Star-Crossed Review: Season One, Episode Two – “These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends”

First aired February 24th, 2014.

Episode two of Star-Crossed is definitely an improvement over its premiere, starting off with a literal bang. Roman’s father was a leader among the Atrians and they’re pissed that he’s dead so they show it by bombing their security guards post.

That’s only the opening salvo of the coming war against at the humans. There’s a radical group called Trags, a group of Atrians who decided they won’t take any more abuse and want to show people what they can do. This includes attempting to assassinate Emery because it was her father who (accidentally) killed Roman’s father. It’s clear these Trags are not just an angry street gang; they have been planning this for years.

This is exactly the kind of storyline the show needed and it should to expand on it. The introduction of the Trags presents an interesting new arc for the series. It includes the reveal that Atrians can remove their tattoos to blend in with humans and are living among them in plain sight. Now the idea of Atrians rising up is more interesting because they could be secretly placed all around the globe. They could even be living with or having children with humans. That is a plot that could definitely be fun to watch unfold.

We also get to learn more about the Atrians and their culture. Their planet was called Atria (pretty obvious when you think about it) and they have four tribes within their race. Roman is next in line to lead his tribe but defers to his uncle Castor (played by Johnathon Schaech) a “former” Trag. It takes about five minutes for us to learn he’s lying, giving the show a villain to watch out for on the Atrian side.

Over on the human side we have Vartan (played by Marcus Hester), a local redneck who leads an alien discriminatory group called the Red Hawks. He has several conspiracy theories about the Atrians (although the one about blending in with humans turns out to be true) and takes action against them. Using a local school bully, Eric (played by Jesse Luken), they attempt to kidnap the perpetually angry Drake (played by Drake Finley). Emery and the human half of her love triangle, Grayson (played by Grey Damon), show up in time to save the day.

The reveal that Grayson is actually working with the Red Hawks is a nice twist. It could hopefully mean that the love triangle between him Emery and Roman won’t last long once she finds out. While it’s supposed to be a main plot of the show it’s still the least interesting part about it. Here’s hoping to more intergalactic drama and less teen drama as Star-Crossed moves forward.

Quotes/Thoughts

Julia (played by Malese Jow) has been cured of her cancer thanks to Roman’s blood treatment (though since she’s listed in the main cast it was expected). Maybe her arm glowing was an indicator that she might get some kind of powers because of it.

“We must show the world what makes us a superior race.” “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re outnumbered by about seven billion people.”

It made sense that Grayson was working with the Red Hawks. Six guys would not have been intimidated by that tiny knife he waved around.

The little girl giving one of the Atrians a glow bracelet was sweet. Maybe children really are the future.

“I am keeping your family in my prayers.” “Oh right, you guys do that, pray.”

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