Two kind of middling episodes today -- not awful, but not spectacular. The first one, "Alien Avatar", is relatively straightforward: Drake is holding two aliens called Medes hostage (of course he is) so that he can learn the secret of their invisibility, because apparently he really likes spying on people. Meanwhile, Drake's people are polluting the river in their efforts to replicate the alien invisibility technology, which K-9 predicts will kill 85% of the life in the Thames Valley. (So nice work, Drake.)
Honestly, it would be nice if there were more to the episode than that, but other than the extra trick of the Medes being able to project holographic avatars of themselves (thus letting K-9 know about the problem), there's really not much to see here. Drake is as slimy as ever, and Connor Van Vuuren delivers the same exaggerated performance as ever. The best bit might be how June and Starkey charge after Jorjie and Darius after June realizes they're walking into Drake's restricted area, and Gryffen tries to follow but can't overcome his agoraphobia. It's a nice little nod to something that hasn't come up much lately.
It's certainly not a terrible episode; it's entertaining while it lasts and the disappearing effect for the Medes is genuinely impressive. It just doesn't have any ambitions at all beyond filling its 25 minutes -- no comments on pollution or imprisonment or this society or anything. The mission of "Alien Avatar" appears to be to get in and get out with a minimum of fuss, and at this, at least, it succeeds.
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| The Aeolians are reunited. ("Aeolian") ©Screen Australia, Pacific Film and Television Commission Pty Limited, Park Entertainment Limited, Cutting Edge Post Pty Limited, and Metal Mutt Productions Pty Limited |
The best thing about this episode, though, might be the handheld shots that director Karl Zwicky chooses to use. Up to this point K-9 has been a fairly static show, with lots of conventional camera set-ups (partly, I'm willing to bet, because of the relative difficulty of getting a hovering K-9 into shots, either as CG or practically), but Zwicky has chosen to shoot this episode in the form of a documentary. It's a simple but effective way to give this episode a shot of energy to the arm, and it really works. Thus when, say, Jorjie is struggling under the debris that's trapped her on her bed, it looks a lot more dynamic than it otherwise would.
But I also like the resolution of the story. The alien behind the storms, an Aeolian, is a creature that apparently communicates via song, and I like the way they've extended the idea to the costume, so that they look not unlike an 18th-century composer. All she really wants is some love from her lost partner, and she's willing to destroy the planet if it means her message will reach him. Touchingly, it does, and they're able to leave in peace -- despite Drake's best efforts.
And while that's going on, we see Darius's unsuccessful efforts to free Jorjie from the wreckage pinning her down. This leads to a surprisingly touching conversation between the two of them -- surprising because there hasn't really been any evidence up to this point that either Philippa Coulthard or Daniel Webber were really capable of this sort of nuanced acting. It's a nice moment, even if it requires Jorjie to be rather astonishingly oblivious. Poor Darius.
Overall, this is a nice little episode that's elevated by some wonderful direction. It's not the sort of thing that will set the world on fire, but it's a good example of the sort of thing K-9 can be when it flexes its muscles.