I finished off the first season the other day. I don't think the series has engrossed me the way it seems to have many others on this board. I think it's standard soap opera fare; running afoul of local troubles on alien worlds (then solving them), bumping into strange space phenomena, and staging narrow escapes from pursuing bad guys. A pleasant enough way to spend an hour, but usually nothing that makes me sit up and take notice. The season finale is possibly an exception; the cliffhanger was well done, and makes me want to order the second season (eventually...). So I've liked some of the plots, and some of the characters, mostly John, Zhaan and Chianna, have grown on me (though, conversely, I wish Rygel would encounter a pair of scissors, and soon)... mostly, the problem seems to be that I can't quite get comfortable with the show's aesthetic. Particularly the aliens. Particularly Rygel. The make-up on some of the leads is great (Zhaan and Chianna look amazing, and I don't just mean the actress, though that helps), but most of the aliens on the show look like they stepped out of 50s B-movie, all rubber and fabric and glowy headdresses. I'm not sure why--I've enjoyed series with even more outré aesthetics, like the similarly-themed Lexx, but that show knew it was risible. Which is something else that oftens throws me out of the show: the skewed sense of humour, which misses about as often as it hits. Particularly John, with his bizarre non sequiturs and constant pop culture references that he ought damn well know nobody gets. It was mildly amusing once or twice, it's just dumb by now. Oh, and Rygel. (Seriously, fart jokes? What is this, Phantom Menace?)
Anyway, hopefully the fans won't excorciate me for the above. I do plan to eventually return to the series, since I found the first season essentially adequate, and have been told that it gets better--and besides, it's not like there's much anything else in this vein out there to watch, these days.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman