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Melody Kellogg Honors English I 10/12/98 Dr. WarrenA Deeper Show than Most Morgan & Wong's Space: Above and Beyond We thought we were alone... We believed the universe was ours. Until one night in 2063, On an Earth colony 16 light years away, They struck. Now we are at war. My name is Lieutenant-Colonel T.C. McQueen. I'm an InVitro, a race of artificially gestated humans. I command a Marine Corps squadron, the 58th. They call us the Wild Cards. We fight when called, In space, on land, and at sea. To lose this war means more than defeat, To surrender is to never go home. All of us must rise to the call, Above and Beyond!
So begins one of the best Science Fiction/War television shows ever made: Space: Above and Beyond. The series revolves around the lives and adventures of the 58th Marine Corps squadron during a war with an alien species called "Chigs." When humans tried to settle on other worlds, their colonies and colonial ships were unexpectedly destroyed by the aliens. Therefore, humans are now at war with them. To someone who has never seen the show before, this may sound like a typical Sci-Fi/ War story, along the same lines as Starship Troopers. However, Space: Above and Beyond rises above its genre to become a very intriguing and thought-provoking series.
Instead of simply portraying a war between humans and aliens, Space: Above and Beyond gives us deep insights into the character's lives. In the first episode, we see each character's reasons for joining the Marine Corps. Nathan West (Morgan Weisser) signs up when the colony ship carrying his fiancée was shot down by the Chigs. Shane Vansen (Kristen Cloke), the squadron's leader, joins to avenge her marine parents who were killed in a war with Artificial Intelligence units. Cooper Hawkes (Rodney Roland), a 6-year old InVitro, is sentenced to the marine corps. We never really discover why Paul Wang (Joel De La Fuente) and Vanessa Damphousse (Lanei Chapman) joined, but they are an important part of the show, and each has at least one episode that centers on them. The Wild Card's commanding officer, T.C. McQueen (James Morrison), is another InVitro who joined the corps for life. He wants to show the world that InVitros can do just as well as humans.
One of the most interesting aspects of Space: Above and Beyond is that of the InVitros. It provides for many of the deeper aspects of the series, as we shall see later. Born out of a tank with the apparent age of 18 years, this race is the newest subject for racism in the 21st century. The distinguishing factor between "Natural-Borns" and InVitros is the navel. For InVitros, it is positioned at the back of their neck. The InVitros are subjected to the same kind of racism that occurs today, being called names like "Tank" and "Nipple-neck." Some people even say that InVitros are not human, and they should be treated like animals. Other unfounded rumors include: InVitros are lazy, they don't care about anything or anybody, and they don't dream. Since two of the main characters in Space are InVitros, the viewer often observes the racism and prejudice that confront them. In fact, Cooper Hawkes was sentenced to join the marines when he retaliated against some men who were trying to lynch him. When he was arrested, the noose was still around his neck. Unlike other sci-fi shows, such as Star Trek, Space: Above and Beyond does not portray humans as being perfect and above such things as racism. It shows that human nature remains the same, no matter what technological advances may come.
Another interesting subject brought up by the InVitro story line is the idea of family. Since InVitros have no living mother or father, they have difficulty coping with the concept of a family. Colonel McQueen and Cooper come to have sort of a father-son relationship over the course of the series, and each of them views the squadron as his family. In fact, in the season finale when Shane is MIA and McQueen is injured, Cooper says, "Now I know how Shane felt... I lost my mother and my father in the same day." The family theme is one that is brought up many times in the series. When Cooper becomes addicted pain-killers in one episode, he says to someone who confronts him about it, "But I don't have a family... I don't have anyone who needs me." However, at the end when McQueen and the rest of the squadron are helping him to overcome his addiction, he says, "You guys are the only family I got." Space often brings up this question: what is a real family? It seems to indicate that your family is the people that you care the most about, and who depend on you.
Since Cooper is only actually 6 years old, the other Wild Cards must often explain basic aspects of human life to him. This often allows the writers to incorporate "deeper" themes into the show. For example, in the episode "The River of Stars," the squadron is trying to explain to Cooper the meaning of Christmas. Vanessa tells him the traditional Christian view, while Paul keeps trying to discredit her. The others are confused, since they know that Paul was a Catholic at one time. When they ask him about it, they find that he has lost faith in his Christian beliefs because of the horrible things that he has seen and experienced in the war. However, at the end, he realizes that he does have faith after all.
Space: Above and Beyond is one of the best Science-Fiction/War series that I have ever seen, and I have seen many of them. It does not simply portray a war between humans and aliens, it also explores deeper subjects such as racism, family, drug addiction, and losing one's faith. It's too bad that this excellent show was canceled due to internal politics in the FOX network! Hopefully the Sci-Fi Channel will bring Space back to its rightful glory.
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