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Tim Truman

The aftermath of the apocalypse makes for pretty inexpensive television. It also can make for great drama if the right elements and actors are put into place. Set in a post apocalyptic world where a virus named the "Big Death" has killed anyone who has reached puberty, J. Michael Straczynski's ("Babylon 5", "Crusade", "The Twilight Zone") Showtime television series has considerable potential for dramatic conflict since all the children in the world grew up, essentially, as orphans. ***

Jeremiah (Luke Perry) is haunted by a mystery. Just before his father (Rober Wisden who has appeared in "The X-Files") died, he mentioned that he and the boy's mother (Teryl Rothery from "Stargate SG-1) were going to get them on a flight to Valhalla Sector. Jeremiah has been trying to discover the location and purpose of Valhalla Sector ever since. Jeremiah hopes that it might provide an answer as to what caused the virus that killed 6 billion people and left the world's children orphans. After catching a number of fish for barter in the nearest town, Jeremiah meets his new Kurdy while he attempts to steal the catch of the day. In the process, Kurdy gets caught himself. Jeremiah takes pity on the guy, invites him to eat and lets him go. Kurdy then robs him blind. So much for a promising beginning to their friendship. ***

Jeremiah saves the life of the local despot Theo (Kathleen Hawthorne) and also meets two men recruiting for some sort of secret operation. It turns out that Jeremiah's fate, Theo and the two men are intertwined; they're from a place called "Thunder Mountain" which has much of the resources available prior to the "Big Death". Theo wants those resources and Jeremiah has his first enemy just by talking with two complete strangers. ***

Straczynski's ("Babylon 5", "Crusade", "The Twilight Zone") latest series takes a standard end-of-the world premise and manages to find a number of fresh new angles. One of Straczynski's strong suits as a writer is his ability to quickly create convincing, compelling characters. Straczynski's script has a number of wonderful moments. For example, Jeremiah continues to write letters to his dad. After finishing them, he burns them as if somehow the sentiments in the letter will be communicated. At one point Kurdy asks Jeremiah when he knows he can stop writing letters. "When they don't burn", he cryptically responds. While "Jeremiah" hasn't quite established its footing yet as a series, like "Babylon 5" during its first season, the "Jeremiah" offers a lot of potential for strong character driven science fiction drama. It lives up to the promise for many of the episodes in the series. Like "Babylon 5", Straczynski has written the bulk of the first season himself with co-producer Sam Egan writing most of the rest of the episodes. When the show is firing on all cylinders, it's a joy to watch. ***

It helps that Perry and Warner have great screen chemistry together and that the casting is full of rock solid American and Canadian actors. The sharp direction for the 90 minute pilot episode by film director Russell Malchay and subsequent episodes by "Babylon 5" vet Mike Vejar with others makes this Showtime original series much more interesting than the initial premise might make it seem. Like other series set in post-apocalyptic worlds adapted from other media ("Planet of the Apes", "Logan's Run"), "Jeremiah" will likely rise or fall not based on the setting but the characters. Straczynski needs to come up with a stronger villain than Theo if the show is to succeed as well. While the actress playing the role does a good job, the character isn't enough of a threat. I realize that Straczynski meant for Jeremiah and Kurdy to encounter a number of villains in their adventures but he needs to come up with a fairly substantial baddie for the serious to continue. Luckily, Straczynski's track record with creating interesting dramatic conflict on his shows is very, very good.

I'm a bit surprised that the series has been presented in a standard (1.33:1) aspect ratio as widescreen television aspect ratios have become the norm for many shows (with the exception of sitcoms). The series wasn't transferred using an anamorphic technique as near as I can tell but the picture quality is still sharp with very good clarity on the whole. There is some noticeable compression artifacts particularly during the 90-minute premiere. These usually occur during the night sequences but they aren't all that distracting. The muted colors and the look of the show tend to make these artifacts more noticeable. The blacks are rock solid for many of the shows but there was some variability from episode to episode. There were few to no analog artifacts to report. ***

I'm rather surprised that the series is presented only in stereo surround. That doesn't surprise me, though, given that the series' budget is rather small compared to some of the other shows on Showtime (it's also one of the reasons the show is shot in Canada unlike Stracyznski's previous television shows). Again, 5.1 Digital Surround Sound has become the norm in most contemporary shows released to DVD. Perhaps we'll see this upgraded as time goes on.

In addition to the 19 episodes on this six disc set, we get a sparse collection of extras. Surprisingly, all the special features are located on the first disc of the set. There's deleted scenes included for the pilot as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette that, although brief, is actually quite illuminating about the show and its premise. There are also production sketches included although they aren't as interesting as what you might see for a more tech driven science fiction show. The photo gallery also offers a nice peak behind the scenes. Hopefully future boxed sets for season two and season three when they appear will include a variety of more interesting extras. I'd suggest that the producer who put together this set take a look at the similarly priced "Stargate-SG-1" and the more expensive "Babylon 5" boxed sets as a guide to effectively provide value added features to these boxed sets. ***

There's also a nice booklet that accompanies the set. The booklet gives a brief synopsis of the plot as well as (in very tiny hard to read print) the credits for the episode. This is a nice extra particularly for viewers that aren't all that familiar with the series. ---