Exosquad

From Free net encyclopedia

Exosquad was an American "soft" science fiction animated television series that ran on the USA network and Fox from September 1993 to May 1995. It was created as a response to anime and, despite being advertised and marketed as a Saturday morning cartoon for children, found most acclaim, to the point of becoming a cult series, among teenagers and young adults. Because of this misdirected marketing, the ratings never lived up to their potential, and the show was cancelled after only two seasons. One third season episode was produced, "Beyond Chaos", but since the series had been cancelled, this episode was aired at the end of the second season.

1 Opening Narration
2 Plot Summary
- 2.1 Themes
- 2.2 Episode list
3 Cast and Characters
4 Other media
5 External links

[edit]

Opening Narration

"It was a golden age for all mankind. Using the incredible exoskeletons called E-frames, we had successfully terraformed Venus and Mars, and were now poised to move on to the Outer Planets. Suddenly, it all ended. We were pressed into a nightmarish war on a scale previously unimagined. We were attacked by our own creations, the Neosapiens, a race of artificially created humans. Led by Phaeton, they had seized control of Venus, Earth and Mars. This is Lt. J.T. Marsh, member of the Exofleet, leader of a small band of E-frame pilots dedicated to freeing humanity from Neosapien rule. We are... the Exosquad."

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit]

Plot Summary

In the 22nd century (approx. 2118-2120 AD), humans (often referred to as "Terrans") have expanded their presence beyond Earth, terraforming and colonizing Venus and Mars (the three "Homeworlds"). At the beginning of the series, the Homeworlds are drawn into a conflict with the Pirate Clans, several groups of rebel humans occupying parts of the outer Solar System. After the Clans raid one too many unarmed Homeworld freighters, the Earth Congress dispatches the entire Exofleet, humanity's space-based military, against them.

Image:Able squad sequad.jpg

With war with the Pirate Clans looming, a revolt is about to begin among the Neosapiens, an artificial humanoid race engineered to be physically stronger and smarter than humans and used primarily as slaves during the colonization of Mars and Venus. The maltreatment of the Neosapiens led to their first revolt 50 years earlier, which was mercilessly crushed. The new insurrection has been thoroughly planned by the Neosapien Governor of Mars, Phaeton, and begins shortly after the Exofleet leaves the Homeworlds to chase after the Pirate Clans. Of course, its absence was a part of the plan, as well, so the Neosapiens capture the Homeworlds without much effort...

Image:Jtmarsh exosquad.jpg

The two seasons that the series was on the air follow the progress of the war, as seen through the eyes of Able Squad, an elite E-frame squad, composed of J.T. Marsh, Nara Burns, Maggie Weston, Kaz Takagi, Alec DeLeon, Rita Torres, Wolf Bronski, and Marsala (a Neosapien).

The second season ends with the defeat of the Neosapiens and the liberation of the Homeworlds. The series was cancelled soon afterwards. However, Exosquad ends with a cliffhanger, suggesting that the third season would have been about a war against a new alien race, and that the Terrans and the Neosapiens would have been forced to ally with each other.

[edit]

Themes

Created as a response to anime, Exosquad has up to date remained one of the few Western cartoons that, according to many critics, could compete with Japanese animation. Most of animated series produced in the West using the developments of Japanese styling lack a certain dramatic undertone and this makes them less appealing to teen and young adult viewers.

Exosquad, despite being drawn in the traditional American fashion, had a very serious approach to the plot with several intertwined storylines and a number of memorable characters displaying a full spectrum of human relationships, such as friendship, love, hatred, personal tragedies, treachery, taking responsibility for others, etc. The same dramatic combination is credited with making Robotech a success in the US, and later made Disney's Gargoyles a fan favorite.

Interplanetary politics and space war typical for military science fiction were presented with an assumption of the history of the Solar System up to that point. The Able Squad's duties became more spread out as the second season unfolded. There were separate story arcs on Mars, Venus, Earth, and in space, running simultaneously. Espionage and intrigue were often featured instead of straightforward battles.

Will Meugniot, the executive producer of the series, once compared anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and Exosquad to the two theatres in the World War II. Gundam, being fought mostly in space, was analogous to the Pacific Theatre, while Exosquad, with its land-based battles in occupied territories, was analogous to the European Theatre. [1]

The Exo-Frames a.k.a. E-frames were multi-purpose mecha-like exoskeletons, mostly utilized as armored combat vehicles or enforced body armor in the series, although before the war, they were used for peaceful purposes, as well. Sources of inspiration for them may have been Robotech, Battletech, and, most likely, Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

[edit]

Episode list

1.01 - Fall of the Human Empire Pt. 01 - Pirate Scourge
1.02 - Fall of the Human Empire Pt. 02 - Seeds of Deception
1.03 - Fall of the Human Empire Pt. 03 - Hidden Terrors
1.04 - Fall of the Human Empire Pt. 04 - Blitzkrieg
1.05 - Fall of the Human Empire Pt. 05 - Resist!
1.06 - Veil of Doom Pt. 01 - Target: Earth
1.07 - Veil of Doom Pt. 02 - A Traitor Among Us
1.08 - Veil of Doom Pt. 03 - Scorched Venus
1.09 - Veil of Doom Pt. 04 - Sabotage
1.10 - Into The Heart of Darkness Pt. 01 - Abandoned
1.11 - Into The Heart of Darkness Pt. 02 - The Brood
1.12 - Into The Heart of Darkness Pt. 03 - Betrayal
1.13 - Into The Heart of Darkness Pt. 04 - Defying Olympus

2.01 - The Gathering
2.02 - The Embassy
2.03 - Pirate's Ransom
2.04 - Ultimate Weapon
2.05 - Expendable
2.06 - Mindset
2.07 - The Last Man
2.08 - Dragon's Rock
2.09 - Inner Dark
2.10 - The Dogs of War
2.11 - The First Step
2.12 - The Greatest Fear
2.13 - Flesh Crawls
2.14 - Behind the Shield
2.15 - Venus Rising
2.16 - Miracle
2.17 - Under the Skin
2.18 - Ultimatum
2.19 - Warrior Brood
2.20 - The Dream War
2.21 - No Surrender
2.22 - Fire Ship
2.23 - Martian Luck
2.24 - The Lost Patrol
2.25 - Call of the Unknown
2.26 - Heart of Mars
2.27 - Winged Fury
2.28 - Night of the Traitor
2.29 - Trial by Combat
2.30 - The Perfect Warrior
2.31 - The Price of Courage
2.32 - Dark River
2.33 - The Art of War
2.34 - The Fall of the Neosapien Empire Pt. 01 - One Small Step
2.35 - The Fall of the Neosapien Empire Pt. 02 - Fifth Column
2.36 - The Fall of the Neosapien Empire Pt. 03 - The Last Jump
2.37 - The Fall of the Neosapien Empire Pt. 04 - A Night Before Doomsday
2.38 - The Fall of the Neosapien Empire Pt. 05 - Abandon Hope

3.01 (2.39) - Beyond Chaos

[edit]

Cast and Characters

See also Exosquad characters

Lisa Ann Beley	Lt. Nara Burns
Robby Benson	Lt. / Wing Cmdr. J.T. Marsh Mayor of Chicago
Michael Benyaer	Kaz Takagi
Gary Chalk	Marsala General Shiva
Michael Donovan	Wolf Bronski
Janyse Jaud	Sgt. Rita Torres
David Kaye	General Draconis Lt. Hallas Senator X Prakash
Wally Marsh	Alec DeLeon
Rob Morton	General Typhonus
Richard Newman	Phaeton
John Payne	Sean Napier
Teryl Rothery	Lt. Maggie Weston