Holiday Cheer

It’s that time of year once again.  There’s a chill in the air, we had our first snowfall today, and in just two short weeks, Santa will be making his yearly trip.  No doubt those who observe the holiday will find their Christmas Eve packed full of family activities.  But, what are you doing on Christmas Eve…Eve?

Reading Frontiers, of course!

December 23 is our third and final release date for the long-delayed S2 vDVD set.  Over the past few days, I’ve seen what Paul “Blaze” Weaver has put together for us and I must admit, it will be a great early Christmas present to anyone who has enjoyed the show.  Our new interface works beautifully, without the glitches that plagued our first set.  There will be some great art, and an all-new podcast as well.

So, to wrap up what I informally began earlier this year as a casual overview of the opening story arc, I thought I’d pontificate a little over the final two episodes and the epilogue.

2×05: Second Coming was one of the higher rated episodes of Season 2 in our original run.  There is, of course, a tremendous revelation in this episode that reshapes the world of Frontiers for the rest of the season (and the subsequent season, for that matter).  With the crew mostly reunited, Sito and the Federation turn their attention towards M106 and their captured transwarp hub.

Speaking of the hub, Rikilis and Lighthart are nearing the end of their patience as well, and put their own plan in motion to take the station.

2×06: Turning Point is the showdown everyone’s been waiting for: Sito versus Rahl!  Not to mention another clash of titans that shall, for the moment, remain nameless (don’t want to ruin it for new readers).  Needless to say, everything in this one is big – larger than life.  And sadly, not everyone walks away.

As with most rewrites this season, I drew some inspiration from music.  Specifically, my future wife, Amy Lee.  Evanescence released a new album a few months back, and it’s pretty incredible.  Just imagine the action-packed and exciting trailer we could put together using this inspirational little number:

Of course, once the dust from all this settles, there are many consequences to be dealt with.  Salea, in particular, has tremendous scars from her experiences, scars that have made it hard for her to even realize who she is anymore.  Long-time readers will remember 2×07: No Matter How Long the Night as a dark but emotional piece that serves as an epilogue for the dramatic opening arc.  While I was loath to touch this script in any way (I feel Josh Legg, the original author, nailed it on the first try), some of the earlier changes and tweaks did require a slightly revised approach to this story.

I don’t want to spoil any part of this one, so let me leave you with one more tune, that truly captures the emotion and darkness Salea struggles with:

It rarely gets more real than this one, folks.  You won’t want to miss it.

Beyond that, we’ve got some truly great and classic episodes in Season 2.  It’s a bit serialized, so you’ll notice more arcs and interconnecting stories.  That said, one of my very favorite standalone episodes takes place here.

Of course, the best part about this release is how much closer it puts us to Season 3 and completely NEW episodes!  We’ll have more on our Season 3 release schedule (which will revert to weekly releases) after the holidays.  You can look forward to the return of Jaron Hatch in an all-new episode, the long-awaited debut of Henrik Anttonen,and two more scripts by yours truly (including a shocking season finale over three years in the making).  Season 3 truly puts us on the course for events that will ultimately drag us kicking and screaming to the series finale.  So it’s a big event and definitely a time to be excited for more good things.