Time Trax

In spite of the fact that the "parallel universe" premise became so prevalent towards the end, Time Trax was a terrific show. First, Dale Midkiff's character had an incredible interest in history. 44 episodes to chase down ghosts of the past made for some interesting dialog.

Second, it was obvious that because of his lack of emotional bonding in his orphanage spent youth, relationships in his time travels were especially important. It was apparent in all of his dealings with those he wound up helping during each episode.

Third, the concept of exceptional intelligence and physical prowess added greatly to his larger than life persona. Darien was more than a good cop, he was in essence a superhero, one who could perform amazing acts in the 20th century.

"These are the journals of Darien Lambert, Captain, Fugitive Retrieval Section, AD 2193..."

One of the first shows made for what would eventually become the WB, "Time Trax" does bear similarities to "Quantum Leap," but this formulaic SF/action show also owed more than a little to the minor classic "Trancers" (criminals time travelling with drugs, etc). Too bad it was never really as witty or as interesting, though - though it's not like that movie's writers Paul De Meo and Danny Bilson are strangers to TV shows that, though entertaining, never really flourish (witness "The Flash" and "The Sentinel").

While our hero was hardly a superman, he did have more endurance than most 20th century people (an indication of how stronger people get as time goes by), and the feature-length pilot also proposed that Lambert was something of a prejudiced-against minority in his own time, a notion that, since the series never went back to the 22nd century, was never seriously brought up again... but if it had been set back there the show might have ended before it did.

Creators (and writers) Harve Bennett, Jeffrey Hayes and Grant Rosenberg were straitjacketed somewhat by their premise - note that the villain who Darien caught and sent back in the pilot was brought back (deformed of course; the series set up the rule that it's not safe for anyone to travel through time more than twice) to give him a recurring nemesis that he could actually fight, since the head villain Mordecai Sahmbi was hardly a physical threat; and the three-person rule about Darien's holographic partner Selma (activating Selma when another person is around, making it three people in that area, isn't allowed) also got broken, though they did acknowledge it.

With Australia standing in for the entire world (even Australia in one episode), it certainly looked nice - except for the episode where Darien went to a foggy London - but the show never had what it took to be a real contender, in spite of OK acting; blame the scripts. I've always enjoyed time travel movies and TV shows (though strangely enough I never got into "Doctor Who"), but it's impossible to think this'll really develop a cult following the way "The Time Tunnel" did. But then, that show didn't have a gratuitous plug for Continental Airlines in its opening credits.

Many times I remember shows being much more enjoyable than they actually were. But rewatching this series on roku channel is almost as satisfying as the first time when I was in my 20s, unlike Xfiles and UFO reruns that kind of bore me these days. I think one of the more enjoyable elements of the show, as hellraiser's review mentioned is the fun factor. It's not as dark and dramatic as Xfiles or UFO for instance. Hellraiser also nailed it IMO with a comparison to knight rider.. Although, on a much tighter budget. The writers did a good job of selling the futuristic angle and yet keeping a low budget by camouflaging the most often used items to look like current day devices. (I used to have an AT&T Universal card that looked exactly like that!) Also, by making all of Darien's future physical gifts internal, they didn't have to pay for alien makeup or anything. So this is a nice little escapism on a tight budget. Although, I do not want to discount the 2hr pilot which probably used most of the season 1 budget with its futuristic shots. It was believable enough and stands up pretty well even today. I always enjoyed Selma with her Aussie accent and formal diction. Hellraiser did possibly misunderstand some facts, which I had to pause and re-watch sections of the pilot to Understand. Sambi was getting paid by these criminals to send them back and used the money to fund his further research. His long term plans were definitely to jump back to the past once he had his team in place and try to institute a new world order. However, as seen in the pilot episode, he was shocked and unprepared for Darian's arrival in the past, but he maneuvered to try and make the best of the situation.

I watched this show during the original run, which was when I was in my early teens. I remember thoroughly enjoying it and thinking it was one of the better shows on television. Years later, as an adult, I would see this late one night. I was suffering from nostalgia and decided to kick back and enjoy it one more time. I couldn't bear to watch it! I realized the acting, scripts, and direction.

Granted, the premise was definitely fresh for its time. It could have worked, and if tuned properly and all the problems fixed, could possibly be brought back today. The networks need to remember that the public as a whole really does not mind having to think while watching a program. Mindless fodder is not going to placate those of us who need mental and intellectual stimulation.

I've been reading everyone's comments on the show. I thought it was a fun show with good potential (I didn't realize it was filmed in Australia as one person pointed out). To me, admittedly, it had elements of Quantum Leap (the time travel to the past to set things right aspect).

However, I thought they did a decent job with an interesting premise - have it take place 200 years in the future, have the evil genius (Dr. Sahmbi) create a time travel apparatus to send criminals and himself into the past where law enforcement isn't as advanced, have the good guy (Capt. Lambert) be forced to pursue him into the past when his love is killed, have him take an advanced computer/hologram with him to help out (even the hologram aspect is reminiscent of Quantum Leap), and have him not able to return home until he's caught the 100 criminals and Sahmbi and sent them all back.

Where I think the show jumped the shark was two things. First - having the big confrontation between Lambert and Sahmbi happen too soon. The episode where they became trapped in an underground cavern and Sahmbi used a modified version of the TRAX substance (normally used to send people back to the future) on Darien in order to brainwash him, turn him against Selma, and turn him onto Sahmbi's side. That episode was VERY well done but should have been saved as the series finale episode, where they have the final big confrontation. A slight rewriting of the episode's ending and it would have been perfect as a series finale. By doing that episode that soon, they played their trump card too soon so of course the rest of the series would be an anti-climax.

The second jump the shark moment to me was when they started toying with the idea of Selma loving Darien and vice versa. While it was cute and the episodes that dealt with this "subtext" were funny, they did constitute a jump the shark moment in the series. I mean, Selma didn't even have a physical female form - she was a female hologram housed inside a computer fashioned as a credit card, for crying out loud. The episode where Elizabeth Alexander did a dual role as Selma and as Darien's mother and it was revealed that Selma loved Darien was, again, a cute and funny moment to watch but really!

And after that, the series started playing with the idea that there were feelings between the two. The episode where Darien was undercover with his female agent friend as a married couple and the agent ended up brainwashed, Selma told Darien to take her to the bedroom (so she could emit some rays to determine the brainwashing patterns). However, the way the scene was done was obviously meant to be a cute subtext moment.

Those were the moments that I thought the show lost its focus. Otherwise, Time Trax was a decent show.