Andromeda - Series 1 (Box Set) (DVD)

...television show was of course Andromeda and as I now have a lovefilm membership I can watch whatever I want! A couple of months ago I received the first DVD of Andromeda season 1 and I have to say that I was disappointed. It turns out that I'm not in love with Kevin Sorbo so much as Hercules. But I got over my initial disappointment (with some help from the extremely sexy Keith Hamilton Cobb) and found out that there is much more to this show than ...
...in.

Andromeda is set thousands of years into the future. Humans can now travel throughout space and interact with other races from other planets. Not only are there other races but there are also different types of humans, like the Nietzschean's who are homo sapiens but faster, stronger and more resistant to illness than humans due to genetic modification.

Within this universe there is the System's Commonwealth, a ... more

About fourteen years ago I watched Hercules the Legendary Journeys and fell completely in love with Kevin Sorbo. Ten years later I switch the television on and see that he has a new television show that my house mates immediately turn over because they're too cool to watch sci-fi (even though I did catch them watching Star Trek once). That new television show was of course Andromeda and as I now have a lovefilm membership I can watch whatever I want! A couple of months ago I received the first DVD of Andromeda season 1 and I have to say that I was disappointed. It turns out that I'm not in love with Kevin Sorbo so much as Hercules. But I got over my initial disappointment (with some help from the extremely sexy Keith Hamilton Cobb) and found out that there is much more to this show than a very attractive cast.

-The Universe-

In order to understand the plot it's necessary to have some background information on the world that it's set in.

Andromeda is set thousands of years into the future. Humans can now travel throughout space and interact with other races from other planets. Not only are there other races but there are also different types of humans, like the Nietzschean's who are homo sapiens but faster, stronger and more resistant to illness than humans due to genetic modification.

Within this universe there is the System's Commonwealth, a utopian civilisation that includes three different galaxies and more than a million worlds. The High Guard is the commonwealth's military and is made up of people from all the member races.

-Plot-
Dylan Hunt is the Captain of the Andromeda and a member of the High Guard. When the Nietzschean's revolt and bring down the Commonwealth something happens to Dylan's ship and when he wakes up three centuries have gone by. He wakes up to find himself in a world much different to the one he's left. The universe is no longer a utopia. There is no longer a commonwealth or a high guard, even Tarn-Vedra, Dylan's home planet, has long been cut off from the rest of the universe. The world is no longer a peaceful place.

When a salvage crew attempt to take the Andromeda Dylan decides to make them his crew. With their help he plans to create a new Systems Commonwealth.

Series one is basically Dylan finding out about the world he now lives in and trying to get people to sign up to his commonwealth.

-Opinion-
When I first signed up to lovefilm three years ago I added Andromeda to my list of DVD's to rent and then put it right at the bottom of that list. I wanted to watch it, it looked interesting enough but 22 episodes in each season makes it a long series and I don't always have the attention span for something so long. I eventually put it to the top of the list, thinking that it had been on there long enough and I should try at least one disk and if it didn't keep my interest I didn't have to finish watching it. I was hooked on the first episode.

I think one of the reasons why Andromeda managed to keep my interest during the entire season is that the whole of series one is like one big exploration of the universe. It's all about world building. As Dylan gets to know about the world he finds himself in so do you. While he's learning about how the different races have evolved in the centuries the viewer also learns about each race. You learn about the different biology, culture and history of the races, as well as the evolution of humans. Most episodes bring Dylan and the viewer into contact with a different race and a different part of the universe, so there is always something new.

Another thing that I loved about this series were the characters. Within Dylan's crew you have some humans, a nietszchean, a magog, an AI and someone from a race that is unknown. I thought that the combination of different races added an interesting dimension to the show and the interaction between the characters, especially because they all come from races that are usually not at peace with each other. I thought that the different races gave the writers of this show a great opportunity to explore different issues and debates.
For example, you have Rev Bem who is a magog. The magog are a race of people who are supposed to be only semi-intelligent and who are inherently violent but Rev Bem is an intelligent religious man who does not agree with violence and shows a great deal of restraint throughout the series, in direct opposition with what is supposed to be his nature. I thought Rev Bem provided an interesting statement on the nature/nurture debate. He is shown throughout the series to overcome his violent nature but not without great difficulty.

The characters were all really well developed and they all had great depth, with the exception of Dylan Hunt. Dylan seems to be nothing more than your stereotypical noble captain who wants nothing more than to save the world with no self motivation and a complete willingness to give up his own happiness in the pursuit of world peace. He just didn't seem believable and his lack of flaws made him difficult to relate to.

My favourite character is Tyr Anasazi, a nietzschean and the last of his pride. Nietzschean's are all about survival and passing on their genes and Tyr is not an exception. Throughout the series he shows himself to be all about self preservation but he also seems to develop an attachment to other members of the crew, even if not a loyalty. I just found him to be a very interesting character and I felt throughout that there was always something more to him and I'm still waiting to find out what it is!

The acting in the show was very good. It helps (at least for me) that all of the characters (with the exception of Rev Bem) are very attractive. It's shallow but it does add to my enjoyment. The cast continuously show that they're not just pretty faces and manage to convincingly play all of their characters. I usually find that in any show there is always at least one person who lets the cast down but in this show there isn't at all.

There is a lot of action in Andromeda but it is balanced out nicely with a more diplomatic side to setting up the New Commonwealth and it isn't particularly violent. There are a few scenes that are quite disturbing, particularly because they come as such a surprise. Andromeda is very subtle when it comes to portraying more extreme violence so when you do actually see magog attacks it really hits home how violent and disturbing a race they are. I like that violence wasn't used gratuitously. As a viewer you're aware that bad things have happened to many of the characters, you're aware of the risks that they face and there is rarely a need to actually show that violence. When you do see that violence it comes as more of a shock and has a greater impact because of this.

I liked that throughout the series there is a lot of mystery. There is mystery surrounding the characters, mystery surrounding some races, the history of some characters and mystery surrounding Tarn-Vedra. Throughout series one you do learn little bits that cast some light on these secrets but at the same time you are still left wanting to know more and as one mystery is solved another seems to present itself. It makes for very compelling viewing.

Overall I really enjoyed the first season of Andromeda and would highly recommend it.

 

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