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| Ambushed by the Inbit! |
Genesis Climber Mospeada: White Night Serenade.
Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Jan. 29, 1984. Writer: Ryo Yasumura. Director: Masakazu Yasumura.
Robotech: The Midnight Sun.
Original Air Date - Robotech: June 18, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MOSPEADA:
The group advances toward Reflex Point, moving through a snowy mountain range. They believe themselves safe as they gather around a fire, eating and laughing. They are anything but.
Sorji, the female humanoid Inbit, attacks when their guard is down. Stig and the others are forced to flee, sliding down the mountainside, with the Inbit in pursuit. Only two things save them: an avalanche triggered by the exchange of fire; and Sorji's own hesitation to kill Yellow.
The humans split into three groups. Ray, Houquet, and Mint draw an Inbit Grab into one trap; Stig and Jim set another trap for the two Grabs that follow them. Meanwhile, Yellow and Aisha are caught on the edge of a cliff, with Sorji lying in wait!
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
The group advances toward Reflex Point, moving through a snowy mountain range. They believe themselves safe as they gather around a fire, eating and laughing. They are anything but.
Sera, the Invid princess, attacks when their guard is down. Scott and the others are forced to flee, sliding down the mountainside, with the Invid in pursuit. Only two things save the humans: an avalanche triggered by the exchange of fire; and Sera's own hesitation to kill Lancer.
The humans split into three groups. Rand, Rook, and Annie draw an Invid trooper into one trap; Scott and Lunk set another trap for the two that follow them. Meanwhile, Lancer and Marlene are caught on the edge of a cliff, with Sera lying in wait!
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| Aisha is startled as her memories awaken... |
CHARACTERS:
The choice to split the characters up is a good one, allowing all the regulars a chance to show their resourcefulness. Ray and Houquet exchange quips while preparing their trap. Houquet acidly states that she won't rescue him if things go wrong - but when things do go wrong, she rushes to save him, firing wildly at the Grab, while Mint distracts it by flinging snowballs. Stig and Jim devise their own trap, one which relies on Jim's physical strength. Yellow shows his courage when he shields Aisha from Sorji, offering his own life while pleading for Aisha to be set free.
The most notable developments center around Aisha. Early in the episode, when she clutches her head and cries out, the others instantly look about for Inbit. Even if they're not talking about it yet, they have made the connection between her breakdowns and enemy attacks. At the end of the episode, seeing Sorji seems to revive Aisha's memories, or at least her consciousness of being an Inbit and not a human. Robotech's Marlene has a different immediate response to this than Mospeada's Aisha; but either way, I'm interested to see what this leads to.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
The Robotech episode uses its narration both sparingly and unobtrusively. It also uses the opening recap to slip in a transition between the summer ocean setting of the previous episode and the winter snowscape of this one. Mospeada has the characters comment on the change from just a few days ago as well, so the writers of both series apparently felt that the change in setting was jarring enough to at least lampshade it.
Advantage: None.
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| Sorji wrestles with conflicting emotions. Robotech's Sera narrates the conflict for our benefit. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
Sera's Internal Monologue: Mospeada shows Sorji as she reflects on meeting Yellow. Robotech adds an internal monologue for Princess Sera, in which she berates herself for wanting to see Lancer again - which is "not the Invid way" - because the viewer can't be trusted to understand her internal conflict.
Lancer Makes a Speech: After Aisha senses the Inbit and breaks down, the group goes on alert but sees nothing. Yellow then soothes Aisha by singing Love Pebbles, which carries over into the attack. Robotech isn't about to come up with a new Lancer song, so Lancer instead gives a pep talk about getting through difficult moments. Given Robotech's limitations, it's a fair compromise - and while Love Pebbles is a nice enough song, it doesn't mesh with the battle, which makes the Robotech scene a marginal improvement.
Sera Directs the Attack: The Regess gives Sera command, making it clear that she's responsible for the outcome. Sera then gives orders throughout the battle. I think this slightly helps the scene, as it makes the action feel a bit more ordered than in Mospeada, particularly when the humans split into pairs and Sera directs her forces to split up to follow.
Rand Adds "Injured Noises" to His Trap: Ray lures the Inbit Grab chasing him, Houquet, and Mint into a trap by making sure his footprints lead straight to the trigger. Robotech adds dialogue to make clear that Rand is springing a trap, with Rand making fake "injured" noises to further draw in the pursuing Invid.
The Regess Calls Out to Marlene: Near the end, Mospeada's Sorji meets Aisha's eyes, and the two humanoid Inbit share a moment of recognition that seems to restore at least some of Aisha's memories. Robotech adds the Regess to this scene, with her voice calling out to "Ariel" (Marlene), reminding her of who she really is and demanding that she return to them. Though this underscores Robotech's need to spell things out, it's still an effective scene, with the Regess's voice over a good match for the visuals.
Scott Tries to Pass Off the Incident as a Plan: In Mospeada, Ray briefly tries to pretend that the successful rescue of Yellow and Aisha was his plan, though he quickly admits that he's joking. Robotech sees the same claim made, only this time by Scott - which, given Scott's generally serious demeanor, feels a bit out of character.
Scott Does Not Refer to the Invid as "Monsters": The group wonders why Sorji didn't shoot Yellow and Aisha, and Stig responds that there's no way to know what goes on inside the head of the alien monsters. This reminds us of Stig's deep personal hatred of the Inbit - and it reminds Aisha of the same just as she's becoming aware of her true nature. Robotech changes this, with Scott shrugging Sera's inaction off as confusion caused by the group's cover fire. In this altered context, Marlene isn't reacting to his words but is instead still processing her encounter with Sera and the revelations from the Regess. Both versions work, though I find the Mospeada version of the scene more interesting.
Lancer and Marlene Talk: At the end of Mospeada, Yellow offers his hand to Aisha as the group moves off. She doesn't take it, a sign of rejection in the face of Stig's harsh words. Robotech completely changes the context by dubbing in a conversation between Marlene and Lancer, with her worried about bringing trouble to the group and him reassuring her.
Advantage: Robotech. Though I prefer a couple of Mospeada's late episode moments, those are outweighed by Robotech's improvements to the first half.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Mospeada's normal score is applied in a heavy-handed way early in this episode, particularly the loud march when the Inbit appear. There's an attempt to do something interesting with the initial attack, with Yellow's song to soothe Aisha carried over into the early stages of the fight. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I don't think the song works either to accent or contrast with the battle, making it just an extra chaotic element in a weak opening Act. A reprise of the song at the end works better, but this is overall one of Mospeada's weaker episodes with regard to its score.
Robotech uses its tracks better, from the vaguely otherworldly music that accompanies the opening visuals of the snowy mountains to the various tracks backing the action scenes. Notably, Robotech uses a different "action/suspense" track for each of the character groups in the second half. The track for Scott and Lunk is a bit more intense than the one for Rand, Rook, and Annie; the track as Lancer and Marlene find themselves trapped raises the intensity still more.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| Ray, Houquet, and Mint struggle through the snowstorm. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - ROBOTECH:
The first half is the weakest part of both versions, but Robotech's added dialogue for both the human and Invid characters lends a bit more sense of direction to the early going, making it more engaging.
I prefer the final Yellow/Aisha scene in Mospeada to the Lancer/Marlene conversation in Robotech... but except for that, I think the second half is about equal in both versions. Given the improvements to the first part of the episode, this ends up being the first time in a while that I've preferred Robotech over the original version.
OTHER MUSINGS:
I struggled with the first half of Mospeada here, finding it difficult to connect with the characters' situation. Weaker-than-usual musical choices further harm the opening Act, but there's also a lack of energy and focus. Robotech improves on that, presenting a more clearly structured and more immediately engaging opening.
The episode gets better as it goes. I enjoyed watching each group of characters deal with the enemies chasing them in their own ways. I'm also glad to get some follow-up to the previous episode, with Sorji continuing to struggle with her emotional reaction to Yellow.
By far the most interesting part is Aisha's encounter with Sorji. Mospeada visualizes her reaction rather than spelling it out with voice over, so there's some question as to whether she remembers her past or just has more of a sense of her true identity. Either way, it should lead to something interesting... and with only seven episodes to go, I'm guessing further follow-up won't be too long in coming.
Overall Rating - Mospeada: 6/10. A strong second half partially redeems a weak first half.
Overall Rating - Robotech: 7/10. Improvements to the first half make it more immediately engaging.
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