|
|
SPECIAL UNIT 2 |
Nick O'Malley - Michael Landes Kate Benson - Alexondra Lee Richard Page - Richard Grant Carl - Danny Woodburn Jonathan - Jonathan Togo 
OTHER MONSTER HUNTERS Supernatural Buffy The Vampire Slayer Angel Demons Strange Millennium 
|
The GrainThere's a sandman in town. Able to take over people in their sleep, it can make them act out their innermost desires, including robbery and murder. The only way to kill it is to kill the person it's in and it just took over Kate. SPECIAL UNIT 2 makes its return and the only thing that has changed is the technical genius in the back room now played by Jonathan Togo. The opening episode makes a big bid for attention, though, by finding an excuse to squeeze Alexondra Lee into an incredibly tight and impossibly short rubber outfit and give her some really large guns to play with. It's total male wish fulfilment and the clearest sign yet of what the show considers to be its target audience. At least the denoument is quite a clever way to deal with the creature and save the day, but it is flatly handled and robs the story of what should be an exciting climax. TopThe SkinA chameleon-like reptilian creature is killing people at random. It's the same sort of creature that killed Nick's previous partner and the woman that he loved. In order to catch the one at large the team have to deal with the one in captivity. This episode riffs on THE THING with the creatures able to mimic anyone they choose with the added advantage that they can take memories out the human brain so that you can't even trick them with questions. The main source, however, is SILENCE OF THE LAMBS as the chameleon in storage plays mind games with the pair, especially Nick. It's another man in a suit monster, but the makeup is especially effective this time around. TopThe YearsSomeone is stealing the years of young men, leaving them dead of old age. It's probably a year witch and there is a prime suspect, but in order to be sure of the target, Nick will have to offer himself up as the next victim. For the second week running Nick gets it hard in the love stakes in what is a fairly standard SPECIAL UNIT 2 story that has few surprises to offer even if it does start with a cheeky THE GRADUATE homage. The witch is another latex creation and it doesn't sit well that the apparently aged and decaying hag can bounce around like a rubber ball. TopThe InvisibleA man is on death row for killing his wife whilst his son continually states that the Bogeyman did it. It turns out that he is right, but time is running out for Kate and Nick to find a way to fight an enemy that only kids and banshees can see and get evidence that clears the father without letting out the truth about what Special Unit 2 does. Turning the banshee from something that wails into something that whines and complains a lot is a lot of fun, but the rest of the story relies heavily on trained agents being so inept that they can lose track of a kid and then not only allow him to crash a stake out trap, but let the creature get away with him. It's nonsense. The invisibility effects are well-handled though. TopThe EveJohn De Lancie (who annoyed as many people as he entertained with his turn as the omnipotent Q in STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION) plays pretty much the same part here as a creature so evil that his name has been forgotten, but who is handy with a quip, does have eyes in the back of his head and was responsible for the murder of Nick's former partner and lover. The importance of this to the central character of Nick makes it disappointing that it has so little effect, a sure sign that whilst the show is bright and entertaining it is not really engaging. The plot at least has a couple of twists along the way, although the final showdown is somewhat predictable. Just when Kate's former lover comes back into town to propose to her men are being turned to stone all over the city. The Links involved are gorgons with snakes for hair and a venom that only works on men. Nick just got himself bitten. To say that the story here is somewhat predictable would be to somewhat understate the case. The early setting of pick up bars and the promises of menage a trois is supposed to give it an edge, but just makes it a little bit seedy. Once Nick gets bitten, however, things do get a little bit deeper as the characters get to show a little bit of emotion for a change instead of supposedly witty banter. The gorgon effects are, however, fairly poor and unconvincing. The fact that its snakes are just not scary shows how far short they fall. Graverobbers dig up a native american princess for the necklace around her corpse. This has the effect of unleashing a fire breathing dragon. The only living person ever recorded as killing a dragon is Carl the Gnome. Any story that features a dragon is going to live or die by the appearance of that dragon and it's fair to say that the show does pretty well on a limited budget. The beast doesn't appear all that often, but is convincing enough when it does. It's certainly more convincing than the supposedly playboy home of a billionaire who has his lounge constantly stocked with women in bikinis. The passable storyline is let down by the attempts at humour and the final confrontation ends on a flat joke rather than a fiery climax. Someone is killing strippers and prostitutes and stripping the flesh from their bones. As Kate gets close to the detective working the case for the normal police sections, she has to risk herself undercover. The creature this week is a man in a suit and a not very convincing suit at that. The plot is taken from DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE and at least doesn't overdo the Kate in tight and short clothing angle. Making the ogre in question the true identity of Jack the Ripper is just too unoriginal for words. High School was not a good time for Kate. She ruined the graduation by warning people of monsters in the walls. Now it's the reunion and the monsters in the walls are coming again. Kate wasn't popular at High School and doesn't want to go to the reunion. So far so completely boring and unoriginal. The reasons behind it are a bit better than the normal, but the story riffs on CARRIE's prom night and is as predictable as they come. The Captain's vacation with Carl subplot is not only distracting but utterly tedious and completely unfunny. The creature that was the original Scarecrow is released from an ancient captivity to start scaring people. When he learns to scare them to death, the team have to swing into action quickly. Apparently, the only people worth scaring are half naked teenage girls and horror movie fans if this episode is anything to go by. Of course, they turn out to be the hardest people to scare and the teenage girl scene is quite funny even if the skimpy outfits are a bit overkill. Scaling up the creature's original exploits to anticipate an attack on a nuclear power station leads to the most ridiculous meltdown avoidance scene ever (just press that big red button one second before kablooey time). A cupid on the run from a scaly humanoid gill monster thing accidentally changes a judge from a hardass to a wuss and a big time criminal is about to be the latest felon he is going to set free. The team find the Cupid insanely annoying and Nick gets to fall in love with the world. The cupid is annoying, but is also quite funny and Nick's sudden change into someone who loves all the world is pretty funny too. The rest is ridiculous and trivial. Kids all over the city are carrying out crimes under the influence of a link who spends his time in a blue and pink costume providing children's television. He's about to go nationwide and Nick's response could blow Special Unit 2's secret wide open. Barney the big pink dinosaur gets lampooned here, as does all children's television, but it's otherwise a typical SPECIAL UNIT 2 episode, which is to say mildly diverting, but ultimately forgettable. There's a Djinn loose in Chicago, a creature that can grant wishes, but only if she does it herself. If she can grant wishes in the right order, however, she will become all powerful. Nick gets in the way of that process, so she goes after him and his new girlfriend. This last episode sees Nick failing in his relationship, as he has throughout the show, and Kate trying to round out his character, as she has done throughout the show. There is a creature to be caught and apart from the fact that she has to fulfil the wishes herself (for a million dollars she robs a bank) there isn't a lot that is all that original. The final moments, however, introduce Carl the Gnome's ex-wife in a special effect so utterly appalling that you have to wonder if the makers were putting up two fingers to the network that cancelled the show. |
|
|
If this page was useful to you please sign our 
