Viper

I loved the addition of Westlake and Frankie was better than ever. The car was still awesome and all new tricks for its gadgets were added.

The show had some great adventures. I think it did suffer losing Astor and the futuristic element (and its worth noting that we are now IN that future..complete with drones, flat screen tvs and the equivalent of vid phones) and was thrilled he at least returned last season (I assume that is NOT a spoiler since you can see his name right in the credits and if a synops is ever added to those last season shows it'll probably have his name attached.) That isn't to say I didn't like Cole: its simply that Astor had the whole backstory tied into the Viper and I really missed that rogue element.

The only terrible thing about it: it ended too soon, right when it was picking up speed again in my opinion. Personally I suspect 'rating sabotage' (which is what I call it when the show keeps bouncing around day/time slots in an era where the only way to find it is a TV Guide that had to be printed - and a change after that meant finding your show was like hitting a moving target.) And of course, it just took to long to find its stride after being revamped after the first season.

I would've loved to see more seasons: the season/series finale was a great wrap up but it also had potential to take it into some new unexplored character arcs plus tie up some loose ends from first season.

The only bad thing about this is that it changed so drastically the next season. In spite of this being listed separate from the later seasons, it has the same car and characters (although Joe and Julian didn't return until season 4.) But this first one was the best and most unique. While I loved Westlake being added in later seasons, I'm sorry the show in later seasons lost the 'rogue' edge it had and that so many characters vanished. I liked the way it was developing and always felt Joe was (as Frankie put it) part of the Defender. Just as the car went from ordinary Viper to Defender, Joe was a guy from the wild side that no one would've suspected had a 'defender' mode. I liked how the team had their independence but were gradually gradually able to work with the law but not UNDER anyone's authority. I am really thrilled its finally on DVD. It had a nice mix of sci fi, mystery, action and...that rogue element that just made it unique. Shame on NBC for letting it go!

I have every reason to belive that this series was created to spotlight cars be Chrysler, namely the Dodge Viper. Every car in the series ws either a Stealth, the Viper or some other Dodge. I believe this was tried in Knight Rider, but unlike KR, the average Joe couldn't just waltz down to the local Dodge dealership, plop down 50G and drive off with a viper.

This series just didn't have the magic of KR. Viper couldn't go 200mph, do super jumps or have witty comments like KITT. Still, it beat Team Knight Rider in the ground.

Okay, so the morphing effect was kinda cool. But what was the point, plotwise? Was the Viper supposed to be a kind of "superhero car" complete with a secret identity?? It's been a while, but I remember at least one pursuit scene where the Viper was in "plain clothes" and then Joe had to morph it just to use the Acme Stop-That-Car Device (tm). Which btw was pretty cool too...

In the day after tomorrow, the Metrocity became the playground of the criminals. Against that threat, Engineer Julian Wilks created the ultimate police pursuit machine, a Dodge Viper which could morph into a vehicle called 'Defender'. One thing was missing...The driver which could handle Defender's enormous skills. The best driver of the bad guys, Michael Payton, had an accident. He was recovered from death by MetroCity Police, his criminal identity was erased and he became Joseph 'Joe' Astor, a policeman, expert for pursuit. Good Show! Great Effects and good character development!