Look Up Fellowship "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near." Luke 21:28

Yesterday's pieces involving Synchro-Pop and all my attempts to decipher what it means in relation to end times Bible prophecy set me on an uncharted course. Basically, that study had me thinking about things I hadn't thought of in years probably because it involved a time in my life when I was just a child and barely 10-years-old.

After my sheer amazement at all the examples we've looked at where life imitates art, I thought back to another TV show that had stuck with me all these years even though it only aired for one season, or a mere 22 episodes before being cancelled. Figure that one out.



The showed was called Alien Nation, and it was loosely based on the movie of the same name. Gary Graham starred as Detective Matthew Sikes, a Los Angeles police officer reluctantly working with "Newcomer" Alien George Francisco (from the planet Tencton), played by Eric Pierpoint.

Once I learned that this show originally aired on Fox before a financial crunch "caused Fox executives to cancel all dramatic series" I knew I had to take a closer look. I mean, after all, their track record of pre-dating real world events in advance through "science fiction" is firmly established as evidenced by hit shows like The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen, Millennium, and most recently J.J. Abrams' Fringe. My curiosity was piqued further when I read that a full four years later, after a change of management at Fox, the story of Alien Nation continued with five television movies.

If we look at the film version, we find that the story is set in 1991, three years after a flying saucer carrying enslaved Aliens (the "Newcomers") has crash-landed in the Mojave Desert. These 300,000 humanoid extraterrestrials (called "Newcomers" or "Slags") from an Alien refugee slave ship decide to stay on Earth and integrate themselves into human society. When Matthew Sykes, an alcoholic and bigoted cop, is paired with one of these Newcomers to investigate a murder, they uncover a sinister conspiracy that threatens to destroy the fragile harmony between Aliens and humans.

Los Angeles becomes a new home for the Aliens (odd since Starfleet Academy is based in San Francisco in the new Star Trek film), who take, or in some cases are assigned, sometimes comical human names (such as "Rudyard Kipling"). Los Angeles Police Detective Matthew Sykes, loses his partner when they try to stop two Newcomers in what appears to be a robbery of a small Newcomer-owned store. The next day Sykes' commanding officer informs his squad that they will have to work with the newly promoted Newcomer detective, "Sam Francisco", and if someone doesn't volunteer to work with him the commanding officer shall choose someone. Sykes volunteers to work with Francisco, feeling that as he investigates crimes involving Newcomers he will find opportunities to also investigate his partner's death, which he is officially forbidden to do.

The main villain of the film is an ambitious Newcomer businessman (Stamp) who plans to sell a drug which was used to pacify the Newcomers when they were slaves, but which has no effect on humans.

The Newcomers live and work side-by-side with humans today. All do not hold these Newcomers to be friends, however, as some known as the "Purists" seek their eradication. The Tenctonese are capable of extreme feats of strength and have no hair or outer ears. Their methods of reproduction and mating are different as is much of the culture they have known. Their lives before were that of slaves aboard giant vessels run by masters known as "Overseers".

Thus, another interesting parallel is drawn between this old TV series and the upcoming release of the sure to be blockbuster District-9, which we looked at a few weeks back even.

But here's the point I want to make. This idea that we're supposed to "feel sorry for the aliens" is becoming more and more prevalent. We saw this is Race To Witch Mountain a few months ago, and I'm sure there were others too, but that's the only one I saw that I can recall being similar.

So, this dichotomy we're seeing is an important one. Either these so-called "extraterrestrial life forms" are "just like us" in a sense and are to be accepted and welcomed with open arms, or they are "hideous monsters" concerned with nothing but out complete and utter destruction and we must destroy them before they destroy us.

While the TV show adaptation was not as "dark", it still dealt with some pretty powerful themes. First, let's take a look at the intro to the show.

Alien Nation Theme



Boy, you almost feel as though you're getting a glimpse into the future and witnessing the "Full Disclosure" or "First Contact" event before it actually happens in the here and now, don't you?

Now, take a look at the promotional poster from the film with the same name:



As mentioned, the weekly series ran for only one season, from 1989 through 1990, when a financial crunch at the fledgling Fox Network caused Fox executives to cancel all dramatic series. A second season was expected by the producers, as the season ended with a cliffhanger. The show built a strong fan base, and popular demand led to "Dark Horizon", the episode that would have begun the second season, being novelized and adapted as a comic book as well as spawning a series of novels. Four years later, after a change of management at Fox, the story of Alien Nation continued with five television movies (including all the original cast).

Let's take a quick look at each of those made-for-TV-movies and see if you can spot what's relevant to a lot of the things we've been studying in relation to last days Bible prophecy.

Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994)
Alien Nation: Dark Horizon begins with Susan Francisco and Emily Francisco falling victim to a newly developed bacterial infection that was created by a group of human purists to exterminate the Newcomer species. There is also a new sub-plot running parallel to this one, the story of Ahpossno, a Tenctonese Overseer who lands on Earth to find any surviving Tenctonese and bring them back into slavery.

Alien Nation: Body and Soul (1995)
The first plot is about a seemingly human/Tenctonese hybrid child and an evil Dr. Josef Mengele-like Overseer scientist.

Alien Nation: Millennium (1996)
The plot follows human detective Matthew Sikes and his Tenctonese partner George Francisco as they investigate a cult that is using a mind-altering Tenctonese artifact to lure followers into a deadly cult.

Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (1996)
In this movie, detective Matthew Sikes and his Tenctonese partner George Francisco investigate a group of Tenctonese called the Eenos. The sub-plot involves Tenctonese binnaum Albert Einstein and his new bride May attempting to have a child (with George's help).

Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy (1997)
The plot introduces the idea that among the Tenctonese slaves, there was a resistance movement called the Udara who were implanted with hypnotic suggestions to act as sleeper agents. Now, here on Earth, someone has found a way to activate these sleeper agents, and send them out as assassins.

Case closed?