Season Two Episode Reviews

2X22    The Tunnel At the End of the Light 
2X21    Immaculate Perception 
2X20    The Knight, Death, and the Devil 
2X19    Belly of the Beast 
2X18    The Fair Unknown 
2X17    The Things We Cannot Change 

2X16    In Heaven Now Are Three 
Plot: Dylan Beka and Trance embark on an expedition for the Engine of Creation.

Worst episode ever; this show is over.  Between the incredibly cheap sets, the incredibly derivative story which literally copies from Indiana Jones every other minute, and the Hercules style gladiator contest at the end, there is very little to recommend here.  They even manage to ruin two fascinating topics; the Engine of Creation (hinted to in "Lovely Light") and meeting a second Purple Pixie.  Two horribly ruined opportunities in a horribly ruined episode.  We learn that Trance is defying her people but she's still on their side and they want to meet her, which is fascinating stuff, but at this point they're just about ruined the entire series, rendering this revelation pretty moot.

2X15    Dance of the Mayflies 
Plot: Andromeda is infected with a disease that reanimates the dead.

Another poor example of dumbed down action I'm afraid.  The whole Living Dead angle is pretty silly and not handled well at all; why didn't the dead grab weapons?  Why didn't the crew just dismember the corpses?  Why was there no resolution to their allies the Than trying to kill them?  Why was the moral issue of the Bokor's vast collection of knowledge being used against the Magog totally ignored?  There were some nice continuity touches though, in Harper's weak immune system and Beka's Flash addiction.  Rommie versus New Trance was pretty interesting too.  Trance is dead?  Interesting.  Rommie's concern over human mortality was an interesting little theme to add on.

2X14    Be All My Sins Remembered 
Plot: Beka's old lover takes the Maru hostage to force Andromeda into helping a civil war.

What could have been a decent average episode get ruined by idiotic cyborg action.  First off, the flashback story of Beka and Bobby and how Harper joined the crew was really interesting and cool (though the framing sequences for it were horribly blatant).  I like the idea of Bobby returning, and forcing Dylan's enlistment at the point of the gun in a civil war.  I like the political situation between the colonists and the native workers.  I really like Dylan's conversations with Lem.  What I despise is making Bobby a cyborg out to conquer the planet; it's just absolutely ridiculous and robs the episode of any moral ambiguity.  That said, that was a nice wirefu Dylan fight in the end.  But you have to laugh when Beka safely electrocutes Bobby with a live wire while touching the metal floor with her bare hands... Bobby's evil racist girlfriend dressed as a hooker was another horrible touch.  Why in the world would Dylan leave Tyr in charge of a disaster mission?!

2X13    Lava and Rockets 
Plot: Dylan hijacks a tourist ship fleeing mercenaries.

((I missed the first twenty minutes.))  Some fun action but way too superficial.  Dylan and his little pilot girlfriend running around was not the most enlightening thing in the world, though for once the bad guy makeup wasn't totally horrific.  I did like the wirefu fight between Rommie and Tyr and the Ogami.  I like Harper not trusting New Trance (hell I could give a crap about her, this isn't the character I grew to like).  I really liked the mentions of Enkindu being part of CW2 ("Honey Offering") and a High Guard Academy on Mobius ("Forced Perspective").  Rommie's new uniform was a nice touch, but unfortunately that queer blue hair remains.

2X12    Ourobouros 
Plot: While attempting to cure Harper's Magog infestation the Andromeda is caught in a temporal rift.

An excellent episode with a few gaping mistakes in it, and unfortunately Wolfe's final episode, and so for all intents and purposes the series finale of Andromeda.  Rev gets written out as an afterthought, but I understand the need for this.  Seems awfully queer that Harper only now enlists the Perseid's aid after being infected for six months, but I love involving Hohne again.  And I adore using the "Labyrinth" phase-shift technology to cure it!  I like the idea of revolving time shifts, especially going back to the pilot, and the disaster movie style plot of groups being split up.  I was extremely pissed off at killing Hohne, I really liked that guy, but it did make for an interesting moral dilemma at the end (I love that Harper was willing to sacrifice himself for Hohne's genius!).  Yet another horrible move is killing off Trance and replacing her with a new future (and meaner) version.  For all intents and purposes we just lost two beloved series regulars, and got one replaced with a horrible new character.  Sigh.  Not to mention Rommie's new horrible electric blue hair style.  Sigh.  Oh, and having the portals only be inside door ports was awfully convenient and lame!

2X11    Bunker Hill 
Plot: The Dragans go to war with the Sabra-Jaguar, drawing in Dylan; Harper leads a revolt on Earth.

Easily the best episode yet (and probably the best they'll ever do now that Wolfe is gone).  I just love the dual plots of war between the Commonwealth and the Dragans, on both Earth and with the Allied fleet.  It's incredible war-time storytelling that doesn't pull punches and advances the story arc in a great way.  I love seeing all the CW2 signatories fighting together!  And it's great to have Ellsbett around for this.  And the naval battle manages to once again be original and interesting thanks to the ingenious Dragan trick of empty ships launching a swarm of Slip cores at the Allied fleet; I love it that the bad guys were more brilliant!  And Beka's escape by slave driving the entire Allied fleet through the Slip field was also genius.  And the good guys loose, which I really love.  It's great to finally see Earth, and I like Harper having to deal with his dark past of cowardice, and I really love the noble sacrifice of Brendan.

2X10    The Prince 
Plot: Dylan and Tyr become co-regents to a newly crowned child king to a war-ravaged world.

Interesting episode that raises some great thematic ideas, but it's a little slow.  I really like the contrasting perspectives of Dylan's pragmatism and Tyr's Machiavellian cynicism and how they both play off of Erik.  It was an interesting situation to be in, between an exiled child King and the land owning Barons.  The kid playing the King was relatively good.  The climax was a little over the top, was it really necessary to use the big Planet Fall Bots on a handful of snipers?  I really liked the use of strings in the instrumental music.

2X9    Into the Labrynith 
Plot: Andromeda holds a conference of allies including Bolivar; Harper is seduced for the All Systems University database.

Great episode!  Two intensely interesting plots.  Great to see a conference of all their allies, most especially to see Charlemagne Bolivar of the Sabra-Jaguar showing up for an alliance, right from "Honey Offering".  Bolivar is a really interesting character with great motivations and lines, and its neat to see Spike from Buffy of course.  The main plot with Harper and Satrina was also interesting; Satrina was a damn effective evil sex kitten, and it was really cool to see the phase shifting technology again.  On the other hand, isn't this just "Harper 2.0" Part Two?  The promise of curing Harper was great stuff, as was Abyss taking an interest in Harper.  Even Hohne gets a character revelation as being behind the ASU DB!  I'm still confused on where and how Harper got the ASU DB from, but my reception went out a few times.  The action ending with all the phase shifting assassins was really rushed though, this should have been developed more.  Little anti-climactic.  It's a real shame the series is going down the toilet, because episodes like this make for a damn good show.

2X8    Home Fires 
Plot: Dylan meets Tarazed the last Commonwealth world, facing an isolationist movement.

Really interesting political episode.  First off, I loved seeing a training battle with the Castalians ("Neptune's Ocean"), what a great bit of continuity and preparation!  Sam's final message to Dylan was also good.  I really can't wait to see more of Tarazed, this is a great story addition, and their political situation was really interesting, between HG adoration and isolationism.  And I love using the Magog situation towards this as well.  I'm delighted to see a new Rhade character, I just love that guy, and I'm pleased he wasn't the bad guy.  I had Rekel pegged as the guilty party half way in.  The mention of Drago Musevini's mythical reincarnation reuniting the Niets sounds like some really interesting foreshadowing and explanation of Tyr stealing the bones.  Only bad part was the totally unnecessary Dylan-Rhade fight, it just seemed to exist for no real reason, though I like the poetic repetition, and once the fight ended they talked it out.

2X7    Una Salus Victus 
Plot: Dylan and Tyr assault a Dragan base to protect a medical convoy.

Good episode, but feels a bit empty with too much gratuitous action.  For the entire first half of this episode it just felt completely pointless in any thematic sense, just a lot of action, and a completely generic plot.  Even when we learn Cuchulain planned the entire thing to nab Tyr and Dylan learns about Museveni's Remains, it still feels a little empty.  There are a few interesting bits like Harper commanding the ship and Beka getting trapped with a friendly barren female Niet.  The Dylan/Tyr scene where he learns about Museveni was spectacular, easily the best thing about the episode.  Interesting to learn Tyr expects to be the power behind the throne of the Reincarnated Progenitor, and Tyr has a very interesting take on Dylan reshaping the world to his will.  Dylan escaping by bombarding their position was another really neat scene, and a very ingenious way to escape.  I had a big problem with Dylan and Tyr managing to get inside the stronghold even with the plans and the trap, but this was plausible.  Nice to see Cuchulain again.  The final Dylan/Tyr scene was less effective because Tyr wasn't played quite right, but I really like the barely restrained violence there, as the bully suddenly looses his strength.  Good ending.

2X6    All Too Human 
Plot: Rommie goes undercover to an AI hostile world; Andromeda confronts a planet destroyer.

Easily the best episode yet this season, a great combination of political-military plotting, AI prejudice, and amazingly cool wire-fu fight scenes.  Rommie rules in this episode, both in abilities and visual look (let her wear the punk hair and black trench coat forever!).  I love to see Dylan helping out new ally Mobius ("Forced Perspective") from an AI-prejudiced society, great material.  Having their tech be from the Magog was a really great and important plot twist.  Amazingly cool shoot outs and fight scenes!  Tyr and Rev get some great material when the Maru gets sunk and Tyr must risk his life to save Harper (great to see Harper's infection getting used too).  Dylan's fight with the planet killer was short but interesting; I like the Slip portal solution to stop the PSBs causing permanent environmental damage, but it really lessens the Magog threat in the process.  Kim was an interesting if short-lived character, liked to see Rommie in a combat protector role.

2X5    Last Call At the Broken Hammer 
Plot: Dylan visits a forelone bar in search of a failed coalition leader hunted by the Kalderans.

Good episode but some lame elements.  I really like Dylan hunting down a fellow coalition leader who failed miserable, I like introducing another major new race, the Kalderans, though their visual look was NOT good.  I like the bar room siege and the war-time stuff, but some stuff rankles like the pregnant woman shooting Cory and getting away with it.  Trance loosing her tail was an interesting move (unfortunately spoiled for me).  I had the bar tender pegged as Ortiz immediately, but I like the identity mystery.  I like the implication that most people don't want the CW2, of course they should have mentioned the Magog here.  The final massacre wasn't that hot; definitely failed to be moving.  Nice to see Dylan and Tyr out of their usual uniforms.

2X4    Pitiless As the Sun 
Plot: Trance is interrogated by xenophobes who are being attacked by the Pyrians.

Great stuff!  Trance revelations and a major new race introduction off set the somewhat un-epic feel of the episode.  Logitech could have been a much more interesting character (and I expected a lot more from William Davis), and the interrogation a lot more in depth, as it was it felt pretty superficial.  Still we finally get some huge Trance revelations that confirm my suspicions; her people are god-like tricksters high on chaos.  This could have been a huge breakout role for Trance but unfortunately she didn't get to do much, aside from a nice little evil teasing.  The revelation that the Inari were attacked by a Purple Guy causing a civil war a great one.  I especially love the revelation that Trance has galaxies in her eyes while Abyss has black holes... hmm....  This episode really should have been just about Logitech and Trance and really delved into it, while the Pyrian plot should have gotten its own episode.  It's all too rushed.  The Pyrians were a really great addition to the show, alien aliens who aren't necessarily enemies and potential allies, with an interesting look.  I especially love how when Dylan first encounters them he gives a CW code which stops them from attacking based on old loyalties.  And them turning out to the drug interdictors was a great plot twist.  I absolutely love how the Inari were forced into drug smuggling because of the depression caused by the civil war caused by the Purple Guy.  Good people forced into horrible choices, I love it.  I so love that Dylan is secretly making Nova Bombs without telling Tyr or Beka, I respect him more every episode.  Rev is yet again absent.  Trance gets a new haircut, Tyr gets a new shirt, and Rommie gets a new uniform.  The refitted Command Deck is a great follow-up to "Hour" but it looks more cramped, and I don't like the standing Slip Pilot thing.

2X3    A Heart for Falsehood Framed 
Plot: Beka leads a complicated theft on a criminal's drift to prevent a war with the Than.

A decently entertaining plot with a million plot twists like "Ties Blind".  The situation between the Than and the criminal drift (and the FTA too!) was an interesting one.  Unfortunately I didn't really buy Beka's romance with Leydon, but the robbery sequence was pretty interesting.  I especially like that Dylan was behind the theft (again showing his more devious side).  The bottom half of the episode is particularly crazy in twists, with all the fake Hearts running around, with Leydon's shifting allegiances, the complicated material and nice sets of the drift elevate what would otherwise be pretty average.  What was that treasure Slip map in the real Heart anyway?  Future plot tease?  More production value changes... the CGI looked nice, the new red-trim High Guard uniforms looked silly, the Than costume looked horrible YET again.  No Rev.

2X2    Exit Strategies 
Plot: Dylan Beka Rev and Tyr are hunted by Nietzscheans on an ice planet; Harper deals with his infestation.

Shockingly, even better than the season premiere, this is exactly the kind of show I look for.  We've got some spectacular on location snow shoot-outs, more development of the Tyr/Drago storyline, tons of great character work, continuity, and that spectacular final Dylan/Tyr scene which asks everything I've been wondering.  It's great to see oft ignored characters given a chance to shine, most notably Rev getting something other to do than philosophize, and the Beka/Rev relationship which hasn't really been dealt with.  Rev and Tyr also make for a great but rare teamup.  The Maru getting sunk into the tunnels was a great shocking plot twist, and the mag coils and Squirms were a welcome addition to a generic 'fight Niets' plot.  The revelation that the Niets helped Tyr steal Drago and then he betrayed them was a surprising one, and gives more credibility to Tyr making off with it to begin with.  It's interesting to learn that Tyr intends to rule all Nietzscheans.  The Andromeda side plot gives lots of well needed follow up to "Gyre", I love that they're still clearing Magog corpses away (brilliant touch of realism), and Harper's suicide attempt is good stuff as well.  I really look forward to where Dylan and Tyr go from here.  On the production side, this episode was a revolution of improvement.  Rev gets a new costume (looks silly from the back though), that High Guard winter gear was awesome, Tyr stopped wearing that damn chain shirt, and Dylan even got a haircut.  Dylan was absolutely hilarious in the ep, which is an extremely welcome surprise.  In fact, the character interaction is greatly improved all around!

2X1    The Widening Gyre (part 2 of 2) 
Plot: The crew attempts to destroy the Magog World Structure.

A decent and entertaining follow up, but something, like the previous one, is off about everything.  In fact, aside from a few surprises the episode is surprisingly predictable, even down to the "Lightning" nova bomb.  The Battle Bots finally showing up to destroy the Magog swarm ships was cool, but the CGI was very cartoony.  Harper getting permanently infected with Magog larva is of course the one big shocker, which is a great bold move to take, and should make for some great material.  The worst part is how the Magog and Abyss just ignore Andromeda for half the episode, conveniently allowing our heroes to set about their rescue mission unhindered.  The backstory to Andromeda tracking the Magog to a black hole area of space was interesting but again predictable, though it was pretty sad to hear about Rommie wandering the Slip for over a year.  It's disappointing to learn the Magog are a galaxy-eating plague, I was hoping for a more local threat, and don't tell me this one World Ship has conquered whole galaxies.  Tyr's story about surviving being buried alive in a cave was great.  Rev meeting Abyss was interesting, too bad Abyss doesn't talk or anything, this philosophy of harmony and love through death to beat chaos is an interesting but not very inspirational one.  I was shocked when they actually Nova Bombed the World Ship, but should have expected Abyss could have absorbed it.  I didn't for a second believe in Rev's defection.  Abyss' half-assed attack on the crew came off as more comical than threatening.  The mission statement of preparing a new Commonwealth to resist the World Ship in a couple years is a good move, but again a little disappointing. Besides, it's not like anybody is going to believe them about the Magog threat, even with ship's records.  The new title sequence is so much worse than the old one with that overdone narration.  Rev's new makeup looks much worse!