"The Apostles" Keeps Faith with First Wave' Premise
Cade finds that fame is a mixed blessing when a gang of bikers follows his example and starts hunting aliens.
(Originally aired January 23, 2000)
Written by Chris Brancato and Albert J. Salke
Directed by Jorge Montesi
GUEST STARS
Sean Day Michael -- Rafe
Michelle Harrison -- Melissa
Ken Tremblett -- Sheriff Randy Smithers
WHAT HAPPENED
Seven motorcycle enthusiasts ride by a stop sign into the small town of Crestline, Wyoming. As frightened townsfolk look on, they're greeted by Randy, the town sheriff, who asks their business.
Rafe, the biker leader, tells Randy they're looking to bring justice to a man called Nick Randolph. The sheriff doesn't like this at all -- Randolph isn't wanted for any crime -- but as he's ordering the gang to leave town, a biker spots Randolph.
The bikers chase Randolph through the back streets, eventually cornering him. Randolph nearly fights four bikers off, but when Rafe stabs him in the back, he dissolves. He was a Gua.
As the bikers look down at the smoking remains, their leader calls out "Long live Cade Foster!" The rest of the gang takes up the chant ... (more
)
ANALYSIS
"The Apostles" is an exceptional episode, largely because it uses First Wave's ground rules in a way that wouldn't work for any of the other alien invasion shows.
Cade isn't an FBI agent investigating a conspiracy, he doesn't have a billionaire-funded Resistance backing him, and he's not trying to achieve his goals in secret. He's openly fighting a war, and he's documenting everything he's doing through the Internet.
Cade has been doing his best to rally the world to his cause, but the downside of putting your story on a web page is that you can't control who's going to read about it.
It's a downside Cade doesn't see at first. He's thrilled to finally have some allies, and he's visibly moved when they give him a bike and make him one of the gang.
And for what it's worth, the Apostles could have been the beginning of a real fighting force. The bikers are undisciplined, violent and uninterested in much other than kicking butt, but they're also effective.
The struggle for precedence
The problem is Rafe. Rafe wants to kill aliens, but for him it's a power trip, a way of being the baddest guy around.
He's perfectly happy to be a follower of Cade Foster as long as Cade Foster is a convenient abstraction. When the real Cade shows up -- bringing instructions about the right way of hunting aliens -- Rafe is not a happy man.
Rafe may welcome Cade with open arms, but you can see the calculating look in his eyes as he does it. He's already anticipating a power struggle, and when Cade proves to be an active leader instead of a passive one, the showdown becomes inevitable.
What makes the problem of Rafe so thorny is that charismatic leaders like him are what makes followers like the Apostles effective. Cade needs men like Rafe, but they're only useful if he can control them.
Unfortunately, control is Cade's weak point. He's compassionate, resourceful and occasionally inspiring, but he's repeatedly proven himself completely lacking in the ruthlessness that a good war leader needs.
He's chosen a moral high ground with his refusal to harm the innocent. He may or may not be able to maintain that position, but if he's not willing to sacrifice some lives to his cause, he's going to find it almost impossible to build or lead an army against the Gua.
WHAT WE LEARN
The Gua want to upgrade their computer and communications hardware.
DANGLING PLOT THREADS
How much mining did the Gua have time to do before the Apostles showed up? Did they get all the crystals they needed?
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN . . .
Cade attends the funeral of a Maine psychic in "Susperience".
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