Andrômeda

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.

After series finale I have been left with completely mixed emotions and had to wait for a very long time to come to a complete summary of the series. What started as one of the best Sci-Fi series, having enormous potential ended as a trash series with nothing left of the grandeur it once possessed.

The idea itself is intriguing and uncovers vast possibilities of exploring the personal and interpersonal nuances of feelings, relationships etc. And in the first season as well as in the first half of second season the signs were set to "GO". However, after Robert Hewitt Wolfe left the show and Bob Engels took over the show almost immediately began to drift into crappy action Sci-Fi. Each episode had to show at least 20 dead enemies, had at least 5 fighting scenes, 10 big explosions and so on. The once almost invincible ship became more vulnerable than MS Windows and she "went down" at least once per episode.

Character development went not further but backwards, the writers forgot what has already been seen and said, denied some aspects which were already stated clearly.

Bottom line: if it would be possible, I'd rate seasons as follows:

1. season 10

2. season 8

3. season 6

4. season 4

5. season 0

However, overall note is 5.

This could have been such a great show.... :-(

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.

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

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.