The Invisible Man
"The Catevari"

Airdate: June 16, 2000

My first reaction to the second installment of The Sci Fi Channel's The Invisible Man was a touch of nostalgia for the sly, cynical humor that permeated the pilot episode. It didn't lighten the serious subject matter of an experiment gone horribly wrong, but it lent a touch of humanity and maybe even hope to our anti-hero, Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca). It isn't that the same type of humor isn't present, it is just turned down a couple of notches which was probably a conscious decision due to the seriousness of the subject matter. In "The Catevari" we are given a glimpse of a bleak future that has Darien's name on it. For you see, Fawkes isn't the first government guinea pig, and as the Catevari theorizes, he is more than likely not the last either.

Darien Fawkes

Darien and newly-medicated partner, Agent Bob Hobbes (Paul Ben-Victor), are sent on a mission to recover Charlie Fogerty (Fred Coffin), a patient who managed to kill every single physician in his "military infirmary" (aka mental institution) prior to escaping. Before they depart, however, the Official's new right hand man, Eberts (Mike McCafferty), lets it slip that Fogerty is a Catevari, but fails to explain what exactly that means. After an examination of the crime scene gives Fawkes some insight into their target, he and Hobbes are assigned to protect a Senator who was the head of The Agency during The Catevari Program. It is then that Darien comes face to face with his probable fate.

As in the previous episode, Fawkes' foe is, in some strange way, a mirror image of himself. While The Phon from the pilot reflected his criminal past, The Catevari is his less than pleasant present and possibly nightmarish future.

Like Fawkes, Charlie Fogerty was part of a shadowy government experiment, only for his part, he had toxins introduced into his system eventually left him comatose. It is only when -- in an attempt to make amends -- the same government agency which pumped him full of poison begins a regimen that they hope will cure him, that Fogerty is able to overcome his paralysis and move and speak again. Decades in silence and agony and isolation has stripped him of his humanity, leaving only anger and a bloodlust for revenge. But even as he is about to execute his escape, one small glimmer of the man he once was shines through as he saves a fellow patient from more experimentation.

The Keeper

It is that chink in his armor which allows this monstrous killer to be more than a cardboard-cutout villain. He is evil, yes, but he still retains something of his former self, something which even the madness his illness and the experiment, could not kill. While it is true that the Fogerty acts out his rage against those who made him an instrument of death, he still tries to save Darien from what he knows will happen to the younger man. In his own way he is trying to prevent anyone else from going through the same hell that he experienced.

Although missing much of the wry humor of the pilot episode, "The Catevari" continues to be engaging with its continuing examination of the life of Darien Fawkes, guinea pig extraordinaire. True, Fawkes is still the same self-centered guy, who, in a pinch will reluctantly follow his less baser instincts, but the events of "The Catevari" have forced him to make the choice. In order to move forward he must put his trust, his faith in someone else. In this case it is The Keeper (Shannon Kenny). Like Charlie Fogerty before him, Darien is given a handler, someone who will dispense his necessary counteragent and keep him sane, but it is also her responsibility to keep him on the straight and narrow. Walking that fine line between savior and guard, her relationship with Fawkes is bound to be interesting.

This is, of course, simply another parallel between the life of the Fogerty and Fawkes. While trying to reason with Darien, the older man admits to his feelings for his keeper and tells of the heartbreak he experienced being separated from her as a result of the effects of the experiment on his body. Similarly, it is evident from their first scene together that Darien and his keeper have an interesting chemistry. Due to the nature of their situation however, this is one relationship which cannot be consummated.

And yet again, UST rears its ugly head.

-- Linda M. Najera

The Invisible Man airs at 8pm EST, Fridays on The Sci Fi Channel.

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