Andromeda

Shows like this make me wish IMDb allowed us to rate individual seasons.

Like Earth: Final Conflict, another Roddenberry posthumous series, it started out rather good, with a lot of potential. They both had interesting concepts, good characters and could have gone somewhere. Yet, as happened with EFC, the seasons got progressively worse until finally ending up as a joke, the likes of which you might expect to come from the SciFi Channel in the post-2003 era.

Andromeda's best seasons were 1 and 2. The plots surrounded the overall concept which was an idealistic captain from an idyllic fallen civilization seeking to restore an order to the fractured systems across 3 galaxies. It was evocative of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire as the Dark Ages set in.

In season 3, the series lost its aim. There were still interesting plots but the overall aim of a lone captain in a powerful ship on a lone quest to restore the Commonwealth had been lost. While not as good as seasons 1 & 2 by any means, season 3 is still watchable.

It's at the end of season 3 when the series took a notable nose dive. Season 3 ended with a cliffhanger which made you think everything had changed; yet when season 4 began it was clear the only thing which had changed was that everything became less logical and the writing noticeably worse. I have to wonder if there was a major change in management and writing talent at this point. In season 4 things foundered and it was not the Andromeda of before.

Season 5 became a joke. The end of season 4 obviously set up a "reset" for the entire series but instead it appears in season 5 they ignored this set-up and created a scenario hardly worthy of Andromeda. Instead of roaming 3 galaxies trying to establish a grand civilization, the crew, which inexplicably survived clearly being killed, is now trapped by an absurd force in a single solar system plagued with ailments while Andromeda sits crippled. Season 4 was a disappointment but season 5 was so far removed from the original series that it only served as the butt of jokes from former fans.

All in all, Andromeda serves as an example that you should know when to end your show before it becomes pitiful. I average it out as a 5/10 because the last 2 seasons bring down the total score considerably. I would rank the seasons as follows:

Season 1: 8/10 Season 2: 7/10 Season 3: 6/10 Season 4: 4/10 Season 5: 2/10

It has a story arc with about 3 seasons of material, that centers around 'trance' a very novel character. They also have formulaic episodes of mixed quality. After you 'get' the series, read the episode summary, look at the rating and skip the episode if your spider sense tingles.

It's a pretty good show so why watch this one? To see Lexa Doig in her 20's as Andromeda. I cringed when I heard 'she was the ship' but that make sense when you watch it. Also she appears in three formats, a screen representing the cold logic of a ship, a hologram which balances her 'avatar' which is an android body who is the most human. Thank goodness for the android version.

Halfway through season 2, Trance changes her blue skinned character for a golden tone hottie wearing a more form fitting outfit. If you have an elf fantasy, you absolutely must see this version of her.

Good show plus extremely attractive women equals must watch for me.

After reading the reviews for the new fall season, I was expecting Andromeda to be another Star Trek clone, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not the case! Andromeda is an entertaining show with solid acting and a great mix of action, sci-fi and comedy. Kevin Sorbo slips into this role like it was made for him and the only obvious remnant of his days as Hercules is his wonderful ability to portray the noble hero without taking himself too seriously! The effects are decent, the cast is solid and you don't need to know the technical specs of the Enterprise to understand and enjoy the plot! This show is a treat for sci-fi and action fans alike and even stubborn Star Wars fans (myself among them!) will get a kick out of Rev's Yoda-esque witticisms! All in all, an enjoyable ride!

The Over-all Plot of Andromeda is based on Gene-Roddenberry's Genesis II. In Both, Dylan Hunt is somehow brought into the future. In the future he finds that the world (galaxy) has turned barbaric. He, with a little help from his friends, try to restore order against the barbaric powers. Many similarities between Genesis II and its retooled, more futuristic update exist but either way both were and are still good watching

Some strong episodes in the first three seasons - unfortunately they fired the show runner and it became a discombobulated mess.