|
|
|
The Invisible Man | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
o celebrate I-Man's move back to Fridays, the SCI FI Channel has come up with a nifty stunt which will allow fans to decide the fate of crook-turned-invisible-government-agent Darien Fawkes (Ventresca) and Agent Bobby Hobbes (Ben-Victor). "Money For Nothing, Part 1" will set up the dilemma for our heroes, and fans will be able to vote on what they want to happen at http://www.scifi.com. Part 2 will feature the fans' choice on March 30 with an episode that officially winds up season one.
Part one opens with Darien suffering from nightmares and depression. All he's wanted for the last year is to get the invisibility gland out of his head and to kill the terrorist Arnaud De Fehrn (Joel Bissonnette), the man who murdered his brother. Neither goal appears within his grasp, and he's trapped working for the Agency so he can receive his weekly dose of counteragent, a drug that keeps the invisibility-producing Quicksilver from driving him insane.
Meanwhile, the Official (Eddie Jones) has discovered that the Agency will get no more funding for the rest of the year, so he has come up with a plan to rob a casino owned by Arnaud, thereby hurting the bad guy and funding the Agency at the same time.
As the I-Man team hits the casino, Darien makes sure they win. However, at the end of the day, Darien sees an opportunity. He ends up $5 million richer and on the lam from the Agency, which forces him to forgo his weekly injection. Quicksilver madness soon takes hold. As Hobbes catches up to him, Darien makes him an offer to split the money and go with him. But will Hobbes choose the money or the Agency?
Cool concept, questionable logic
Part one of The Invisible Man's interactive two-part episode "Money For Nothing" takes Darien to a place he's never been before: a new level of Quicksilver madness. It also takes I-Man fans to a place they've never been before, in control of the fate of two of their show's beloved characters.
I-Man is an entertaining series that works largely because of the wonderful chemistry between Ventresca (Darien) and Ben-Victor (Hobbes). The series never takes itself too seriously. However, it does have the ability to get serious when necessary, and usually for the reason of drawing the characters closer together.
The one problem I-Man has is that it's not always consistent with characters or logic, and one big logic problem is brought to the forefront in "Money." In this episode, the action kicks off because the Agency can't get funding. But they have an invisible man, and the CIA and president know about him (as seen in the episodes "Cat And Mouse" and "Ghost of a Chance"). All the Agency would have to do is lend out their experienced thief who can turn invisible and there's no way they would have trouble getting funding. If it had been established that no one else knew about him, then "Money" would make sense. But that's not the case, and what government agency wouldn't be able to make good use of an invisible spy?
In television land, where sci-fi fans are too often treated poorly, as shows vanish before they've really gotten started or are ended with terrible cliffhangers that never will be resolved, it's a cool concept to allow them to have some small say over what happens to their show. However, no matter what fans decide, the basic direction of the series won't change, and Darien and Hobbes will most likely be back working at the Agency when the second season starts on April 13.
Even in spite of the logic problems, it's easy to like The Invisible Man, and "Money" would be a solid episode otherwise. Letting the fans choose the ending for the season finale will make it easier to forgive the sins of Part 1. -- Kathie
Also in this issue: Thunderbirds Boxed Sets 1 & 2 and Drive-In Discs, Volume I
|
 |
|
| Home |
Copyright © 1998-2006, Science Fiction Weekly (TM). All rights reserved. Reproduction in any medium strictly prohibited. Maintained by scifiweekly@scifi.com. |
