Don’t think badly of me when I say that I first thought Dark Skies was going to be a cheap X-Files knockoff. After all, it is a genre show about aliens that premiered right in the middle of the X-Files‘ run. Look at it this way: it looked like a FlashForward to the X-Files‘ LOST. And to some extent, that’s what it is. After all, it only lasted a season, featured a more initially focused concept, and gained a very devout cult following that tried its best to save the show. Sounds familiar, right?
Nineties children like myself will probably remember a book series called Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. I only drop that reference because it’s perhaps the best comparison to the plot of Dark Skies. If you drop the animal-transformation gimmicks, you’ve got an extremely dark story of a covert alien invasion carried out by parasites who enter your head and take over. It’s a less-camp Invasion of the Bodysnatchers arc.
The thing that separates Dark Skies from those two, though, is the conspiracy angle. What angle, you ask? Oh, how about the JFK-was-assassinated-by-the-aliens-because-he-found-out-about-their-plan-and-Jack-Ruby-was-possessed-by-an-alien-to-kill-Oswald angle? Or the aliens-trying-to-place-sublimenal-messages-in-a-Beatles-broadcast-triggered-by-“Can’t-Buy-Me-Love” angle? (Or the I’m-obnoxiously-using-too-many-hyphens angle.)
Does that sound just crazy enough to be good? Because it is. Dark Skies is what it would be like if The X-Files had a lovechild with Mad Men. Now, sometimes the historical impersonations just aren’t right on. The John Lennon impersonator in the fourth episode isn’t bad, but the rest of the band doesn’t even look like they’re trying to resemble the Fab Four (George Harrison was nowhere near that chubby, folks). And sometimes it seems as though the writers looked at brief descriptions of famous characters from the 1960’s and thought, “How can we throw in aliens to explain that interesting character trait?”
But aside from those hiccups and a really tiresome pace, Dark Skies is a surprising amount of fun. Thanks to Shout! Factory, the entire series will be released on DVD for the first time, after a lengthy fight on the part of the fans. The six-disc set is worth the money, too.
It comes with a little booklet with a lengthy introduction by series co-creator Bryce Zabel, which is the appetizer for the meat-and-potatoes six disc set, which is nicely fitted together into three thinpak cases. As for the special features, the set is teeming with them. Commentaries, recut episodes, the list goes on and on. There’s even a three-part retrospective on the series featuring Zabel, co-creator Brent V. Friedman, and stars Eric Close and Megan Ward. The set even includes promos for the show used on NBC during the show’s original run. And though the eighteenth and final episode has a mildly satisfying conclusion, the blueprints for a never-made second season are included in the set as well. When I sit “teeming,” I meant it. It’s a worthy set to get for any genre fan. LOST, Fringe, The X-Files, FlashForward – if you liked any of those shows, chances are you’ll like Dark Skies.
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