Let's face it: the characters of Andromeda are, for the most part, pure cardboard. Dylan (Kevin Sorbo), the heroic captain, self-sacrificing (and a bit of a stuffed shirt). Seamus (Gordon Michael Woolvett), the geeky engineer. Tyr (Keith Hamilton Cobb), the surly superman who's loyal to no one but himself. Yet despite being cardboard, the characters are not flat: perhaps simply through the energy of the actors portraying them, they somehow come to life and make their scenes interesting.

As I watched more episodes, I also realized that the writers of the show have managed to avoid always hitting the same note with the characters. At the outset, for instance, I noted that Trance (Laura Bertram) had enormous potential for being a pink Wesley Crusher with a tail: the kind of character whom you're always hoping takes a one-way space walk without a suit. Yet that fear hasn't (yet) materialized: Trance has developed a personality and a certain, dare I say, charm that makes a contribution rather than a detraction to the show. (I must get on my soapbox, however, and say that the tail is unspeakably bad. Note to the costume designers: go look at a tiger or other mammal with a long tail. It doesn't just hang straight down. A tail that hangs straight down (with a kink at the end) is blatantly cloth wrapped onto wire. Please don't give a main character a tail unless you're prepared to use CGI in every scene she's in.)

Probably my favorite character is the mercenary captain-turned-first-officer, Beka Valentine (Lisa Ryder). Her backstory as a character well versed in the school of hard knocks, her independence, and simply the fact that she's a woman in a stereotypically man's role give Beka a three-dimensionality that adds considerably to the show. Ryder also demonstrates that she's capable of playing humor with Beka quite well, with the occasional one-liner that's never played too broadly.

Volume 1.2 of Andromeda contains five episodes, some of which are excellent and others that are simply entertaining. The best is undoubtedly the opener of the set, "Angel Dark, Demon Bright," which puts the Andromeda Ascendant squarely in the middle of some of the most significant events from the background story. This is where Andromeda shines: moving forward in the story by developing the interesting background that's been created for the show. "The Ties that Blind" is an entertaining episode involving Beka and her prodigal brother, while "The Banks of the Lethe," the third episode in the set, again tells an interesting story that involves some of Dylan's history. The second DVD starts with "A Rose in the Ashes," certainly the weakest of the episodes here: it's a garden-variety "crew meets problem; crew solves problem" adventure that doesn't advance the overall story at all. "All Great Neptune's Oceans" is another completely stand-alone episode, but its murder-mystery story is told with a certain amount of flair.

Video

If I could sign on the dotted line and get all my feature films as well as all my television shows on DVD with a transfer quality like Andromeda's, I'd whip out the pen before you could say "wow." Wow, incidentally, is exactly what I was saying to myself as I was watching Andromeda 1.2, because the transfer is simply stunning, particularly since it's a television show, not a feature film.

Andromeda is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen image. There's not so much as a hint of edge enhancement to be seen in the image, resulting in a picture that's extremely detailed and richly textured. The print is pristine, with no noise or flaws anywhere in sight, and contrast is outstanding, offering rich blacks while maintaining good detail in dimly lit scenes.

Colors look superb as well; the sets and costumes of Andromeda make good use of a varied color palette, and the full range of colors is both rich and clean, as are the skin tones of all the characters. To top it off, the CGI is gorgeous, with the Andromeda Ascendant as well as other alien ships looking dazzlingly realistic. The CGI, along with the live action, has been rendered for the 16:9 ratio, so there's none of the cropping/zooming problems that bedevil the anamorphic Babylon 5: Season 1 transfer. I'm not exaggerating when I give Andromeda 1.2 top marks for image quality.

Audio

Andromeda's Dolby 2.0 soundtrack isn't as impressive as its video quality, but that's hardly a criticism. The soundtrack is clean and clear, offering dialogue and special sound effects with fidelity, and a reasonable sense of depth is created using the stereo surround. I keep getting caught by surprise by the techno-pop theme music of the credits, but I have to admit it's really kind of snazzy.

Extras

The special features for Andromeda 1.2 have something for both the serious fan and the casual viewer. For the casual viewer, the bonus materials of most interest will be the bloopers, a set of alternate takes from several episodes, and a commentary track for the episode "The Banks of the Lethe," with Kevin Sorbo and Allan Eastman, an executive producer and a writer for several of the episodes. Of more minor interest will be an E! Celebrity Profile segment on Kevin Sorbo, teaser trailers, and trailers for other ADV releases.

The dedicated fan will be interested in the image gallery of the Eureka Maru, the prop and set concept drawings, the character profile of Beka Valentine, a biography of producer Allan Eastman, and various text information on the High Guard and the Systems Commonwealth.

Andromeda 1.2 is a two-disc set presented in a double-wide keepcase, which leads me to the one quibble I have with the production of this series on DVD. Five episodes per set is really a rather skimpy number; I can appreciate that ADV is likely trying to attract new viewers to the show by having a lower per-unit price... but with so few episodes being released per set, the total cost of a season of Andromeda will end up being more than even a fairly high-priced show like Star Trek the Next Generation. I'd much rather have ADV go the Stargate SG-1route and release full-season sets at a moderate price: not only would it cost less to get the full season, but it would take up less shelf space.

Final thoughts

Will Andromeda take off and start doing some serious storytelling with the great backstory that's available to it? After having seen Volume 1.2, I still can't answer that question, but at least the five episodes here are fun, quite polished space opera. As I said in the opening to this review, Andromeda keeps surprising me: I somehow expected it to slide into silliness, but to its credit, Andromeda keeps on being entertaining and stylish, developing a personality all its own that will keep me coming back for more. Particularly for science fiction fans, Andromeda 1.2 is recommended, and the stunning image quality makes it an automatic buy for any existing fans of the show.