Earth 2 - The Complete Series

Earth 2 is an intriguing and entertaining sci-fi series that had a lot of potential but where unfortunately something went amiss and the show was cancelled long before its time.So let's start with the premise which is the world 200 years into the future where humans have made planet Earth so uninhabitable that it is pretty much mostly a toxic wasteland. The solution: building space stations that orbit the planet. Entire generations are now born on these sterile stations, never even seeing Earth. The only information most humans living on these stations have on Earth is from stories and legends. From what we gather, Earth is so toxic that burning wood is considered a crime and the atmosphere is so contaminated that exposure to the elements is impossible. As a result of existence outside of their natural environment, some people have developed illnesses, the so called "Syndrome", that does not allow them to live past childhood. One such individual is the son of billionaire Devon Adair, Ulysses Adair (or Uly). Having the money and resources, she puts together a team of colonists to travel with her to the Earth-like planet in the G8 system 22 lightyears away. Government officials have other plans for them though and in an attempt to defy these officials, Adair and her team decide to go on the trip by escaping authorities. After 22 years of cryoststic stasis, the crew awakens and shortly after crash lands on the planet. Now, suddenly stranded on this strange planet on the other side of the galaxy, without any of the equipment they came with, the colonists have to find ways to make do - looking for the basics of life: food, water and shelter. To make matters worse, their communicator dish has landed on the wrong side of the continent, necessitating that they embark on a long journey to the far coast to meet up at the planned coordinates in a place known as Pacifica.From a sci-fi perspective they could not have picked a better and more intriguing theme. First of all, it is fascinating to have a glimpse into a future in which the very basic things we take for granted today become rarities and luxuries, such as clean water from a spring, dirt and earth that you can touch without a haz mat suit, sunlight on your skin, breathing in air that has not been filtered and sanitized in any shape, picking up a fruit from a tree and eating it... This show did a great job at laying out the rather abysmal future that human kind finds itself in while at the same time offering hope by letting these people discover this planet that is so much like Earth before the fall. Another interesting aspect of the show was the socio-economic background around the show: hug class chasms, ordered lives on stations, authoritative government most likely in power through undemocratic means, inherited debt, indentured servitude and of course worst of all, a future in which they are incapable of sustaining life on the only planet hospitable to them. In a way humans are orphans, driven off their planet at their own hands and now they have to find a new home or else go extinct in two generations. There is a great scene in the beginning of their journey where it starts to rain one day and everyone immediately panics and takes shelter because from Earth they dont know rain to be anything but toxic. It doesnt even occur to them that it might not be. When they then find out that it in fact is clean, the wave of relief and joy that sweeps across their faces is quite touching. I thought that scene to be powerful as it gave us a glimpse into the grim reality humans find themselves in the not too distant future.I also like shows in which a group of people just become stranded somewhere without any means of getting home, trying to survive. Earth 2 is all about survival and the adventure: traversing the vast land, looking for the basics of life, setting up camp, encountering strange phenomena, landscapes and creatures. There is also a mysticism to it as related to these human settlers and the native life they encounter. The feeling that they are the only humans on this planet further gives the show that feeling of desolation and solitude. In fact, after watching this show for a while even the audience feels claustrophobic and confined - mirroring the feeling the colonists have on this planet where they are stuck and lost. The big, great unknown. This show was sort of like the rough it out, wagon-train meets sci-fi on a strange Earth-like planet. Such scenarios open opportunities for exploring a myriad number of story arcs and themes and Earth 2 definitely took the right direction.I also liked that petty soap-opera type of emotions were left out to really focus on the story and the journey. These days most shows feel like deep psychological exposés of the characters; sort of like a soap opera but more complicated. Every theme and show, no matter how trivial, has to morph into some sort of psychological analysis of its characters, which can get tiring and taxing. Real people dont behave like that in real life. Earth 2 depicts characters that are real instead of constantly in their heads being psychoanalyzed by the writers and the audience.Unfortunately, despite such a strong promise in the premise of the story, the deliverance left some things to be desired. There are many episodes that are just beautifully written as well as being intelligent and thoughtful but instead of going on on that strong note, episodes were interspersed in there where you just have to wonder why the writers squandered all that opportunity. The slow episodes might really have driven the audience away so early on.Another problem was that chemistry was missing between the characters, especially between Devon and Danzinger and Julia and Alonzo. You just cant feel it. I also think that the show just became too slow for people after a while. I mean here you got this group of people landed on a strange planet and all they do is treck and camp and have weird experiences. No action is happening, no tension, no real drama - it's all in the woods, earthy colors, rugged gear - nothing fancy. There us also no sci-fi jargon and futuristic sets - it just feel like here and people didnt want to see that. I think that is why the show eventually got cancelled, it had the right themes and philosophy but that vision was not realized such that it was gripping.Here are some of the questions that arise when watching the show, at least for me:* If these people have the kinds of technologies that allow them to travel light years, go into cryostatic stasis, grow horses in a canteen basically, and genetically engineer humans for specified professions, why could they not find a way to make earth habitable?* With all these genetic engineering tools at their disposal, why could they not have simply engineered the "syndrome" out of everyone - before birth. Apparently not everyone has it so there must be a gene for it, which they could have isolated given their sophisticated tools.* The cryostatic mode of traveling long distances did not make sense. In the beginning they state that some of the people on the ship, like Alonzo, were just hired hands to drop off the colonists. Yet they go into cryostatic sleep for 22 year with the rest, meaning 22 years have passed. How did those people think this was going to work out? They go back home after 44 years when everything they knew changed and aged for nearly half a century. Who would do that? It basically means throwing away your life and leaving behind the life you know. You can't say "bye honey, see you in 44 years when you are 70 and I'm still 25". Also, in those 22 years the crew was in stasis, new technologies may have developed that could put a whole new spin to the journey or maybe the government changed etc. And what about the government officials that run the stations. Were they waiting for 22 years in order to get their informant get in touch with Hiller? The whole sleeping for decades thing just did not make much sense. It's one thing to go away for a job for 6 months or a year or 5 years, it is quite something else to go into stasis for decades as part of a job, not age while everyone around you does, then wake up and just move on like you hadnt just lapsed through a couple of generations essentially. That part was just a little out of focus.* How did these people manage to not look malnourished and emaciated given that we never see them hunt anything or any other mammals for that matter in the show and given that this planet seems like a barren, arid desert. They all looked well fed and healthy which is not likely when you are on an almost year long camping trip/trek cross country trekking through the roiguh wilderness and trying to overcome a harsh winter without any reliable sources of food. Surely people cannot look like that while feasting on fruits and berries - which is the only thing we ever see them look for.But these are just a few of the details I think could have been worked out better. Overall I think this was a very entertaining as well as quite intriguing series which I am sure would have taken up during season 2 had the network given it some time. There was just so much potential but the writers and producers failed to make it stand out early on for the network to keep and the audience be enticed. Of course for the fast-paced, Jersey-shore generation of today this show would seem too slow and not as "hip" or "cool". Earth 2 is more like a slow cooked savory meal that has to be taken in equally slowly and with patience. Most TV shows are like colorful, spicy, south-of-the-border, conspiracy theory hors d'oeuvres: pick a little bit of everything here and there, create hotness, sex and explosions and call it a show. I really like that in Earth 2 it WASNT all about who is doing whom and who is hooking up with whom. It is pure adventure while at the same time intelligently tackling issues of environmentalism, justice, redemption, metaphysics, social justice etc.I just recently found the promo video for season 2 of Earth 2, completely "rethought, restyled and retooled" - while i was repulsed - on YouTube. The revamping would have meant they reach Pacifica, Yale gets written off the show as well as the Terrains apparently, and Morgan is said to just have ran away so now Bess can focus on "new romances" in this new colony (read: soap opera). Needless to say that the re-imagined what would have been season 2 does not look very promising, mainly because getting there is half the fun. I mean THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT of the show: traveling through an unknown planet and braving challenges. And as much I dislike Morgan, he provided comic relief and I do like it when unlikable people redeem themselves as their role in the group manifests and rise above the occasion. Morgan had that potential - just as Yale. Anyway the promo didnt look very worthwhile, in fact it looked pretty disappointing, so maybe we should all be glad it wasn't continued - at least not on that note. These people came to this planet with the hope of finding a way to heal humanity. Without a real continuation we will never find out what happens to those people: if they reach Pacifica and get to establish their colony, what other adventures await them on the long journey there, if the Council pursues them, their relation to the Terrians, the other alien lives they may have encountered, whether Devon and Danzinger finally come around, if Alonzo and Julia ever take the next step and whether Uly will ever get to slay his monsters...

Earth 2 was one of those `almost' programmes, making it beyond the pilot but failing to get renewed at the end of the first season. Its admirers, unable, in the end, to affect "a Star Trek" and win its reprieve, have been waiting and hoping for the series to make its DVD debut for some time.The premise is solid: in 2192 overcrowding and pollution is manifesting itself in congenital illness among Earth's children. Against government policy, a private expedition - the vanguard of an intended colonisation - sets out for an Earth-like planet 22 light years away, in hopes of securing a future for their children. After their ship crash-lands of the wrong side of the planet, the rag-tag survivors set out overland, discovering on the way that their new home has more than a few surprises in store for them.From this cracking and well-realised beginning, Earth 2 settles down to a series of encounters, crises and obstacles. There is a story through-line, but many of the episodes stand on their own, and indeed, some of them played out of sequence (strangely reproduced on the DVD) when the series first aired. The cast is as solid as the premise - a strong through sometimes overbearing female lead (Debrah Farentino) is nicely balanced by a gruff, down-to-earth male lead (Clancy Brown). Other key characters include the expedition's doctor, who has a guilty secret to hide; the ship's pilot, who expected to drop the colonists off without ever setting foot on the planet himself; the self-serving government agent, who doesn't take well to a life without luxuries; and his wife, who's in every way a better person than him, but loves him anyway.With a great look, an involving premise, and intriguing, three-dimensional characters, there's much to admire about this series, though it has its weaknesses too. The obligatory "cute-but-irritating-children" are unfortunately present and correct and landing everyone in trouble, and early on there's even an attempt at introducing the obligatory "cute-but-irritating-animal-companion" - though fortunately it's exposed as a pest and barely heard from again. Three-episode guest star Tim Curry plays a duplicitous castaway who runs close to pantomime villainy at times (although that disingenuous, dangerous grin of his is always a welcome sight to those of us who've followed his career since Rocky Horror days). Some of the science is distinctly dodgy (naturally-occurring electro-magnetic vacuum tubes that provide instant transport over thousands of miles - oh, really?), but some is pretty damn neat (`gear' communicators, burrowing bullets). There's a strong thread of mysticism running through the series, particularly in the expedition's experience of the `primitive' native races. It brings another element to the plot and presents the characters with some interesting dilemmas, but much of the time it feels a little half-baked and simplistic - the gospel according to Greenpeace with a touch of peyote shamanism thrown in. There are standout episodes that boast fine acting and challenging, thought-provoking storylines (Survival of the fittest), and others that feel like retreads of ideas that are already pretty familiar (After the thaw). As a personal high-point, seeing Clancy Brown play the good guy is always a delight.For fans the important thing, of course, is finally having all the episodes available on DVD - which is just as well, as the extras are nothing to get excited about. The bloopers are amusing enough, but "bonus" episodes of Cleopatra 2525 and Sliders are a waste of space, and the deleted scenes are probably a "watch once only" feature. Unfortunately missing are some juicy commentaries, and - most regretted of all - any word from the producers and writers on what was planned for the series. Cancellation saw Earth 2 end for good on a cliff-hanger; the DVD was probably the only chance we had to find out what was supposed to have happened next. Still, perhaps not knowing is part of the attraction - there's nothing like having to use your own imagination!

Had this originally on dual surface DVDs which couldn’t be read by my new blue ray/dvd player, hence the repurchase (a few years after the firs).These work fine and I now have them digitally stored on my server.It’s an interesting piece if you like sci fi.

I have enjoyed watching this series again on DVD. I originally saw it when it was first broadcast on TV in the 90's. Its already a little dated with its lack of flat screen displays and old fashioned flash lights (no LED's back then in the future)!The plots can be a bit flaky in parts. They wear "gear" when it suits the story line and are not wearing it when that fits in with the story. One of the good points though is that characters come and go. For example there is a bad guy in the first few episodes who is soon despatched. These days that actor would be signed for the whole series and keep coming back......and back.....to the point of ad nauseam. Definitely worth watching though if you are a Sci-fi fan.

Great as a nostalgia buy but no ending if you are new to the series as it was abruptly cancelled.Still; as someone who enjoyed it first time out - love it!

More like little house on the prairie in space. Bad acting and Silly games played by annoying children set the family’s up for disaster when they are fighting for survival. Spoilt child gets away with too much and risks their lives. Creepy human befriends little girl and manipulates her. Just had to stop watching before the last disc.

The story and premise is quite good.However, the story telling and acting is poor.There is no continuity as the story line contradicts itself on occasion.Also the situations are laughable at time... think hammy actors in space. Surely anybody would collapse after 3 hours in the sun with no water to drink, especially as they downed a few litres prior to that??? OK, maybe it was supposed to be a comedy?