Laura Bertram Movies

Largely abandoning the self-contained episodes of the previous season and returning to the complex story arcs so beloved of the series' biggest fans, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda launches its fourth season in syndication. Despite the idealistic efforts of Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo), captain of the starship Andromeda Ascendant, the New Commonwealth is collapsing under the weight of corruption and being undermined by friends and enemies alike. Although Hunt's crew could, if they wished, remain safely on solid ground, they finally agree to help Hunt salvage what is left of the Commonwealth -- and to do this, the Andromeda must hopscotch through slipstreams to various alternate universes in order to enlist allies in the Great Cause. And they'd better hurry: there is an impending apocalypse hanging over the proceedings throughout the season.
The year's pivotal episode is "Soon the Nearing Vortex," in which former crew member Tyr (Keith Hamilton Cobb), now aligned with the enemies of the commonwealth, launches a campaign to unite and rule all Nietzchean prides and thereby control the universe. Tyr not only hopes to steal the Route of Ages, the guide to all existing slipstreams, but he intends to win Hunt's second-in-command Beka (Lisa Ryder) over to his side. The treacherous Tyr is foiled with the help of Telemachus Rhade (Steve Bacic), isolationist leader on the "Old Commonwealth" planet Terazed -- and the look-alike descendant of Generis Rhade, the selfsame scoundrel who during the series' first season betrayed Hunt and left him in a state of suspended animation for 300 years. Despite his inherent distrust of Telemachus, Hunt ultimately invites him to join the Andromeda crew. At the same time, the enigmatic Trance (Laura Bertram) reveals herself to be an avatar of the sun, with the ability to disintegrate her comrades in order to rescue them when danger threatens, then reintegrate them when the danger passes. The season ends with dissension in the ranks of the Andromeda, as the crew expresses disillusionment over the fact that Hunt's dreams of restoring the Commonwealth have not come to pass. The various crew members separate to pursue their own destinies, leaving Dylan and Trance alone to fight off a new Magog attack all by themselves -- but Dylan may be predestined to be the sole survivor! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda picks up where season one left off, as Andromeda crew members Tyr (Keith Hamilton Cobb) and Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett) are captured during a battle with the fearsome Magog and injected with millions of Magog eggs. They are rescued by their comrade in arms Rev Bem (Brent Stait), himself a Magog who has pretended to betray the Andromeda on behalf of his own race. Once this matter is settled, Rev decides to leave the Andromeda to embark upon a long soul-searching mission in order to cleanse himself of his race's more bestial tendencies. This leaves Captain Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo) with one fewer crew member to help him rebuild the Commonwealth for its final confrontation with the Magog, but Hunt's loyal aides Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett), Beka (Lisa Ryder), Trance (Laura Bertram), and humanized artificial intelligence Rommie (Lexa Doig) seem more than capable of facing up to the challenge. As for Nietzchean crew member Tyr (Keith Hamilton Cobb), his true loyalties are still very much in question. In the course of preparing for the last battle with the Magog -- not to mention the inevitable head-to-head against a new enemy, the Abyss -- the enigmatic Trance exchanges places with her older, wiser future self, ostensibly to strengthen the Andromeda's battle force, though Dylan Hunt wonders if the new Trance can be trusted. Season two ends on the eve of the signing of a new Commonwealth charter, as the Andromeda gears up to safeguard its allies from thousands upon thousands of phase-shifting warships from another universe. It is at this point that the present Trance confronts her time-shifting former self -- but to what end? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on George Dell's 1934 novel The Earth Abideth, the two-part CBS TV movie Seasons of Love covers thirty years (1866-1896) in the lives of Kansas farming couple Thomas and Kate Linthorne (Peter Strauss, Rachel Ward). A dynamic, forceful person who manages to carve a home and livelihood out of virgin territory, Thomas emerges as one of the leaders of his tiny community, despite the resentment and opposition of rival farmer Gorm Schrader (John Finn). At home, the sometimes rocky relationship between the Linthornes is put to the test by the arrival in town of Lucille (Chandra West), the young wife of one of Thomas' best friends. Later on, a series of devastating setbacks--some directly related to an bitter quarrel between Thomas and his son Hocking (Justin Chambers), not to mention the profligate ways of his other son Grover (Nick Stahl)--threatens to destroy everything that Thomas has built. Eschewing the usual Hollywood Happy Ending, the film remains doggedly faithful to its source--that is to say, forgiveness is not a part of the characters' makeup, and there are some wounds too deep and painful to heal. Filmed on location in Ontario, Seasons of Love originally aired March 7 and 9, 1999, on CBS. The film has since been shown on cable TV under the title Love on the Land. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide