"Second Wave"
Air Date: September 10, 1999

While investigating a report of photographic evidence of alien ships, Cade Foster (Sebastian Spence) gets caught up in a neighborhood drama as well as what seems to be the second wave of the Gua invasion.

Why is it that just when I start to really like this series it has to slide into the stupid? "Second Wave" was ill-conceived, badly acted (although with that script I don't much blame the actors for phoning in their performances), and just plain dumb.

A cheating wife, a cuckolded husband, and a predatory neighbor bring a little soap opera drama to First Wave which doesn't help the shaky premise of this story. While hiding in a suburban basement (something out of character for the usually action driven Foster), Cade and a set of neighbors wait out the second wave of invasion. Accusations and recriminations fly back and forth with almost every character in turn suspected of being an alien. This might have worked prior to "Joshua" when the audience didn't know of the Gua's response to salt, but here it just leaves you thinking that Foster needs to carry around a Palm Pilot with notes to himself that remind him of the aliens' vulnerabilities. I found myself wondering aloud why he didn't make everyone knock back a pinch of the stuff. I mean even the kids in the equally stupid movie The Faculty figured that out.

Perhaps the concept of Foster being caught in yet another Gua experiment was much stronger when pitched, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I could go on and on about the forced feel of the arguments and scuffles, the performances that wouldn't even be allowed on daytime soaps, and the array of stupid characters (including Foster), but instead I would rather just forget this episode and hope that the next one is much better.

-- Linda M. Najera

First Wave can be seen Fridays on The Sci Fi Channel at 10pm and 2am EST