Set in the year 2063, the pilot episode opens with a group of human colonists celebrating their successful settlement of a distant planet. Their leader delivers a speech about how the past 150 years of space exploration has proven that mankind is alone in the universe. Now, I may not be a math genius or a history buff, but I’m fairly certain that not much space travel was going on back in 1913. Regardless, naturally enough that very night the colony is attacked and slaughtered by vicious space aliens, as if just to prove the stupid humans wrong. Later, after a second colonial expedition is also attacked, the United States government declares war and mobilizes the armed forces of Earth. Initial battles go very badly for the Earthlings, until a batch of fresh-faced young recruits in the Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry discovers that the enemy does have weaknesses and turns the tide of the war. Over the course of the season, the members of the 58th Squadron commanded by badass Col. McQueen will fight the evil Chig aliens on land, on sea, and in space, proving that extraterrestrial technological advancement is just no match for the good old fashioned American fighting spirit.

I thought that this series gave the viewers a fresh perspective on what earth’s near future could look like without phasers or Capt. Kirk. There was different reasons why the crew of the 58th joined up, but they all brought it together when it really counted.

There was cameo appearances from familiar faces such as R. Lee Ermey, French Stewart, Harriet Samson Harris (conniving agent Bebe from Frasier), Richard Kind, Adam Goldberg, Coolio, and David Duchovny pepper the season. Notable episodes include the particularly poetic and existential The River of Stars, in which the Marines lose control of their space transport and hurtle off into the void, Who Monitors the Birds?, a largely dialogue-less episode exploring the backstory of In-Vitro character Cooper Hawkes, and the very suspenseful “Chiggy von Richthofen” 2-parter of Never No More and The Angriest Angel. A couple of stinker episodes (Pearly and the truly egregious R&R) intrude into the latter half of the season, but things pick up again in the build toward the finale. Realizing that their struggling ratings would probably not lead to renewal, Morgan and Wong wrote a 2-part conclusion to the season that could serve as either a cliffhanger or a series finale. Obviously, it became the latter. It’s something of a downer for an ending, but does provide a reasonable sense of closure for most of the major story arcs, which is more than most cancelled series ever get.