Andromeda

When I first started watching Andromeda I was blown away. A great universe, with great ideas, both in technology and philosophy. Now, I was a little concerned with Hercules being the captain of the ship, but I said what the hell, Kevin Sorbo deserves a break.

Unfortunately, the only thing broken was the show. After the first season it all went up in smoke. The universe turned silly, the fights idiotic, the logic nonexistent. You can see how the first season had such a powerful effect on me because I spent the last two days watching the fifth season, even if it sucked immensely.

What started as a great saga, adventure, call it what you like, ended up in a silly fight against an impossible evil, moronic opponents and allies like avatars of stars, moons, hot chick androids that functioned differently in every episode. You might want to see suns that move from system to system while the heroes "evacuate" entire planets with two ships, or even black hole avatars converted into code uploaded to a solar sail energy deflector.

So, I gather Gene Roddenberry must be turning in his grave after his great ideas were perverted by money hungry TV producers with no technical expertise, no strategic thinking, no feel for the wishes of the audience or of the original creator of the series. The "Abyss" has won and it destroyed yet another great opportunity for a great sci-fi show.

This is NOT Gene Roddenberrys Andromeda, its someone else's.

This sci-fi series opens in a distant future where the vast System's Commonwealth brings peace and stability to three whole galaxies. Our protagonist is Dylan Hunt, captain of the ship Andromeda Ascendant and his world is about to be turned upside down. A group of genetically modified humans, known as the Nietzscheans, betray the Commonwealth; this includes Dylan's close friend and second-in-command. As the fight rages Andromeda is caught on the event horizon of a black hole. Here Dylan is locked in time till a salvage crew pulls the ship out. Three hundred years have passed and a lot has changed; the Commonwealth is long gone, the Nietzscheans are divided but still oppressing people and a species known as the Magog are literally preying on people.

After initial events Dylan takes the salvagers, pilot Beka Valentine; engineer Seamus Harper; Rev Bem, a Magog who has renounced violence; Tyr Anasazi, a Nietzschean with uncertain motives; and finally the enigmatic Trance Gemini, a purple alien of an unknown species. They are soon joined by 'Rommie' the ships android avatar, built by Harper. Over the course of the series they face various dilemmas as Dylan works to re-establish the System's Commonwealth. Some of these will be single episode problems others will be long running plot arcs. We also get some crew changes as the seasons progress.

This series, from an idea by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, starts of really well as it introduces an interesting group of characters. Dylan is perhaps too much of a 'Captain Perfect' character at times but the others are more interesting; notably Tyr, thanks to his moral ambiguity, and the mysterious Trance. We get plenty of action in just about every episode; this can include space battles, shootouts and physical fights. There is also a good amount of humour. While I still enjoyed later seasons I don't think they were quite as good as the early ones; the plot gets a bit messy at times; the final season, where the crew are trapped in a single star system almost feels like a different series at times. The special effects are pretty good and the cast does a fine job bringing their characters to life. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of space-based sci-fi; it might not be a classic but it is fun enough.

Thanks to it's release on DVD, I have managed to watch the first 4 seasons of "ANDROMEDA" while avoiding pesky TV commercials. Thus, my take on the series might be different from someone who had the show's rhythm broken by advertising - talk about taking one out of the moment. I really wanted to like this show from the beginning, mostly because of its origins with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. I strongly disliked actor Kevin Sorbo's previous show "HERCULES" (except for the rare appearance by the brilliant Bruce Campbell), but was willing to give his new show a try anyway. After 4 seasons (season 5 is still airing and not available on DVD as of this writing), here's my take on ANDROMEDA: This might be as clear of a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde writing as I can remember in a TV series. There have been episodes that stand up with the best of sci-fi television writing (the original "TWILIGHT ZONE", "City on the Edge of Forever" episode of "STAR TREK", "The Inheritors" episode of "THE OUTER LIMITS", etc.). The two-part episode that ended season 4 was probably the best thing I've seen from TV since "TAKEN", the Spielberg mini-series.

But when ANDROMEDA is bad, it's really bad. I've never been a fan of "BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY", and some of ANDROMEDA's shows must be compared to the very worst of "BUCK ROGERS". Unfortunately, it's not like there's a good season or a bad one. It's, as my summary states, a roll of the dice. This 50/50 result of script writing (and I really must put the blame there) is in some part due to the pace that TV writers must produce these days. But there's the rare quality TV show out there to make the case that it can be done. I won't blame the actors, because when the writing is good, they're all fine - even impressive at times.

I think the issue with ANDROMEDA is a lack of clear cut identity. Is it a light space romp with plenty of humor? Is it a serious take on a potentially exciting premise? Is it experimental? Is it space opera? Unfortunately, the answer is 'All of the Above'. Beyond this, it's hard to define just why the show is sometimes terrific and other times pathetic. The one thread that I found had to do with the character Trance Gemini. It seemed when the show centered on her, it was usually better than when it didn't. But even that is not always the case.

So my recommendation for viewing ANDROMEDA is this: If you like your sci-fi goofy, this might work for you. If you're really hardcore sci-fi, it also might be worth sifting through the episodes on DVD. As I said, when it's good, it's hard to beat. For special effects junkies, Season 4 has some stellar (excuse the pun) and stylistically unique CGI work, some of the best I've seen on TV. For most casual sci-fi viewers and others however, I imagine wading through the bad apples to get to the good shows will be more trouble than it's worth.

I heard Mr. Sorbo comment on that last season 4 episode I mentioned earlier, and he seemed to think it was their best and they should do more like it. I fully agree, but as the show is running out to it's end now, I think this was a case of finding what was best about the concept way too late. I really wanted to like it, but overall just not as good as it should have been.

I feel the need to post a comment on this title because I've seen a few comments from people who are surprised at the positive user response for such an awful show.

What is truly tragic about Andromeda is that it is a show that never realized its full potential. This is due to the powers that be and their decision to remove Wolfe from his post as head writer of the show.

From Season 1 to the halfway point of Season 2, Wolfe was the head writer of Andromeda and the show was quality in every sense of the word. Wolfe took his experience from shows such as Star Trek: Deep Space Night and invested it in Andromeda, bringing life to intricate plot-lines and vibrant characters functioning in a realized Universe.

As Season 2 began to move along, the usual first season clumsiness that one expects from new TV shows had totally dissolved and an epic plot line was beginning to come to life.

This was tragically cut short when Wolfe was fired. After this unfortunate event, nearly all of his work was thrown out of the window as the series took an entirely different direction in favour of mainstream approval and a more episodic format. The most painful example of the latter is embodied in the decision to do away with the character of Trance in favour of a new incarnation of the character designed to be sexy.

The series began to spiral downwards even more, until it was finally too difficult to watch. Andromeda soon began to buy into nearly every science fiction cliché in the book, and when it ended was a pathetic worm of its former glory.

Four stars out of ten for 1.5 excellent seasons and 3.5 awful ones in a show that tragically never met its unimaginable potential.

What Andromeda does well:

1. The cast is, on the whole, quite good. Kevin Sorbo is the solid core (typical) central character one expects in this type of story, but the other characters are generally original and well-played. I especially like Harper and Beka, who manage to be fresh and compelling without being so iconoclastic as to distract the viewer from the plot. I also like that Rommie is not only an AI "learning to be human" but is also The Ship.

2. Backstory and plot are as interesting as any sci-fi franchise on television. The tale of Dylan's having been "stuck in a singularity" for 300 years, while scientifically suspect, makes a good yarn.

3. Effects and art direction are up to the best modern syndie TV can offer: benefitting from the advances in computer tech while likewise suffering from the vague sense of unreality it creates.

Where Andromeda falls short:

1. As the biggest "power that be," Sorbo has a slight tendency to overstress his character's importance. Dylan is, of course, the most important character, but as a fairly stereotyped "strong, silent captain," he's far from the most interesting character. The other characters should not only be allowed to carry some episodes, they should also be allowed to "be the hero" in more stories, even when Dylan is also featured. No captain, no matter how heroic, is always right.

2. Individual episodes are hit-and-miss. Not only are occasional episodes not much fun to watch, they don't even have much to do with the ongoing story. While I recognize that we can't get a barnburner every week, we do need *some* reason to tune in, whether it's humor or romance or whatever.

3. Not every unique touch has played out: Rev Bem was interesting in conception but not really in execution. I don't fault Brent Stait; I just think a Magog monk was compelling for about a week tops. I don't really mind that he was written out (for whatever reason). Another character who has failed to reach critical mass: Tyr. KHC is a good actor and undeniably an impressive physical specimen, but as the seasons have gone by, Tyr has never really developed much beyond a surly, untrustworthy bore. I think the problem lies largely with the concept of Nietzscheans in general; to make him more interesting, they would necessarily undermine the underpinnings of the character--it's a catch-22. I'm also underwhelmed by the "new Trance." The character as originally played was enigmatic and sweet; now she's just confusing.

4. Season 3 already misses the "rebuilding the Commonwealth" story thread. While the stories this year have been interesting, the show lacks dramatic impetus. Now that they're not concentrating on preparing for the Magog invasion or on strengthening the Commonwealth, they seem to be floundering around a bit. The plot lacks direction.

All told, I like Andromeda as much as anything on right now. But I can't help but feel it's not living up to potential. I'm afraid they may be trying to please a focus group rather than trying to make compelling television.