Based on the 1988 movie, Alien
Nation: The Series takes the science fiction premise of a race of truly alien
immigrants struggling to make it in American society to new heights. The series
continues on from the film, referring to and using the movie as a sort of pilot.
Gary Graham takes over the role of human detective Matt Sikes, who’s partnered
with George Francisco, the first Newcomer policeman to make detective. Eric
Pierpoint assumes the role of the chipper George from Mandy Patikin, and he does
wonders with it. Under the auspices of veteran TV producer/director Kenneth
Johnson, the Alien Nation series gave its story far more resonance by being far
more than just a sci-fi cop show.
Where George’s family were barely seen in the film, here, they take center stage,
beginning in the opening episode, with little Emily Francisco’s (Lauren Woodland) first day in
school--which goes badly, thanks to human protesters to try to prevent the
little Newcomer from joining their children in getting an education. But Matt
Sikes comes to the rescue by reminding the crowd that they face arrest if they
further impede Emily’s access to the school. Yet even after Emily is
successfully admitted into school, she still has to deal with the burden of
being the only Newcomer child in the place, and the prejudice that goes with it.
Where Emily tries to fit into human society, George’s teenaged son Buck (Sean Six) rebels
against it by joining a Newcomer gang and inadvertently getting into some
serious trouble. Buck’s story arc slowly builds over the course of the season,
and the character makes some interesting changes.
George’s wife, Susan, is also struggling to make her way in this new world.
Trying to get a job to help George support the family, Susan runs into age
discrimination when it’s revealed that Newcomers are far older than they
appear--by Earth’s calendar, Susan is actually 68 years old, where George is
seventy--yet the character’s plucky nature, imbued by Michele Scarabelli’s winning
performance, makes you really root for her. Matt Sikes’s home life isn’t
ignored, either, as we see a relationship slowly evolve between him and Kathy,
(Terri Treas) his Newcomer neighbor. Sikes starts out the season as a slightly bigoted moron
who isn’t above cracking "slag" jokes. Yet like Buck, who started out hating
humans, Sikes also makes a sea change over the course of the season.
Thanks to the brilliant writing and acting, Alien Nation created a truly alien
society--with its own history and culture--and meshed it together with human
society. The writers were smart enough not to make the Newcomers too saintly;
they were also prone to greed, hatred and other illicit behavior, just like
humans. And in making this as fair a look at both societies as possible, Alien
Nation is all the more fascinating to watch. If only the FOX network didn’t
cancel the series after it’s first season. This causes a problem, because the
final episode on the set, Green Eyes, ends on a cliffhanger. You might want to
skip watching this final show until you’re able to view the TV movie which
wrapped up the storyline. It would have been nice to have the TV film on the set,
but there’s only the full first season, a fluff "making of" featurette, and
Kenneth Johnson’s commentary on the pilot episode. Still, this series is
extremely well-done, and in these trying times, the basic message of Alien
Nation is as important as ever.
--SF
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