For fans of a television series, few things are as frustrating as inconsistency. Andromeda viewers have to be a particularly patient and forbearing lot, because Season 2 is an exercise in variability. After watching the generally quite decent Volume 3, I had some hopes that the series might stabilize at a better quality, but unfortunately Volume 4 shows off more of Andromeda's characteristic problems: silly scripts and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants story arcs.

I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to the Andromeda universe, there are only two possible explanations for what we get: either there really is no overall plan, and the writers are truly making it up as they go along, or alternately, there is a plan, and it's a truly incompetent one. For what it's worth, I'm charitably inclined to believe in the first option... not that it makes any difference when it comes to the actual stories.

"Dance of the Mayflies" appears to be Andromeda's homage to zombie horror flicks, as the crew attempt a rescue mission of a damaged ship, only to find that the dying, and the dead, are more of a problem than they expected. There's really not a whole lot of plot here, as the basic structure of "discover a problem and find a solution while under attack" is puffed out with plenty of force-lance zapping and gratuitous slow-motion photography. It's passably entertaining.

"In Heaven Now Are Three" is the best of the four episodes included here. Beka gets an idea for a profitable expedition to find the fabled "Engine of Creation" on a deadly planet, and convinces Dylan and Trance to come along. The story moves along at a steady pace, and except for one excessively long fight sequence, there's a reasonable amount of interesting adventure-story content. We also get some more hints about Trance's true nature; she's becoming by far the most interesting member of the crew, despite my suspicion that the writers are making up her background as they go along.

"The Things We Cannot Change" plays like an episode made up in a hurry with only half the needed filming time, and an unfinished script. While investigating a black hole, Dylan is caught in an accident, and seems to wake up in a different reality. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew try to rescue him... so is he in a dream, a different time, or something else? Trust me, this episode sounds far better in synopsis than in reality. The episode makes heavy use of clips from earlier episodes, as Dylan has numerous flashbacks to events in his past. It's not a bad narrative device... in moderation. However, this episode overdoes it to the point that it's really about half flashback clips and only half new material, which makes for a rather dull episode.

"The Fair Unknown" takes a stab at continuing the loose story arc of Dylan re-establishing the Commonwealth, a goal which viewers might be excused for having forgotten about, given the "random adventure of the week" plots that we've had. I'm all in favor of developing this part of the story further, but unfortunately this episode makes a complete hash of it. The plot is a mishmash of poorly motivated actions, badly explained plot twists, hazy references to things mentioned in earlier episodes but subsequently ignored, and random action scenes. I'll refrain from spoiling the ending of the episode, for what it's worth, but I'll just say that if you actually think too hard about what's revealed in this episode, you'll realize that it makes some of the fundamental plot principles of the show rather pointless and silly.

What baffles me about Andromeda, and its writers, is that with a whole universe at their disposal, somehow the show still ends up with a bland feeling far too much of the time. Part of this is due to the general lack of continuity; what's invented in one episode is forgotten in the next. The alien races are a case in point: they're barely fleshed out, and often serve just as random "bad guys of the week." But even the alien races who make repeat appearances are curiously forgettable. What are the Perseids really like? Who can say? Do we know anything about the Thran, other than that they're insects? The Nietzscheans are the only "aliens" who have been developed to anything remotely like their potential; alas, they're not involved in any of the episodes of Volume 4.

The DVD

Andromeda Volume 2.4 is another double-wide keepcase, with the four episodes spread over two discs.

Video

As with earlier volumes, Andromeda is presented in a widescreen anamorphic transfer, at the show's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

Some issues crop up here that didn't seem problematic in Volume 3. Edge enhancement, which I noticed only a minimal amount of in Volume 3, is heavily apparent in some scenes here, while unobtrusive in others. Similarly, some grain shows up in a few scenes. I was more surprised, however, to see that the image clarity that I've praised so strongly in most of the Andromeda releases shows evidence of some slippage here: some of the CGI shots and opening title screens aren't as sharp as they could be (in the latter case, even with a bit of jiggling in the image), and in a few of the mid- to long-distance live-action shots I noticed a distinct lack of clarity. These nitpicks are mostly noticeable because I've seen other volumes of Andromeda look even better; on the whole this set looks very good. Colors are bright and vivid but also natural-looking, and contrast is handled well in these episodes. The print is clean and free of noise and print flaws.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is one area where the Andromeda transfer could certainly be improved. It's generally satisfactory, but it doesn't do a whole lot to support the demands of the guns-a-blazin', knock-down-drag-out action that is Andromeda's middle name. In terms of overall clarity, the sound here is really only average; I noticed a hint of distortion at one point, and in several of the episodes I found the dialogue to be excessively flat-sounding and not as distinct as it should be.

Extras

Fans of the series will be pleased by the inclusion of some solid special features, with a minimum of promotional fluff. Disc 1 contains an interview with Lisa Ryder (Beka) and another with visual effects supervisor Jim Finn, while Disc 2 has interviews with Lexa Doig (Rommie) and producer Karen Wookey. A commentary track for "The Fair Unknown" is also included on Disc 2, featuring Kevin Sorbo (Dylan) and production designer Richard B. Lewis.

Disc 2 also has a short deleted scenes section, and a distinctly unfunny blooper reel. Both discs contain a design gallery, television trailers for the episodes, and trailers for other ADV releases.

Final thoughts

There's only one really solid episode ("In Heaven Now Are Three"), with the other three ranging from so-so to distinctly not good. Die-hard fans of Andromeda may want to pick up this set for completion's sake, but for everyone else, even those who've enjoyed most of Andromeda's offerings, I recommend this volume as a rental.