Text 13, 99 rader
Skriven 2004-07-21 15:38:00 av Kevin Karmann (1:278/230)
Ärende: ANDROMEDA "The Others"
==============================



In many areas, one of the best episodes of ANDROMEDA from last season ("The
Others"), in my humble opinion at least, will be rerunning this weekend.
Although in some areas (like WGN in Chicago), it will run a week later and
you'll see it on  July 31st.   With all those opportunities ot catch it, I
thought I'd repost my review of it -- complete with spoiler space (as I know
Dave Berkowitz, for one, hasn't seen the episode in question).

So here's what I thought about "The Others" back in February...

Spoiler

Warning!

You

don't

want

to

be

one

of

"The Others"

and

miss

seeing

this

episode!


In the episode, the Andromeda comes across two wrecked ships marooned in
space, both sending distress calls and both urging the crew to destroy the
other craft.   Instead, Dylan decides to take them both aboard.   We
discover that these are rival races of the planet Trillin, divided by the
northerners and the southerners.   Of the two, Lach (played by HIGHLANDER's
Peter Wingfield) has a deadly, incurable disease that he blames on the other
Trillin, Zara (played by Kandyse McClure of the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA).
Deciding they're not making much headway with their guests, Dylan decides to
put them in a room together.   Unfortunately, the result is a lot of
feuding... and Lach biting Dylan in the neck, infecting him with the
disease.   The fast metabolism of a heavy worlder does Dylan no favors,
either, and soon he's limited to bed rest.   Unable to return to the
Commonwealth for help due their wanted status, they have no choice but to
travel to Trillin and hope they can get everyone working on an antidote.
Beka and Harper go south with Zara, while Rhade returns Lach to north.   As
they head in to land, they discover the two sides have build a wall that
would make the Chinese jealous, essentually winding all the way around the
planet.   Both Andromeda teams are soon captured, but thanks to the android
avatar Rommie, they are rescued just as both sides prepare to wipe each
other out for good.   Meanwhile, Dylan figures out that the answer is in the
children -- the northerners and southerners are really just one race and, by
separating, there's a crucial element of their genetic code missing.   So
the cure is to mix both Lach's and Zara's blood together, allowing for all
the immunity powers to develop.   Dylan tells both foes that unless they
stop fighting -- and start having children together -- their whole planet
will die out due to their genetic deficiencies.   Still, Lach and Zara fight
it out as they leave the ship.

Clearly, this episode was made in the same mold as "Let That Be Your Last
Battlefield."   And, overall, I thought it was rather good, perhaps even a
little better than ENTERPRISE's "Chosen Realm" that dealt with similar
issues.   ANDROMEDA doesn't normally do issue-driven shows, which is in a
way sad because Gene Roddenberry's name not only appears above the title,
the series was drawn up based upon some of his ideas.

Some of the science is a bit shakey -- the mixing of the blood for cure, the
standard sci-fi device of a cure that works nearly instantly (explained here
by Dylan's speedy physiology, not that I buy it), and even the idea of two
halves of a planet not having enough genetic variation (though obviously
based in the real idea that you need a certain amount of genetic variety to
produce a healthy people).   Still, I think things fell together far better
than the standard ANDROMEDA episode and with a much less convoluted plot
that normal.

Kevin







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