"To Be or Not To Be"

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

I know a lot of people complained when seaQuest first aired that it was a rehash of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. And in some ways it was (retired captain comes back to command a state-of-the-art sub, and there’s even a dolphin on the ship). But think of it this way -- how many different westerns have there been on TV in the past fifty years? How many cop shows? How many comedies about a family with two or three kids? Now tell me how many shows in the past 50 years have dealt with a submarine and her crew? I can only think of two.

One of the things that sets seaQuest apart from much of the TV landscape is the rich, fully developed world it presents. The show takes place in the future (2018, to be exact), and that fact alone opens up all kinds of possibilities. Like the universe of Star Trek, the world of seaQuest is fleshed out and made very believable, yet pushes the edges of technology at the same time. It's fairly consistent in the vision of the future it presents, which is important. There's a whole network of underwater colonies and habitats in existence. Mining, military, science, all have sites set up on the ocean floor. And the writers set this all up in a sixty second speech, then expand on it in coming weeks. Too bad much of the groundwork they lay in this first season gets forgotten in the second, and especially the third seasons.

But as for the story itself, it's a better than average introduction to a show. It has a strong plot that introduces all the major characters, and gives the audience a chance to get to know a little about most of them. It's got action and adventure, a little science, and a little humor along the way, all of which come to be the formula for the rest of the season. My only beef, other than a kind of weak bad guy, is the last scene. I could think of so many better ways to convince Bridger to stay other than some lame story about a divorce and people changing. But on the whole, it's a strong way to start the show.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

One of the best things about seaQuest’s first season is that it was so heavy into the science, while still having a measure of action and adventure. And since it was set 25 years in the future (more like 15 now), the writers and producers could be a little creative with the technological innovations each week. One of the reasons the second season wasn’t as good (besides getting rid of several of my favorite characters and replacing them with weaker ones) was the trend away from believable science and into fantasy. I mean come on, huge talking heads and gigantic alligators? At least a giant squid is possible. And on top of all that, the special effects were damn good for the time. Hell, almost ten years later I still think they're excellent. Much better than what's in half the movies out there, and this was a weekly show. It's kind of like the effects in Star Wars (the original trilogy, not the recent ones). Those effects were cutting edge at the time, and still hold up extremely well now.

• seaQuest - My God, can there be any cooler vehicle (at least one that doesn’t fly)? The idea of a submarine that big and powerful, with that much excess space is every submariner’s dream. Ever walk through the German sub on display in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry? I’m not claustrophobic, but I wouldn’t last in that thing. Who cares that subs will probably never be this spacious, but as long as people keep dreaming, there’s still a chance. And the fact that it has revolutionary propulsion that uses seawater as fuel -- brilliant. Not to mention the layout of the bridge. Someone was wearing their thinking caps the day they designed that. Captain in the middle and all the stations positioned around him in a circle -- it seems so simple. And the nice big screens to display all the important data is a nice touch too. Too bad I'm not familiar enough with modern day subs to compare.
• The vocorder - One of the more unbelievable pieces of technology on the ship, but at the same time, one of the coolest. Much as I’d love to have something like this, I don’t think scientists are quite advanced enough in their knowledge of dolphins to produce anything like a vocorder in the next 15 years. But forgetting that, it’s a great invention. Lots of shows have dogs and other pets as main characters. And there’s even been one with a dolphin. But unless you count Scooby Doo or maybe Charlie Brown, characters have never been able to talk with animals before. Darwin is by far one of the wisest characters on the show, and giving us a way to hear his wisdom is fantastic.
• The Professor's hologram - I think I've been corrupted by Star Trek, I actually found myself sitting there wondering just how possible this hologram program is. Making it interact and react to humans seems the hardest part to me, and of course the actual speech. Computer programs are getting pretty sophisticated lately. There has been a lot of interest in artificial intelligences. I had a robotics class in college, and we talked about it there. The major kinds include neural networks, genetic algorithms and fuzzy logic. I won't go into specifics, but suffice it to say that I could see how any of these could form the basis of the hologram's program. In fact, I was just reading a few weeks ago about the programming that went into the big fight scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The characters there, while mostly only background, are getting pretty close to the hologram in seaQuest. In short, I don't think we're too far from seeing something like this. As far as the basic concept goes, I think the hologram is a wonderful device. A sounding board for the captain to bounce ideas off would be a very useful thing.
• The Hyper-Reality Probe - Again, I don’t think this technology is close enough to actually come to fruition by 2018, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t really cool. If the WSKRS are roving eyes and ears, the HR probe is like the ship’s fingers. I can only imagine what flying that thing would be like, being able to hear and see and practically feel what it is. But the best thing it gives you is sensors underwater. On a submarine, except for sonar, you're basically blind unless you're sailing on the surface. Sensors of any kind underwater are tough. Even cameras are just now beginning to give more clear pictures through water.
• Undersea communities - Once someone builds the first livable, survivable habitat underwater, this whole area is going to explode overnight. There’s already all kinds of undersea drilling going on, who’s to say undersea mining won’t be next? I think it’d be kinda cool to live underwater for several months. But then I think it’d be kinda cool to visit Mars and the moon.
• The dolphin rebreather - While I think this is a kinda neat piece of technology, I'm unclear on the origin of it. I really don't think Bridger designed it, because Darwin would have known about it beforehand. He probably would have been the guinea pig to test it. But Westphalen doesn't seem to know about it either, and you'd think she would if it had been brought on board as part of the science team. So who designed it, and how did it get on the boat?

CHARACTERS:

One of the strengths of seaQuest, in my opinion, is the strong characters they create. And it’s not just the regular characters, but many of the guest stars as well. With each episode, I’m going to have my usual general comments on the characters and their interactions, but I’m also going to try and look more in depth at one or two characters each week as well. This week we start off with Ford.

• One of the nicest things about this episode is that it not only sets up all the characters, but it has some wonderful interactions between the characters as well. There’s the friction between the military and civilians represented by Ford and Westphalen; there’s the friendship of Ford and Hitchcock, especially as he starts falling apart on the bridge; there’s the beginnings of the closeness between Bridger and Lucas, despite the way Bridger dislikes the kid at first; Lucas and Darwin, Bridger and Crocker, Darwin and Bridger…I could go on. The point is, even in two short hours they set the groundwork for all the relationships that come to fruition over the next 22 episodes.
• One of the things that has always bothered me about this episode is the bad guys. Le Chien is pretty obviously just there to provide a loose reason for the renegade sub. But it's Stark that bugs me the most. She's so two-dimensional. She comes across as positively nutso and has no real concrete motive. Gee, she thinks the world should be at war and doesn't think anyone else should be in charge of seaQuest. Neither of those is a solid reason for her actions. What I want to know is how the Navy or UEO or whoever let someone this unstable, someone with the psychotic tendencies that Stark shows get into a position of that much power and authority. It's not something that just develops overnight; there are always behavioral trends that appear, red flags that are triggered. Toward the beginning she tells Ford, "We can do what we were trained to do," implying attack the colony. No captain worth his weight in salt water wants that. While the service academies in this country teach the art and science of warfare, I think every cadet and midshipman comes out of there hoping never to get the chance to use what they learned. If not, I don't want them in a position of responsibility in my military. This world we live in has changed so dramatically even in the past thirty years. The last few wars (if you can even use that term) have been bloodless compared to all previous wars; one of my favorite terms is antiseptic. The current trend is to avoid war, and if that's not possible, then to make it a precision strike that limits the number of casualties. That's just about the opposite of what Stark advocates. She's only a few years older than me by the timeline, which is why I find it amazing that someone who thinks like that could rise so high in a military that is moving in the other direction.
• Why is it that every movie and TV show that takes place on a ship at sea has your stereotypical crusty old seadog? Along with the mouthy, brash, annoying child it has to be one of the most overused stereotypes out there. Having said that, I like the character of Crocker. In a way he’s a kind of counterpoint for all the young, technologically savvy sailors on the ship ("Academy pups" -- great description). And he brings a levity to the bridge that isn’t forced like Krieg usually comes across.
• I love the introduction we get to Hitchcock. She shows right off the bat that she's authoritative and intelligent, two important facets of her personality. And she even throws in a joke.
• I can tell that Bridger used to be a teacher. Look at the way he deals with Ford, especially in the first confrontation with the Delta IV sub.

Jonathan Ford:

While I was watching this episode recently, I started thinking about the different characters, and how far into the season it takes to get a good handle on them. The first episode I could think of which focuses on Ford is really about “seaWest,” which is episode #11. Until then, he gets small scenes here and there, but nothing really character defining. Early on, what we know of Ford is developed through a sort of patchwork quilt of various scenes, the majority of them here involving his presence on the bridge. Even in the lifeboat in “Bad Water” many of the scenes involving him are more work than personal. Then I started thinking about the character more and realized that Ford really is much more of a complex character than he appears at first blush. I can’t tell if this is a function of the writing, Don Franklin’s acting, or a combination of both. He’s a foil for Westphalen, and their interactions are meant to embody the tension and dislike that exists between the military sailors and the civilian scientists on board. [And on a related note, when the show first started, the producers intended to have Ford and Westphalen eventually become a couple. I never noticed this until it was pointed out to me a few months ago, but now I can see in the first few episodes how they were trying to get at this. But obviously the chemistry between Bridger and Westphalen was so much more palpable, and they let that develop instead.] But even more so, in this episode especially, Ford is a counterpoint for Bridger. The way Roy Scheider plays him, Bridger is a very emotional, very active guy; Ford, on the other hand, is far more subtle and reserved. Being a career military man, Ford is used to doing things by-the-book and in a prescribed manner; Bridger used to be like this, but his years as a ‘native’ have mellowed him, and he instead prefers to "use [his] instincts." This whole thing comes into play later in the season (“Whale Song”) as well. Ford is intelligent, competent, and very good at his job; but he’s also young (one of the youngest Commanders in the UEO) and there’s still a lot he needs to learn before taking over a ship of his own.

QUICK QUESTIONS, QUERIES, QUANDRIES AND COMMENTS:

Occasionally I think of stupid or meaningless little comments while I'm watching. What can I say, Mystery Science Theater 3000 has created more than a few monsters in this society.

• How in the name of everything that's good does the UEO afford land in Malibu for training? Not the way the cost of land in California is going.
• How come Le Chien is a French name, but he speaks with a German accent?
• When we first meet Hitchcock, Crocker refers to her as Lieutenant, but her rank is Lieutenant Commander. Proper protocol would be to call her Commander if you shorten it at all.
• Listen closely when the boat first gets underway and Ford says, "Once we break port, we're committed to the channel. This isn't exactly a rowboat." You can hear him come very close to laughing as he says the last part.
• I'll try to keep this short -- women on subs. Currently, they don't happen. I think the Canadian Navy may have finally let a woman serve on a sub, but I know for a fact that it doesn't happen at all in the US Navy. Apparently, they've made some major strides in the next fifteen years. Maybe because there's all that extra space on the seaQuest, they decided there was room for separate berthing areas for the men and women, one of the major reasons cited for lack of women on subs now.
• At one point, as they're chasing the renegade sub, Ortiz identifies it as a "Typhoon class Delta IV" sub. This bugged me, so I did a little low level research on the internet. Typhoon class is the NATO designation of a Russian type of nuclear powered ballistic missile sub (about the equivalent of the US Ohio class subs). Delta IV is another class of subs, an SSBN like a Typhoon, but a little smaller and slower. Therefore, a sub can be either a Delta IV or a Typhoon class, but not both.

ALERTS FOR THE FUTURE:

• "[Lucas'] father's in charge of our largest corporate endowment." Remember this line come season's end and "Higher Power."

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