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Another one that's slightly better in book form. I don't usually think that TV novelisations are better, but this show is clearly one of the exceptions. To be fair to it, this is basically a good story - or could have been. Mark is very much an alien here, with little to no understanding of how society works. He certainly has no comprehension of lying, and his desperation to find out more about his people is quite endearing. Odd title, though. Are they scouts? They never let on. And there's very little death. But anyway. Some people out pleasure boating are dragged into the sea by some giant novelty gloves (I am being cruel. There is nothing wrong with the special effects when compared to other shows of the same vintage). Shortly afterwards, having either been cloned or had their bodies taken over, they appear on land, wandering about in much the same vague fashion as Mark does. Due to a misunderstanding over what he thinks is the twin of the symbol on his swimming shorts, Mark believes them to be his people, which they use to their advantage.
Nothing much happens, though. This seems to be a criticism that I have for this show a lot. There's a nice scene early on when the creatures attack Mark and blast him with electrical energy, leading to him curing himself with seaweed. I like how he retreats to his tank to recuperate, and also the fact that he's too weak to help Elizabeth check out a lead. He needs to stay in the water, which gives her the chance to do something for a change, however briefly. As with the first film, though, there's precious little sense of dramatic tension, and the risk of an electric shock, however painful, isn't nearly as deathly as the title would suggest. Just as Mark never seemed to be in any real danger from Schubert, he never seems to be in any real danger here. Nobody does, save for the people in the boat at the beginning of the episode - the only time when there's any real sense of fear or proper excitement. Elizabeth has precious little to do, and her engaging but largely pointless assistant, Miller, has even less.
The 'death scouts' themselves, despite being neither especially deathly, nor especially scouty, are perfectly well played. They have a good scene early on, where they try to find themselves suitable food in an alien city, whilst heavily confused by everything going on around them. Again, though, they're not given much to do. Why are they on Earth? We're never told, because all they do is wander around being confused, before lapsing into disarray when the female falls for Mark. They came to Earth, they swam about for a bit, and then they killed themselves. Which was convenient of them I suppose, since it saved the heroes from having to do anything much except talk amongst themselves.
I can't help thinking that the creators of this show didn't really stop to think it through properly. There are some nice ideas knocking around here, but none of them ever seem to go anywhere. Maybe it needs to be longer, so that Mark's belief that he's found some of his people gets a chance to develop into something; so that the aliens get a chance to do something, and perhaps be a bit more dangerous; so that Elizabeth and Miller actually get to have a point for once. As it is, it's all a bit dull. I appreciate that the show is still finding its feet, and perhaps hasn't quite decided yet what it wants to be, but for an adventure show, there's still precious little real adventure. On the plus side, Mark remains a very engaging lead, but he badly needs to be given more to do. As it stands, his main challenge seems to be shirtless posing - and an adventure show really does need quite a lot more going for it than that.
Nothing much happens, though. This seems to be a criticism that I have for this show a lot. There's a nice scene early on when the creatures attack Mark and blast him with electrical energy, leading to him curing himself with seaweed. I like how he retreats to his tank to recuperate, and also the fact that he's too weak to help Elizabeth check out a lead. He needs to stay in the water, which gives her the chance to do something for a change, however briefly. As with the first film, though, there's precious little sense of dramatic tension, and the risk of an electric shock, however painful, isn't nearly as deathly as the title would suggest. Just as Mark never seemed to be in any real danger from Schubert, he never seems to be in any real danger here. Nobody does, save for the people in the boat at the beginning of the episode - the only time when there's any real sense of fear or proper excitement. Elizabeth has precious little to do, and her engaging but largely pointless assistant, Miller, has even less.
The 'death scouts' themselves, despite being neither especially deathly, nor especially scouty, are perfectly well played. They have a good scene early on, where they try to find themselves suitable food in an alien city, whilst heavily confused by everything going on around them. Again, though, they're not given much to do. Why are they on Earth? We're never told, because all they do is wander around being confused, before lapsing into disarray when the female falls for Mark. They came to Earth, they swam about for a bit, and then they killed themselves. Which was convenient of them I suppose, since it saved the heroes from having to do anything much except talk amongst themselves.
I can't help thinking that the creators of this show didn't really stop to think it through properly. There are some nice ideas knocking around here, but none of them ever seem to go anywhere. Maybe it needs to be longer, so that Mark's belief that he's found some of his people gets a chance to develop into something; so that the aliens get a chance to do something, and perhaps be a bit more dangerous; so that Elizabeth and Miller actually get to have a point for once. As it is, it's all a bit dull. I appreciate that the show is still finding its feet, and perhaps hasn't quite decided yet what it wants to be, but for an adventure show, there's still precious little real adventure. On the plus side, Mark remains a very engaging lead, but he badly needs to be given more to do. As it stands, his main challenge seems to be shirtless posing - and an adventure show really does need quite a lot more going for it than that.
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