Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release Type: Complete Series
Release Date: 4/25/2006
Number of Discs: 5
Number of Episodes: 19
Running Time: 935 minutes
Retail Price: $49.95 (US$)
Created by: Manny Coto
Cast:
Commander Chuck Taggart – Peter Weller
Kurt Mendel – Sebastian Roché
Neil Taggart – Christopher Gorham
Sarah Forbes – Leslie Silva
Angela Perry – Tamara Craig Thomas
The Show
The crew of the Space Shuttle Odyssey thought they were in for just a typical mission. Deploy a new satellite, make a quick stop to the space station, and then return home. That was until the Earth blew up.
The short-lived Showtime Science Fiction show, brainchild of 24 writer Many Coto, starts off with a bang. Under the command of Chuck Taggart (Peter Weller) the crew, consisting of Taggart’s 22-year-old computer whiz son Neil (Christopher Gorham), pilot Angela Perry (Tamara Craig Thomas), reporter Sarah Forbes (Leslie Silva), and geneticist and writer Kurt Mendel (Sebastian Roché) witness the destruction of the earth. As their air is about to run out they are rescued by a strange alien presence that calls himself The Seeker. The Seeker informs the survivors that he has the ability to transfer their consciousness back five years in time to their physical bodies. This should give them time to investigate the Earth’s destruction.
They accept the deal and moments later wake up in their bodies five years earlier, with all their memories of the next five years, and the Earth’s destruction fresh in their heads. While some of the crew are eager to begin investigating right away, others have other issues to deal with. Sarah Forbes is reunited with her 5-year-old son Cory who had died in the original timeline of gastrointestinal cancer. Neil once again is in high school, where he was a bit of a wild kid previously. Pilot Angela Perry must deal with her unscrupulous, and conspiracy laden Senator Father, and Commander Taggart himself has issues at home with his wife, and an older son. Even playboy Kurt Mendel must deal with his desire to just embrace the carnal delights of the world, and wait for the world to blow up.
At the core of this series, these human elements drive the complicated science fiction plot. Just before the earth exploded, Taggart noticed a bit of code called Leviathan. This code leads the crewmembers to discover that human experiments in Artificial Intelligence have lead to the existence of sentient computer code living within the internet. These sentient beings have developed a way to create synthetic humans who they control to carry out whatever plans they have. To add to his misery, Taggart discovers a group within NASA called The Cadre, whose mission to end manned space flight and instead use robotics, seems to be in lock step with the desired of the sentients.
While much of the plot seems overcomplicated, this show, on the strength of strong writing and an excellent cast really pull it off. Peter Weller, whose real life father was a pilot, embodies the role of Chuck Taggart extremely well. He has a sort of offbeat delivery that seems to emphasize the wrong word in a sentence, yet this delivery seems to take what could be a dreadfully cheesy line, flip it on his head and make it sound incredibly cool. Weller is such a presence in this show, that by midseason, other actors are mimicking his inflection and cadence.
The other highlight of the show is the story arch dealing with Reporter Sarah Forbes. She returns to her original timeline to reunite with her five-year-old son who died from cancer. Knowing his fate, she takes him to a multitude of doctors and specialist to try to prevent the inevitable. This leads to conflict with her husband, who believes she may be losing her mind. When he discovers that she has been giving him an experimental cancer drug, he takes Cory and leaves.
Odyssey 5 is a highly original and intriguing series that offers the kind of human performances that is lacking in much of science fiction programming today. The show emphasizes the characters over the special effects. The serialized nature of the show will leave people either intrigued or frustrated, as answers only lead to bigger and more complex questions. There is one word of warning, the show was canceled after one season, and not much is resolved. In fact, the series finale ended with a big reveal that lead you to question much of what you thought you knew about the show, and left you with bigger questions to ask.
The DVD
The Episodes
Disc 1
Episode #1: Pilot
After witnessing the Earth Explode, the crew of the Space Shuttle Odyssey are sent back in time 5 years in order to prevent the destruction of all that they know.
Episode #2: Shattered
Introduces a reoccurring character, Dr. Naran Chandra who in the original timeline committed suicide. The crewmembers discover he may be responsible in part for creating the a Sentient.
Episode #3: Astronaut Dreams
Disc 2
Episode #4: Time Out of Mind
Dr. Mendel is left alone when the other members of the crew begin losing their memories of the previous five years, and their mission to save the Earth.
Episode #5: Symbiosis
Episode #6: The Choices We Make
Episode #7: Rapture
Neil discovers a highly addictive drug being used in his high school, may be the work of a Sentient.
Disc 3:
Episode #8: A.L.D.U. 7
Episode #9: Flux
After being scratched by a Synthetic, Chuck Taggart begins experiencing weird physical changes.
Episode #10: Kitten
Episode #11: Dark at the End of the Tunnel
Dr. Mendel is drawn to a weird religious cult that are building a machine that will allow God to physically enter the world.
Disc 4
Episode #12: The Trouble with Harry
Episode #13: Skin
The Oddyssey 5 discover a synthetic shin that is taking over human bodies in order to assassinate Angela’s father, Senator Perry.
Episode #14: Begotten
Mendel’s attempt to grow a synthetic goes terribly wrong, when the creature escapes and begins to terrorize a local shipyard.
Episode #15: Vanishing Project
Disc 5
Episode #16: Follow the Leader
Sarah discovers a string of violence committed by children may be linked to a new computer lab donated by a faceless corporation to a local elementary school.
Episode #17: Half-Life
Episode #18: Rage
Episode #19: Fossil: Series Finale
Chuck and Neil attempt to steal a Moon Rock that holds the key to the Cadre’s goals, meanwhile Angela is kidnapped and suspicion falls on Dr. Mendell.
Rating: 8.5/10
Video
Presented in Widescreen Color wit and aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The picture appears crisp, with no distortion. The Pilot episode is at points visually stunning, and the video transfer does nothing to diminish the effects.
Audio
Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. For those Japanese speaking fans, there is a separate Japanese audio track presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. There are no English Subtitles, but Japanese and Portuguese subtitles are available.
Extras:
Series Creator Manny Coto and Peter Weller do an interesting commentary for the Pilot Episode. While Coto doesn’t give you any of the answers you may be looking for as far as the storylines, there is plenty of interesting behind the scenes information. You could tell that the actor and producer get along well. As a bonus, the commentary was recorded as Coto and Welle were both working on 24 and they discuss aspects of that show as well.
I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t more extras but you take what you can get.
Rating 7/10
