Home
Paeter wrote:I was just thinking the other day that possibly the ingedient to better inject into future military-based space sci-fi is the threat or reality of casualties. A rotating cast that must be replenished as characters are killed in action or require time to recover from events like this one. True, it's probably closer to a wartime representation of military operations, but an unspoken emotional element associated with the military is the possibility of death or other terrible circumstances.
Battlestar built drama from their lack of professionalism (PAUSE. In park with boys. Just spent five minutes talking to Jehovah's Witness. Always interesting.) as did Farscape. Trek had great moments of peril that left scars which typically healed or were forgotten quickly. (I seem to remember the same of SG1.) What would totally bring me back to military space sci-fi, without making the crew a bunch of undisciplined jerks, would be real danger and suffering that has real lasting impact, shown through emotionally shattered private moments when officers can let their guard down for the audience, even if they need to keep it up with a steel mask on duty. Whew. Now THAT would be some great television!
Space: Above and Beyond might be just what you're looking for in the way of hard military sci-fi. It's been quite a while since I've seen the series, but I remember the recurring cast being very small and a high turnover of characters due to fatalities on the show.
