Starhunter 2300: The Complete Series

The series was cancelled and then returned 2 years later in this newer installment. Tanya Allen and Stephen Marcus were the only cast members to return for this second installment.

This show, along with it's first season, is easily my favorite sci-fi series ever. The first season came out a couple of years before Joss Whedon's much acclaimed "Firefly", to which it is often compared. I get the impression that Mr. Whedon actually might have got some of his ideas from Stahunter's first season .

This second season, "Starhunter 2300" however, is my favorite season of this show.

Imagine a sci-fi series set in space where all the main characters are desperate and poor! There is no politically-correct 'prime directive'. There is no magical warp-drive or transporters or any quick and easy way to get to the stars. Humanity is still mostly confined to the Solar System. Hyperspace is still the stuff of theoretical physics, unreliable pseudoscience, and the obsession of a Mensa-like organization of elitists called "The Orchard". Earth is too polluted to live on, so most people live in dingey space colonies scattered throughout the solar system (the lucky ones live on Mars)

The Solar System is impossible to police. The last thing resembling a police force rebelled and became the Raiders, scattered 'clans' who raid colonies, steal children (many of the original Raiders became sterile due to something like a futuristic Gulf War Syndrome) and run much of the prostitution and drug business in the solar system.

The only solution to maintain any semblance of order? Bring violent criminals to justice by paying bounty-hunters to bring them in! There is so much poverty and desperation in the solar system that somebody is bound to be willing to do it. That is the role of our main characters and the basis of the concept for Starhunter.

The cast is excellent all around. I could go on at length about each of the castmembers, but then this would turn into a 6-page review. Some of them may be familiar to you from other shows and feature films. Many interesting guest stars pop in through the season as well.

This second season, "Starhunter 2300" features much-upgraded special effects, compared to the original Starhunter. Even the trip-hop theme music and the moody ambiente incidental music are a huge improvement.

The series begins where the first season's cliffhanger ending left off, but don't worry if you didn't see the first season, the disorientation of not knowing what's going on put's you in a position to easily relate to the main characters and their situation. You have to find your way around, much as the characters themselves do.

The year is 2300, 15 years after the time of the first season. Percy (Tanya Allen) finds herself alone on the Tulip, a delapidated old space-cruiseship that has been her home for most of her life. However, she finds that she has just come out of hyperspace and has somehow missed 15 years of time. She is now all alone on the ship she and her uncle Dante used to lease for the purpose of bounty-hunting. She has no relatives, no friends, and no income. She does, however have the Tulip and must now decide how she is going to survive.

She is docked at Clarke Staion (in Jupiter-Fed) where she sets about trying to find a new crew. Things don't go too smoothly, though. In fact, they never go smoothly through the entire season. Debts, jealousy, untrustworthy friends, corrupt officials, mental instability, and ghosts from the past plague the entire crew. Controversial subjects are tackled in interesting ways in the seedy settings of a mostly lawless and often amoral society.

It's a shame that the series itself was plagued by a severe lack of promotion and lack of interest on the part of some of it's powerful network investors. Sadly, on the verge of commencing a new season of shooting, the production was abruptly shut down, without any warning. If you like this series as much as I did, then you'll be wishing that it had been allowed to continue. I find myself watching this box-set end-to-end, again and again and I still can't find another series that I have enjoyed this much.