............of a show that started off beautifully and ended up quite dismal.
What went wrong? (IMHO) First of all. it as on FOX. It came in as a mid season replacement and at the end of the season when people including yours truly was hooked ........... they canceled it. They did bring it back but between the long delay and this habit of giving the audience a taste and then yanking it away, it can sour the audience to a degree.
Secondly, they added a common enemy that as the show went on, became more and more frequent, changed the emphasis of the show from exploration and fun to war, evasion, and not so fun action. The show started losing the good feeling it had with the audience. GRANTED, a lot of shows do that, focus on a common enemy, such as DS 9 or other Star Trek ...... which is why to me the earlier episodes are better.
Third, they brought in the eye candy. First of all, the female lead of before, Wade, was then regulated to a role of a house plant. Secondly, the militant theme that the show was taking on was reinforced by the eye candy being a soldier, a pilot. None of the original characters were military or at least not active in their present, but the new member was and as such, she thought frequently like a soldier.
Fourth, the original characters were happy, more or less, go lucky adventurers......but if they knew the fates that ultimately was to befall them, they might never have stepped thru. Death, enslavement, obliteration, bitterness. This was a far cry from the playful spirit of the first season, but it is what the show turned into.
Fifth, the writing went from sci-fi "what if" to rehashing this or that movie plot. While movie plots usually operate on the basis of "what if" to pull on that story almost directly without any changes tends to be a cheap way to present a story ........ a way that can make the audience feel cheated.
Sixth, one ended up the characters that they didn't start with. Tell a sci fi story about travelers from your Earth, people that you might know or even identify with and one can have something. Replace them with people from alternate Earths, who don't have the same history, the same basis for their point of view, and one loses what they started off with. If that loss causes disappointment, then the show can potentially lose viewers.
One character did make it thru the entire show but a description about them I heard from another at the end illustrates what the show went thru, what it turned into. The character started out happy, optimistic, even cunning ......
but in the end, they were just very bitter.
What went wrong? (IMHO) First of all. it as on FOX. It came in as a mid season replacement and at the end of the season when people including yours truly was hooked ........... they canceled it. They did bring it back but between the long delay and this habit of giving the audience a taste and then yanking it away, it can sour the audience to a degree.
Secondly, they added a common enemy that as the show went on, became more and more frequent, changed the emphasis of the show from exploration and fun to war, evasion, and not so fun action. The show started losing the good feeling it had with the audience. GRANTED, a lot of shows do that, focus on a common enemy, such as DS 9 or other Star Trek ...... which is why to me the earlier episodes are better.
Third, they brought in the eye candy. First of all, the female lead of before, Wade, was then regulated to a role of a house plant. Secondly, the militant theme that the show was taking on was reinforced by the eye candy being a soldier, a pilot. None of the original characters were military or at least not active in their present, but the new member was and as such, she thought frequently like a soldier.
Fourth, the original characters were happy, more or less, go lucky adventurers......but if they knew the fates that ultimately was to befall them, they might never have stepped thru. Death, enslavement, obliteration, bitterness. This was a far cry from the playful spirit of the first season, but it is what the show turned into.
Fifth, the writing went from sci-fi "what if" to rehashing this or that movie plot. While movie plots usually operate on the basis of "what if" to pull on that story almost directly without any changes tends to be a cheap way to present a story ........ a way that can make the audience feel cheated.
Sixth, one ended up the characters that they didn't start with. Tell a sci fi story about travelers from your Earth, people that you might know or even identify with and one can have something. Replace them with people from alternate Earths, who don't have the same history, the same basis for their point of view, and one loses what they started off with. If that loss causes disappointment, then the show can potentially lose viewers.
One character did make it thru the entire show but a description about them I heard from another at the end illustrates what the show went thru, what it turned into. The character started out happy, optimistic, even cunning ......
but in the end, they were just very bitter.