Earth: Final Conflict

[Christopher]

Yeah...season 5 was a disaster of epic proportions. It really destroyed what was once an interesting backstory and mythology.

The backstory and mythology had been eroded away long before season 5. The names were the same, but the concepts had degenerated profoundly. The compelling alienness and ambiguity of the Taelons was long gone, with Zo'or becoming so conventional a villain that he was actually motivated by the desire for monetary wealth. The early hints about a greater enemy the Taelons were working against got simplified into the stuff about the Jaridians, though I suspect the original idea would've been far more interesting. And the characters kept getting either killed off or revamped, with the replacement versions being less interesting than the originals. Everything from season 2 onward was a feeble echo of what the show had been meant to be.

 

[JD]

I'd been thinking about possibly trying to track this down on Itunes or something in the future, but I think after reading this thread I'm not even going to bother.

 

[Christopher]

^^At least watch the first season. At the very least, the second episode and "Sandoval's Run" are both brilliant.

 

[Broccoli]

I'd been thinking about possibly trying to track this down on Itunes or something in the future, but I think after reading this thread I'm not even going to bother.

Don't be so discouraged. Seasons 1-4 are still pretty entertaining and good watching. Season 5 is really what did the show in, imo.

Even if you were still interested, it would be next to impossible to track down seasons 1 and 2 (especially season 2) as they have not been released in any complete format. Region 2 had a DVD release of season 1, but there have been no releases (to my knowledge) of season 2.

 

[Angel4576]

Barring the fifth season, EFC certainly wasn't the calamity that Andromeda was.

In contrast to others, I enjoyed the first two seasons more than the third and fourth. The latter seasons weren't bad, but for me by the time that they got to the third season the show had seen its better days.

The fifth season was awful, and really, in hindsight, shouldn't have seen the light of day.

Season 1's available on R2 DVD. Sadly the only season available over here.

 

[DeadmeatDiggory]

I'd been thinking about possibly trying to track this down on Itunes or something in the future, but I think after reading this thread I'm not even going to bother.

No need. We in Australia (and the UK) have Season One on DVD (the only season here). So if you have a multi-zone player, you all set. With the way the Australia Dollar is against the US you should be able to get it for next to nothing.

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/790162

 

[The Wormhole]

I did some checking and it wasn't Trip Tucker but...........John Archer!
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/print.php?id=21170

Leeshock Leaving 'Earth'?
Robert Leeshock, star of Earth: Final Conflict, is expected to tell his official fan club that he is leaving the syndicated series and won't be back in season five, the Sy Fy Portal reported.Leeshock's character, Liam Kincaid, was caught in an explosion at the end of this season.

Leeshock joined the cast at the beginning of season two, replacing Kevin Kilner, whose character, William Boone, died in the first-season finale. Philip Segal, vice president of scripted programming at Tribune Entertainment, recently told fans in an online chat that Kilner would return in the fifth season in what is expected to be a limited capacity.

Leeshock is rumored to have auditioned unsuccessfully for the lead role in UPN's upcoming Star Trek series, Enterprise, a role that eventually went to Scott Bakula.

Great, now I got an image in my head of Liam pacing the bridge of the Taelon Mothership ranting to Zo'or, Da'an, and all the other Taelons about gazelles.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

^^At least watch the first season. At the very least, the second episode and "Sandoval's Run" are both brilliant.

"Sandoval's Run" was the best episode of the entire run of E:FC. I hated that Sandoval quickly devolved into a generic antagonist for whoever was the lead at the time (Kilner, Leeshock, that really bad blond actress).

 

[Samurai8472]

I hated that Sandoval quickly devolved into a generic antagonist for whoever was the lead at the time (Kilner, Leeshock, that really bad blond actress).

The moment she popped up on screen I immediately thought "She looks like someone who would be named Jane"

and wouldn't you know, her name was Jayne Heitmeyer

odd

 

[Lindley]

Not quite. There were like 6 Taelons and Jaridians left by the end of season 4.

That's assumed, not stated. There could have been more Jaridians. In fact, the statement about the Jaridian homeworld exploding was based on exactly zero actual evidence.....it was just assumed.

I read a fairly good fanfic a while back in which Lili and a group of surviving Jaridians meet up with Liam and a couple of Atavus and the Atavus feeding claws turn out to solve the Jaridian overheating problem or something. Unfortunately I don't think it continued for long.

 

[diankra]

Yeah...season 5 was a disaster of epic proportions. It really destroyed what was once an interesting backstory and mythology.

The backstory and mythology had been eroded away long before season 5. The names were the same, but the concepts had degenerated profoundly. The compelling alienness and ambiguity of the Taelons was long gone, with Zo'or becoming so conventional a villain that he was actually motivated by the desire for monetary wealth. The early hints about a greater enemy the Taelons were working against got simplified into the stuff about the Jaridians, though I suspect the original idea would've been far more interesting. And the characters kept getting either killed off or revamped, with the replacement versions being less interesting than the originals. Everything from season 2 onward was a feeble echo of what the show had been meant to be.

Late on in season two, rather than sending out synopses to the publisher I was working for (for use in TV listings), the PR department sent out 'synopses-with-notes' by mistake (ie, the studio's pre-shooting comments/approval on a script planned for production).
Almost all of them included critical comments on points which contradicted previous episodes (some of which still made it into the final episodes), and one of them had the really damning note 'Approved for production ONLY if no other scripts are available and the alternative is to shut down production' (it got made).
I should still have the sheets somewhere. Will see if I can dig them out.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

^ Now, those would be an interesting read!!

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I seem to remember Zo'or being resurrected in Atavus form, though.

In some ways, I think that was one of the big missed opportunities of Season 5. Just imagine how f---ed up it would have been if Zo'or had lost her virginity to Sandoval.

I also felt that, after Howlyn expelled Sandoval from the Mothership in "Art of War," he should have showed up on Renee Palmer's doorstep, desperate to trade intelligence about the Atavus in exchange for food. They should have made Sandoval a good guy, at least for a little while before his inevitable, illogical betrayal.

One thing that really surprised me was that, at the end, Sandoval was killed in a big fist fight with Renee Palmer while Howlyn was murdered by one of his allies. I always expected it to go the other way around.

As you might guess from these comments, I watched Season 5 all the way through. I'm not proud of it but I've still seen far worse shows on TV. (Examples: Andromeda after Season 1, Stargate Infinity, about 60% of Star Trek: Enterprise, those episodes of Charmed that my friend made me watch.)

Renee with bad wigs and a spa episode.

Yeah. That was one of the many bad thing about the season-- stupid gimmick episodes that can be described in 1 sentence. Atavus in a health spa ("Death Suite"). Atavus in high school ("Atavus High"). Atavus in a hospital ("Deep Sleep"). Atavus in the pyramids ("Grave Danger"). Atavus in cave man times ("Legacy"). Not to mention TWO clip shows--"Art of War" & "The Journey"--and TWO main characters killed off screen--Lilly Marquette was presumed dead when the Jaridian homeworld exploded () in "Boone's Awakening" and Raj'el casually mentioned William Boone's latest death in "The Journey."

Really, the only remotely decent episode in Season 5 was "Termination," with a guest appearance by Margot Kidder as a homicidal doctor.

Renee's version of Augur

I assume you're speaking of Reese Jackson, the guest star in "Deep Sleep" that was supposed to be Augur but wasn't because the actor asked for too much money. Dear god, that was sloppy.

 

[Broccoli]

Renee's version of Augur

I assume you're speaking of Reese Jackson, the guest star in "Deep Sleep" that was supposed to be Augur but wasn't because the actor asked for too much money. Dear god, that was sloppy.

I think they are referring to Juliet Street.

 

[Brent]

Did anybody watch this series? I remember seeing commercials during DS9's run. Was it any good?

Season 1 very good
Season 2: okay
Season 3 + 4 getting good
Season 5 - there is no season 5.

Pretty much agree, S1 is the best, S2 is good, S3-4 ok and S5 = NOT HAPPEN, heh

So I'd say watch the first few seasons, it was very very good IMO, very enjoyable, but ignore S5.

 

[Brent]

Getting rid of a certain main character at the end of the first season has to be one of the dumbest things ever.

I know I'm going to be burned on this, but I felt William Boone was overrated and preferred Liam Kincaid.

That being said, I agree Boone's departure was poorly handled.

I kinda agree with you, I really enjoyed Kincaid to be honest, IMO Boone is slightly overrated, but S1 was still VERY enjoyable.

 

[Admiral Rem]

In my opinion, Boone was underrated as a charachter. His demise in Season 1 pretty muched heralded the revolving door that this show became. Furthermore, the charachter of DA'AN and Boone had IMHO great chemistry and complimented each other whenever they appeared on screen. Hell, the entire season 1 cast had great chemistry. THe banter between Lilly and Augur, Doors and Lilly, Boone and Lilly, Sandoval and Boone, etc... made for great moments of Season 1. The highlight for me was Sandoval's Run where we saw the layers of personality and depth that Sandoval possessed. Although SEASON 1 wasn't perfect, it laid the foundation for what potentially could have been a great series. Instead, the potential was lost as each character was slowly but surely removed from the show.

 

[Pilot Ace]

Lily was always hit or miss for me, both as a character and how she was portrayed by the actress.

Augur was gold from the moment I saw him.

Da'an was fantastic. Boone was meh, but I'd agree that some of his best stuff was probably with Da'an.

Sandoval? He just worked as the villain.

 

[Marc]

Lily was always hit or miss for me, both as a character and how she was portrayed by the actress.

Don't know about an other actors, but Lisa Howard who played Lily wasn't happy with the way the show turned. Can't remember if was an article or a website but her comment about when leaving was that the show at her departure wasn't the show she signed on for.

Kevin Kilner wasn't treated well either. He didn't know that Boone had been killed off until he followed up on why the scrips for the Season 2 hadn't been sent to him.

 

[DWF]

I think the first season is vastly overrated and Zo'or's path into viallainy was pretty assured in the first season. And I thought the mystery of the Taelons went on for too llong and Leeshock was probably alittle too young to be a lead on a show but overall I enjoyed seasons 2,3 and 4.