Space: Above and Beyond

Season 1 Episode 4

The Dark Side of the Sun

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Episode Summary

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The Dark Side of the Sun
AIRED:
Shane's nightmares come to life when a sentry-duty assignment on an asteroid leads the 58th into a bloody confrontation, against a battalion of rogue androids, called silicates. Can she finally learn why her parents were slain, and stop the endless nightmares?

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • Very ordinary.

    7.0
    By kingrich06, Feb 09, 2008
    Decent episode. This episode was more about Shane Vansen past and how she deals with the present. The marines are ordered on a guard duty detail. Their mission is to protect a mining complex vital to the war effort. We learn a bit about the an Earth Global between the humans and Artificial Intelligence machines. Something like terminators but more human and not as indestructible called Silicates. The make up used for the Silicates was basic, open cuts displayed circuitry. What was really nice was the contacts lens used. Stitches in the shape of an X. Sort of looked like how dead people were drawn in old comic books. I found the episode to have a bit too many flash back sequences of mainly the same 10 seconds. But there is a lot of gun fights and a few hand to hand sequences also. The weapons used could have been a bit more creative. They used weapons of 1995 like the MP5 and the LAW rocket launcher, they didn't even bother to adjust them in any way. Its funny that they used a CD player not even a mini disk that was available in 1995.moreless

  • Dissapointing

    7.0
    By andjj, May 24, 2006
    This episode held a lot of promise - the story is good, the set and setting is believable, the AI's makeup and costumes are spot on, and yet it has something pivotal that lets it down.

    The story expands what we know of the AI's or Sillicuts (any suggestions of the correct spelling of that is welcome), the artificial life forms that rebelled on earth and killed Vansen's family. It starts with the 58th being assigned to guard an asteroid helium-3 refinery far from the front lines. Soon the peace and boredom is shattered when a raiding AI pirate group descends on the facility, kills all the miners and soon has the marines on the run. Matters are not helped by Vansen, tormented by her fear of the AI's from her childhood, is crippled with indecision about how to fight them. With the help of her fellow Marines, Vansen works through her fear, and they eventually win through and emerge victorious.

    As I said earlier, this episode could have been great, but it isnt. Im sad to say, I think this is due to a combination of three things, but the first and the most important is that Kristen Cloke (Vansen) acts quite poorly in this episode. From her strange rendition of a person having a nightmare, to a marine and an officer crippled by fear and finally as a sort of ridiculous female Rambo, she dosent seem up to conveying what is asked of her without melodrama. But as I said, she is not wholly to blame for this sub par episode. I do think a considerable fault lies in the direction, some of the shots and angles used in this episode (there is a shot like the famous 'Jaws Chief Brody' zoom that bring the character into focus but distances the background) just highlight the flaws that are already far too apparent. In this case the zoom was supposed to make Vansen look angry, mean and vengeful, but the result (because she just looks silly) is laughable. The third thing that lets this episode down is a combination of budget and location. Although as I said before the setting is good, the place looks like (and probably is) some kind of refinery, the settings that are used are very limited, there is a main open room, a control room with lots of dials and lights, and a corridor. Thats it. They shoot from different angles and make it look like more than it is, but its fairly clear that they are being limited by where they can film.

    Even with these factors, the episode is still watchable and entertaining, but not up to the par of previous and coming episodes. Watch it if you love SAaB, but dont start here.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

James Morrison

James Morrison

Lt. Col. Tyrus Cassius McQueen
Kristen Cloke

Kristen Cloke

1st Lt. Shane Vansen
Morgan Weisser

Morgan Weisser

1st Lt. Nathan West
Rodney Rowland

Rodney Rowland

1st Lt. Cooper Hawkes
Lanai Chapman

Lanai Chapman

1st Lt. Vanessa Damphousse
Joel de la Fuente

Joel de la Fuente

1st Lt. Paul Wang
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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

Kimberly Patton

Kimberly Patton

Feliciti OH 519

Guest Star

Paul Keeley

Paul Keeley

Justin EB 774

Guest Star

Iva Franks

Iva Franks

Sabrine EW 177

Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (2)

    • Goof: When the team first lands on the airless planetoid in the Kuiper Belt called Boonewell, a moth flits around the space-suited Hawkes for four seconds.

    • Nitpick: One of Vansen's first orders upon landing at Boonewell was that they radio the miners and tell them the countersigns are "Bulldog" and "Chesty". So how is it that the AI doesn't know this, and give the response as "Terrier"? All AIs are supposed to be networked to each other and know things collectively. Even if this has a delay in uploading the information from individuals to the collective (which is not terribly unlikely), surely whoever was in charge of comm would pass along information like that to their compatriots by radio. After all, that's exactly what the miners would have done under the circumstances if they'd been there, so doing so couldn't have been seen as suspicious even if the 58th had detected their transmission.

  • QUOTES (8)

    • Vansen: They killed my family because a coin came up tails. They don't leave this rock.

    • Damphousse: Do you know what you're doing, Coop?
      Hawkes: Ain't nothing to it.
      AI Leader: (fast) Your bet, my game. Blackjack, single deck, I stick on seventeen, hole card is down.
      Hawkes: What'd she say?

    • Vansen: If any AI is capable of recalling any AI event, then this one can tell me why they killed my family!
      West: You've got another family to keep alive.

    • Damphousse: They've shut down the oxygen and the WFRS.
      Hawkes: The what?
      Damphousse: Waste fluid recycling system. It converts all of the facility's waste fluid, including sweat and urine into drinking water.
      (Hawkes goes to a supply locker and stuffs drinking water into his backpack)
      Wang: Can you toss me a couple of those?

    • Wang: If it wasn't the Chigs, then who attacked us, and why?
      Vansen: They're not human... and I don't know why.

    • McQueen: There's no such thing a predetermination. And there's no such thing as luck. You make things happen. Keep your head together, and don't make mistakes, and you'll come back. It's that simple.

    • Vansen: You ever feel like there's something out there, waiting?
      McQueen: Feeling like maybe you're not coming back? Everyone gets that.
      Vansen: And how does 'everyone' deal with it?
      McQueen: They go out and they come back... or they don't.

    • McQueen: I know you think this is routine, but look alive. In this war there is no such thing as a routine assignment.

  • NOTES (1)

  • ALLUSIONS (1)

    • Vansen: Chesty...
      Marines: Bulldog.

      Chesty the Bulldog is the mascot of the United States Marine Corps currently stationed at Marine Barracks in Washington DC, named after Major General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller.

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Season 1 Episodes

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Ep 24
...Tell Our Moms We Don...
Ep 23
And If They Lay Us Down...
Ep 22
Sugar Dirt
Ep 21
Stardust
Ep 20
R & R
Ep 19
Pearly
Ep 18
Dear Earth
Ep 17
Toy Soldiers
Ep 16
The Angriest Angel (2)
Ep 15
Never No More (1)
Ep 14
Level of Necessity
Ep 13
Who Monitors the Birds?
Ep 12
The River of Stars
Ep 11
Stay with the Dead
Ep 10
Choice or Chance (2)
Ep 9
Hostile Visit (1)
Ep 8
The Enemy
Ep 7
Eyes
Ep 6
Ray Butts
Ep 5
Mutiny
Ep 4
The Dark Side of the Sun
Ep 3
The Farthest Man from Home
Ep 2
Pilot (2)
Ep 1
Pilot (1)

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