Earth 2 (TV series)

Did You Know?

• Grendler saliva is a cure for virtually any disease.
• The Terrians are an intelligent subterranean species that communicate through a dreamscape.

Plot

In 2192, most humans live on orbiting space stations as Earth is mostly uninhabitable. Billionaire Devon Adair's eight-year-old son, Ulysses Adair, has a rare fatal disease called "the syndrome," which affects only children and is theorized to be caused by the lack of an Earth-like environment. Most children with the syndrome do not live past age nine. Adair assembles a group to pioneer settlement of a planet 22 light-years away, where other families with afflicted members can settle. The government opposes the colonization and secretly monitors the project. Hours before departure, a bomb is discovered; the Eden Project leaves immediately, jettisoning the bomb. The bomb was planted by the Council. Twenty-two years later, the ship arrives at G889 but crash-lands far from the planned site. Adair gathers survivors and begins heading west to the planned colony of New Pacifica.

Characters

Devon Adair leads the expedition; her son Ulysses has the Syndrome, and she balances directing the group with confronting the possibility he may not survive. Ulysses, nicknamed Uly, is eight years old and his connection to the Terrians becomes a recurring plot theme. John Danziger, formerly an indentured worker, becomes the group's protector; his ten-year-old daughter True Danziger initially dislikes Uly but later forms a close friendship with him. Yale is a former convict and cyborg whose memory was erased under a government program to tutor wealthy children; he later recovers memories and learns he defied the Council. Dr. Julia Heller is a genetically modified junior physician who is later revealed to be a Council agent. Morgan Martin is a government official supervising the Eden Project, married to Bess Martin, who grew up in Earth's mines. Alonzo Solace is a cold sleep pilot who becomes a love interest of Dr. Heller. Reilly is Julia Heller's Council contact, later revealed to be a computer program. Zero is the crew's bipedal worker droid. Commander Broderick O'Neill is second in command; he is stung by a Koba, falls into a coma mistaken for death, and is later murdered by Grendlers.

Production

The series was originally intended to premiere on September 18, 1994, alongside seaQuest DSV, but after Steven Spielberg saw the pilot he removed his name from the credits. Staff at NBC and Amblin began calling the series "Gilligan's Planet. NBC delayed the premiere to November for reshoots. The show explored the Gaia hypothesis through the Syndrome and its healing after the Eden Project arrives on G889. Political and social themes included parallels between Terrians and colonists reflecting colonial history and slavery, moral questions about punishment in "The Enemy Within," and the Council's use of G889 as a penal colony in "The Man Who Fell to Earth (Two). Exterior shots were filmed in New Mexico locations such as Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks and Diablo Canyon.

Other media

The complete series was released on DVD on July 19, 2005, in Region 1 on four dual-sided discs. The set includes all 21 episodes in air-date order, which places two episodes ("Natural Born Grendlers" and "Flower Child") after the final episode "All About Eve"; these two aired after the series was cancelled. A Region 2 DVD set released on May 28, 2012, corrected the episode order to narrative sequence. Netflix in the United States streamed episodes in production order. Three Earth 2 novels were published between December 1994 and May 1995: a novelization of the two-part premiere by Melissa Crandall, and original stories Puzzle by Sean Dalton and Leather Wings by John Vornholt.