We liked #6 a lot more than #1-5. I thought it was a very strong episode, with a great frame, and working in a number of good themes. I particularly enjoyed the monologue to Helo about his motivations, but really, the whole episode was excellent. While the themes aren't things I care about as much as in Firefly (freedom on the frontier), I definitely find them more interesting than Buffy's themes (teenage angst - yawn.)

So I guess the whole thing about the early episodes being standalone and tv-ish b/c Fox requires it, and it getting better in the middle, is true. Yay!

Just watched #3, and this was the first one that really moved me. It was tight, I loved the interwoven threads of the plot and the meta-plot. Others weren't bad, but not particularly special either. The premise is a good excuse for the leads to try on lots of different roles, but as Shannon pointed out, there is an awful lot of overlap. All involve deeply earnest enthusiasm, just applied with different skillsets.

Anyway, it's no Firefly, not even a Buffy, but it's not bad.