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This Month's Special
Fiction reviewer, Joy Calderwood boldly goes
where no IRS writer has gone before.
GENE RODDENBERRY'S
ANDROMEDA
Television,
Dramatic Series
Majel Roddenberry,
Executive Producer
It has been many years
since we saw the idealistic Federation dreamed by Gene Roddenberry.
At last, with Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, idealism is again the
motivation for a captain and his ship. I have been picturing Roddenberry
turning over in his grave at the "edginess" (read pessimism") of
Deep Space Nine and Voyager, but now he can relax. Captain Dylan
Hunt's Commonwealth is hope come back to life. I have found most
of Andromeda's stories interesting enough to keep on tape. Typical
of a Roddenberry concept, the episodes explore issues in engaging
ways. Inspiration, trust, cooperation versus selfishness, child
violence, family ties and duty, artificial intelligence potentials,
vengeance and justice - already in the series these themes have
each been explored from more than one viewpoint .
I am anxious to keep getting to know these characters
better. Kevin Sorbo, star of Hercules, brings over into the role
of Captain Hunt his aura of rock-like reliability, and while he
has sacrificed most of his hair and the rustic, bare-chested costumes,
he has added a natural sense of command and layers of feelings unknown
to Hercules. His is the idealism that drives the show, as he and
his crew set out to restore the multi-galactic Commonwealth which
fell 300 years before, and in which Hunt was born.
Tyr Anasazi, mercenary par excellence played powerfully
by Keith Hamilton Cobb, combines brutality and sensitivity in one
sexy package. His character is a Nietzschean, a species of genetically
designed supermen with the Darwinian lifestyle to match. Cobb, in
lucky combination with the costume department and the screenwriters,
has created a character who is continually walking psychological
tightropes. If the actor's love of the theater doesn't split his
focus too much, his high-impact beauty and his apt use of both subtlety
and action fit him for a notable screen career. These two characters
provide the action scenes and the philosophical sparks. Gordon Michael
Woolvett, who once had a ship and a show of his own on Mission Genesis,
supplies the comic relief in this show. This is a much better role.
His Seamus Harper is a little genius engineer whose ingenuity and
delightfully cynical commentary brightens many a situation.
Okay, few things are perfect.
Andromeda could use a little help with its women. The best women's
performances in the show so far have been guest appearances by the
mates of Captain Hunt and Tyr. Of the regulars, tough salvage captain
Beka Valentine, who becomes Andromeda's First Officer, is played
by Lisa Ryder. She could use some of the passion of Hunt's fiancée
Sara, or the smoldering feline calculation shown by Tyr's mate Freia.
So far, in spite of having an episode dedicated to Beka, the character
feels only shell-deep. This is not the fault of the writers. On
the other hand, Trance Gemini, a bubbly, not-particularly-smart
sweetie of unknown species played by Laura Bertram, deserves better
from the script than the occasional cute one-liner. The ship's AI
computer, Andromeda, represented by Lexa Doig, is the deepest role
of the three, in spite of her mechanical origins.
Left for last in the crew because we can't see
him is a Magog, buried in fur and latex but providing some effective
moments anyway. Rev Bem is played by Brent Stait, whose character
is as thoroughly hidden here, as it was exposed in Mystery, Alaska.
Rev is a philosopher/priest whose sensible interference's can be
pivotal, so we forgive him indulging in the occasional small sermon.
It is a pleasure to see bright color return to
Roddenberry space adventure after the icy blues of Deep Space Nine
and Voyager. The producers are not spending high dollars on the
special effects, but this justly reflects the priority given to
story and character. The look is believable and competent.
Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Next Generation was
one of the most popular television dramas of its day. Apart from
the fact that the crew of Andromeda Ascendant is working toward
a cooperative Commonwealth and the crew of the Enterprise were already
established in such a Federation, the two series offer much the
same philosophy, and it is a lift to the spirits. The message of
Andromeda is this: "Always hold the ideal before your eyes, and
do not stop working for it no matter the odds." It is a pretty nourishing
message for such tasty adventure
Joy Calderwood
(Editor's note: Andromeda is a series based on a single Roddenberry
script and farmed out to a living writier for additional scripts.)
