As a whole, the series is greater than the sum of its parts. At times, it’s a well constructed human drama. But, it also has moments where it becomes far too complex and up itself a little, and basically turns into a Lost prototype. Most notably when the planet’s native Terians are involved and the psychic dream sequences start. A plot point that makes things much too trippy and hard to understand. The series works fine without the introduction of varying planes of reality. The characters are both engaging and relatable other than child characters Ulysses Adair (Joey Zimmerman) and True Danziger (J. Madison Wright) who are just grating and obnoxious. Most notably True during the three episode story arc about mysterious interloper Gaal (Tim Curry). For my money, the most interesting character is Yale (Sullivan Walker), a convicted criminal who has had his memory erased and become a cyborg in order to serve as Ulysses’ tutor, as part of a rehabilitation programme. He’s the wise man of the group, kind of serving as the Obi-Wan figure, but his background makes it clear that there is an edge to him, making him likeable and intriguing at the same time. It appears that the two-part pilot had more money allocated to it than the other episodes as it boasts some incredible visual effects sequences that have aged incredibly well. This is in stark contrast to the (by today’s standards) rather ropey creature effects used for the alien inhabitants of G899 which have a distinctly nineties feel to them. However, where the series fails on visual effects, it excels on its filming locations that make up the bulk of the series’ setting. New Mexico is wholly believable as the alien world and the camerawork really does the area justice. It’s slow to build up but there are some great moments in it if you persevere enough. Though some of the pro-environmental messages are quite heavy-handed, and, as I’ve mentioned, it occasionally tries to be too clever for its own good. It’s definitely worth a watch though. Disc As far as special features go, the boxset has some outtakes and deleted scenes but nothing else. Despite this, the set’s runtime is seventeen hours with all twenty-one episodes (one of which is double length) included which is definitely worth the retail price of £29.99 if the series interests you. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
