Alex Wyld

8/10 I'm feeling generous as it's been a terribly long time since I was gripped by a series, especially a sci-fi. Unfortunately, many of the bad reviews are correct. In the last 30 years, most sci-fi movies or series have commandeered the same tricks. *spoiler alert* Who guessed that the inside of the Artifact would not be technological but rather a place from Eric's memories shown like a holodeck, or the inhabitants being people the characters are associated with. We've seen this in sci-fi a million times and I had already guessed that would happen. Same with the dream sequence episode. I was dreading that and lo an behold it reared its ugly head. And of course no sci-fi would be complete without the hopping back and forth to the memories of the protagonists lazy summer mornings in bed with her family. Fortunately these are slightly fewer and shorter than most other sci-fis I've seen. At one point they come face to face with a legit intelligent and sentient life form who seems non-aggressive and there is even a communication device they can use to talk to her. Instead of the most incredible moment in human history, Cas starts randomly talking her grandmother being poor and then they leave. Anti-climactic. When they return, they exchange maybe one or two words about destroying the artifact then take off. I feel first contact should be way more important. The pros: Despite the obvious flaws with the script and story line, the series is well presented, well acted and most characters do actually become more likeable. I'm glad Ian was killed off early as he was proving to be a weak and annoying character. Plot armour is weak in this series which is good. I watched the whole series on one night and can't wait for season 2. Would strongly recommend anyone to watch it as it is a beautiful program and although very contemporary has a fantastic vintage feel about it alongside some amazing scene-setting music.