Krakn3Dfx Review of Pilot

Odyssey 5: Pilot (2002) Season 1, Episode 1

In the vein of greats cut short like Nowhere Man and Space: Above and Beyond

[17 August 2002]

I had been vaguely interested in the previews for this show a few weeks before it came out. When the premiere came on I caught it out of luck more than anything else because I had no idea when the show was actually supposed to be on. **Possible Spoilers** Odyssey 5 tells the story of a group of 3 astronauts, 1 scientist, and a reporter who are aboard the space shuttle Odyssey performing maintenance on a satellite in Earth's orbit. The groundwork for the characters is laid down very well in the first 15 minutes of the show, and you get a good idea of what expect from each person and their personality. After completing their primary mission, they sit around and drink Dom chatting it up about the mission and other things. Suddenly they lose communication with Earth, are showered in a bright light coming from Earth's direction, and are then thrown backwards by a huge blast. Eventually they learn that the Earth has been obliterated and they prepare to die due to a lack of oxygen. Fate steps in and the lone survivor of an alien race whose planet was also destroyed offers to send their conscious minds back in time to their bodies 5 years before to figure out what happened and hopefully avoid it happening again. If this intrigues you, you should check out the show. Unlike the X-Files, that tended to skip the mythology section of the storyline except during sweeps, every episode of Odyssey 5 so far has addressed and focused on the storyline itself, moving the story forward. Hopefully they can keep up the plot and, also unlike the X-Files, not create so many hanging questions that it would be impossible to answer them all. All in all, the 9 episodes of this show I've seen so far have floored me. The family life of leader Chuck Taggert, played by the excellent Peter Weller, is a story in itself, and well worth the time to delve into. If you can't tell, I enjoy this show immensly and hope that it progresses through the entire 5 year run.