Forgotten Television: Odyssey 5

In 2007, six people are on the Odyssey space shuttle orbiting Earth on a mission to capture, fix and release a broken satellite. Commander Chuck Taggart (Peter Weller) the leader of the group; his son, Neil Taggart (Christopher Gorham), who was rebellious in his youth and was never expected to follow in his father’s footsteps yet is the youngest NASA astronaut at the age of 22; Nobel Prize winning geneticist, Kurt Mendel (Sebastian Roche) who is pessimistic and enjoys a hedonistic lifestyle; Angela Perry (Tamara Marie Watson) is a NASA pilot; a reporter, Sarah Forbes (Leslie Silva) who was allowed to travel with the crew on this mission for a special report; and finally astronaut Matt Walsh (Craig Eldridge). While on their mission, the crew witnesses the Earth consumed and destroyed also putting the shuttle in danger and in the ensuing chaos as the crew attempts to get the ship back under control, Matt is killed, and Sarah is injured and unconscious.  The remaining four resign themselves to the fact that they don’t have long to live and as they are breathing their last bit of oxygen and slipping into oblivion, an alien vessel takes them in and restores atmosphere.  The being known as The Seeker (John Neville) informs them that their Earth was destroyed like countless other planets, but he has the ability to cast their current consciousness back about 5 years and downloading it into their past bodies.  With Sarah just moments away from expiring, Chuck agrees to have the crew sent back in the hopes that they can stop whatever has caused the destruction of our planet.  And so the five all wake up in their bodies in 2002 and with limited information to go on they begin their investigation while reliving their past with future knowledge.

Odyssey 5 is a Canadian produced science fiction series created by Manny Coto and ran on the Space channel in Canada and Showtime in the United States.  Premiering in the U.S. on June 28, 2002, and running until February 27, 2003.   It was envisioned as a five-year story arch and unfortunately, we only got 19 episodes. Even more frustrating is the show ended on a cliffhanger with no way to give closure to the story.

The cast is well chosen with Peter Weller leading the way, his steely gaze, macho persona, and stoic nature all playing well as not only a father but a NASA Space Shuttle commander.  Sebastian Roche adds levity but not in a slapstick funny way, but in his carefree hedonistic tendencies and sharp, biting wit. Christopher Gorham is amazing in everything he does and I love his character in this. The production value was good for 2002, although some of the exterior shots of when the space shuttle is out of control looked a bit unrealistic. The music by Laura Karpman is amazing and adds the emotional resonance of each scene.  Most of all, the script and story felt fresh and new and was a unique and well-done show. I remember watching this show when it came out and absolutely loving it and was so disappointed when it ended, especially without giving its fans any closure.  The themes explored surrounding artificial intelligence both man made and from other worlds was fascinating.