This episode kind of represents a shift in the focus of the show. The first half was fairly science based, and had some good thinking episodes. But if you show this one in its rightful order (after "Greed for a Pirate's Dream") it marks the transition to more action and military and less pure science, which is prevalent in the second half of the season. By all rights, though, the little introduction to the UEO that we get at the beginning should have been shown, oh, around the first couple episodes of the show. By this point, we've figured out enough of the UEO to not really need an intro this late in the season. As for the plot itself, I guess it's fairly intriguing. But I'm afraid I still don't see Dre's motivation very clearly. Seems a bit thin to me. I do, however, like the ongoing rock and roll theme. It's a nice little thread that weaves its way through the whole episode.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
Lucas' Compass - I know there's a way to make a simple compass like this, but I don't recall how exactly. I do know it looks like the paperclip doesn't really change direction very much after Lucas puts it in the water.
Computer Imaging - This is a very creative solution to the problem. I'm highly impressed. Don't know it could really be accomplished that fast, but nonetheless it's pretty smart of them.
CHARACTERS:
That intro scene is great. Bridger is on edge as his boat is about to be invaded by the Secretary General, and is venting his frustrations on his friend. Noyce, on the other hand, is just calmly playing with all of his friend's stuff and deflecting Bridger's barbs.
Love the scene with Lucas and Darwin playing together. It's easy to forget sometimes that Lucas actually still is a kid.
Admiral William Noyce:
In a show like seaQuest, you inevitably need to have a 'boss' character; someone that the captain takes orders from and has to answer to. Noyce is the embodiment of that higher authority. He's not, at least early in the season, the political side of things (General Thomas represents that), but rather the military side. He's an old friend of Bridger's from way back, probably even as far back as the Academy. They've probably served together along the way, and Noyce is the type of Admiral who earned his stars through hard work and good service to his country. But what you also have to keep in mind is that you don't make Admiral without some measure of political savvy; it's not a surprise to me that his name floats to the top when the secretary general-ship becomes vacant. But whereas Thomas comes across as a hardass, it's-my-way-or-the-highway kind of guy, Noyce is more easy-going, less controlling. Maybe this is a byproduct of being such good friends with Bridger, or maybe that's just the way he always has been. Whatever the case, Noyce has always struck me as the type of boss you want to work for. I think that could be another, secondary factor as to why I prefer this season over the other two. He's not driven by the pettiness and politics of Washington (most of the time). Rather, he wants the best man for the job, and respects that man's opinions and first-hand assessments of the situation.
QUICK QUESTIONS, QUERIES, QUANDRIES AND COMMENTS:
It's hard to take a bad guy seriously when he's in a bright pink suit.
Since when is Woodstock considered the turning point of the Vietnam War? They really do make too much of Woodstock in this episode.
You would think Bridger et. al. would take the time to let Lucas know of something as important as a visit by the Secretary General of the UEO. Sheesh.
How come, if he knows he'll be attending something with a bunch of heads of state, not to mention the aforementioned Secretary General, Lucas doesn't wear something a little nicer? Or at least something not jeans.
I'm so glad a show can still send someone with a better than average vocabulary to the dictionary. I can figure out the meaning of beneficence and untenable, for example, from their context, but I still looked them up anyway just for fun. (How sad am I?)
"They’re middle aged, second-tier bureaucrats, they haven’t opened a door for themselves in a decade." OK, that's probably going a bit far, but it's still within spitting distance of the truth.
Bridger states he was eight during Woodstock, which was of course in the summer of 1969. This means he was born (roughly) in 1961, and is therefore 57 at the start of the season.
Please take note of Noyce's appointment to Secretary General at the end. This explains why he held the post in the past three episodes. I'm guessing this episode was meant to air before "Whale Song," but for some reason got pushed back a couple weeks instead.
I just have so many issues with the topic of uniforms in this episode (and much of the season, for that matter). Let me describe the regulations/common uses of the different types of officer uniforms used today and then relate things back to seaQuest.
The full dress uniform - These are worn for parades, change of command ceremonies, reviews, etc -- whenever things get very ceremonial. The civilian equivalent would probably be a tuxedo. It's white in the summer and blue in the winter, and officers who are Lieutenant Commander and above wear a ceremonial sword with it. This is just about the only time the actual medals are worn with the ribbons.
The service dress blue uniform - This is worn year-round during business and informal social occasions. Translation: when a business suit is appropriate. Officers stationed in and around Washington, DC get the most use out of this uniform. With this one, you wear just the ribbons and no medals.
Khakis - These are worn year-round as well for typical office work and informal occasions. Outside of Washington you see khakis on officers frequently. Again, no medals worn.
Poopy suit - I doubt that's the official term, but that's how they're generally referred to. These are the blue jumpsuits that submariners typically wear when they're deployed. They're comfortable and easy to move in, and make for less laundry to do.
The last issue to mention is covers (or hats). These are typically not worn indoors or in certain places, like on the flight line. On ships, however, ball caps are sometimes worn (don't know rules/traditions associated with those). So how does all this translate into the seaQuest universe? Obviously, they've continued with the tradition of jumpsuits while deployed. And we see Bridger in his khakis fairly frequently (though I argue that he wouldn't really wear them as much in real life as he does on the show - but we'll ignore that in favor of more pressing issues). I'm guessing the navy uniforms everyone is wearing toward the beginning are the equivalent of the full dress uniforms. This would pretty much make sense with the pomp and circumstance they've got going on there. But why are some officers wearing their covers, while others have them off? And Noyce needs a refresher course on the use of medals and ribbons with uniforms. But if these are the formal dress blues, what is that similar khaki creation Bridger wore to Washington in "Whale Song," (and appears again in "Higher Power")? Is that like the service dress blues? I guess that would make sense since he's visiting the JCS there, but it's a damn ugly uniform. And (this goes back to one of my Lucas questions) why are Noyce and Bridger just wearing khakis when in a room with heads of state? Not to mention the Secretary General? That situation calls for at least the service dress blues. I doubt you would ever see khakis in the White House Situation Room. Bottom line with all this, the costume people needed to do a better job with not only continuity of uniforms, but with types of uniforms as well.
ALERTS FOR THE FUTURE:
"We found that the tendencies when working with higher life-forms is to be a bit, anthropomorphic. Attaching human characteristics to the behavior of animals." Remember this definition. I'll refer back to it in two episodes.
BOB BALLARD MOMENT:
In the old days (back in the old days...), nations claimed sea out to 3 miles, which was as far as a cannon ball fired from shore could go. (They were oh so diplomatic back then.) Now claims can go as far as out to 200 miles from shore as the riches of the sea (read: oil) become more important to the future. The frontiers of the ocean take on a greater importance as we move into the 21st century.
