ORBzine - Space: Above and Beyond TV Review

• Morgan Weisser as 1st Lt. Nathan West
• Kristen Cloke as Capt. Shane Vansen
• Rodney Rowland ( Sixth Day ) as 1st Lt. Cooper Hawkes
• Joel De La Fuente as 1st Lt. Paul Wang
• Lanei Chapman as 1st Lt. Vanessa Damphousse
• James Morrison ( Prey ) as Cmdr. Tyrus Cassius "T.C." McQueen
• Tucker Smallwood ( Enterprise S3 ) as Commodore Glenn Van Ross

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 1-2] Pilot
Shown 24 Sep 95
Shown November 2000

X-Files scribes Morgan and Wong originally wanted to do a story about the Pacific campaign against the Japanese in WWII. Instead they set it in the future and came up with a shoot-em-up in space.

Rodney Rowland plays a tank, an in-vitro artificially gestated human. The in-vitros are victims of prejudice - yes, this is a metaphor for the treatment of African Americans early in the 20th Century.

Things are not all bad for the in-vitros. There is a new campaign of Affirmative Action, which means that Morgan Weisser is kicked off the colonists' spaceship while his GF Selina Kylen (a reference to Catwoman?) is forced to stay aboard. He can go out to join her on the next mission - in five years time!!!

Kristen Cloke plays Shane Vansen, a military brat whose parents were killed by rogue androids in the AI Wars. She enlists with the aim of joining an elite unit, the 127th.

The 3 heroes meet up at boot camp where Drill Sergeant R. Lee Ermy ( The Frighteners ) turns them into USMC space aviators. They are posted with a couple of ethnic minorities, Paul Wang and Ms Damphousse.

Earth is ruled by a Secretary General - apparently the UN is now an EFFECTIVE organisation! He announces that Earth's interstellar colonies have been sneak-attacked by a highly advanced alien civilisation. Just like the USA was hit at Pearl Harbour. Which allows for a Pacific Campaign in Space show!

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 3] The Farthest Man from Home
Shown 1 Oct 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 4] The Dark Side of the Sun
Shown 8 Oct 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 5] Mutiny
Shown 15 Oct 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 6] Ray Butts
Shown 22 Oct 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 7] Eyes
Shown 5 Nov 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 8] The Enemy
Shown 12 Nov 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 9] Hostile Visit (1)
Shown 19 Nov 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 10] Choice or Chance (2)
Shown 26 Nov 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 11] Stay with the Dead
Shown 3 Dec 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 12] The River of Stars
Shown 17 Dec 95

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 13] Who Monitors the Birds?
Shown 7 Jan 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 14] Level of Necessity
Shown 14 Jan 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 15] Never No More
Shown 4 Feb 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 16] The Angriest Angel
Shown 11 Feb 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 17] Toy Soldiers
Shown 18 Feb 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 18] Dear Earth
Shown 3 Mar 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 19] Pearly
Shown 24 Mar 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 20] R & R
Shown 12 Apr 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 21] Stardust
Shown 19 Apr 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 22] Sugar Dirt
Shown 20 Apr 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 23] And If They Lay Us Down to Rest... (1)
Shown 26 May 96

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 24] ...Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best (2)
Shown 2 Jun 96

This is the climax of the show, which features the aliens' ambassador staging a dramatic double-cross. We also get to see the kiddie troopers in yet more CGI dogfights. A pity the creators never got the chance to

Space: Above and Beyond

Space: Above and Beyond [Season 1, Episode 2 ]
Shown th June 2006 [Wednesday]

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