Build it Up!
It’s time to roll back the clock to 1995! A much younger version of me sat on my floor and played with the latest LEGO series… Aquazone!
This week’s episode featured a taste of 90’s nostalgia, including:
I played with the Aquazone LEGO sets a lot as a kid. I was a big fan of the television show SeaQuest and the release of the LEGO theme was perfect. My favorite LEGO Minifigure through most of my childhood was an Aquanaut in the blue, black, and white outfit.
For me, getting to rebuild and use these old sets was a fun trip down memory lane and there was something special about being able to revisit them with my daughter.
As the entire setting of this episode takes place under the water, I discussed with my wife how we could tackle creating some neat shots that would help create that underwater feeling.
Initially we talked about submerging the actual LEGO sets in the backyard pool, then use our underwater cameras to snap the shots we needed. Eventually I realized that would be more difficult than we were prepared to handle, so we downsized the idea to potentially doing the same, but in our large bathtub in the master bathroom.
My first test with that method proved lackluster, so instead I went to work on how I could create a pattern to overlay over the images in Photoshop. The effect worked out just fine, and we ended up with some great shots for the episode, but part of me still wishes I had got a snorkel and gone for a swim with my LEGO friends!
Writer’s Thoughts
This episode revealed a little more about David’s situation and expanded on the world that we saw only a sliver of during season two. There is clearly more to the Upper Levels than anyone in town understood. Unfortunately, David is the only one learning about all of this, completely separated from his friends back home.
We first met Thresher in the Season Two finale. There he was presented as an intimidating and threatening figure. As the reader, our knowledge carries over here, and we’re far more skeptical of the man than David Nash, whos is introduced to a straightforward and honest individual offering a ride home. At this point, David has no reason not to trust Thresher… and neither do we, right?
So, who’s the bad guy here? Is it Trevor’s group, with your mysterious leader and captive tendencies? Or Thresher, with his ominous Hammerhead submarine and black outfits?
Unfortunately for David this question is, and will remain, paramount to his adventures in the Upper Levels.
Stay tuned for Episode Three, “Get to the Chopper!“, coming Tuesday!
TechnicoolDad 