Delta State (TV series)
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Delta State is a Canadian animated television series, based on a comic book by Douglas Gayeton, featuring four amnesiac roommates with the ability to enter the Delta State, an ethereal realm. They face the dual tasks of piecing together their past lives and battling a group of Delta State denizens called Rifters, who seek to control the human mind. The main characters are Claire (Ilona Elkin), Martin (Dusan Dukic), Luna (Lizz Alexander), and Philip (Nicholas Wright).
The series debuted September 11, 2004 on Teletoon, the Canadian cartoon television network. It is the first animated television series to be entirely rotoscoped, taking over 27 months to complete.
Delta State is a French / Canadian co-production with designs, story-boards etc. done by Alphanim in Paris; shooting and recording were performed by Nelvana Canada. The project was conceived by Douglas Gayeton, who also directed the original pilot and wrote the bible for the show.
The show has won the Special Award for a TV program at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Frames 2004 for best Asian Production.
The series aired in France from March 9, 2005 on Canal+.
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[edit] Characters
- Martin Gold: 21 years old and the de facto leader of the group; he has the power of telepathy. Presently the boyfriend of Claire, though he was that of Luna's in his past life. He was a baseball player before a couple of thugs, hired by his own father, broke his arm, ending his career.
- Philip Graff: 20 years old, a perpetually unemployed slacker; he has the power of psychometry, the ability to see the past experiences of selected objects. His mother abandoned him on a bus when he was a baby and he grew up in an orphanage. He has an aversion to lockers, likely because he spent much of third grade being stuffed into them.
- Claire Donally: 21 years old; she has the power of remote viewing. Claire's previous boyfriend was David, who was murdered by a friend named Thomas, because Thomas wanted the full share of the treasure he and David had found while SCUBA diving.
- Luna Palacios: 22 years old and of Mexican descent; has the powers of precognition. She was a bank teller at the Bank of Mexico. There was a robbery at the bank and the getaway car hit and killed Carlita, Luna's little sister.
[edit] Rifters
- Sven Ragnar: Commonly guessed to be the "brother" of Maria and heading the acquisition of human minds by rifters. He seeks to kill Brodie and bares a grudge towards Martin.
- Maria Ragnar: one of the "bad guys", she has deep feelings for Philip and has put herself in danger for him on more than one occasion.
- Robert Brodie: the group's guardian and mentor. He was involved in a government project to stop the Rifters, but left because he did not want the Delta State to be used for military purposes. It is revealed he is a rifter at the end of "The Orb".
- Karla: the featured rifter of “First Contact”, who displeased Sven and was disintegrated for her transgression.
- Professor Stork: This rifter was expelled by Luna and Philip in “A Case Study”.
- Dr. Von Hayek: A mad scientist rifter who worked at Icharus, perfecting cold fusion, an unlimited power source for rifters. Von Hayek was destroyed by Martin, Philip, Luna and Claire in “Fusion”.
- Louisa Forterre: The girl Philip has fallen for. Philip expels the rifter at the end of “The Girlfriend”.
- Aldous Brant: He was possessed by a rifter 15 years ago. He has Enzio's Rachnosis, a neural degenerative disease, and has less than a year to live. The rifter in Aldous Brant took advantage of a situation to jump into Raymond Woodly, leaving Aldous dying in a coma.
- Raymond Woodly: Aldous Brant’s best friend and campaign manager. Woodly became a possessed when a rifter jumped into him from Brant. The rifter was NOT expelled at the end of “Vote Rifter”.
- Dr. Van Heusen: He was destroyed by Philip, Luna and Claire in “Cabin Fever”.
[edit] Other
- Dan: Luna's boyfriend. He also works with Martin at "Soundz", a music store.
- Chantal: She was a TV psychic. Brodie described her as “sensitive to the vibrations of the membrane of our reality”. She was found and killed by Sven in “The Reading”.
- Jack: A friend of Philip’s, they met when they both worked at Icharus, in “Fusion”.
[edit] Episode Summaries
[edit] Season 1
- First Contact (1):The team has 48 hours to close the acquisition of author John Weller, acquired by the Rifter Hunter Carla. We enter the team's apartment and meet the group, gaining insight into their interpersonal relationships. We see the conflicts that exist among them and within their own minds.
- First Contact (2):In this episode we get the first look at the opening title sequence narrated by Professor Brodie. Opens in Delta State, and recaps Luna's cliffhanger from episode one. We learn more about the strange effects of being in too long, and Martin's immunity to same. The hunt for Weller's "akasha" continues, while Carla "Hunter Rifter", Sven and the other (female)prepare for the arrival of a powerful Rifter Lord. Phillip emerges as this series' main character.
- Case Study: Luna witnesses the acquisition of a student during class, and the group move to determine the cause. Martin pursues his love of music, but his duties to the team suffer as a result. Investigating the mystery surrounding Professors (Dang and Stork) puts Claire in terrible danger.
- The Reading: In this episode, Philip, Martin and Luna are watching TV, and poking fun at a TV psychic. Philip investigates her, and is confused on her psychic powers. Brodie explains that she can pick up "brain signals" and read them. Also, she would be able to defeat the rifters. Brodie also explained that it is dangerous to see the psychic, or Brodie because they would be putting themselves in danger. Despite Brodie's warning, Philip meets her again to learn more about himself, but is knowing his past worth it?
- Fusion: Phillip has a new job in the mailroom of a power corporation. When his trainer disappears, Phillip stumbles upon an experimental process whereby they are using employees to tap energy for rifter immortality. Phillip's life is endangered and the roommates must go Delta to find the answers to the mysterious experiments at the corporation. A romance between Phillip and Luna seems to be in the making...
- The Girlfriend: Philip has a girlfriend, and he thinks that her father is a rifter. Are Philip's feelings clouding his judgment, or is there something deeper?
- Vote Rifter: After an attempted shooting on a candidate, the candidate goes into a coma. Is the candidate being acquired by the rifters, and can Philip, Martin, Claire and Luna save him?
- Cabin Fever: Claire, Luna, Martin, and Philip are at their wits end, and growing tired of each other's company as relentless rainstorms and other unusual weather patterns force them to remain indoors. But when it's discovered that the Rifters are behind the global chaos, they must put aside their difference and stop them before the ecological balance of the world is jeopardized.
- Mind Over Matter: Claire becomes obsessed with an internet video game. But when reports of deaths associated with people who have played this game begin flooding the papers, the others question just how "fun" this game really is.
- Blast From The Past: Martin discovers a photo of a soldier from World War 2 that looks exactly like Brodie. Is it a coincidence, a relative or has Brodie not aged in sixty years? As they dig deeper into the questions about Brodie it raises some clues about their own past. The trips to the Delta State take their toll as reality and Delta start to merge.
- Curse Of The Undead: Claire reunites with David, her boyfriend from the past. It causes a rift between her and Martin and raises suspicions among the roommates. Due to some computer error Phillip is told there is no record of his existence. He is technically dead and must cope with e-establishing his place in the world. Meanwhile a mad noble scientist is at risk of a rifter takeover.
- Awakening: Martin befriends an autistic little boy. When he suddenly becomes an extroveted genius, the foursome suspect that it is not a miracle, but rather a rifter influence. The answers to this change can only be found in the Delta State.
- Claire's Crack Up: Phillip's job as a delivery boy leads him to a romantic involvement with a psychiatrist who seems to have an uncanny understanding about him and his roommates. Claire meets up with her ex-boyfriend David. He provides information about her past. But no one else can see him. Is he real or a figment of Claire's imagination?
- Road Not Taken: Luna's personality takes a drastic change. Is this the real Luna from the past, or the personality she would like to become? The split personalities continue in both reality and delta. The roommates must rescue her from the Delta State where the new personality becomes a threat to Luna and to the others. The four heroes trace their past to an experimental lab in Poland.
- Couch Time: Phillip's romance with Sophia the psyciatirst continues. He is blinded by passion and runs into conflict with the others.as they become increasingly suspicious that she is not the woman she appears to be. Sophia's link to Sven is revealed.and a trip to the Delta State confirms that she is a rifter. But who else is she?
- Labyrinth: Pierce Trueblood, a popular magician, captures the interest of Claire. His illusionary skills seem to be under an otherworldly influence and the roommates must travel to the Delta State to ensure he doesn't come under the influence of the rifters.
- Mix Up Of Genres: Claire is captured and held hostage by Sven. Brodie becomes more elusive and here is a hint that there is a connection.between Sven and Brodie linking their pasts. Reality and Delta State start to meld in a way they never have before.
- Training Day: Brodie begins to train the four heroes to heighten their senses and increase their powers. They must learn to control the Delta State rather than letting it control them. Brodie becomes more mysterious and seems to have an agenda that he will not clarify. Who is Brodie and how much does he know?
- Sweet Dreams: Claire has an accident and is left in a coma. When she comes to, she has returned to her home and her previous life with. The perfect family. But is this really her past or just a past she would like to have? Yet another Brodie alias is revealed to the group.
- Brain Scan: Martin finds out that Sven's using a bio-engineering company in an attempt to gain more rifters.
- False Identities: Claire meets an old friend of David's who is able to explain what happened in the past. Claire learns about her past but Martin and the others are suspicious about the friend and do not believe he can be trusted. There is more to her past than he revealed. Brodie's alias as Carswell is unveiled and it is revealed that he is a double agent working for the government to tackle the rifter threat. Brodie's health is failing and his time is limited.
- The Orb: Phillip uses the Orb of truth provided by Maria to unravel the facts about his mother and his past. The group discovers.that Brodie is a rifter. He is failing and gone into hiding in the Delta State.
- Restraining Order: After the group discovers that Brodie is a rifter they live in denial. A private investigator hunts down Martin and informs him of a large inheritance and the missing links to his past.
- Deja Vu: Luna is determined to also find out about her past now that the others have pieced theirs together. A trip to Delta State allows her to revisit the family she has left behind - but she is reluctant to leave and the group must rescue her from a life.in the Delta State with a past that no longer exists.
- Full Circle: Brodie takes the foursome back to the lab in Poland where he discovered them. He engages their help to put an end to his life so that he cannot pose a threat to the world. Their powers are getting stronger as each day passes. When in the Delta State they enter into Brodie's memory and trace back his beginning in World War 2. They each receive more information about their pasts.
- The Final Battle: The foursome decide they have to return not only to the location of the lab but the actual time frame in which they were there. They enter Brodie's mind to travel back to the actual time when they met in the lab in Poland. They must combine their powers to get the full answer to their pasts. Only then can they destroy Brodie's rifter energy. They diffuse Brodie's rifter energy and all is well...until Luna has a vision of the future. She won't reveal what she sees - only that it is not what they expect!
Summary taken from http://www.tvtome.com/DeltaState/index.html
A second series has been confirmed http://www.alphanim.com/fileadmin/press/Communiqu__France_2__VA__-_04_2005.pdf.
[edit] Quotes
"Four young amnesiacs hold the fate of human-kind in their hands. Their mission is to protect you from the "Rifters" who want to control the human mind. They may appear to be harmless and self-absorbed but they have astonishing, paranormal powers and an invincible motivation: To retrieve the secrets to their past-lives, hidden deep in the parallel dimension of the Delta State." - Professor R. Brodie, opening credits
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[edit] Trivia
- The comic book was created by Douglas Gayeton, with artwork by Matt Rockman, in 1996 while both worked at a New York interactive company called Sunshine Digital. Before the project ever hit the bookshelves it was bought by Alphanim, who hired Gayeton to develop the book as an animated series. He shot the pilot with live actors in Los Angeles on a shoestring budget and took a flash-based vector animation approach to completing the project, all this years before the making of "Waking Life". After writing the original show bible and directing the pilot for the series Gayeton moved on to other projects, though he remains a fan of the work. To this date the graphic novel has yet to be sold in stores.
