In the year 2052 the crew of the Antares sets off on a 7 year voyage to conduct research in space. There are eight crew members, four women and four men. Two of the men, Ted Shaw and Maddux Donner (Ron Livingston), were last minute replacements for two others who came down with mysterious heart ailments. These two guys are famous for being the first to step foot on Mars--and also for abandoning their colleagues down on the Red Planet. This guilt plagues them, though they were ordered to do so by their commander, Mike Goss (Andrew Arlie of REAPER). In fact, Goss is the one who is heading the Antares project, which is no coincidence.
This television show is very similar in theme to VIRTUALITY, and is edited like an episode of LOST, going back and forth from the present to flashbacks that explain certain things about the characters. There are some complicated relationships. Years ago Maddux had an affair with crew member Zoe Barnes (Laura Harris), and got her pregnant, and now he's having the same dreams she's having. He never knew she was pregnant. She's guilt-ridden about having aborted her kid in order to keep her job. Jen Crane (Christina Cox), the biologist, used to date Shaw and is now married to one of the astronauts who was grounded. I especially liked the developing relationship between the ships "screwup" character and Paula Morales, who is videotaping the crew for a worldwide audience.
Aboard the spaceship they are all having some weird things happen, that are tied to an alien artifact that their bosses know about. Is it because this artifact is secretly aboard the ship? The last few episodes wrap up the story line, when they finally make it to Venus. Their secret mission is to pick up another artifact, dubbed Gamma, which is some type of alien entity that may hold the key to the next step in mankind's evolution. So there's a bit of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in there as well. If you've been itching for some serious Sci-Fi television this is it.
In the year 2052 the crew of the Antares sets off on a 7 year voyage to conduct research in space. There are eight crew members, four women and four men. Two of the men, Ted Shaw and Maddux Donner (Ron Livingston), were last minute replacements for two others who came down with mysterious heart ailments. These two guys are famous for being the first to step foot on Mars--and also for abandoning their colleagues down on the Red Planet. This guilt plagues them, though they were ordered to do so by their commander, Mike Goss (Andrew Arlie of REAPER). In fact, Goss is the one who is heading the Antares project, which is no coincidence.
