Bonus Review: Cybercity, aka The Shepherd

Noel

We'll be back to our regular schedule next Saturday, but to fill the gap this week, I decided to slip in a little bonus review. Before creating and producing Starhunter, Daniel D'Or and Philip Jackson produced (and occasionally wrote and/or directed) a handful of low budget scifi films for Canadian television, many of which were distributed down here by Roger Corman's New Horizon label. Curious to see something else by these guys, I picked up the dvd of Cybercity on a whim, which, like Starhunter, was put together at Danforth Studios for The Movie Network, and was written by Nelu Ghiran, the initial head writer of the series.

Starhunter, episode 12 "Goodbye, So Long"

NOTE: We're gonna take a brief break following this post. Noel had a sudden family medical emergency pop up, on top of another family medical emergency he's already dealing with, and his work schedule is all over the place as a result. It'll just take a week or two for the situation to settle, so we don't plan on being absent for very long.

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We open on a video from Rudolpho, where he waxes about how friendship is more important than family.

On High-Node (at least I think that's what was said), a merchant bazaar station, a dealer named Marco chases off a few thugs who try to free him of a kaleidoscope which isn't for sale, and they move to the next stall to rough up a dealer named Ike, to guarantee he follows through on his end of an upcoming deal. When the thugs move off, Marco helps Ike up and it turns out they're business partners.

Starhunter, episode 11 "Black Light"

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We open on a video of Rudolpho, with a moll on his lap, talking about how people (including the Raiders) keep grasping for immortality through their children, but he intends to remain childless as all he cares about is the here and now.

Dante and Percy grin in laid-back amusement as Luc shows them some card tricks before dealing out a round of poker to see who gets stuck with kitchen duty. Percy wins. Rudolpho calls, congratulating them on their latest bounty: Electra, a young, female, arms-dealing Raider. Percy head down to holding to feed their prisoner, but Electra kicks the food away.

Starhunter, episode 10 "Cell Game"

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In an opening video, Rudolpho rants about how hard it is to find a good bounty hunter, how many people sign up without a clear understanding of what it takes, and how it's the best training ground to learn human nature.

Transferring a prisoner to a station in orbit around Oberon, a moon of Uranus, Dante, Luc, and Percy are confronted by Rex and Maks, a husband-and-wife pair of bounty hunters with a history of poaching already captured bounties. There's a tense standoff over the prisoner, during which Dante tells Percy to return to the ship, but she instead sneaks back and plugs Maks with a stun round. Our heroes have the upper hand, but then the authorities arrive, and instead of arresting Rex and Maks, the ruling local militia reveals the two have recently signed on as members, and Percy is taken into custody for assault, which has an automatic sentence of five years.

Starhunter, episode 9 "Order"

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We open with a Rudolpho video, wherein he rages about how much he hates the very concept of religion.

Despite warnings from border guards, a large pyramidal ship plunges toward the sun. It's filled with the praying worshipers of the cult of Vahooti (sp?), led by the charismatic and towering Brother 13, with his devoted teenage bride Marina at his side. A worshiper, Jacob, expresses momentary doubt, but when he passes a test of faith, Brother 13 gives him a "rejuvenation" - literally transferring energy into the other man through the laying on of Brother 13's hand - and Jacob becomes zealous in his devotion.

Starhunter, episode 8 "Past Lives"

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We open with a video from Rudolpho, in the midst of a wild party, in which he admits he's never been married.

At a station in orbit around Saturn, a dude named Eric loses his latest bet at a gambling machine, and walks right in the arms of two thugs who remind him of the debts he owes. He's instead taken to a lab, where he finds out his debt has been bought off by an organization represented by a female doctor who injects him with a solution, then reveals everyone else she's injected has died with 48 hours and she's trying to figure out why. Eric feigns unconsciousness long enough to steal a gun from a guard and shoot another, and when the doctor tells him there's no antidote, he makes a run for it, getting past security and stealing a shuttle.

Starhunter, episode 7 "Frozen"

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In an opening vid, Rudolpho reminisces about his father.

After waking up from a nightmare, Dr. Devon is being told he's no longer allowed to have access to his teenage son, Ryan, at this medical facility. After politely signing a waiver, he ducks down a corridor, dons a biohazard suit, and slips into the room where Ryan is being held. He's forced to kill a technician in order to free the boy, who has scars on his temples and doesn't remember his father.

Starhunter, episode 6 "The Man Who Sold the World"

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Rudolpho opens with a video, where he opines about love, lust, deceit, and other afflictions of the heart as he sets out on a vacation where he hopes to get laid.

Our heroes are short on supplies, with Percy complaining about the quality of the mush they're stuck eating. Caravaggio counters her by mentioning the schooling she's skipped out on, so Dante orders her to learn. Rudolpho calls, sending the team to Pluto to retrieve war criminal Dr. Novak - aka "The Butcher of Callisto", a main player in government led genetic experiments on thousands of victims in a quest to further human evolution, which led to a massive civil war on the moon Callisto - where he's been mining and dealing iridium under the name Kayvon. Rudolpho warns them that Novak's identity has already leaked and a brutal mess of a hunter they all know named Chorsky may already have beat them there.

Starhunter, episode 5 "Siren's Song"

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In a drunken video, Rudolpho drones on about dreams and monsters.

Rudolpho then contacts the Tulip, telling Dante than there's been a meltdown on the ultra-prison on Ganymede, and that 32 prisoners have escape... all of which offer pricey bounties for their capture. Dante's not interested, but he owes Rudolpho 5 years back rent on the ship.

Starhunter, episode 4 "The Divinity Cluster"

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Rudolpho has a video where he say some crap about how he runs his business, molesting a woman, and how things are rarely as they initially appear.

Earth in the present is a smog drenched cesspool. A beautiful, naked blond named Lily is in a hotel room with the drawn and captivating Eccleston. She says it's time for everyone to know the truth, so he injects her with a solution and tells her she has two hours to complete her task. As she leaves, Eccleston suddenly goes into spasms. He swaps out the vial on the syringe and injects himself.