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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 261246" data-attributes="member: 23">The Vega Influence <img src="http://www.televisionofyore.com/uploads/9/3/0/3/9303799/season2-episode11-6_1_orig.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> I love the idea of landing in the middle of a plot and having to put the pieces together while still reeling from the surrealism of the situation. The Vega Influence does just this to its lead characters and, in turn, the viewer. And it’s far more impactful and haunting than any amount of information we could be fed. The first ominous hints come on board a military plane, where Jaime and fellow O.S.I. agent Michael Marchetti (yes.. him) are returning from a mission, and the ground crew at the Alaskan airbase communicating with the pilot and co-pilots begins acting strangely before contact is lost. But of course, with Alaska being the last stop there’s no choice but to land due to fuel. Once landed, there’s complete stillness. The military setting, the eerie soundtrack, the enormous Seventies flashing computers and the general weirdness that feels very much of its era are all more than a little reminiscent of Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who. But as the episode went by I was reminded even more strongly of several John Carpenter films. The base setting, alien life form taking over minds and zombiefied people walking round in parkas and Ugg boots evokes The Thing. The zombies banging on doors and bursting through windows of buildings in which characters are trying to hide is pure The Fog (one shot of an arm crashing through a window to grab a screaming girl is almost identical to a shot that would later appear in that film). Meanwhile, Jaime runs about the place increasingly terrified wearing a blue blouse and jeans, which is as close as she’s come to being Laurie Strode. The story plays out well. With the men mysteriously taken out one by one, Jaime is left alone. Except for one mysterious teenager, Laurie who has been unaffected by the force that’s taken everyone else. This raises questions: is she some kind of alien? Does she have powers? Is she behind it all? Is she in collusion? Any doubt is compounded by Laurie’s behaviour. While mostly transparent and evidently scared, she is helpful to Jaime at times, but also appears to avoid answering questions at times. When they make a race for the car and Jaime is grounded by the sonic force while zombified militia loom up behind her (a genuinely tense scene, and a little reminiscent of Laurie Strode outside the hospital in Halloween II), Laurie ignores Jaime’s cries for help and it’s up to Jaime to get herself out of it. This is where the writing has played with expectation. The truth is far simpler and less sinister than we might believe: Laurie is deaf, which is why she’s been unaffected. And Jaime realises from this that she, too, has been less severely affected by the force because of her own partial hearing loss, with her bionic ear filtering the sonic force to a degree.  The “evil” meteorite is also plausibly written. The fact that it’s been discovered after a great length of time hidden beneath tundra, and becomes active when it’s brought into the open for experimentation all rings true. And it makes the final race to try to stop the zombified minions from flying off with the meteorite feel urgently compelling. Jaime being incapacitated by sound as she was on the verge of covering the meteorite with CO2 was enjoyably frustrating to watch. I found myself wanting to call out “just get on with it”. And all aboard a military plane on a runway preparing to take off. All of which made the inevitable success feel genuinely thrilling and hard earned. continued... </blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?