#odd man out

So I’m re-watching this. And it’s cheese sci-fi and 90s and oh so charming and yet I wouldn’t rec it but can’t stop thinking about it or enjoying it so I’m so confused. 

This show has a hook. A real potential. It just was written and produced to the ground. A reboot would probably be interesting. Note reboot, not revival. But is the concept enough or was it a mish mash that worked and then failed because it only worked in a small way?

Like I love the OG cast. Not that I remember hating Colin. Yes, I remember the ends. Which is already hurting the show. They have a natural affinity. 

The plots are vague enough alt worlds to be entertaining and thoughtful, but I don’t feel it’s really deep or saying something. There is depth inside, but the sliders don’t seem to dwell in the right spots. Emotionally in how they react to each other and their circumstances as they travel, long-term relations, introspection and change or character growth don’t happen, or to the crux of difference the alt worlds purpose or they encounter. The idea is there and cool, but the impact it has on them or the sci-fi point is still veiled you know.

But there is a lightness and fun to not taking the premise that seriously. In not dwelling like a Dark Mirror ep. Not just the 90s camp or episodic flare, the in-jokes and smart callbacks or science or pop culture references which make it’s humor genuine and fun to sit with. I don’t need doom and gloom travel, the light-heart works this way. There is adventure. 

This show actually reminds me a lot of TOS. Stakes in the moments, pathos in the character and thought in the moments, depth in the concept, but just a continuing group on a wild spaceship ride of who knows what encounter that fans loved and patched into one big thing but was really all over the place in terms of quality even at it’s best. How it went from great Kirk speeches on the concept of man to wild laughter at episodes end over the stupidest comments.