" Under the Night " - Episode #101 (spoilers below!) (Click here for review)

Written By: Robert Hewitt Wolfe     Directed By: Allan Kroeker

 The episode opens with a battlestations drill aboard a ship of the Systems Commonwealth High Guard named Andromeda Ascendant. The crew of aliens and humans rush to their stations, but not quite quick enough for their captain Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo) and nowhere near quick enough for their Nietzschean first officer Rhade (Steve Bacic). All of this is observed by the ship's Artificial Intelligence, personified in a hologram projection of a young women (Lexa Doig).

Shortly thereafter they receive a distress call from a colony near which a rogue black hole is now located. This turns out to be a trap and they come under attack by a massive Nietzschean fleet. The first officer recommends that he and other Nietzscheans be confined and Captain Hunt reluctantly agrees.

Shortly the battle exhausts much of their resources and causes considerable damage to the ship. Captain Hunt orders all hands to evacuate and the ship is left manned by robots/drones/androids as well as by Captain Hunt and the Than navigator (Elizabeth Thai) who refuses to leave. Dylan orders the ship toward the black hole in hopes of using its gravity to slingshot far enough away to go into Slipstream drive.

However, Rhade kills the guards escorting him with spines that protrude from his arms. He then cuts main power and makes his way to the bridge where he kills the navigator. He explains to Dylan that the actions of his people are motivated by Commonwealth compromises, especially in the case of a race of rapists/murderers (the Magog) which they feel should have been destroyed. He attempts to kill the Captain and is finally killed by Dylan.

By this time the ship has drifted into the event horizon of the black hole where the time dilation effects slows Dylan and the ship's progress in time close to zero.

The scene now switches to a salvage ship named the Eureka Maru, which is looking for the Andromeda while unaware that she has any surviving crew aboard. The captain of the salvage ship is Beka Valentine (Lisa Ryder) and the rest of the crew consists of Seamus Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett), Trance Gemini (Laura Bertram) and Rev Bem (Brent Stait). Also along is the nightrider Gerentex (John Trench) who hired them for this job, and apparently has a secret hidden in the cargo hold.

The Eureka Maru manages to pull the Andromeda from the event horizon and the crew then boards her. Captain Hunt, now recovered from the effects of the time dilation, confronts Seamus Harper and finds out that the Commonwealth was destroyed over 300 years ago.

Dylan finds it hard to believe that a civilization spanning three galaxies could fall and leave no trace. He determines to look for some remnant left behind.

Captain Hunt warns the salvage crew to leave the Andromeda before Dylan is forced to retake the ship by force. However, at this point Gerentex reveals his ace in the hole, a group of mercenary soldiers of whom at least the leader is a Nietzschean (Keith Hamilton Cobb).

Synopsis 10/10/00 by Larry Kramer       Updated 10/05/01.

© 2001 Larry Kramer (See Copyright Disclaimer)