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| Jeanne and her squadron attempt a desperate escape! |
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross: Crisis.
Original Air Date - Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross: Sept. 2, 1984. Writer: Tadashi Terada. Director: Mikio Suzuki.
Robotech: Crisis Point.
Original Air Date - Robotech: May 20, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - SOUTHERN CROSS
Jeanne and the 15th squadron are prisoners of the Zor - but not for long. After Seifriet leaves his designated area, the Zor decide that the humans are too dangerous to be allowed to live. When Musica discovers this, she stages a daring rescue.
With Musica's help, the squad is able to rescue Seifriet, whose memories have been restored. They make their way back to their mechs. But with the Zor locking down the entire ship, Jeanne isn't sure how she's going to get her squad away and back to the safety of Gloire!
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Dana and the 15th squadron are prisoners of the Robotech Masters - but not for long. After Zor leaves his designated area, the Masters decide that the humans are too dangerous to be allowed to live. When Musica discovers this, she stages a daring rescue.
With Musica's help, the squad is able to rescue Zor, whose memories of his prior life have been restored. They make their way back to their mechs. But with the Masters locking down the entire ship, Dana isn't sure how she's going to get her squad away and back to the safety of Earth!
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| Musica helps the humans against her own people. |
CHARACTERS:
There's a scene that really captures the difference in characterization between Southern Cross's Andrzej and Robotech's Angelo. Just after escaping confinement, the squad comes to the control center of the ship. Andrzej argues that they should forego rescuing Seifriet and instead complete their mission by destroying the control center. Robotech's Angelo wants the same thing, but changes in dialogue shift the emphasis. Andrzej wants to do his duty; Angelo seems to just want to blow stuff up for the sake of it. Because while Andrzej is a soldier dedicated to duty, Angelo is mostly just an imbecile.
This is a big episode for Musica. Her feelings for Bowie have overwhelmed her, and she tells her sisters that she wishes she could be alone sometimes instead of always with them. When she learns that Bowie and his squad are to be executed, she takes action - passing a point of no return with the Zor, though (at least in Southern Cross) she still wants to save her own people as well.
Advantage: Southern Cross.
NARRATION:
After the recap, Southern Cross has an establishing shot of the aftermath of the battle before the camera moves to the Zor ship. It's an effective opening visual for the viewer to absorb with no words needed... but since Robotech doesn't do silence, the narrator talks over it, telling us about how the wreckage is "a grim reminder of the horrors of war." Yeah, thanks for that, Mr. Narrator. Where would we be if you left us to interpret visuals for ourselves?
Advantage: Southern Cross.
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| Seifriet has flashes of memory. So does Zor in Robotech, but the meaning is very different. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
The Masters Talk About the Invid: While watching the humans bicker in their cell, the Zor leaders are bemused that they don't seem to realize their situation. In Robotech, the Masters talk about the Invid, discussing how their actions are saving the humans from the upcoming invasion just as much as they're saving themselves.
Zor's Memories Are of "the Protoculture Site": As Seifriet wanders in a daze, he sees flashes of memory from his time on Gloire, which Musica confirms when she finds him. In Robotech, Musica focuses on Zor remembering his visit to "the protoculture site" - the cave with the flowers - even though that scene is depicted in exactly none of these flashbacks.
Louis Explains the Plan in More Detail: The squad discovers Seifriet as his memories are being processed. Observing what's happening, Louis advises waiting until all his memories are restored before staging the rescue. This is the same in Robotech, except that Louis is far more detailed as he goes over the plan, to the point that I half-expected Spaceballs' Dark Helmet to appear and ask, "Everybody got that?"
The Alarm Becomes a Barrier Control: In Southern Cross, the control center features an alarm that can be sounded to alert the civilians to flee the ship. Robotech changes this to a "barrier control" that must be deactivated for Dana's squad to break free. This completely changes the context of Musica and Bowie running for that control. In Southern Cross, they want to save the Zor civilians; in Robotech, they're trying to make good their own escape.
Gen. Emerson's Orders: In Southern Cross, Emerson orders his forces to break off their attack in twenty more minutes. Robotech apparently decided this was too slack a deadline, tightening it to five minutes and making Dana's final escape a lot less likely than Jeanne's, which was pretty darn unlikely to start with!
Seifriet's Fate: When Seifriet announces that he'll delay the Zor and catch up, Andrzej clearly recognizes that he has no intention of doing so. As a result, while the others escape, Andrzej goes back to rescue him. Robotech's Angelo is way too dumb for that, so Zor now escapes on his own, and what had been Andrzej's mech is now explained away as Zor having brought "a change of clothes." Thus, a terrific character beat for Andrzej is tossed aside for no readily apparent reason.
Advantage: Southern Cross.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
It's fair to say that many of Robotech's tracks feel overused by this point. It's still good music, so it usually isn't a problem when it's well-applied. But it feels more overused than usual in this episode, a sense that isn't helped by Robotech stuffing every non-dialogue scene with wall-to-wall music. Southern Cross allows several scenes to play without incidentals, which helps to vary the tone and increases the impact of the scenes that do rely on music.
Advantage: Southern Cross.
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| Zor guards apprehend Seifriet. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - SOUTHERN CROSS:
Southern Cross's Andrzej receives some excellent character moments, while Robotech's Angelo mainly comes across as violent and dumb. Robotech also overexplains certain plot elements, while other changes appear to have been made for no reason at all. The episode remains entertaining either way, but I definitely prefer the original version.
OTHER MUSINGS:
Crisis finishes up what has effectively been a three-parter surrounding the infiltration, exploration, and escape from the Zor mothership. Wonderland was the high point, with the characters' exploration of the alien environment being more interesting than the combat-heavy episodes on either side. Still, Crisis remains an entertaining installment. It offers choice character moments for Seifriet, Andrzej, and Musica, with action that is generally well-animated and fun to watch.
Robotech suffers from weaker characterization (as usual) and a few bizarre changes. In Robotech, this is the weakest of the three episodes, while I'd rate the Southern Cross version about even with Bio Psychers.
Overall Rating - Southern Cross: 7/10.
Overall Rating - Robotech: 6/10.
Previous Episode: Wonderland/Dana in Wonderland
Next Episode: Daydream/Daydreamer
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