taelons, who started out being compellingly ambiguous figures -- neither good nor evil, just profoundly different in their thinking and priorities -- started getting simplified, with the increasing prominence of the more overtly hostile Zo'or character and the increasingly straightforward nobility of head Taelon Da'an.
I agree with The Wormhole that the original series lead, Boone, was the weak link in the first season. The actor, Kevin Kilner, was so flat and passionless that even a Vulcan would find him cold. But the Boone character and his complex relationship with Da'an were so central to the original concept that it was a major blow when he was lost; the show radically changed its focus after that. And the way they replaced Boone was ridiculous and totally destroyed the show's credibility. The new lead, Liam Kincaid, was a human-alien hybrid who grew from newborn infant to studly adult (complete with adult knowledge and vocabulary courtesy of genetic memory) in a matter of seconds. And he was totally unnecessary. What they should've done was promote Boone's sidekick, Lily Marquette, to lead character. Late in season 1, she'd begun to form a relationship with Da'an that could've replaced Boone's. But the producers at the time apparently couldn't accept the idea of a female lead, so Liam the Insta-Grow Hero was tacked on.
The show thoroughly lost its way in the second season, delving into increasingly ludicrous fantasy plots involving alternate timelines and so on, without any sense of direction. A lot of things were set up and abandoned without payoff. It got more focused after that, but continued to deteriorate in sophistication and quality and continued to hemorrhage original cast members. Liam and replacement female lead Renee Palmer had no significant character growth beyond getting progressively blonder. Zo'or became more and more a stereotyped villain to the point that one expected him to grow a handlebar moustache and begin twirling it. Da'an, originally the most fascinating character, was increasingly marginalized and ultimately killed off. Sandoval, originally another very rich and ambiguous character, became far more one-dimensional. (I kept wishing that Von Flores would follow the rest of his fellow original cast members into leaving the show, since he was too good an actor to be stuck with this, but he was the only one who stayed from beginning to end.)
After four seasons, E:FC was doing badly in the ratings, but Tribune was determined to reach the 100-episode "magic number" which is considered the threshold of profitability for rerun syndication. So, just as they would later do with Andromeda, they commissioned a fifth season and totally retooled the show to be as cheap as it could possibly be. Liam was killed off (temporarily, as it turned out) and Renee became the lead in a season that's (un)affectionately known as "Renee the Vampire Slayer." The Taelons were transformed into a more humanoid, more overtly monstrous life-force-sucking species, and somehow, suddenly, the global authorities were unaware they existed, or something like that, so it was up to this boring lead actress and her small band of boring supporters to battle this boring alien threat. And I don't know what happened then, since I was too bored to find out.
So really E:FC is at least four, maybe as many as seven different shows at different times in its run. The first one of those shows, about half a season long, is one of the best works of science fiction ever made for television. The second one, filling out the rest of the first season, is still pretty good. The rest are uneven, and the last one is totally awful.
I agree with The Wormhole that the original series lead, Boone, was the weak link in the first season. The actor, Kevin Kilner, was so flat and passionless that even a Vulcan would find him cold. But the Boone character and his complex relationship with Da'an were so central to the original concept that it was a major blow when he was lost; the show radically changed its focus after that. And the way they replaced Boone was ridiculous and totally destroyed the show's credibility. The new lead, Liam Kincaid, was a human-alien hybrid who grew from newborn infant to studly adult (complete with adult knowledge and vocabulary courtesy of genetic memory) in a matter of seconds. And he was totally unnecessary. What they should've done was promote Boone's sidekick, Lily Marquette, to lead character. Late in season 1, she'd begun to form a relationship with Da'an that could've replaced Boone's. But the producers at the time apparently couldn't accept the idea of a female lead, so Liam the Insta-Grow Hero was tacked on.
The show thoroughly lost its way in the second season, delving into increasingly ludicrous fantasy plots involving alternate timelines and so on, without any sense of direction. A lot of things were set up and abandoned without payoff. It got more focused after that, but continued to deteriorate in sophistication and quality and continued to hemorrhage original cast members. Liam and replacement female lead Renee Palmer had no significant character growth beyond getting progressively blonder. Zo'or became more and more a stereotyped villain to the point that one expected him to grow a handlebar moustache and begin twirling it. Da'an, originally the most fascinating character, was increasingly marginalized and ultimately killed off. Sandoval, originally another very rich and ambiguous character, became far more one-dimensional. (I kept wishing that Von Flores would follow the rest of his fellow original cast members into leaving the show, since he was too good an actor to be stuck with this, but he was the only one who stayed from beginning to end.)
After four seasons, E:FC was doing badly in the ratings, but Tribune was determined to reach the 100-episode "magic number" which is considered the threshold of profitability for rerun syndication. So, just as they would later do with Andromeda, they commissioned a fifth season and totally retooled the show to be as cheap as it could possibly be. Liam was killed off (temporarily, as it turned out) and Renee became the lead in a season that's (un)affectionately known as "Renee the Vampire Slayer." The Taelons were transformed into a more humanoid, more overtly monstrous life-force-sucking species, and somehow, suddenly, the global authorities were unaware they existed, or something like that, so it was up to this boring lead actress and her small band of boring supporters to battle this boring alien threat. And I don't know what happened then, since I was too bored to find out.
So really E:FC is at least four, maybe as many as seven different shows at different times in its run. The first one of those shows, about half a season long, is one of the best works of science fiction ever made for television. The second one, filling out the rest of the first season, is still pretty good. The rest are uneven, and the last one is totally awful.
I watched seasons two through four for Von Flores. In season five I read until Von Flores was on screen, which didn't seem to be very often. I don't really know what the series was about.
Whatever happened to Von Flores? I know there's not much market for Asian actors.
Whatever happened to Von Flores? I know there's not much market for Asian actors.
Flores has gone back to being a working Canadian character actor, I guess, showing up in various supporting roles since E:FC ended. According to IMDb, he currently has a recurring role in the Canadian high-school drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0282959/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0282959/
I loved EFC. It was a staple of my high school years. I would tape it on Saturday afternoons since I'd most likely be out and proceed to watch it when I got home later that evening. I've been meaning to re-watch the series, actually.
Season 1 was probably the best, or at least it had the most direction. Season two, at first, was a bit bumpy as they changed lead actors and were having trouble establishing a new direction. They actioned up the show quite a bit. By the end of the season, when they got back into the story arcs, the show was solid. Season 2's ender, I still think, is one of my favorite cliffhangers in all of TV. Season 3 was decent, about on par with the latter half of season 2. Season 4, I thought, was great on the level of season 1, and I loved how the season ended. It would have been great for a series ender.
Season 5...eh...outside of the decent internal-continuity, it was pretty weak. Christopher, the Atavus were not the Taelons transformed. Rather, when the Taelons and Jaridians merged, the merging failed, and it awakened the Atavus who were already there in status. No one forgot about the Taelons; it was just that no one believed (or wanted to believe) that a new alien race was on Earth. Although, I admit, it seemed like they couldn't get their story straight for the first few episodes on that one.
Season 1 was probably the best, or at least it had the most direction. Season two, at first, was a bit bumpy as they changed lead actors and were having trouble establishing a new direction. They actioned up the show quite a bit. By the end of the season, when they got back into the story arcs, the show was solid. Season 2's ender, I still think, is one of my favorite cliffhangers in all of TV. Season 3 was decent, about on par with the latter half of season 2. Season 4, I thought, was great on the level of season 1, and I loved how the season ended. It would have been great for a series ender.
Season 5...eh...outside of the decent internal-continuity, it was pretty weak. Christopher, the Atavus were not the Taelons transformed. Rather, when the Taelons and Jaridians merged, the merging failed, and it awakened the Atavus who were already there in status. No one forgot about the Taelons; it was just that no one believed (or wanted to believe) that a new alien race was on Earth. Although, I admit, it seemed like they couldn't get their story straight for the first few episodes on that one.
I seem to remember Zo'or being resurrected in Atavus form, though. Anyway, it doesn't matter; it was all gibberish by that point.
The S5 Atavus were the result of the attempt by the Taelons and Jaridians to merge at the end of S4. They were supposed to transform into the kind of glow-y being that was Liam's 'father', however it failed, resulting in the Avatus we saw during the season.
And yeah, Zo'or got de-Atav-fied for an episode, running amok and wanting sex.
Don't ask.
And yeah, Zo'or got de-Atav-fied for an episode, running amok and wanting sex.
Don't ask.
Norrin Radd
Vice Admiral
I personally enjoyed Kevin Kilner's performance as the lead. He wasn't too flashy or dynamic, but played the "everyman" type role well. I too have fond memories of season one, but lost interest soon after.
Zo'or's energy was transferred into an already dead Atavus body by Sandoval because he believed that Zo'or could be some help to the Taelons.
Not quite. There were like 6 Taelons and Jaridians left by the end of season 4. Liam and Co discovered an Atavus regeneration chamber that Ma'el found previously. The idea is that they would be joined together and become Atavus again (which is what they were before the split - and was seen briefly earlier in the season).
As season 5 opened, it seemed like the merging created Howlyn and Co., but as the season progressed, this was quickly revealed to not be the case as Howlyn and Co. were revealed to have lived on Earth for thousands of years previously and that there were many more Atavus regeneration chambers across the planet.
Ra'jel, the only Taelon to somehow survive, explained to Renee the joining didn't work, but Ra'Jel was able to "take over" a Atavus body due to all the Taelons focusing their energy together or something confusing like that.
Yeah...season 5 was a disaster of epic proportions. It really destroyed what was once an interesting backstory and mythology.
And yeah, Zo'or got de-Atav-fied for an episode, running amok and wanting sex.
Don't ask.
Two episodes. The second of which had her killed. In a shuttle crash. By Renee. Arg.
Picard- there are only 4 seasons!!!!
so many people left the show it would have left "Sliders" spinning their heads. Now I barely remember tuning in to see it go down the drain. What I remember
Augur
Lily(with capped teeth) and her jaridan baby and father. Yeah it was so bad you'd would have expected Berman and braga to be involved.
boone dying......oh wait he's back!........oh he died in France(or somewhere)
Sexed up Atavus's
Renee with bad wigs and a spa episode.
Renee's version of Augur
Liam's back and he talks about the next great "ENTERPRISE" and exploring the stars. Interestingly Liam's actor auditioned for Enterprise but didn't get the role. He would have been Trip Tucker.
so many people left the show it would have left "Sliders" spinning their heads. Now I barely remember tuning in to see it go down the drain. What I remember
Augur
Lily(with capped teeth) and her jaridan baby and father. Yeah it was so bad you'd would have expected Berman and braga to be involved.
boone dying......oh wait he's back!........oh he died in France(or somewhere)
Sexed up Atavus's
Renee with bad wigs and a spa episode.
Renee's version of Augur
Liam's back and he talks about the next great "ENTERPRISE" and exploring the stars. Interestingly Liam's actor auditioned for Enterprise but didn't get the role. He would have been Trip Tucker.
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Really? I did not know that one. Hmm...I wonder how that would have worked, though. Robert Leeshock revealed in an online chat that he didn't know he was going to be canned until after the season had ended. Unless, of course, he had suspected it and started to look for other projects.
I did some checking and it wasn't Trip Tucker but...........John Archer!
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/print.php?id=21170
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/print.php?id=21170
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