Aberrant 2.0 Trinity Entertainment

Visual Entertainment

Red Star Setting

This series is placed in the Soviet Union some years prior to its collapse. The setting is not precisely dated, but despite claims of historical accuracy the plot generally takes precedence. Minor howlers include such things as Kosygin using Windows 7 and Andrey Baronov openly wearing makeup without anyone seeing this as odd. Major howlers involve the basic plot itself, which is roughly on level with the X-Files, if written by Dan Brown or Von Däniken. There is a large subculture that is convinced that everything they see there is true, but most sensible people treat it as light entertainment.

The plots are mostly episodic, but there are minor story arches and multi-episode plots. The main characters work for a secret department in the KGB tasked with investigating bioinformation and radiation mutants in the Chernobyl zone. These are respectively hinted to be weak pre-Proxy Psions and a sort of pseudo-taint radiation that is erased from history by the powerful KGB. The head of the department is only known as Chairman Kosygin, who commands a team consisting primarily of Nadya Perumova, Nikolay Volkuganov, and Andrey Baronov (David Delaney). In addition they are backed by a team of balaklava wearing commandoes who tend to show up for the latest showdown with the Americans or the latest horrible Chernobyl monstrosity. Andrey Baronov is a rather feminine, bishie, or downright trappy young man, and he commonly gets abducted, tied up, and subjected to mild sexualized molestation. There's a complex love triangle between him, Nadya and Nikolay, generally this is quite well handled, but it's often used as an excuse to show off skin.

Embrace of the Enemy

This series is set in a non-descript South American republic during the early Nova age and it's strongly hinted right from the start that El Presidente is in fact a Nova (or Aberrant). There is a large cast of characters including Raul Ortiz (David Delaney) as a stunningly pretty young man who draws the attention of the increasingly deranged El Presidente. The plot shows El Presidente slowly change from a fully understandable albeit it authoritarian ruler, to a twisted dark genius whose increasingly bizarre orders follow no human logic, and yet inevitable leads to the results he wanted.

Although a great psychological exploration of the effects of power, some critics feel that many of these segments decline into softcore porn or fanservice. In particular the outfits that Raul Ortiz is forced to wear in the last two seasons, and his blushing reactions to them, is often seen as marring his otherwise great performance. Overall however the series has received several awards and has been praised by many for its authenticity.