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SANCTUARY |
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OTHER SANCTUARY SEASONS Season 1 Season 3 Season 4 OTHER HERO SHOWS Birds of Prey Batman Blade Heroes 
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End of Nights- Part 1Ashley, Helen Magnus's daughter, is still in the hands of the mysterious Cabal and is having her genes manipulated into something else. The Cabal also want to get hold of some products of an old experiment. The Sanctuary team must prevent that, using a Cabal operative as a key to finding out what is going on. SANCTUARY may have come from a web series and been a bit of a split personality in its first season as a result, but it comes back to the screen for this second series full of confidence and with an agenda that would appear to be tightly worked out. The Cabal's plan is slowly revealed as each clue is discovered and it is something of a biggie. OK, there's the occasional steal from the likes of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, but if you're going to steal then steal from the best and it is used in the service of a tightly exciting plot. The action may not be high octane when it finally arrives, but there is the feeling that there is more to come and it's going to be worth the wait. There's too much plot happening for the cast to really make an impression and the villains are a bit pantomime, but then that's par for the course in this kind of thing. At least the principals are firing on all cylinders. SANCTUARY is back and the signs are looking good. Written by Damian KindlerDirected by Martin Wood Top End of Nights- Part 2The Cabal have created a group of superhuman soldiers with the single aim of wiping out the whols Sanctuary network. As the safe houses fall around the globe, Helen Magnus has Nikolai Tesla working on a weapon to stop them, but without killing Magnus's daughter Ashley in the process. Season 1 of SANCTUARY varied in quality from episode to episode, but few of them were up to the standard of this two-parter conclusion. The situation is dire, the enemy is gathering and the promised super weapon hasn't turned out to be the Deus Ex Machina solution that was expected. There's also the possibility of one of the biggest shocks that the show could have produced in only the second episode. The action is fast and furious and there is a lot of it, but there is also time for character stuff as well, giving more meaning to the flashier side of things. Some of the CGI background work renders scenes a bit flat, but the plot rips along at such a pace that these are minor matters, even managing to paper over most of the major plot holes. With this opening two-parter, SANCTUARY has raised its game. It now remains to see whether it can live up to it. Written by Damian KindlerDirected by Martin Wood Top EulogyThe members of the Sanctuary network are mourning their losses each in their own way, which for John Druitt means that he is killing everyone he can find in the Cabal. Helen Magnus is looking for any evidence that her daughter survived the attacks and Will is trying to help her comes to terms with that loss as he has come to terms with his. The rest of the gang have more practical issues to worry about. There are two aspects to this episode and only one of them is any good. The team chasing around after a CGI beastie (and there are some really poor effects in this episode) is uninventive, cheesy and really rather dull, even if it does introduce Agam Darshi as the all-action girl replacement for Ashley. Helen Magnus's obssessive search for her daughter is much better thanks to the controlled performance from Amanda Tapping with strong support from Robin Dunne. The fact that such searches often turn up the goods in sci-fi shows makes it even stronger when she eventually fails. Of course, this is Sci-fi, so that doesn't mean anything as yet. Written by Sara B CooperDirected by Brenton Spencer Top HeroThe discovery of an ancient egg releases a giant insect into the city. At the same time, a man in a strange suit appears righting wrongs and being all superhero-like. Kate finds herself targeted by a gangster through her loser brother. Three stories to play with and none of them prove to be worth a third of an episode. The hero strand is the most humourous and pleasing, but the very poor CGI effects spoil the impact. As for the egg, it's a monster of the week story that has no real point to it and Kate's dilemma is dealt with too brusquely to really carry any weight. After the initial opening of the series, this is a disappointment. Written by Allan McCulloughDirected by Martin Wood Top Pavor NocturnusMagnus wakes up to find herself in the Sanctuary, but a ruined Sanctuary in the heart of a destroyed city. Rain pours constantly and there's something out there, something that is most certainly not friendly. SANCTUARY is mainly a formulaic genre show, but every now and then it throws up an episode that just stands out head and shoulders above the rest and Pavor Nocturnus is just such an episode. For starters, it is shot in washed out brown shades that speak of the desolation and then it is soaked in perpetual rain. There's no explanation for what has happened or how Magnus came to be there and the destruction of the Sanctuary and the city are impressively rendered. As the story reveals itself, it becomes less impressive and the resolution is one big reset switch, but introducing Will as an embittered and violent survivor gives the show an edge of realism, fatalism and death. This is much harder than the SANCTUARY that we are used to and it is all the better for it. Written by James Thorpe and Damian KindlerDirected by Brenton Spencer Top FragmentsA researcher friend of Henry's is attacked by an abnormal and infected with dangerous spores. As Magnus tries to find a cure, the rest of the team attempt to find out what caused the normally docile creature to attack. SANCTUARY looks to police procedurals for this episode despite the sheen of science fiction. A crime has been committed, the doctors are fighting for the victim's life and the obvious attacker isn't the obvious person responsible. Only the investigative team will be able to find the answer. Sadly, the answer is so self-evident that the plodding march towards it is painful and dull, making this the least impressive episode of the season to date. The coda at the end also makes absolutely no sense in emotional terms either. Written by Sara B ChanoDirected by Steve Adelson Top VeritasHelen Magnus is accused of killing one of her closest friends. She can't remember a thing and her mind seems to be somewhat scrambled by a degenerative disease that she hid from everyone. Will tries to piece together the truth, but every piece of information only seems to incriminate Magnus further. Then a trio of telepaths are called in to get the truth. EUREKA's erstwhile deputy Erica Cerra pops up as one of the trio of telepaths in this story that is really just a mystery that happens to be set in the SANCTUARY mythology. It's a more convoluted tale than usual, which makes it more interesting for a while, but it soon becomes clear that what is really going on is a bit silly and contrived and predictable. And everything does work out just as we thought it would. Written by Alan McCulloughDirected by Amanda Tapping Top Next TuesdayHelen Magnus drags an unwilling Will along with her on a trip to pick up a very rare and very passive abnormal from the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, the passive part might have been misrepresented as the ‘vampire squid’ crashes the helicopter into a tank at the heart of an oil rig and leaves Magnus and Will trapped in between a vicious squid and a watery grave. Next Tuesday is a science fiction ‘closed box’ episode insofar as everything takes place on one set with the characters trapped and having to bounce off each other for the storyline. There’s more action here, however, than in other shows as the closed box is a huge water tank with a slowly sinking helicopter and a decidedly aggravated squid thing for company. Normally there would be more conflict between the characters to provide the drama, but Will’s whining about going to a symposium in Iceland and Magnus not letting him is hardly the stuff of good drama and so it is left to the threat of the squid monster to keep things going. There certainly isn’t that much for the actors to get their teeth into, except for trying not to catch pneumonia by spending the entire episode soaked through. The special effects on the squid are pretty good, especially when it is in, or below, the water. The lack of CGI beasties over the past couple of weeks has possibly allowed for more money to be lavished on this little monster. Unfortunately, its scorpion-like nemesis shows up towards the end and undoes all that good work by looking awful every time it appears. Written by Damian KindlerDirected by Martin Wood Top PenanceJimmy is a man with a pouch in his stomach where he can transport things invisibly and a shady past. He is transporting a powerful abnormal for Helen Magnus when he is attacked by mobsters. The Sanctuary team get him away, but Kate is injured in the process and the pair are forced to hole up whilst both the teams from the Sanctuary and the gang search for them. There is too much wrong with this story for it to be effective. The human kangaroo is a good starting point, but the eventual climactic revelation that links Jimmy and Kate is just too huge a coincidence to be taken seriously. It renders anything that happens after it pointlessly unbelievable. Add to that the fact that the pair on the run leave a car riddled with bulletholes in the middle of the street and nobody notices or the constant references to people on the streets searching contrasted to sets that are absolutely deserted and it all adds up to a nice idea that just gets lost in the execution. One of the show's more minor efforts. Written by Allan McCulloughDirected by Brenton Spencer Top SleepersWhen dead kids start to show up again alive and well after a short disappearance, the trail leads back to a rehab clinic being run in Mexico by Nikolas Tesla. A flaw in his plan to create a race of vampires ready to take over the world in 30-40 years has gone awry, the vampires created as inexperienced and arrogant youths rather than grown up and powerful people. When they come to meet their maker, Magnus and the Sanctuary team have to find a way to either kill or cure them. Johnathon Young's Nikolas Tesla has been one of the more fun recurring characters, one of the five who created themselves new lives from a solution of vampire blood. He was turned vampire and has been having fun ever since. When he's around things are never dull and that's the case with Sleepers. OK, so the tale of young upstart vampires is a bit THE LOST BOYS, but as Tesla himself says the thing about vampires is they are so damned cool. With not a single dodgy CGI critter anywhere about at all, this is just and entertaining adventure yarn and is all the better for it. The twist in the tale for Tesla would have been better if they'd had the courage to stick with it. Written by James ThorpeDirected by Steve Adelson Top HauntedA group of empaths is rescued from a sinking ship by John Druitt's teleportation powers. Unfortunately, the man who was a killer in Whitechapel known as Jack has refound his bloodlust. When something enters the Sanctuary systems, however, it becomes clear that John Druitt was a killer with less choice than he thought and the creature that was manipulating him now has all the systems of the Sanctuary to play with to create entertaining deaths for the staff. It's an old, old story that has been used too many times before - the villain is really possessed by some alien creature that compels him to kill. The SANCTUARY spin isn't enough to make it original, but there is enough action to mask the fact that we've seen it all before and Christopher Heyerdahl gives enough of a spirited, even nuanced, performance to make his inevitable sacrificial fall from grace something of a sad moment. The rest of the cast get some snappy dialogue with which to craft and workmanlike and entertaining, but hardly memorable episode and some of the CGI background work is decidedly shonky. Written by Damian Kindler & James ThorpeDirected by Peter DeLuise Top Kali- Part OneAbnormals all over the world are starting to act strangely, to become violent and scared. In the midst of this, Helen sends Will to India to look into the death of a member of the cult of Kali in the hope of making contact with them. Not only does he make contact, but he swallows a spider creature that allows him to share dreams with Kali herself. Unfortunately, there are others who would also like a mental link to a Goddess and the Goddess herself is not all that she seems. The slums of India are the colourful backdrop to this story, the first part of the season finale, but whilst there is a lot of action it is disjointed and uneven. With real crises kicking off all over the world it seems strange that Helen would send two of her best off on what might be a wild goose chase right in the middle. The Kali cult appears to consist of one old woman and her grandson and the motivations of the bad guys are unclear, though the search for great power is often an end unto itself. It's the set up for the grand finale and these episodes are often unsatisfactory in themselves, but there are some nice rwists in the mythology and just about enough to see the story through to its conclusion. Written by Allan McCulloughDirected by Martin Wood Top Kali- Part TwoKali has been revealed as Big Bertha, an abnormal so powerful it could destroy the world. The heads of the other Sanctuary houses aren't too happy that Helen Magnus lied about killing the beast, which is now being controlled by the bad guys. Will, however, still shares a psychic link with the animal in his dreams of Kali, whom he must impress with his dance. Considering the care that the show has taken to avoid Indian stereotypes, it is ironic that Will's only hope of stopping the cataclysm comes in the form of a Bollywood dance routine. The manner in which this is integrated into the plot means that they just about get away with it, even though Robin Dunne is clearly not a good Bollywood dancer. The editing has to be pretty severe to disguise that fact. The betrayals that beset Magnus can be seen coming a mile off, so it's astonishing that she doesn't, but you have to respect any show that cand a season with a giant crab monster astride a newly-formed volcano setting off tsunamis of biblical proportions. Written by Damian KindlerDirected by Martin Wood Top |
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