First Wave
"All About Eddie"

Airdate: July 23, 2000

After many failed attempts to recapture Cade Foster, the Gua decide that it is time to change targets and go hunting for Crazy Eddie Nambulous, publisher of The Paranoid Times and the twice blessed man's bestest drinkin' buddy. From his various ramblings they construct a profile and correctly guess that Eddie is ripe for both a mid-life crisis and high school reunion.

Eddie, scoring points with the ladies.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Crazy Eddie was plain, old Larry Pisinski. Well, maybe he wasn't as plain as you might think. You see, back in his misspent youth, Larry... er... Eddie... whomever... was the leader of a group of gifted hackers known as The Binary Bandits. However, just before graduation, Larry was busted by the cops while breaking into a federal computer and threatened with life in prison if he ever touched a computer again. And since Larry could no more stop breathing as stop hacking, paranoid Eddie Nambulous was born.

During the reunion, one by one, Larry's classmates and closest high school friends are picked up by the Gua and questioned. Pulling a MacGuyver, he fashions a listening device from various pieces of school equipment found in the old computer room. It is only when Marianne, his old flame, is taken that Larry goes into full heroic mode and calls in a marker he only recently discovered that he had in order to save her.

During this tension filled time, Cade and Eddie engage in brief telephone conversations which reveal both the depth of Foster's concern for his friend and Eddie's own courage. All the while Eddie plots and schemes and eventually defeats the Gua, Cade, being ever the heroic type, tries to rush to his friend's side only to arrive after all the excitement is over.

Eddie's willingness to put himself in danger to save his friends speaks well of the character. And after the apology of the friend who turned him in, he realizes that for all the pain and heartache he's experienced because of the betrayal, there is no other place he'd rather be for he is on the front lines of the war to save humanity. He too is a hero. Despite his rampant paranoia, Crazy Eddie still sticks his neck out for the good of humankind. As he points out more than once, he might be paranoid, but he's not crazy.

Too often painted as the less nervy of the pair, "All About Eddie" displays Eddie's importance to the cause and the character's own personal fortitude. By doing this, the powers that be on First Wave have allowed the character to experience growth both in his perception of himself and in the audience's perception of the character.

Oh, and it got Sebastian Spence to wear two sleeveless shirts. Thanks muchly.

-- Linda M. Najera

First Wave airs at 7pm EST, Sundays on The Sci Fi Channel.

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