The Arbiter Chronicles is (are?) one of the most interesting and original works I’ve found on the Internet. The Arbiter Chronicles is a ‘radio’ drama about a bunch of people on a spaceship. It is written in the style of an old fashioned radio show, but the content is hardly old-fashioned. Plotwise, it’s really more like Star Trek than anything else – they fly around, find weird situations on planets, and pick fights with aliens. Unlike Star Trek, it’s not boring! (Okay, okay, so I don’t like Star Trek – sue me.) The characters are varied and interesting, and the plots original, if fairly cheesy. The best thing about the Arbiter Chronicles, though, are the settings. There are worlds of genetically engineered humans who look down on ordinary humans. The ordinary humans still live on Earth and are highly religious. There is a race of highly intellectual people (I’d give the names, but I don’t think that I can spell it!) who can read minds and have developed a sort of shared consciousness. There are several others, too – and none of them feel like parody or exaggeration for it’s own sake. You get the feeling that they are real possibilities – some horrible, some interesting, some wonderful, but still amazingly real.
Anyway, I meant to talk about the latest episode, not review the whole series!
Contents Under Pressure
Overall impressions:
I really like the new music. The old music was just too cheesy and synthy, even for a campy radio show! The new sound effects are also much better – although the engine rumble made my head hurt sometimes. I think that this is one of the best episodes, plotwise, yet – the ending surprised me, and nearly all of the characters developed in new and interesting ways. Even the annoying ones!
Weird opening…
I was really confused as to what happened to Carson, but after it was all revealed to be a simulation, it didn’t matter so much! So, they’re doing some sort of officer evaluations, and the stupid bigoted Admiral is back! He’s fighting with the Captain, making jabs at Aer’la, and generally being a pain. Sometimes it was a bit over the top, but it was lots of fun hearing him get his due in the end!
Throwing guns…
Kaya and Carson fighting with each other over who screwed up the most was hilarious. I was surprised that Kaya didn’t succeed, though! Then again, she’s easily distracted, so… why not.
Metcaf comes through.
Everyone knew he could do it, but it was still interesting to see it happen. His breakdown at the end was fascinating, though. It’s the age old question – when is it okay to kill? The lives of 10 billion people would seem like a pretty good justification. Metcaf, though, isn’t convinced – he feels like he did it out of anger and revenge, therefore, it was wrong. The ending is one of the most dramatic and interesting segments to date.
I love Lydia!
She’s awesome! As freaky as Pallas’s ‘computerizing’ of her is, it works very well. She’s snarky, insightful, and doesn’t seem to resent being a computer… although, if Metcaf find out, he’ll probably see it as a betrayal of trust. Then again, he’s adjusted to Pallas fishing through his mind, so why not adjust to having Lydia back?
No killing Aer’la!
The one bad part of this episode. Look – we all know Aer’la’s not going to die. She’s the one with the book written about her, remember? And it wasn’t even very dramatic – Cernac’s emotional responses haven’t developed to the point that they were interesting, and Aer’la’s physical strength and endurance have been harped on so much, that her survival was only matter-of-fact.
It was interesting that Pallas was the one to snap Cernac out of it, though.
Finally, Five and Co. get a break
This was the best part of the episode. The annoying crew members have never been sympathetic at all. They’ve alway just been comic relief, someone to run their mouthes and make us groan. So, it was nice for Metcaf to admit that Five actually was good at his job. And, it was even nicer for Five to get over himself and give Metcaf some good advice, even if it was in his own annoying way!
Overall very, very excellent.