Dark Angel
"Cold Comfort"

Airdate: November 28, 2000

"Cold Comfort" introduces another one of the Manticore escapees, Brin (Nicole Bilderback). She has fallen deathly ill (an error in her genetic code) and has traveled to Seattle, trying to contact Zach (William Gregory Lee) for help. Their meeting is ambushed, presumably by Lydecker. Brin is caught, while Zach escapes, badly injured. He seeks refuge with Max and together, they devise a plan to beat in Lydecker's head, once and for all. Only, it turns out that Lydecker isn't the kidnapper.

Brin's body is in the process of being sold to the highest bidder, as Secret Manticore experiments, such as X-5 models like Max and Zach, are a top commodity to other evil and covert government projects, companies, etc. Speaking of top commodities, I wonder if these X-5 children were based on the new BMW sports utility truck of the same name? Sleek, bulky, expensive. The Ultimate Driving Machine... Ultimate Killing Machines? Anyhow, whatever the inspiration, the three of them struggle to escape the evil clutches of, well... everyone and everything as Brin's condition worsens. Much angst and violence arise.

In a much more lighthearted B plot, Normal informs his bike couriers that he's trying to sell Jam Pony as an investment for businessman, Goosum Sivapathasindaram (Harsha Nayyar). In order to make a good impression, he demands they paint over the graffiti walls with a bland beige and equips them with locator devices so he can keep track of where they are while on the job. And the worst of it all... every employee must wear... my God, a uniform! It's fascists like Normal that cause wars, I tell you! Naturally, this reform doesn't sit well with the likes of the three stooges, Herbal, Sketchy and Original Cindy. They devise an elaborate plan to thwart Sivapathasindaram, and boy, oh boy, do hi-jinx ensue!

These two opposite storylines are the most uneven aspect of "Cold Comfort". Now, I've heard of throwing in a bit of comic relief to relieve tension, but talk about going overboard here! First and foremost, the story is about this poor dying teenager whom Max and Zach are powerless to save, no matter how hard they try. Yet we must continually break away from this action to observe the bike couriers act out a lost episode of Three's Company. I find it hard enough to invest my emotions into the main characters already, but it doesn't help when a serious scene, such as Max crying over the loss of her friend, plays beside one of Sketchy telling a short East Indian man that he's always dreamed about having a threesome.

Lydecker has suddenly become the most interesting character to follow these days. The writers seem to be having fun going way over the top to flesh him out, and they do so with varying success. Sometimes it leans towards the ridiculous -- it's implied in an early scene that this man is just sooooo evil that he's going to order a hit on the Pope. Some moments are truly bizarre, such as when Lydecker (revealed as a former alcoholic) gives an amusing/disturbing speech at an AA meeting, basically calling all those present a bunch of weak losers. We get a couple interesting little moments too. When Max and Zach capture Lydecker and try to beat the truth out of him, he is already ahead of them, reciting the military torture tactics he expects them to carry out. To speed things up, he even breaks one of his own fingers. Now that's a sign of a true Bad Ass beginning to shine through.

What really baffles me are Max's poor military tactics. As much of a jerk Zach is, he's right every time he tells Max that she's making a stupid decision. Who in their right mind would bring Lydecker, a man they know they can't trust, into a freakin' army base (where they are heavily outnumbered by heavily armed men) as their leverage to get Brin back? It makes absolutely no sense. If I were Lydecker, I'd be in tears. All that money invested on secret combat training and this is the crappy strategy his children come up with? If Lydecker were smart, he'd drop these "flawed" X5 models altogether and start looking for that genius piano-playing boy from "Prodigy" instead.

-- Julie Ng

Dark Angel airs at 9pm EST/8pm MNT, Tuesdays on FOX.

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