Sanctuary in History, a look at "Normandy" (S3 - Episode 17)
The episode "Normandy" gives us something unique for Sanctuary, a "historical" episode. The focus is a view of the contributions of "The Five" (Magnus, Druitt, Tesla, Watson and Griffin) to the World War 2 Allied invasion of Normandy (D-Day). As such, it is cast in the form of a war movie more or less. If anything, it bears a resemblance to the opening act of the original "Hellboy" movie.
The Setting
The thing that struck me about the setting is the general accuracy of details (military history is one of my hobbies). The German unit designations were correct as were the Allied ones. They also got the local geography correct and the action does tie well into what occurred on D-Day (A Patrol of the 101st Airborne did skirmish briefly in the town of Carentan early on June 6th). So kudos to the writers on cracking open the history books, which is not something that SciFi shows always do.
The General Plot
The story is definitely a throwback to the Season 1 days of seeking abnormals while The Cabal was trying to exploit them for power. In this case, however, the opposing organization is not the Cabal but rather a special SS unit. I rather liked the throwback nature of the story, and also that it involved all of the Five. Also in a manner hearkening back to the early show, the SS had plans for an abnormal but they seriously did not understand what they had, and their plan would have caused worldwide destruction. Within this structure this is a straightforward action story, and a well paced and executed one.
Characters
The cast had an interesting challenge. They had to play their characters not as they are today but as they were (according to series canon) 70 years ago. And for the most part they did it well.
Helen was a more innocent and less hard Magnus (no Ashley trauma yet). Tesla was his usual eccentric and somewhat conceited self. A real treat was Druitt, as an SS officer with his own agenda (and apparently he killed Hitler - the Nazi leadership used a body double thereafter). This was old school Druitt, an out and out killer but one with a soft spot for Helen. The scenes with him torturing Watson were especially effective.
It was also nice to see Watson get real plot time (Peter Wingfield is always good - I remember him doing great playing Methos in Highlander the Series) as well as Griffin. So this episode also told us a bit more about The Five than we previously knew.
Additionally, there is the SS officer in charge of the abnormal hunting unit. He made a good opponent as he was not just a brute but a cunning and sadistic adversary. I kept expecting him to turn out to be an abnormal himself but alas it was not so.
There is one more character, a US officer named Zimmerman (my guess is this is Will's grandfather). He helped The Five stop the Nazi plan and was killed in action, which helps to avoid questions about Will joining the Sanctuary in Episode One.
Conclusion
I liked this installment. As a standalone episode it fills in some backstory and does it in the context of a well executed action adventure. Also, judging by the previews this may not really be standalone but may figure in the season finale. Time will tell...
The episode "Normandy" gives us something unique for Sanctuary, a "historical" episode. The focus is a view of the contributions of "The Five" (Magnus, Druitt, Tesla, Watson and Griffin) to the World War 2 Allied invasion of Normandy (D-Day). As such, it is cast in the form of a war movie more or less. If anything, it bears a resemblance to the opening act of the original "Hellboy" movie.
The Setting
The thing that struck me about the setting is the general accuracy of details (military history is one of my hobbies). The German unit designations were correct as were the Allied ones. They also got the local geography correct and the action does tie well into what occurred on D-Day (A Patrol of the 101st Airborne did skirmish briefly in the town of Carentan early on June 6th). So kudos to the writers on cracking open the history books, which is not something that SciFi shows always do.
The General Plot
The story is definitely a throwback to the Season 1 days of seeking abnormals while The Cabal was trying to exploit them for power. In this case, however, the opposing organization is not the Cabal but rather a special SS unit. I rather liked the throwback nature of the story, and also that it involved all of the Five. Also in a manner hearkening back to the early show, the SS had plans for an abnormal but they seriously did not understand what they had, and their plan would have caused worldwide destruction. Within this structure this is a straightforward action story, and a well paced and executed one.
Characters
The cast had an interesting challenge. They had to play their characters not as they are today but as they were (according to series canon) 70 years ago. And for the most part they did it well.
Helen was a more innocent and less hard Magnus (no Ashley trauma yet). Tesla was his usual eccentric and somewhat conceited self. A real treat was Druitt, as an SS officer with his own agenda (and apparently he killed Hitler - the Nazi leadership used a body double thereafter). This was old school Druitt, an out and out killer but one with a soft spot for Helen. The scenes with him torturing Watson were especially effective.
It was also nice to see Watson get real plot time (Peter Wingfield is always good - I remember him doing great playing Methos in Highlander the Series) as well as Griffin. So this episode also told us a bit more about The Five than we previously knew.
Additionally, there is the SS officer in charge of the abnormal hunting unit. He made a good opponent as he was not just a brute but a cunning and sadistic adversary. I kept expecting him to turn out to be an abnormal himself but alas it was not so.
There is one more character, a US officer named Zimmerman (my guess is this is Will's grandfather). He helped The Five stop the Nazi plan and was killed in action, which helps to avoid questions about Will joining the Sanctuary in Episode One.
Conclusion
I liked this installment. As a standalone episode it fills in some backstory and does it in the context of a well executed action adventure. Also, judging by the previews this may not really be standalone but may figure in the season finale. Time will tell...
