Pandora – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Zombies In Space

Teen sci-fi thriller Pandora has been a bit of a missed opportunity to say the least. Between the colloqualistic language, the poor set design and cookie cutter characterisation, Pandora’s latest episode does little to improve what’s come before, paling in comparison to other sci-fi series out there.

Still reeling over Greg’s death, the episode begins with Jax getting her anger out at the shooting range while the rest of the group deliberate over whether she is mentally stable enough to take the reigns of the training operation Xander has planned for them.

Midway through the exercise, the team receive a distress signal which Xander deliberates over whether to answer. Convinced the team aren’t ready, Jax talks to him alone and convinces him otherwise, begrudgingly agreeing to track down the source of the signal. They make their way to a solitary ship floating through space and head on board. Once there, they find the ship infested by crazed, zombified humans. Thankfully, they find a survivor and through them, they learn the ship is a scientific research vessel – one conducting experiments that have infected the crew and turned them into zombies. Deciding they need to escape, they’re stopped in their tracks when they learn the virus is airbourne and they’re all infected.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that throughout the episode is a romantic subplot involving Atria Nine and Thomas, with the latter longing for an exclusive relationship but Atria unable to commit. Although this is used as a dramatic relief from the main plot involving zombies, if I’m honest it isn’t very interesting and at its worst, is cringe-inducing and does nothing to further the plot of the show.

It turns out the experimented humans were Solarian and ironically their blood, like Revan, may just hold the key to a cure. Interestingly, Jax is also not infected either. After a mad scramble that see them battle against the zombies, the group formulate a cure from Revan’s blood and manage to escape after curing the others. Back at the academy, things appear to be back to normal although Jax questions Xander around why she didn’t get infected. After downing his drink, Xander narrows his eyes and answers her cryptically, clearing hiding something from here.

Pandora’s latest episode takes the tired cliche of zombies and adds them into a stand-alone episode that does nothing to build on the characterisation for any of our main characters. Although the blood cure and Jax’s seeming immunity to the disease are interesting, it’s not nearly enough to keep you engaged with this one. Between the poor set design and questionable dialogue, CW’s latest sci-fi is unlikely to be one renewed for a second season based on this showing.