After the events of the opening episodes Andromeda is in need of supplies so they head for an old High Guard space station. When they arrive they are surprised to discover it is still manned the young decedents of the original crew. There are no older people on board as a radiation leak from secure section of the station is poisoning them. They view Dylan almost as a messiah and it soon becomes apparent that their loyalties the Commonwealth isn't the same as that Dylan knows... they want to destroy any aliens; in particular Nietzscheans and the Magog and when Dylan opens the secure area, using his High Guard password, he gives them the nova bombs they need to do just that! While Dylan tries to persuade them to reach out to their enemies rather than try to exterminate them Harper is working on his own secret project using information he found on the station.
This episode was better than I expected; when it became apparent that the station was occupied by youngsters I feared it might end up like a particularly weak episode of 'Star Trek' crossed with the children from 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome'... thankfully it was better than that. The idea that over the generations the core Commonwealth message may have been corrupted works well and the fact that everything goes Dylan's way, and one of his actions accidentally makes matters worse, means he doesn't come across as too perfect as he did in the opening episodes. The regular cast are on good form, with Lexa Doig being particularly memorable as 'Rommie' the ship's physical avatar, created by Harper, who turns up apparently naked! Of the guest stars Amber Rothwell impresses as the youngsters' dying leader but it is Christopher Lovick's performance her deputy that dominates the episode; he makes the character both menacing and charismatic; like a cult leader who has absolute belief in what he says and thinks anybody who disagrees must be a traitor. Overall this was an impressive episode; much better than I expected.
This episode was better than I expected; when it became apparent that the station was occupied by youngsters I feared it might end up like a particularly weak episode of 'Star Trek' crossed with the children from 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome'... thankfully it was better than that. The idea that over the generations the core Commonwealth message may have been corrupted works well and the fact that everything goes Dylan's way, and one of his actions accidentally makes matters worse, means he doesn't come across as too perfect as he did in the opening episodes. The regular cast are on good form, with Lexa Doig being particularly memorable as 'Rommie' the ship's physical avatar, created by Harper, who turns up apparently naked! Of the guest stars Amber Rothwell impresses as the youngsters' dying leader but it is Christopher Lovick's performance her deputy that dominates the episode; he makes the character both menacing and charismatic; like a cult leader who has absolute belief in what he says and thinks anybody who disagrees must be a traitor. Overall this was an impressive episode; much better than I expected.
