First Wave (1998–2001) User Reviews

Great work by Spence

[go2dean · 7/10 · 25 July 2004]

I think it goes without saying that Sebastian Spence really made this series work. He had that quintessential generation X (Markie Mark) look with an attitude to boot. Rob Labelle was also very distinguishing as Crazy Eddie. Traci Lords Character was a good addition in the 3rd season, but someone like Cynthia Rothrock could have given you just as much sex appeal along with the ability to kick some SERIOUS butt.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the series from beginning to end, and hope to see it available on DVD soon. This was a youth driven project looking to reach a young audience. It was also good exposure for Spence who displayed the ability to fulfill the demands of an action lead role. Roger Cross also did an excellent job in the anti-hero role of Joshua as well.

Guilty Pleasure

[roedyg · 8/10 · 15 January 2007]

I love this show, but I am embarrassed to tell any of my friends how much I like it. The key surely is Sebastian Spence, too handsome for a human to be, with a breathy voice that makes my heart leap every time he says a word. He is for me what "Elvis" was for so many.

The premise is too silly for words. It is not even explainable. At least the writers acknowledge that as Cade vainly tries to convince people he is not a raving nutter.

The plots are delightfully convoluted. There is plenty of emotional intensity. The episode with the rooms that could control emotions was so disturbing I had to turn it off. The episode about the doctors who take over a hospital was perhaps the scariest drama I have seen in years. I feel a bit like a kid biting my nails about the safety of the hero. It does so often look as if he is done for this time.

I just wish Cade were not so unambiguously heterosexual.

Perhaps what I appreciate most about this is Cade does not triumph over the evil aliens; at best he just scrapes by. I am glad to see the lack of species jingoism.

Great Sci Fi

[BrimstonewinPete · 8/10 · 9 October 2023]

This show was great for its time and is still fantastic sci fi

This is a interesting take on Sci fi where Nostradamus Quatrains lead a man whos who is a brilliant thief and security expert, life is destroyed by aliens and he is framed for murder by them he escapes from the mental institution run by the aliens, and with the help of his conspiracy and Nostradamus expert Eddie he hunts down the Aliens projects and he tracks via the Quatrains the Aliens who destroyed his life lots of great sci fi actors were in this as well I highly recommend seeing this and since you can find it on You tube its a great watch.

Highly entertaining

[Op_Prime · 5 January 2000]

First Wave is a very entertaining sci-fi show. It uses themes from 'The Fugitive' and 'The X-Files.' The show is filled with suspense and never lets up on the action. The stories are great and filled with what ever you could want. This is classic sci-fi today and is worth a look.

So

[Headturner1 · 7/10 · 16 December 2023]

Far. Jeez it feels like forever since I've written a review because there hasn't been any decent series of late I've been exploring things frm the 90's ( something I thought I'd never do) even tho I grew up then. I had watched a few episodes of this back then before it was easy to keep track of what you've watched. So watching it in 2023 it is decent. Seems recently I can't connect with any of the horrible stuff that seems a 8 year old wrote it. It's decent but I feel the aliens are inconsistent like the plot. The aliens have integrated themselves into society with no distinguishable features other than a few have extreme telepathy powers. Tho it is a decent watch compared to most of todays recent series. I never thought I'd say that and I hope our choices get better and I will update when I've finished more.

An outstanding Sci Fi series not to be missed.

[docp · 9/10 · 13 October 2002]

Contrary to the views of another reviewer, I find this series outstandingly entertaining and my wife and I have been addicted to every episode. I am in my 50's and have a postgraduate degree - so much for moronic, sex-craved teens only! It is excellent escapism. No-one is suggesting that the programme is 'realistic' - that could hardly be described as the purpose of most SciFi TV series - but it does hold one intrigued from the beginning of the first series to the end of the last to find out how, if at all, everything is going to work out. The 'prophecies' of Nostradamus add a novel twist to everything and since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I should imagine that Nostradamus would feel well flattered indeed by this programme and the only somersaults he will be turning in his grave will be one's of delight. I would suggest that this programme be accepted for what it is and that one should not expect it to be deeply meaningful or anything else that it does not purport to be. It is well acted and directed throughout and I would recommend it unreservedly.

Thoughtful, Absorbing, Compelling: First Wave

[Enrique-Sanchez-56 · 10/10 · 18 July 2002]

This wonderful series was NOT made for the average sci-fi fan.

This series WAS made for fans who possessed that a LITTLE more philosophical insight than the average. It was made for those of us who thirst for series that whirl you around in eternal questions and philosophical quests.

Two Thumbs UP to this insightful science fiction series and its discerning fans! Two Thumbs DOWN to the forces which was ended it mercilessly.

FEW series can draw you in with its truly intellectual content. This series challenged the brain in every episode. It did not quench the needs of the visual and ephemeral sensibilities.

This series pondered wonderful questions BEYOND good vs. evil - it pondered questions of in the best tradition of the morality plays infused with limitless dimensions of time, space and fate v. free will.

Here's a Big VOTE to continue to this series or at least to make one or two CONCLUSIVE movies.

This series deserves that - at the very least.

KUDOS to SPENCE, LA BELLE, CROSS, BRANCATO, COPPOLA and SUGAR for truly fine series. Thank you SCI-FI CHANNEL.

"Believe in Me. This is our final battle."

The most unavailable greatest Sci-fi series

[alan_rawlins · 10/10 · 27 July 2006]

Why when there is so much rubbish available on DVD, from half cocked movies to dreadful soaps, are we not able to purchase this quality sci-fi series on DVD. I loved it when it was on and my money is in my wallet to purchase all 3 seasons.If the people that have the rights to it would just share it with us! I have searched and searched and all I find is frustration across the globe almost to the point of outright anger at the lack of access to owning First Wave. If those people who have the rights are reading this, release it please, you will make a shed load of cash, and I don't care if you do I just want to own it and be able to watch First Wave as I please.

Something special and uniquely powerful about this show

[hacks-56635 · 10/10 · 9 January 2020]

Even after all these years, this show still stands up. At least, first two seasons do. Third is a bit odd. Interesting and fun still, but somehow not quite in rythm with the two that preceded it...

Cade Foster is a legendary hero. The twice blessed man... And hell, so is Crazy Eddie. I am not sure why this show affected me this much, but I think it has something to do with the depth of the character development and strength of the actors. Amidst the constant action and fun new adventures every week, you come to know them all a little. You (read I) really end up caring for them, even Joshua, and well, of all the tv show characters I have "met" over the years, these are some of the coolest, kindest, and strongest people out there.

The episodes are mostly standalone, yet slowly cumulative. Up until the third season, I would say pace is perfect. Then, well, yeah, it's like a car that shifts from second gear right into fifth... a slow awkward transition that doesn't quite pull anything off... but still eventually gets you to the crescendo...

Interesting but . . .

[vespasian79 · 5/10 · 19 January 2010]

I'll be brief. I watched this show for most of the first season, then lost interest. It is basically what we writers call an "homage", which means anything from borrowing story ideas and plots to outright ripoff.

In this case, the series is a blatant rehash of the classic 1960s Sci Fi series "The Invaders". The shows share identical plot lines and devices, for instance: In "The Invaders", architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) stumbled upon an alien plot to take over the earth, and spent the rest of the series trying (usually in vain) to get people to believe him.

In First Wave, Cade Foster (Sebastian Spence) stumbles upon an alien plot to take over the earth, and spends the rest of the series trying (usually in vain) to get people to believe him.

In "The Invaders", the aliens, when killed or wounded, glowed red and disappeared, thus leaving no corpse or no evidence.

In "First Wave", the aliens, when killed or wounded (though not always when wounded) glow and (unlike Invaders) begin to show their true form and then disappear, leaving no corpse or evidence.

Along the way, David Vincent meets unusual people (usually aliens, whom he kills so they can vanish), but sometimes he manages to convince people that he's NOT a nutcase, and he even forms an alliance of sorts with an alien resistance. Cade Foster gets a human partner, conspiracy nut Crazy Eddie (the underrated Rob LaBelle) and gains an alien ally in the form of Joshua (Robert R. Cross) and another human ally as well, Jason Radcliffe, hottie and ex-porn star Traci Lords.

David Vincent discovers the alien plot by taking a wrong turn and seeing a flying saucer.

Cade Foster, in an imaginative twist, stumbles on the conspiracy by discovering a "lost" book of Nostradamus which details the coming alien invasion in a whole lot of the usually cryptic Nostradamus quatrains, although given Nostra's reputation for being undeniably vague, I wonder just why he chose to interpret "went with Marcel to get coffee and croissants" as "big alien invasion coming, earth doomed unless stalwart human hero with mixed-bag of dubiously intelligent sidekicks can save it", is beyond me.

On the whole, First Wave was an Okay Show, which different writers kept screwing up by drastically altering plot and story lines, which didn't save the show. (Idiot writers. When will we ever learn?) However, The Invaders comes out way ahead, for its originality (which actually paid 'hommage' to the Cold War 1950s and the really creepy Invasion of the Body Snatchers), and was very gritty for its time and surprisingly daring (by then-TV standards) story elements, while First Wave wasn't really innovative but was eerily prescient when it's realized that the events of 9/11 had yet to occur.

Anyway, if you pick it up in reruns on SciFi channel, go ahead and watch. It's an Okay time killer.

"Right on, Cade!"

[lonelydude-2 · 18 April 2001]

"First Wave" is outstanding, passionate sci-fi action drama. This is a show that lives in real time, a show that is intelligent and full of raw emotion. The performances are never flat. "First Wave" is a sci-fi show that is imaginative while at the same time being very down-to-earth. In a way their reality is much like ours. While the Gua, an alien race that are both highly intelligent and extremely ruthless quietly prepares to conquer and destroy, humanity in general (with the exception of Cade, Ed, and Jordan) still don't believe in aliens at all, pretty good premise.

For me this is not a show, it is an addiction. I became hooked on the very first episode and have been watching and videotaping it religiously ever since. I especially like the growing chemistry between Spence and Lords as they square off against the alien Antichrist Mabus, a deliciously evil character I might add.

This show is certainly recommended.

Anyway it can be purchased!!

[laughcat · 10/10 · 20 September 2022]

I hv bn looking for a DVD copy for yrs. That's how much I loved First wave! I can't imagine how it wasn't continues on Syfy" Now that I think of it, they hv made us lose progs we loved. It is a story about a man(actor has bn a fav since). He runs for his life framed 4 murder + tracking & dodging aliens who r slowly trying to take over the world. He feels he must convince others of their existence. It's many, many yrs since I saw it, but it was WELL written; keeps the story varied; lead actors quickly pull u in. It hooks u in like Dark Skies, Firefly, Dark Angel. I wish I remembered the main actors name. I've seen him in other shows/movies & didn't realize he was a Canadian actor.

Very well directed, but Francisco capolla is the best

[christoby · 9/10 · 17 December 2020]

First wave is a program,, which we all know is an audience graber,,like other sitcoms what ever it is you want to say,, sometimes YOU need to let a sci-fi program grow on you B4 you get into it,, but first wave,, because of the direction of the show is exactly what you as a person would do to regain WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN,, BUT REMEMBER ITS THE (MAKER/WRITER/PRODUCER OF THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME THE GODFATHER. WHO MADE THE FIRST WAVE SO IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT YOU WILL WANT THE NEXT EPISODE AND THEN THE NEXT ITS AMAZING GUYS 10/10

Awesome canadian show

[jimbooo · 9/10 · 20 June 2018]

One of the best tv shows of the late 90s, have got season 1 on dvd but 2&3 were never released

I love this show

[darkstar-52082 · 10/10 · 31 October 2023]

First wave is simply amazing, I really wish there where more than 3 seasons. Its super entretaining, with a 90s X-files style monser of the week story telling with the odd bit of progression in its story telling.

I love the relationship betweed Cade Foster (Sebastian Spence) and Crazy Eddie (Rob LaBelle) and they really do a good job in their roles.

I think the best part is when they are trying to convicne people that they are Aliens, which they dont beleive to the end when they kill one and it dissapears in a cool alien glow, which never gets old.

This show really needs a reboot or continuation, but I guess it can never be as it would lose its 90s charm.

Like a cheaper X-File with more sex

[jthaule · 4/10 · 24 January 2021]

The title really says it all.

In the wake of the X-Files there was a slew of short lived shows that tried to cash in on paranoid entertainment about aliens and monster of the week-content. This is not the worst of these, but certainly doesn't hold a candle to the show it emulated.

First Wave tried to reach a more adult audience by including half naked women in most episodes in pattern that quickly became predictable, but probably distracted viewers from the rather ridiculous use of a fictional volume two of Nostradamus' prophecies as a gimmick.

I LOVE that show!

[nicky811121 · 23 January 2003]

From the very first episode I got addict to this wonderful show!It is intelligent and thoughtful,it didn't rely on special effects,it had great actors which were perfect for their characters,especially Sebastian Spence and Rob La Belle.They are wonderful as Cade and Eddie and they make their characters believable. The show was SUPERB and I want to see First wave movie! :)

If this slipped past your radar, you are missing out!

[ILuvTVMovies · 9/10 · 3 November 2022]

There's really no other way to say it: This show is great!

Cade Foster and Crazy Eddie make an awesome partnership uncovering an alien conspiracy to wipe out the human race and take ownership of the planet.

It may take an episode or two to really get the laidback vibe of the show but once you do, it's addicting! It's completely unpretentious and Sebastian really finds his rhythm as the vulnerable yet determined Cade.

Offsetting the even and calm Cade is the colorful and eccentric Crazy Eddie played by Rob LaBelle.

Check it out and you won't be disappointed!

PS: Release an upscaled DVD set now!!

The path of the hero and what it demands

[exoticspaces · 8/10 · 19 May 2020]

If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.

• Joseph Campbell

Ultimately, the series was true to this theme with the crescendo of ethics, intellect, and body unified to act without doubt or hesitation in sublime balance. It evokes the fascinating conversation Between Krishna and Karna Before Kurukhestra War in the Mahabharata.

I happened by this series as my second wave at the remote to 1998. I appreciated it more this time around on a deeper level, hence the J.C. reference. It has many parallels with the original Star Wars' inspiration from the rise of our hero archetype in - Power of Myth. Yes, the format, layers, potential arcs, and production buy-in is not for the faint of heart which influenced its cycle. Maybe that's why one of my favorites, Forbidden Planet, although deserving of a sequel/remake should never be attempted lest it spoils the genre pool longer than CoVid's projected duration.

I'll just say thank you to Chris Brancato. and Francis Ford Coppola for providing this series and hope there's enough interest for C.B. to speculate the choices and consequences of Nostradamus' race of being thrown off balance that each of us faces individually, Of course, you need balance the layers of entertainment with philosophy, and lessons of hope scaled to digestible portions.

OUTSTANDING WORK BY SEBASTIAN SPENCE

[jiten117 · 10/10 · 15 July 2020]

A great series on aliens and prophecies.. Sebastian is outstanding in the series. I wonder why he is not getting chance in Hollywood movies. I have watched all the episodes. A great fan of the intro theme...My name is Cade Foster. These are my journals. They killed my wife, framed me for murder. Now I run, but I don't hide... wow adrenaline rush....

You can see my profile name is also on his name ..

Why

[Shifty_Eyes · 19 September 2002]

Why on earth was this show cancelled? I barely got to see it, and it was suddenly not on TV anymore. Is there somewhere I can still see it? This was one of my guilty pleasures as a closet geek, and the news I have received now that it was CANCELLED have truly saddened me. I would really like to see if, if you can help, it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Awesome!

[lonewolf89 · 2 November 2002]

I loved this show! Eddie and Cade were great together, an interesting match up. The plot was excellent, and the episodes were believable. Joshua was a cool character. He good as a bad guy and a good guy. Jordan was the only person that I didn't like, she got on my nerves. Over all, First Wave is great, definitely worth watching.

Look out! This series is addictive!

[Columbus · 8 February 1999]

Not for a long, long time have I been drawn into a continuing series to the point that I just have to watch it week in, week out. "First Wave" has captured my imagination. Sebastian Spence as our hero Cade Foster should, in my opinion, be a big star and hopefully he will be, as audiences around the world get to see his work. "First Wave" is better than the X-Files and reminiscent of "The Fugitive" - if that confuses you, watch the show and you'll understand. You won't be disappointed.

If you like High Quality Sci-Fi, this show is for you!

[DrkAngel · 11 January 2000]

Simply put, this is one of the finest Sci-Fi shows on television today. The show is not driven by special f/x, it's driven by solid stories, solid acting, in sum it's character driven. Each week Cade and his pal Crazy Eddie, try to stop alien experiments and expose the truth about them. This is not your typical show, this show has it's own identity and a following the grows weekly. In this day and age, we look for something to carry us into the future. The X-Files is coming to a close. First Wave is the show, that will carry the ball for high quality, sci-fi dramatic television. Chris Brancato is the genius behind this gem of a show, he was once worked on the X-Files. He is brilliant, just as this show is. This show will capture not only your imagination but your heart as well. This is one solid show, that harks back to the days of sci-fi shows that made you think, and not blow something up every five minutes. This is a show that will make you think, and say wow. This is high quality tv at it's very best.

Simply excellent

[randyk · 27 February 2000]

This is a wonderful series, now in the beginning of its second season (at the time of this writing). The stories are consistently high quality, and the characters are believable, with strengths and weaknesses that each interact with the unfolding story line.

This is a must watch show.