Space: Above and Beyond
Spoilers.
I just now finished watching Space: Above and Beyond.
It's the usual aliens vs. humans, but I enjoyed it anyway, though I would have enjoyed it a lot more if school, slow mail, and waiting for Blockbuster hadn't interrupted my viewing pleasure (there are only twenty-three episodes but I think I started watching this in 2008).
I liked it. It reminded me of Starship Troopers, but in a good way.
I prefer my Science Fiction to be grungy, dirty, and real. Much as I like Star Trek, it is at times too pristine. There are conveniences like transporters and phasers, while in the S:AAB universe there are no such luxeries. They have to rely on transportation which could at any moment be ambushed by Chigs. They have to rely on ammunition, and they sometimes run out.
They have two forms of humans-that-aren't-seen-as-humans by the general populace. Invitros which are grown (Brave New World, hello!). They were actually bred to fight in the Human vs. Silicate (robots) war...which raises interesting ethical questions.
The Silicate angle wasn't really explored, but it would have been nice if it had. That war was over -- Chigs had center stage. Still, the way they were portrayed was cool. Computers taking chances because their original programmer got a bit miffed over something. Paul said something really cool when he was explaining it to Cooper, an inVitro, why that had caused them to lead a revolution against the humans. I wish I could remember it exactly but it was something along these lines: Isn't that what every new idea is, a revolution?
InVitros were more a part of the film since Cooper and the commanding officer was one. I particularly liked the episode that explored Cooper's back story: the facility in which he was born taught the inVitros how to kill, wage war, and other things about life (they are born at a relative 18 years of age). They are closely monitored and discouraged to think for themselves. One day Cooper is watching the outside world through his barred window and asks, "Who monitors the birds?" Rather poignant. Cooper is my favorite (well, 'Phousse and Wang are my favorites, too) because he knows so little. He tries so hard and sometimes people help him and sometimes they don't. There was a particular episode where he had to choose to dump a load of inVitros or suffer the rest of the ship to die. He grew up from an unsure child to a man. There was another episode that was really showed discrimination without it labeling itself on the forehead. Very thoughtful and subtle.
I really enjoyed the series as a whole (it did have it's so-so episodes). It was human. There was an episode where the marines were drugged and they had to face their fear -- they overcame it, became closer and stronger.
I liked how they didn't make the Chigs the Big Bad. There were hints throughout the earlier episodes that the humans had started the war first. Then there was a Christmas episode where the marines were stranded and the Chigs helped them escape -- reminiscent of Snoopy and the Red Baron. They didn't reveal the Chigs face until the end which made their humanization even more dramatic especially since they were trying to protect their children.
Space Above and Beyond was Sci Fi not because it had aliens, but because it portrayed humans overcoming great odds whether it came from an outside force or from themselves. The aliens, the robots, the inVitros were metaphors for the strange, misunderstood elements here on this Earth, in this dimension.
The season also ended with three of the five main characters either MIA or, more likely, dead. They died trying to bring peace, to rescue the defenseless. To give their comrades another chance, no matter the cost, to live. To not die alone.
Well done.
I just now finished watching Space: Above and Beyond.
It's the usual aliens vs. humans, but I enjoyed it anyway, though I would have enjoyed it a lot more if school, slow mail, and waiting for Blockbuster hadn't interrupted my viewing pleasure (there are only twenty-three episodes but I think I started watching this in 2008).
I liked it. It reminded me of Starship Troopers, but in a good way.
I prefer my Science Fiction to be grungy, dirty, and real. Much as I like Star Trek, it is at times too pristine. There are conveniences like transporters and phasers, while in the S:AAB universe there are no such luxeries. They have to rely on transportation which could at any moment be ambushed by Chigs. They have to rely on ammunition, and they sometimes run out.
They have two forms of humans-that-aren't-seen-as-humans by the general populace. Invitros which are grown (Brave New World, hello!). They were actually bred to fight in the Human vs. Silicate (robots) war...which raises interesting ethical questions.
The Silicate angle wasn't really explored, but it would have been nice if it had. That war was over -- Chigs had center stage. Still, the way they were portrayed was cool. Computers taking chances because their original programmer got a bit miffed over something. Paul said something really cool when he was explaining it to Cooper, an inVitro, why that had caused them to lead a revolution against the humans. I wish I could remember it exactly but it was something along these lines: Isn't that what every new idea is, a revolution?
InVitros were more a part of the film since Cooper and the commanding officer was one. I particularly liked the episode that explored Cooper's back story: the facility in which he was born taught the inVitros how to kill, wage war, and other things about life (they are born at a relative 18 years of age). They are closely monitored and discouraged to think for themselves. One day Cooper is watching the outside world through his barred window and asks, "Who monitors the birds?" Rather poignant. Cooper is my favorite (well, 'Phousse and Wang are my favorites, too) because he knows so little. He tries so hard and sometimes people help him and sometimes they don't. There was a particular episode where he had to choose to dump a load of inVitros or suffer the rest of the ship to die. He grew up from an unsure child to a man. There was another episode that was really showed discrimination without it labeling itself on the forehead. Very thoughtful and subtle.
I really enjoyed the series as a whole (it did have it's so-so episodes). It was human. There was an episode where the marines were drugged and they had to face their fear -- they overcame it, became closer and stronger.
I liked how they didn't make the Chigs the Big Bad. There were hints throughout the earlier episodes that the humans had started the war first. Then there was a Christmas episode where the marines were stranded and the Chigs helped them escape -- reminiscent of Snoopy and the Red Baron. They didn't reveal the Chigs face until the end which made their humanization even more dramatic especially since they were trying to protect their children.
Space Above and Beyond was Sci Fi not because it had aliens, but because it portrayed humans overcoming great odds whether it came from an outside force or from themselves. The aliens, the robots, the inVitros were metaphors for the strange, misunderstood elements here on this Earth, in this dimension.
The season also ended with three of the five main characters either MIA or, more likely, dead. They died trying to bring peace, to rescue the defenseless. To give their comrades another chance, no matter the cost, to live. To not die alone.
Well done.