Dominion

Each episode has upped the ante and revealed even more of the post-apocalyptic world. The ensemble cast is phenomenal and the overall theme has gotten much darker than the first season. It feels like the writers streamlined the story and upped the emotional payoff for each episode. Truly enjoying where it is going and I hope it'll get a third season.

There seem to be a lot of reviews about religion and nay-saying regarding this show with people going out of their way to tank the ratings on here because of their idea of what the show is about. The show isn't about religion in the preaching sense, nor does it strictly follow the bible or any other doctrine. It has its own canon and own set of rules. If you can set that aside and look at it from JUST A STORYTELLING PERSPECTIVE, then hopefully you can enjoy the brilliance for what it is: A GREAT STORY.

25 years ago, God disappeared. That's Dominion's opening line, and the introduction to the show's mythology. Now, you may be thinking, okay, this is a show about religion and angels and Christian belief. But before you judge all too quickly, let me stop you right there. Because it's not.

First and foremost, Dominion is a show about humanity trying to survive in a harsh, post-apocalyptic world. Mankind is caught in the middle of an ugly war waging between the Archangel Gabriel and the Archangel Michael. What is left of society is trying to overcome the hardships they face every day in the few cordoned off enclaves that withstood the invasion of Gabriel's lower angels. And it's Michael who tries to protect them to the best of his ability, waiting for the Chosen One, the savior of mankind, to be revealed.

Dominion is based on the movie Legion and continues the film's mythology, jumping ahead 25 years in time. Season 1 shows us the world of Vega (the former Las Vegas), which gives a home to many of the survivors of the Extermination War. While the people in the lower castes lives a rather measly life, the royalty of the city plot their schemes and get caught up in politics. It's ugly and complicated and ultimately explosive in these unstable times.

And while it's the political battles that keep Vega busy, Gabriel is plotting his next strike against the humans with his surviving army of higher and lower angels. All hope is now upon the Chosen One, who goes by the name of Alex Lannon, and who is struggling to understand what role the tattoos on his body may be playing in saving the earth and mankind from further destruction.

As we move into season 2, the show gets darker, grittier, and more powerful. The Dominion universe is extended to other cities and towns in what's left of North America. We discover the seemingly peaceful town of Mallory, AL, which raises a lot of questions. And then there's the unruly, messy underground city of New Delphi with its eccentric leader Julian. The power play has only just begun.

Would I recommend Dominion as a show to watch? Yes, absolutely! Its universe draws you in and wants you to learn more about the world of Vega and the Cradle. The characters are all intriguing with a lot of depth to them. I was hooked from the very first episode, and that says a lot because I was more than skeptical when I started watching it (and only did so because it came highly recommended by a friend).

If you haven't given it a try yourself, I can only recommend that you do so to form your own opinion. And if you're interested in learning more about the show, drop by dominionfans.com or syfy.com/dominion, which are both excellent starting points for finding out just what exactly you're in for.

Must admit I do not remember having seen the film (Legion) but it did ring a bell so I was up for a new series about, once again, saving mankind. I am a Supernatural fan and that has the same principle, bad angels, good angels, demons, God gone etc but on a more down to earth basis, and it can be really funny. This however seems to be more doomsday. It is well made, at the moment, but that can change. The main characters are OK. I am getting a bit frustrated with the same twists in plots, there seems to be so few surprises these days, you are always waiting for the traitor, the hero, who doesn't want to be a hero, and as always the love interest. If this does make it to a full season I hope the writers will at least try to surprise us. A little bit of humour would be nice too as life in what ever stage is not always deadly serious. Saw that some one mentioned all the actors are British? Not quite true but there does seem to be a a lot of Aussies staring in things these days, I'm all for it, I think they are refreshingly unpretentious, which makes their characters more believable.

Might have to re-vote depending on which way this goes.

There's nothing immediately spectacular about Dominion that has me raving about it, but its entertaining, and has some very nice cinematography. There's a well developed world, and its unique to the premise, and the visuals are no doubt inspired in part by baroque and renaissance art. Its actually quite different from Legion, though it takes place around 2 decades after the events in the movie, it explores a lot more and humanizes the villains and their motivations. I actually like dominion more than the movie because it paints the "8 balls" as they've come to be called, as more than monsters.

Basically the premise is, the archangel Gabriel led the host of lower angels in a war against humanity, basically blaming them for god leaving, just like Lucifer did millennia before, and Michael was the only angel to stand against them and defend humanity, helping to found the city of Vega and protect them from the possessed humans, who basically destroy most of the world, minus a few well protected cities. His solution isn't perfect, and what was meant to be a temporary caste system ends up in a full blown economic segregation leaving the ultra rich living in luxury, with the poor and abandoned living in squalor beneath. Over the years word has spread about a "chosen one" who will save mankind and end the war, with some believers, and some believing it is nothing more than a fantasy. Enter the main character, who grows up a penniless orphan, enlisting in the military just to have something to eat, who finds out he is the child they had spoken of. And then there's the higher ranks of angels who don't have black eyes, and sometimes bear wings, who up until that point hadn't been forced to pick a side.

There's definitely some movie clichés in there, but they play out in a way thats somewhat new and interesting, and touch on some topics that haven't been covered. One of the things that i like about this series is the main antagonist is a part of the ruling bureaucracy, and despite being your cliché diabolical politician, everyone basically sees through his bullshit already and tells him to cut the crap whenever he starts spouting off some lies or blackmail. Its a nice change of pace to see characters who aren't stupid and overly trusting. On the other hand, i wish there was a bit more skewed logic behind gabriel's assertion "its humanities fault god left". You'd expect a bit more from a once near omniscient being thats thousands of years old. Maybe some overly complex overthought justification, nothing near that simple and small minded. At any rate i think the directors can take some hints from the show supernatural, which at some points bears a similar premise, because they've got the angel mindset down to a science already. But its nice to see they're taking it in a different direction, and i'd be curious to see if Gabriel has any plans to release Lucifer from the pit to fight along side him. It'd certainly be in his favor.

All in all, its pretty good. The cinematography is probably the best part about this show, its very deep, saturated, elegant and classical. The opening titles especially reflect the theme, that this show might be something you'd see through the frame of a renaissance painting, rather than something of the modern age.

I decided to watch this show just to kill a few minutes, didn't like the premise of it, and didn't expect much from the SyFy Channel.

All this changed after the first 20-30 minutes, plots, subplots, twists, complex characters and a unpredictable future were all cleverly woven into the story.

I was hooked, not so much by the special effects (they were decent), not by the acting (not bad) but by the story line. I feel there is great potential here for the development of characters within a good complex story.

I will be tuning in to see where this goes.