First Wave: 'Second Wave'

Investigating a man's report of a UFO sighting, Cade finds himself trapped in the basement with various neighbours when the alien attack enters its second wave, threatening to destroy the world.

This is the kind of story that looks pretty good on paper, and then goes horribly wrong when made. The idea of giving the audience a sneak preview of the next phase in the alien attack is inspired, although it's a terrible shame that all we get is a news report saying major cities have been destroyed, rather than seeing it happen. In fact, it's one of the major failings of this episode that the special effects are eschewed in favour of character drama.

This would be fine, were it not for the fact that the characters are so unlikely. There's a man having an affair with another man's wife, an ex-soldier, a fervent Christian who is, frankly, irritating and someone off the street. Once Cade points out that the aliens look like other humans, it's guaranteed that everyone will start suspecting each other. In fact, this is probably the worst group of people you could hope to be trapped with.

The episode does get a bonus point for a clever twist at the end and Cade's realization that the aliens will probably win through human nature alone, but the journey to that point seems to take forever.

**

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