EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT was the first of
the Tribune Entertainment shows which had several producers and started out with high budgets.
Then the budget for the shows would keep being cut season by season. To
make matters worse, the writing staffs changed frequently and producer meddling lead to the storyline end up being like crap
by the time when season five started airing. I love EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT. The first season shines the brightest with some love for the next three seasons with
most of season five being crap (except three episodes).
EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT was one of many ideas
Gene Roddenberry had in his head and his wife Majel dusted off the pilot script and showed it to several companies with the
help of David Kirchner. This show was the first of many series that Tribune would
produce in partnership with other companies like Global and Fireworks.
The show follows police Captain William
Boone (Kevin Kilner) who is recruited to be a new protector for the United States Companion, Da’an. The Companions aka Taelons are a race of aliens who came to Earth three years ago. However, not everyone trusts them and what to know the true reasons why they’re here including billionaire
Jonathan Doors who fakes his own death. He has built a resistance movement which
includes Captain Lil Marquette (Lisa Howard) who works for the Companions. Boone
is recruited by the Resistance to be a double agent after a Companion agent, Sandavol (Von Flores), kills Boone’s wife
in an attempt to get Boone to accept Da’an’s offer.
Boone is inserted with a modified CVI (which
accelerates his thinking and opens up his brain’s power) so that he isn’t loyal to the Taelons. He wears a Skrill, a living weapon. He must find out
why the companions are here in addition to protecting Da’an. A new
threat comes in the form of evil and slippery Companion Zo’or. The first
season sets the stages for the mythology of the series from the experiments the Taelons do on the humans, the Taelon’s
past, and the character’s pasts. Season One sets up many interesting threads
only to be muddled more and more with each following season resulting finally in the mess known as season five.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio commentaries were recorded for
DECISION by Technical Advisor Eugene “Rod”
Roddenberry, Executive Producer David Kirschner, and Executive Producer Paul Gertz
TRUTH by Technical Advisor Eugene “Rod”
Roddenberry and stars Von Flores and Lisa Howard
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY by Technical Advisor
Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry and stars Von Flores and Lisa Howard
SANDOVAL’S RUN by Technical Advisor
Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry and star Von Flores
INFECTION by Technical Advisor Eugene
“Rod” Roddenberry and Executive Producer Paul Gertz
THE JOINING by Technical Advisor Eugene
“Rod” Roddenberry, Executive Producer David Kirschner, and Executive Producer Paul Gertz
An introduction for Season One by Eugene
“Rod” Roddenberry is on the first disc.
THE RODDENBERRY PHILOSOPHY is a featurette
focusing on the issues discussed in the series with the main talk being on the episode INFECTION
EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT GENESIS- A RETROSPECTIVE
is on the final disc as cast and crew look back at the show’s first season.
FINAL ANALYSIS: The first season of EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT still holds after all these years as a great first season of
a sci-fi series.
This DVD review is (c)7-28-2009/ 8-3-2009 David Blackwell and
cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
