The Robotech Masters/Southern Cross saga is off to a rollicking start. It's a plot-driven story that thus far has been action all the way with none of the puppy love triangles and turgid romances that weighed down the preceding Macross saga.
The spotlight is squarely on Lt. Dana Sterling, and even if it weren't, she'd elbow her way into it! What a vainglorious kook, proven last episode at her second promotion in rank over the span of just three shows. Here's Dana, driving her hovertank down the main aisle of the ceremony, standing and beckoning applause with outstretched arms like some banana republic dictator. That said, she's a loveable kook and very endearing. The bunny ears and "rabbit technology" line left me smiling.
The whole Carl Macek-created fiction of Dana being the daughter of Max and Miriya will hopefully recede into the background now that the plot device served its purpose of forging a (weak) link between the Macross and Masters sagas.
Not gonna lie, I felt lost in the fog of war as "Volunteers" unfolded. The Earth Defense needs to reestablish communication with the Liberty satellite, a communication link the Robotech Masters have shut down. Earth sends up two space shuttles to the Masters' flagship, not the Liberty outpost. Everything hinged on a tiny antenna that popped up out of Lt. Crystal's shuttle (with an "on the air" screen straight out of the golden age of radio). After a girls-with-guns repelling of the Bioroids attack, the shuttle returns home. But was communication permanently reestablished? Or was this mission's objective simply to alert Liberty that earth is under attack from alien aggressors? I suspected something was lost in translation--literally--between the plot of the Japanese original Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and our Robotech adaptation.
If Lt. Crystal's shuttle alone was able to accomplish the mission, why were two shuttles dispatched? Lt. Borgnine's doomed squadron lent this story a sobering edge. Death came not from the enemy but from computer and/or mechanical malfunction. The shocking tragedy allowed a stark contrast to be drawn between the stoic Lt. Crystal and the emotional Lt. Sterling. After Crystal's face slap and berating of Dana, the narrator should quit calling Crystal a "friendly rival." That was an optimistic misnomer from the outset. "Fresh Start" established that by-the-book Crystal had no fondness for flaky brig-bait Dana.
Speaking of misnomers, "Volunteers" wasn't really the right title for this episode--"Voluntolds" was more like it, at least for Angelo and Bowie. Crystal was the first to volunteer for this dangerous assignment, and to one up her nemesis, Dana volunteers her entire squadron! Wow, just to look good to the brass, this gloryhound puts her comrades' lives at stake? And why pick Bowie? "Dana's Story" established that he would rather spin vinyl records than fight.
Judging by his role in that opening episode and by the preview for "Half Moon," Bowie is poised to be a major player. He appears to be a southern Indian, and I wish they had cast the voice actor who played Exidore to provide Bowie's voice to underscore his heritage. Funny scene when Bowie blows up at Dana and she snaps him to attention. Credit or blame the military for successfully inculcating that Pavlovian response into this reluctant soldier.
Puzzling too was Dana, Bowie, and Angelo being placed in pivotal positions aboard the shuttle when this is their maiden voyage into space. Yikes, shouldn't they be trained and have some hours of experience logged before embarking on a vital mission where even top brass admit good luck is going to be needed?
"Lt. Borgnine" had to have been an homage to actor Ernest Borgnine. That was a nice albeit brief touch. One would expect the celebration at ground control to be subdued considering the tragic deaths of Borgnine and crew, but nope. The cheering was deafening. And for what? Final victory over the Robotech Masters? No, just that that they got word through to Liberty that earth is under attack. Well, maybe that means Moonbase Alpha--oops, wrong show--Luna will be notified and possibly deploy a defensive force.
A promising first four episodes with much to keep us Dana devotees tuned in.
The spotlight is squarely on Lt. Dana Sterling, and even if it weren't, she'd elbow her way into it! What a vainglorious kook, proven last episode at her second promotion in rank over the span of just three shows. Here's Dana, driving her hovertank down the main aisle of the ceremony, standing and beckoning applause with outstretched arms like some banana republic dictator. That said, she's a loveable kook and very endearing. The bunny ears and "rabbit technology" line left me smiling.
The whole Carl Macek-created fiction of Dana being the daughter of Max and Miriya will hopefully recede into the background now that the plot device served its purpose of forging a (weak) link between the Macross and Masters sagas.
Not gonna lie, I felt lost in the fog of war as "Volunteers" unfolded. The Earth Defense needs to reestablish communication with the Liberty satellite, a communication link the Robotech Masters have shut down. Earth sends up two space shuttles to the Masters' flagship, not the Liberty outpost. Everything hinged on a tiny antenna that popped up out of Lt. Crystal's shuttle (with an "on the air" screen straight out of the golden age of radio). After a girls-with-guns repelling of the Bioroids attack, the shuttle returns home. But was communication permanently reestablished? Or was this mission's objective simply to alert Liberty that earth is under attack from alien aggressors? I suspected something was lost in translation--literally--between the plot of the Japanese original Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and our Robotech adaptation.
If Lt. Crystal's shuttle alone was able to accomplish the mission, why were two shuttles dispatched? Lt. Borgnine's doomed squadron lent this story a sobering edge. Death came not from the enemy but from computer and/or mechanical malfunction. The shocking tragedy allowed a stark contrast to be drawn between the stoic Lt. Crystal and the emotional Lt. Sterling. After Crystal's face slap and berating of Dana, the narrator should quit calling Crystal a "friendly rival." That was an optimistic misnomer from the outset. "Fresh Start" established that by-the-book Crystal had no fondness for flaky brig-bait Dana.
Speaking of misnomers, "Volunteers" wasn't really the right title for this episode--"Voluntolds" was more like it, at least for Angelo and Bowie. Crystal was the first to volunteer for this dangerous assignment, and to one up her nemesis, Dana volunteers her entire squadron! Wow, just to look good to the brass, this gloryhound puts her comrades' lives at stake? And why pick Bowie? "Dana's Story" established that he would rather spin vinyl records than fight.
Judging by his role in that opening episode and by the preview for "Half Moon," Bowie is poised to be a major player. He appears to be a southern Indian, and I wish they had cast the voice actor who played Exidore to provide Bowie's voice to underscore his heritage. Funny scene when Bowie blows up at Dana and she snaps him to attention. Credit or blame the military for successfully inculcating that Pavlovian response into this reluctant soldier.
Puzzling too was Dana, Bowie, and Angelo being placed in pivotal positions aboard the shuttle when this is their maiden voyage into space. Yikes, shouldn't they be trained and have some hours of experience logged before embarking on a vital mission where even top brass admit good luck is going to be needed?
"Lt. Borgnine" had to have been an homage to actor Ernest Borgnine. That was a nice albeit brief touch. One would expect the celebration at ground control to be subdued considering the tragic deaths of Borgnine and crew, but nope. The cheering was deafening. And for what? Final victory over the Robotech Masters? No, just that that they got word through to Liberty that earth is under attack. Well, maybe that means Moonbase Alpha--oops, wrong show--Luna will be notified and possibly deploy a defensive force.
A promising first four episodes with much to keep us Dana devotees tuned in.
