90s Sci-Fi Series Is Top Gun In Space And It Needs To Be Saved

Space: Above and Beyond started with a two-hour made-for-television movie as its pilot, explaining the destruction of a human colony at the hands of the bug-like Chigs, and the sudden enlistment of new fighter pilots, including our main crew, the 58th Squadron, dubbed, “The Wildcards.” Barely trained, the squadron is on the USS Saratoga, which was supposed to be bringing up the rear guard of Earth’s forces when they find themselves under attack and engaged in a major conflict. Outgunned and outmanned, The Wildcards manage to survive, but barely, and that sets the tone for the rest of the series.

Though the special effects are dated, especially when planet-side, Space: Above and Beyond goes, well, beyond the effects by adding some new wrinkles to the story of space conflict. In addition to the Chigs and humans, there are the Silicates, artificial intelligence humanoids that turned against their masters and allied with the Chigs, well, at least some of them did, and then there’s the In Vitroes, genetically engineered humans designed to be front line soldiers.

Over the course of the series, which lasted for only one season, alliances are formed, peace treaties are offered, and, for a 90s syndicated sci-fi show, there’s an awful lot of torture, death, and dealing with PTSD.

The best episode of Space: Above and Beyond, in my opinion, is “Who Monitors the Birds?” is a stand-out for its unique hook, as it’s mostly silent. Rodney Rowland, playing the In Vitro Wildcard member Cooper Hawkes, is wounded behind enemy lines while attempting an assassination. Alone with his thoughts, we see his upbringing in the In Vitro facility, his struggle to stay alive while also contemplating ending his suffering, and the result is one of the single greatest episodes of sci-fi television that has been forgotten.

Except, of course, it was never forgotten by Joss Whedon, who would go on to make the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Hush,” which he admitted in interviews was largely influenced by Space: Above and Beyond. Rowland would, incidentally, go on to guest star in an episode of Angel.

Space: Above and Beyond aired on Fox, which means that you, the discerning sci-fi fan, know exactly what happened to ensure that the series never received a second season. While Firefly was stuck in a timeslot of death, the earlier Fox sci-fi series was given time to grow, and it wasn’t jerked around too badly by executives, though, in a show’s first season, especially one that relies so heavily on story arcs, any change can lose the audience.

That, and the sizable production budget that included a lot of 3D CGI effects (in 1995, remember), meant that the show wasn’t able to go deeper into the world it was slowly revealing to the audience.

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Today, you can’t find Space: Above and Beyond on any streaming network, not even through Video on Demand, and that’s a shame, as there are very few military sci-fi series in existence even today. Aspects of the series can be found in Battlestar Galactica, which also focuses on the military and conflict with an almost unknowable enemy, but that’s about it, and even that series has been off the air for over a decade now.

Military sci-fi, such as the novels of David Weber or John Ringo, is ripe for adaptation, and though it only lasted one season, Space: Above and Beyond has a strong fanbase even today, proving there’s still an audience for this type of story. Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40k, which likely wouldn’t focus on the Astra Militarum and give us that Gaunt’s Ghosts adaptation I’ve wanted for years, might be the closest we get this decade.

Until then, you can find Space: Above and Beyond on DVD, and I hope that some streaming company picks it up so a new generation can learn about the Battle of the Belt.