Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda is your standard space opera: a fancy spaceship (the Andromeda Ascendant), a misfit crew with varying agendas, a gung-ho captain with starry visions of a Commonwealth of planets, and a galaxy full of bad guys and situations that have "adventure" written all over them. After a promising start in Season 1 which then stalled out, the first four episodes of Season 2 were more of the same old action fluff: not terrible, but nothing to write home about, either. Since I ended up reviewing these sets out of order, I can reveal that Volume 3 ends up being reasonably good, with some new directions being taken. How, then, does Volume 2 fit in? As it happens, Volume 2 provides a transition from the dullness of Volume 1 to the reasonable entertainment value of Volume 3.

What we get in this second volume of episodes from Andromeda's second season is an assortment of standard action-adventure stories, livened up by a touch of story continuity. In "All Too Human," the Andromeda is called to help out a world that's under attack from its homicidal neighboring planet. No, we don't really know why they're attacking, just that they have a really nasty fleet and Only Andromeda Can Stop Them. The one saving grace here (in an episode that's most notable for how it simultaneously rips off The Matrix, The Abyss, and the entire genre of submarine movies) is a reference back to the Magog situation, showing that the writers haven't entirely forgotten the existence of a story arc, even if it's reduced to the level of "there are big bad guys waiting in the wings." "Una Salus Victus" is standard action fare, with the Andromeda on a mission of mercy having to deal with aggressive Niezcheans. "Home Fires" pulls out the backstory of Season 1 for another pass, as Dylan encounters a message from his long-dead fiance as well as a planet populated by her descendants, who are considering joining the Commonwealth.

The final episode in the set, "Into the Labyrinth," is reasonably entertaining. It draws on a number of previously introduced plot elements, notably Harper's discovery of the All Systems Library in Season 1's episode Harper 2.0, and the pressing issue of his Magog infestation from earlier in this season. This is always more satisfying than the just-pulled-out-of-a-hat style of plot twists, and in this case, both of these elements are used reasonably well to move the overall Andromeda story arc forward. You see, while Dylan and company are trying to assemble a proto-Commonwealth alliance, Harper gets a devilish offer from someone who seems to be working for the leader of the Magog. The story hinges on his attempt to find a path where he can get what he wants while also double- (or triple-) crossing his temptress.

We're still not talking about great science fiction here, as we get a lot of the same silly stuff as in earlier episodes. For instance, watch for loads of gratuitous slow-motion camera work in "All Too Human." And, of course, there's a generous helping of cartoony violence, sometimes even with cartoony bad guys as well (in "Into the Labyrinth," it looks like the makeup and costuming people were given carte blanche to create the four "evil minions"; that's the only plausible way to explain their appearance). But still, the four episodes here are watchable; if you've been watching Andromeda so far, this collection will clock in at about average.

The DVD

Andromeda: Season 2 Volume 2 is a two-disc set, packaged in a double-wide plastic keepcase. It contains episodes 206-209.

Video

Andromeda has consistently had outstanding image quality in its DVD transfers, and Season 2 Volume 2 looks very good indeed. The episodes are all presented in their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and are anamorphically enhanced. The image is crisp and clean, with bright colors and excellent contrast.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack holds up well, offering a clear sound for both dialogue and special effects. There are many occasions where more surround sound would have added a little something extra, but overall the 2.0 track handles the show's requirements well overall.

Extras

Season 2 Volume 2 has some of the better special features that I've seen in the Andromeda sets: there's less fluff and more behind-the-scenes substance.

On Disc 1, the first special feature is a commentary track for "All Too Human," from director T.J. Scott, production designer Richard B. Lewis, and writers Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz. After that, we get two excellent featurettes: a 23-minute interview with executive producer Allan Eastman, talking about the overall direction of the show from a producer's perspective, and a 12-minute look behind the scenes with Gordon Michael Woolvett, revealing some of the interesting bits and pieces of Andromeda's sets.

On Disc 2, we also get two solid featurettes. The first is a 12-minute behind-the-scenes look with production designer Richard B. Lewis, and the second is an 8-minute interview with costume designer Toni Rutter. Also on this disc is a four-minute segment of bloopers, but they're mostly just clips of the cast fooling around, and aren't particularly funny.

Some minor special features appear on both discs. A total of about three minutes of deleted/extended scenes are included, and there are TV promotional trailers for all four of the episodes included here, along with trailers for other ADV programs. Lastly, a "design gallery" segment on each disc adds up to about two and a half minutes of animatics and conceptual sketches.

Final thoughts

The four episodes in Andromeda: Season 2 Volume 2 rank about average for the show: they're nothing special, but thanks to some reasonable storytelling and a small movement along the overall story arc, they're reasonably entertaining. Fans of the show will appreciate the excellent transfer, and the fact that the special features on this set are more interesting than in many of the previous sets. Overall, I'd only recommend this as a purchase to die-hard Andromeda fans, but overall it's worth watching once if you've enjoyed other Andromeda episodes. Rent it.