First Wave (TV series)

First Wave
File:Firstwave01.jpg Cast
Created by	Chris Brancato
Starring	Sebastian Spence Rob LaBelle Roger R. Cross Traci Lords
Country of origin	Canada
No. of episodes	66
Production
Running time	60 mins.
Original release
Network	Space: The Imagination Station
Release	9 September 1998 – 7 February 2001

First Wave was a Canadian/American TV Show that aired from 1998 to 2001 on the Sci-Fi Channel. The show was created by Chris Brancato, who wrote the seminal X-Files episode "Eve." Francis Ford Coppola was executive producer on the show. In an unusual move, the Sci-Fi Channel picked up the series on sixty-six episode contract. The show was subsequently cancelled once the contract expired at the end of the third season due to disappointing ratings.

The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Plot outline

Former thief turned security specialist Lawrence Kincade "Cade" Foster’s life was idyllic, with a beautiful wife, good job and a nice house. Without his knowing, he is used as subject 117 in a Gua (an extraterrestrial race) experiment to test human resilience. As part of this experiment his life is systematically ruined including the murder of his wife for which he is framed. He is the only one of the 117 subjects to solve the riddles of the experiment and escape arrest to live as a fugitive. The Gua are among humans in the form of hybridised genetic clones and plan to enslave humanity—the first of three “waves” intent on conquering and finally destroying the human race. Constantly pursued by the police, and a strange government agency called the Illuminati, Foster discovers previously unknown quatrains of Nostradamus, which tell of three waves which will destroy the planet unless the “twice-blessed man” can stop them. For this reason, Foster investigates strange occurrences which may have ties to the Nostradamus’ quatrains, hoping to find what he needs to stop the Gua.

"Crazy" Eddie Nambulous is a computer hacker who helps Cade Foster and works on a web tabloid Paranoid Times. He uses Cade’s journal to tell people that the "aliens are here, walking among us, laying the groundwork for an impending invasion." After scanning the prophecies of Nostradamus into his computer, he analyzes and cross-references the quatrains with bizarre current events to which they may be connected. Foster and Eddie use these quatrains to understand the Gua invasion and search for any and all tools that may aid them in stopping the invasion in its First Wave.

One of the Gua, Joshua, does not believe the invasion of Earth is necessary. Although he wants the best for his people, he helps Cade and Eddie stop his people from reaching the “Second Wave”—the invasion itself.

History of the Gua

The Gua are a race older than humanity, coming from a much older star system. As Joshua tells Cade in episode 1.09, "Joshua", "Everything on my planet is red, the colour of a dying sun—the colour of death" which indicates that their home system is at a much later stage in its lifespan than our own, and that the sun is entering a late phase of its life. The Gua originally existed peacefully, exploring their inner selves until they were invaded and enslaved. Eventually, they rose up and overthrew their oppressors, taking the name Gua from that climactic, defining event; Gua meaning "power to overcome".

As a consequence of this invasion, the newly-named Gua decided they could no longer afford to be passive and peaceful, and set out on an aggressive, expansionist path. Aware of the limited lifespan of their home planet, they began a campaign to expand into other systems. Thus their invasion of Earth was planned.

Due to the distance between Earth and their own planet, the Gua devised a method of sending out small metallic orbs containing their consciousnesses through wormholes to Earth and transferring them into specially bioengineered human husks. As a result of this, it is unknown what the Gua actually look like.

These husks contain small amounts of Gua DNA that provide the aliens with an increased rate of healing, strength, speed and intelligence. The husks dissolve and disappear completely when the aliens are killed. The aliens in these husks are tasked with preparing the planet for the Second Wave. Joshua noted that he was in his "third body".

In the third season, Joshua reveals that at least one other race has been conquered and exterminated by the Gua centuries prior. Apparently, some members of that race had precognitive abilities.

Main cast

• Cade Foster - Sebastian Spence
• “Crazy” Eddie Nambulous - Rob LaBelle
• Joshua/Cain - Roger Cross
• Jordan Radcliffe - Traci Lords

Episode list

Season one

• 1.01 – “Subject 117”
• 1.02 – “Crazy Eddie”
• 1.03 – “Mata Hari”
• 1.04 – “Hypnotic”
• 1.05 – “Elixir”
• 1.06 – “Speaking in Tongues”
• 1.07 – “Lungfish”
• 1.08 – “Book of Shadows”
• 1.09 – “Joshua”
• 1.10 – “Marker 262”
• 1.11 – “Motel California”
• 1.12 – “Breeding Ground”
• 1.13 – “Blue Agave”
• 1.14 – “Cul de Sac”
• 1.15 – “The Box”
• 1.16 – “Undesirables”
• 1.17 – “Second Wave”
• 1.18 – “Blind Witness”
• 1.19 – “Deluge”
• 1.20 – “Melody”
• 1.21 – “The Aftertime”
• 1.22 – “The Decision”

Season two

• 2.01 – “Target 117”
• 2.02 – “Deepthroat”
• 2.03 – “The Apostles”
• 2.04 – “Susperience”
• 2.05 – “The Channel”
• 2.06 – “Red Flag”
• 2.07 – “Prayer for the White Man”
• 2.08 – “The Purge”
• 2.09 – “Lost Souls”
• 2.10 – “The Heist”
• 2.11 – “Ohio Players”
• 2.12 – “Night Falls”
• 2.13 – “Normal Illinois”
• 2.14 – “All about Eddie”
• 2.15 – “Playland”
• 2.16 – “The Harvest”
• 2.17 – “Rubicon”
• 2.18 – “Gladiator”
• 2.19 – “Trial of Joshua Bridges”
• 2.20 – “Underworld”
• 2.21 – “Tomorrow”
• 2.22 – “The Believers”

Season Three

• 3.01 – “Mabus”
• 3.02 – “Raven Nation”
• 3.03 – “Comes a Horseman”
• 3.04 – “Gulag”
• 3.05 – “The Flight of Francis Jeffries”
• 3.06 – “Still at Large”
• 3.07 – “Asylum”
• 3.08 – “Eyes of the Gua”
• 3.09 – “Skywatchers”
• 3.10 – “The Plan”
• 3.11 – “Wednesday’s Child”
• 3.12 – “Unearthed”
• 3.13 – “Shadowland”
• 3.14 – “Legacy”
• 3.15 – “The Edge”
• 3.16 – “The Vessel”
• 3.17 – “Requiem”
• 3.18 – “Checkmate”
• 3.19 – “Black Box”
• 3.20 – “Beneath the Black Sky”
• 3.21 – “Terminal City”
• 3.22 – “Twice Bless’d”

External links

• SciFi.com official site
• First Wave Continuum w/Discussion Forums & Interactive FW Info
• Camarila’s First Wave Episode Guide
• First Wave at IMDb