[DRK] Some Assembly Required

TV Programme: Dark Angel
Season: 2
Episode: 7
Date I watched this episode: 31/08/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 month, 6 days.

Well I can say I'm very surprised to see Zack back and alive again. I really thought that after his dramatic death in last season's finale "...And Jesus Brought A Casserole", he wouldn't be making a re-appearance. But I didn't feel like his comeback was a sell-out for the show's production, as the way he was brought back was not of his own free-will, and he is essentially a shockingly different character now.

In some ways this was also like the second part of the previous episode. This is surprising as I didn't expect to see the steelheads back so soon, after the cliffhanger of the previous episode. Alec seemed to be still in a similar mood, while Joshua was thankfully nowhere to be seen. It almost felt like the old days.

There were obviously a lot of references to The Terminator, which was actually allowable since James Cameron worked heavily on both projects. However it did seem almost gratituous at times, with Zack's eye, the cold attitude towards the beginning, and the section where Zack chases Logan through the lift shaft. Not that this wasn't all great fun and very enjoyable though!!

Mostly the episode was fully of twists and turns. Which was great - I did not see the whole healing face/fake blood filtering coming, and I certainly wasn't prepared for the ending. It was heartbreaking but totally fitting for the episode. While it looks like Zack is going to be able to live a normal life again, it is going to tear Max up that she can't see him, and it must be so hard for her knowing what would happen if history repeated itself.

So yes this was a good episode (unfortunately, mostly due to the lack of Joshua), and showed that the show still has potential when it wants to. Still, they can only pull this kind of thing once, and I still think the future is kind of bleak (no pun intended) for Dark Angel Season 2.