Star Cops - Mother Earth Part 2

The imagined second season of the cancelled ‘80s TV series concludes, continuing the plot arc of the first half. For most of the first half, the bad guys seemed annoying, but not murderous – that changed in the final episode and is clearly continued here as the stakes continue to rise. (They also seemed defeated, but it's hopefully not a spoiler to say that, with four episodes still to go, this may not have been true...) Other than that, the main difference is that Pal plays a bigger part in this half than the first, largely replacing new character Priya who is unfortunately sidelined for the first two episodes.

• Dead and Buried – The opening episode sees Devis investigating a problem with the paperwork at a Lunar cemetery, while Nathan and Pal look into the death of an apparent burglar. Perhaps fearing that this sounds rather dull, we get a preview of a key scene in the former investigation right at the beginning, destroying any suspense as to what the secret behind the burials might be (on a modern TV show, this would doubtless be followed by a caption saying ‘8 hours previously...'). It's unnecessary and, without context, rather confusing at the time. That aside, it's a good story, using the setting in a way that wouldn't work on a regular cop show while staying within the hard SF premise of the series. 4 stars.

• The Killing Jar – Nathan, Pal, and Bailey travel to an orbiting hotel to talk to an informant about cost-cutting that's allegedly breaching the strict safety protocols required in space. Pal is an important character here, having had some sort of past relationship with the hotel owner and getting to show her prickly nature to the full (there is, for instance, a good scene where she has to interact with Box when Nathan isn't present). Devis, on the other hand, is more in the background, mostly acting as a comic foil back on the Moon while Priya only has a few lines. However, it's a strong story, with a good mystery and plenty of danger as things get increasingly hectic on the space station – and one that would be difficult to do on live-action TV due to the amount that takes place in zero-G. 4.5 stars.

• Moonshine – The starting point for this episode is the discovery of some illegal booze on Moonbase (where alcohol is, understandably, banned). From there, however, we get into a story that's more complex than it first appears. The moonshine investigation leads to Australia, where there's some fun interaction between Devis and Pal, while, back on the Moon, there's a story about a sick construction worker causing embarrassing issues just as a top bigwig is conducting an inspection into the Star Cops' success (or lack of it) against Mother Earth. If there's a weakness here, it's that the villains' motives are only explained in general terms and we don't really get to the bottom of the mystery. 4 stars.

• Hostage – The final episode feels very much like a season finale. Mother Earth step up the deadliness of their attacks, but the real focus of the story is on a hostage situation on the Lunar Farside. That's well-played, and it's here that Priya gets the only real chance to shine in this half of the season. In addition to that, there's a car chase (well, Lunar rover chase), villainous bureaucrats, plot twists, and a dramatic climax. The Mother Earth plot arc is properly wrapped up, complete with the explanation for why their tactics changed part-way through the season and it's a satisfying conclusion. 5 stars.