By the time the episode “Lost Boy” arrives, the world building
of “Sheena” has been firmly established. And thanks to a team of writers
and producers who took the premise and character seriously, as well as a
talented cast, that world and its characters have been very well developed—especially
for a syndicated genre series of the time (circa 2000).
It would be unfair to compare “Sheena” to the action/adventure
shows of today (which boast far bigger budgets, network and studio support, and
at least in the case of “The Walking Dead” and “Homeland”, the artistic freedom
equivalent of an R-rated movie (NC-17 in many episodes). But when compared the
other genre syndicated shows of its time (“Hercules”, “Xena”, “Andromeda”, “Highlander”,
“Robocop”. Etc.), “Sheena” comes out way ahead in almost every category.
“Lost Boy” opens with an oil company trying to invade the La
Mistas (Sheena’s rain forest jungle home), and build a refinery on the sacred
lands of a native tribe. President N'Gama, a corrupt and greedy military dictator/president
very much in line so many real life Central African leaders of the recent past,
is all too happy to take the oil company’s dirty money and sell out his native
people.
The twist here is the natives—who were previously known only
as peace-loving pacifists—fight back. And they do so in a sophisticated and
effective way. Although their weapons are primitive, their tactics are
sophisticated, and as ex-military man Cutter notes, akin to something straight
out of a military academy playbook.
When the conflict flares up, Cutter and his new photographer
client, (played by legendary horror make-up master Tom Savini in buffed-up form!),
get caught in the mayhem, and Sheena comes to the rescue. Next, the three of
them find a way to get into the native tribe’s camp, to find out just who is this new
leader who has militarized them. On top of that, they must figure out a way to
stop the invading oil company, who now has obtained the full support of President
N'Gama’s formidable military force that is ready to launch a full-scale attack.
There is a lot going on in this episode—several major well-executed
action set-pieces, the introduction of two new memorable new villains, and two
major plot twists. It is quite exciting, and would even make for a great
episode on any genre series today. But what really makes “Lost Boy” such a
standout entry, besides the strong plot, exciting action, and presence of
Sheena—is the added layers of subtext.
“Lost Boy” manages to say something about the social and political
climate of the time it was made in 2000, while being even more timely and
relevant than ever in 2016.
By the year 2000 humans were beginning to wake up to the
fact that continuing to use the planet as garbage dump while destroying what
little was left of Earth’s great forests was a surefire recipe for a dark, apocalyptic
future and ultimately an uninhabitable planet. Protecting what was left of
nature and stopping to slaughter of depleted and endangered species was a
fairly bi-partisan idea of agreement. Although the anti-reason/anti-science conservative movement was already well underway, is was primarily focused on denying evolution
and promoting literal creationism. Climate change, known as global warming at
the time, was broadly accepted as scientific fact, because these facts came
from actual scientists who spent their entire lives studying and analyzing the
data.
So in the year 2000, wanting to protect one of the last
remaining vestiges of unspoiled nature (the La Vistas) against a greedy oil
company run by an ego-maniacal CEO working in unison with corrupt
dictator/president, is perfectly in sync with the times.
What is fascinating is how this all plays against today’s
political/social backdrop in a much more controversial, and arguably even more interesting
way.
Wildlife refuges are literally under armed siege by militia
groups who want to “take back their country”. And pretty much every current
Presidential candidate in one party wants to do away with Federal Protected
land, and the vanishing wildlife and forests along with them as these “sacred
lands” are opened up to the guns of trophy hunters looking for thrill kills,
and yes oil companies just like the one in “Lost Boy”, looking to pillage the
last vestiges of great forests left in North America.
Think about the raging debate (still ongoing) about the
Keystone Pipeline. Insert a President who buckles to Big Oil (albeit through
corruption, greed, or just ideology), and a native population who fights back, and you have the storyline from “Lost Boy”
playing in North America.
See what I mean? This is the kind of depth and subtext you
get with “Sheena”, and why it resonates so much better today than all of its
syndicated genre colleagues. And in fact, is even more relevant today than
ever.
Bottom line: ****
(out of four)
“Lost Boy” is a well written, exciting episode of “Sheena”,
featuring great action and relevant subtext.
