Alien Nation

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

The premise of Alien Nation (1988) is that a ship carrying a load of aliens, former slaves, has become disabled near the Earth and its entire complement has been transferred to the west coast of North America and granted citizenship. Hidden among the refugees are some of the former slave owners, who plot to regain the power they have lost within this new context. There is predictable racial tension, particularly because the aliens, known as Newcomers, are superior both physically and mentally to the average human, which might account for the ease of their adaptation but not for the relatively easy assimilation by Californians. There are other some logical gaps—the Newcomers dissolve if exposed to saltwater—but the main story is logical, tightly woven, and convincing. There are also scattered moments of genuine humor.

James Caan does an excellent job as the bigoted police detective who is unwillingly partnered with Sam Francisco, played brilliantly by Mandy Patinkin. Early in their relationship, they uncover evidence of something sinister happening within the Newcomer community, and Francisco initially conceals his knowledge that someone has synthesized a drug that his people find addictive. Their subsequent investigation uncovers the truth about a prominent Newcomer politician and leads to an exciting climax, during which both men come to terms with their individual fears and prejudices. Under Graham Baker's direction, the film is exciting and convincing.

A short-lived but excellent television version was shown from 1989 to 1990, starring Gary Graham as the human policeman and Eric Pierpoint as Francisco.

Although the quality of the episodes varied, the series developed the Newcomer culture in much more detail and revealed the fact that in their case males carry the unborn children. In addition to the regular episodes, there were several made for television movies, but despite superior acting and writing, the show did not find its audience, perhaps because its detective story format did not appeal to SF fans and the SF elements alienated other potential viewers.

In addition to the movie novelization by Alan Dean Foster, there were eight original novels using the same background. The contributing authors included Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, K. W. Jeter, Peter David, Barry Longyear, and others.

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