Pollo Loco (Max must fight both an insane X-5 and the ghosts inside herself)
Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections:
Dark Angel:
Season 1:
Pollo Loco (Max must fight both an insane X-5 and the ghosts inside herself)
She was designed to be the perfect soldier. She was trained to be a human weapon. But then she escaped. They came after her, and she knew they would never stop looking. She was lucky. A few months later, terrorists triggered an electro-magnetic pulse that wiped out America's cyber infra-structure. The U.S. became a third world country overnight. It was easy for a girl to disappear. Ten years later she's still looking over he shoulder. She's found an unlikely ally in Logan Cale. Born to a life of privledge, he's now an underground cyber-journalist crusading against a corrupt government. He wants to save the world, or what's left of it. She just wants to find the others like her. Together...who knows.
Logan informs Max that a body with a barcode on it's neck has been found dead and mutilated in the woods. Max identifies the barcode as Ben's. Ben was an impressionable and slightly psychotic X-5, but Max still thought of him as a brother. When Max views the body, she knows it's not Ben's. Soon, another body is found in the woods, also carrying Ben's barcode, but again, it's not Ben. Lydecker is protecting the identies of the dead men for exposure reasons. Logan suspects Ben of the murders, but Max doesn't want his help.
While in Manticore, during a seizure attack, Ben was given an image of the Virgin Mary by a janitor. The "'nomalies," failed X group prototypes, frightened Ben, and he believed that by giving sacrifices to the image of "the lady," he was giving her strength to fight the 'nomalies off.
In the present, Max arrives at a church and finds some remains of the second victim near the statue of the Virgin Mary. She also befriends Father Destri, who tells her about heavenly forgiveness. She sees Ben, but he runs away. After she leaves, Ben enters the confessional and kidnaps the Father. Ben believes that the Father's faith in the lady will keep him strong while Ben hunts him down in the woods.
Max soon derives that Ben in hiding out in the Space Needle. She confronts him, and he tells her that he's not crazy, he's just doing what he was born to do, hunt and kill. He reminds her of "that day," when the X-5's hunted down a target for practice. She participated in the man's murder, but now, Max is trying to move past her wrongdoings. She tells Ben that by tatooing his barcode on the necks of his victims, he is actualy killing himself, on the inside. Max is taken to the Father, but she is locked up before she can get him to safety. She breaks out and arrives in the woods just in time to save the Father's life. She fights with Ben and injures him. He dies in her arms, talking about his version of "the good place," or heaven. Max starts to cry, but has to leave before Lydecker's men arrive.
Logan comforts Max, but he has also been talking to Lydecker about the cover-ups. Lydecker informed Logan that no matter what Logan's feelings are about Max, she will always be a killer in the end. Logan ponders this while staring at Max, who is curled up on the couch.
As the episode ends, Max enters into the confessional in the church...
THOUGHTS
-Super episode, with lots of insight into the minds of the X-5's. Not being a Catholic, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole episode basically being about religion...but the symbolism was very nice.
-First ep that has the flashback Max talking (actually it's JMA dubbed in, but still a nice thing!).
-Nana Visitor finally debuts, as "Madame X." To tell you the truth, all I could think of was Kira. I miss DS9!
-I usually don't comment about titles, but this episode's title is horrible! I think something like "First Light" or "Divinity" or "Faith" or something like that would have been better.
-Father Destri is played by the same guy who played Mallory in season 5 of "Sliders." I miss that show a bit too, it did end without closure.
-My fave moment in the whole ep had to be Logan's stare at the end. He's looking at this beautiful, curled up woman, yet she may be nothing more than a killing machine. Deep stuff.
FAVORITE QUOTE
"You think this is all some kind of joke? These kids are like puppies you can bring home and housebreak? They were designed to kill. Coldly...efficiently...and happily. You think because she's so pretty that she isn't as dangerous? They're all killers. All they need is a trigger. You may think you have some kind of relationship between the two of you, but let me tell you something, son. She's not the girl next door. You have no idea what she's capable of doing."
-Lydecker to "Eyes Only."
NITS
-The cooked chicken looks much smaller than the one Max brought in.
-In one of the exterior shots of the Space Needle, it looks like it's being lit from two sides.
-Lydecker uses helicopters while looking for Ben in the woods, even though he knows Ben can hear them from far away.
-I don't understand why Ben would die so quickly. Did a piece of his knee bone go into his blood stream or something?
-In the preview for next week's episode, there is talk about a death. The shot of a person's hand looking at the pictures of the bodies is actually from this episode, when Logan looks at the "that day" victim.
A few from Luigi Novi:
At the very end of the April 24 episode, Max enters the confessional, and identifies herself. The priest says she's not supposed to do that. Wrong. Confessions are identity-optional. You can do them face-to-face, or anonymously. I did both as a child.
The shot of Jessica Alba for the "stay tuned for a preview of next week's episode" is, I believe, a new one. I like it.
(Note from Mike: She always looks good in those!)
*
-How come we never heard of Ben before?
By MarkN on Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - 3:47 am:"You sniff out honeys in church?" I love that line! 
By S. Na on Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - 7:54 am: The fight scene between Max and Ben was a thing of beauty. The camera angles and quick cuts made it seem very fast and realistic.
By LUIGI NOVI on Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - 9:02 am: I agree. I have always found the editing and stunt effects during fight scenes on this show to be wanting. The fight between Max and Ben in this episode, however, looked good.
I was also surprised to see young flashback Max speak for the first time. I thought we'd never see it happen.
By Brian Lombard on Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - 9:33 am: The shot of Lydecker's humvees racing through the woods is re-used from "Heat," as is the shot of his troops entering the woods.
It was young Max's first speaking role, but I believe it was Alba's voice dubbed in.
Just for recordkeeping purposes, we've now met 5 of the 12 X-5s who escaped that night. Max, Zach, Brinn, Jace, and Ben.
By Lauren Mag on Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - 11:34 am: I really really liked this episode!
When Ben went into the confessional I thought "No don't kill Mallory! Wait, nevermind. Go ahead..."
You really think her voice was dubbed? It didn't look like it to me, but she did sound a lot like JA.
Did I mention I really really liked this episode?
By Palandine on Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - 12:57 pm: I liked the episode as a whole, but with getting into a Religious Musing (TM), I didn't like the way the Catholic Church stuff was handled. Confession doesn't have anything to do with Our Lady, but with Jesus. Wasn't there a single writer who knew this? Wouldn't someone have looked it up for authenticity? I know they were trying to tie in Ben's obsession with "the Blue Lady" with his fixation on the priest, it just wasn't handled very accurately at all.
Other than that, though, a good episode.
By LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, April 26, 2001 - 12:05 pm: Did the episode specifically say that confession is connected to the Virgin Mary? BEN thought it was, but I don't remember anyone else doing so. The priest, in fact, told Max that "God's" forgiveness, not Mary's, is infinite.
Luigi Novi
By Palandine on Thursday, April 26, 2001 - 2:15 pm: Eh, you could be right--I'd have to see the transcript. It just sounded a couple of times like in the confessional the priest mentioned The Lady (not even "Our Lady," which is how most of us Catholics would phrase it if we were using that term). I'll watch again during re-run season to see if it's a legitimate nit.
By LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, April 26, 2001 - 5:56 pm: It was Ben who referred to "The Blue Lady," and I believe flashback Max who said they could see her heart. Clearly, they were not native to Catholicism, and were interpreting it through the eyes of newcomers.
By Brian Fitzgerald on Thursday, April 26, 2001 - 9:19 pm: Durring the confession scene he asked about "the lady" and the preast said "you mean our lady?".
By ron on Saturday, April 28, 2001 - 6:58 pm: so, how this b**** works? (great line)
so max's favorite place to be alone (the space needle) has roots from her early days at manicore, the high place. interestin'
and ben didn't just die after max kicked his @$$, if you pay very close attention you will realize she broke his neck. so he wouldn't have to go back to manicore.
shouldn't max be strong enough to carry ben out of the forest? also while chasing ben who locks the door behind him; it takes max two attends before she opens it. this is the woman who has displayed superfeats of strength (tossed bruno around the 1st episode and held a woman off a balcony holding only one of her legs). but i guess it comes and goes.
what episode did kendra leave the apartment and i guess the show?
By Art Vandelay on Saturday, May 12, 2001 - 3:28 am: That was a metal door and therefore tougher to break open.
There was a shot of Seattle at the end of this episode and the Space Needle looked lit up, isn't that a nit?
By Rodney Hrvatin on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 3:46 pm: What?? No "Max in the dressing gown- wow!"?
Another ep with the ridiculous title. I liked the earlier suggestion made on this board- maybe "Our Blue Lady".
Very few supporting characters in this ep (except for OC in the opening and I guess Lydecker)
I would suggest that young Max had her voice dubbed by JA.
Nana Visitor, oh what a ghastly wig!!! What they should do is get Siddig in to play some evil doctor. Heh heh.
By ScottN on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 10:09 pm:so max's favorite place to be alone (the space needle) has roots from her early days at manicore, the high place. interestin'
Well, Max does have cat DNA, and cats really like to be in high places looking down (at least mine does ).