Harsh Realm

I vaguely remember this show when it was on television. I think I may have only seen the Pilot episode and then it got pulled soon thereafter. But when I saw copies on DVD at the library I had to get it and watch the rest of the episodes.

The show is about Lt. Hobbs (Scott Bairstow) who X-Files fans may remember from "Miracle Man" in season 1. He has entered into a war game virtual reality where he can not escape until he finds and kills the infamous Santagio who is played by one of my favorite actors Terry O'Quinn. The most likable character in my opinion is Hobbs' sidekick Mike Pinnochio played by D.B. Sweeney. Pinnochio represented me as a viewer in trying to talk some sense into Hobbs and let him know just how annoying he can be but then also turning around and admitting that he is right when he is right.

Many stand alone episodes are very intriguing such as "Kein Ausgang" where Hobbs and Pinnochio get stuck in a battle reenactment from World War II that repeats over and over again. Another great stand alone episode is seen in the final episode "Camera Obscura" about two feuding families in a post nuclear holocaust New York setting.

Many of the supporting actors are easily recognized from the X-Files and Millennium. All in all I loved this show and wish they would have been allowed to run the show for at least a 24 episode season so they could make a conclusion to the Santiago mythology arc that had been setup.

I enjoyed this series more than anything I've seen on TV since X Files. Maybe because the same people did it. I thought it well scripted, acted and produced with the limited budgets TV gets. For Sci-Fi it was really pretty damn good. To bad it died on the vine. Maybe some other cable network will pick it up and run with it. The way it was set up it was a bit like the old Twilight Zone or The Fugitive, where the over arching theme of the show remains the same from week to week but there are different adventures from week to week. There were a couple of character links and disassociations that didn't make sense. That was the only thing I noticed - but hey! It's TV

Okay, let me start off by saying I'd never heard of Harsh Realm. 1999 was a busy year for me, and when I heard the words "From the creator of the X-Files..." I didn't get to the end of any of the ads before I turned the channel. I never liked the X-Files, and for no particularly good reason. I might never have heard of Harsh Realm, but I work at Wal-Mart, and they got some DVD series in for fifteen bucks, and I thought "Hmmmm." I picked up Dark Angel first, another series I'd never heard of, then, the next week, I gave Harsh Realm a try. I enjoyed all 9 episodes very much, and I enjoyed the special feature's look behind the scenes. It was well put-together, and they didn't spend the whole time yelling about how they were never given a chance and all that, as some people like to do in their commentaries. I only wish the show had had a definitive ending, and, of course, that I had watched episode nine before episode eight, as I was instructed to do. I'm not going to say anything to spoil it, just that if you pick up the DVDs for yourself, you should watch nine, then eight, it gives it more of an "ending" feel, if only slightly....

I thought the first three episodes were great, and I was really sorry when the series was cancelled after three episodes. I thought it deserved more of a chance which it may get on FX Network. FX Network announced in its website that it will air the 9 existing Harsh Realm episodes (6 of which are previously unaired) starting in the latter part of March 2000. I'm looking forward to viewing the 6 new episodes.

Lt. Thomas Hobbes (Scott Bairstow) is set to leave the military and marry Sophie Green (Samantha Mathis) to start a new life. Out of the blue, he has one last mission to complete. He has to enter a virtual reality game developed by the military called Harsh Realm. His mission is to take out retired legend, General Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), in order to get the high score. Once inside, he can't get out. He is saved by the mysterious Florence (Rachel Hayward) who has special healing powers. He is joined by fellow soldier Mike Pinnochio (D. B. Sweeney) sent on the same mission and Dexter the Dog. Harsh Realm is a recreation of Earth with all the population copied from the real world but it is running on its own dystopian course. Meanwhile in the real world, Sophie is told that Thomas had been killed while on a secret mission but the mysterious Inga Fossa (Sarah-Jane Redmond) sets her on a course to uncover the truth.

This is a great general premise adapted from a comic book but creator Chris Carter needs to work out some of the details much better. First, the military would never select soldiers with any close families. The soldiers need to disappear without anyone noticing or coming to search for them. This makes the real world a rather annoying distraction. The show doesn't need Sophie or much of the real world after going into Harsh Realm. The dog is another weird addition. It seems to be somebody's silly idea but nobody thought too much about it. The show eventually pushes them aside in the later episodes. Some more brain-storming sessions would have cut them out right from the start.

There is also the difficulty of doing this with limited CG and probably a lower budget. This is a virtual reality world where strange things can happen. It doesn't deliver on what it promises. My favorite episode is the WWII one. I like the theme song which is a good pump up for the show. In the end, it failed to retain a good audience. It got canceled after three episodes and only nine were ever made.