A Multitude of Idols
Elyse Conway is an ambitious reporter doing an investigative piece on nuclear transport. She thinks that this story could be her big break- but she stumbles into something far more deadly. The Advocates are plotting to awaken more of their people. They need a secure area with fresh human bodies that the revived invaders can occupy. But first, they decide to get the nuclear material. An alien kills a Department of Transportation worker and gets the information on the trucks carrying the nuclear waste. At the Cottage, Harrison and Suzanne are having their differences regarding their specific work methods. Norton shows the team the report of the mutilated body of the Department of Transportation worker. Ironhorse says that since this is war, the aliens maim their enemies without regard. Elyse interviews the truck drivers, and witnesses the drivers being possessed by the aliens. She also has the footage of the alien possession on tape. The team come across it, and using some very clever deception on the part of Ironhorse and Harrison- manage to get the tape from her. Elyse realizes she's being scammed and delves further into the heart of the mystery. Meanwhile, the Advocates are talking about how the deserted town of Beeton, California will be where their brethren are awakened. They decide the next step to complete the puzzle is to get many human bodies. Aliens possessing the bodies of federal agents round nearby humans on buses and send them to Beeton to be host bodies. Using TV news choppers, Elyse discovers the location of the town and goes there with her cameraman. Both are discovered and are captured by the aliens to be used as host bodies. Harrison and Suzanne arrive in Beeton thanks to Defense Department satellite photos that Norton got for them. They notice something strange with the townspeople particularly with everyone saying, "To life immortal." Harrison concludes that this basically an alien town now. Ironhorse arrives- dressed as a tourist- and after he kills an alien guard, the team sneak into an assembly line where the aliens are resurrecting their kind from the storage drums. Other humans are having their minds fried into submission so that they can serve as host bodies. After being discovered, the team are chased by the townspeople. They flee and return later with Ironhorse and his soldiers. They storm into the town but discover to their horror, that it is now empty. The aliens have revived about a thousand more of their brethren. Harrison and Ironhorse agree that they will lose this war if they continue to allow the aliens to gain substantial victories like this. In the recesses of their cavern, the Advocacy watch in amusement as the alien-possessed Elyse Conway does a news report. She refutes any stories about flying saucers claiming it had to do with the Air Force. She says sarcastically that no aliens have said anything about the story, but that our door is open and asks if theirs is. COMMENTS: Tom Lazarus' first script for War of the Worlds surely is a solid one. I remember that this episode intrigued me because it had the aliens winning this battle and beating the team to the punch. Also, it was nice to see Michelle Scarabelli (of Alien Nation) play Elyse. I felt an amount of pity for her. She was very ambitious and that attribute is what led to her demise. The Advocacy were also very entertaining in this episode. Whether mocking the intelligence of humans (saying that it rivaled the vegetation of their home planet) or the scene with Xana mourning the fact that they can never see Mor-Tax for one last time- I enjoyed them. I would also be neglectful if I didn't mention this is the episode where we first see Harrison using his tuning fork- which he says is a "memory retrival device". Of all the scariest moments in the episode, the scariest had to be Ironhorse arriving in Beeton dressed as a tourist. Who can forget those shorts?
|
The Advocacy plan to awaken more of their kind
Norton and Ironhorse look at the news report
Elyse Conway with the news...
