Chris Carter's new series Harsh Realm inherited the Friday 9 p.m. ET timeslot formerly held by Millennium, which was cancelled at the end of the 1998-99 season. Harsh Realm revolves around the story of Thomas Hobbes (Scott Bairstow), a soldier sent to a virtual reality war simulation/game that has been commandeered by the ultra-right wing General Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn). His mission is to locate and kill Santiago. He soon finds that Harsh Realm is a far more dangerous place than he imagined, and is trapped inside with his only ally being Mike Pinnochio (D.B. Sweeney), another soldier who was once sent on the same mission. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Hobbes' fiancée Sophie (Samantha Mathis) tries to find out where Hobbes has gone.

Harsh Realm was cancelled by the Fox network after only three episodes, but the FX cable network later aired the rest of the episodes that had already been shot. Below are my episode reviews.
 

REVIEWS:
 

Number	Episode Title	Writer	Director	Grade	Star Rating
1x01	Pilot	Carter	Sackheim	B-	**1/2
1x02	Leviathan	Carter	Sackheim	B	***
1x03	Inga Fossa	Carter	Spicer	B	***
1x04	Kein Ausgang	Maeda	Bole	C-	*1/2
1x05	Reunion	Walker	Manners	B+	***
1x06	Three Percenters	Spotnitz	Sackheim	C	**
1x07	Manus Domini	Shiban	To	A-	***1/2
1x08	Cincinnati	Carter	Shaw	A-	***1/2
1x09	Camera Obscura	Maeda	Levy	B	***

 

LINKS:

Harsh Realm Unplugged - News, multimedia, an episode guide, and a message board.

The Harsh Realm VR Jumpstation - Another elaborate news and information site, with an episode guide and a message board.

The Official Harsh Realm Site - Maintained by the Fox network.

The Sphere of Influence - Episode reviews by Josh Petitto, also a Millennium and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reviewer.
 

Harsh Realm Web Ring:
 

(I've had some problems getting this graphic to load. If it doesn't show up, go to The Harsh Realm VR Jumpstation, for info about the webring and a list of sites.)

Send e-mail to ktpattersn@aol.com.

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