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Miss 2059, on go90 (now defunct)
IMDb; TheTVDB; Wikia

Caution: Spoilers.

This webseries is actually an extended reboot of the short film Miss Earth, which was created, written, directed by and starred Anna Akana. She does all that on this series, too, though being a much bigger project, writing and directing duties are shared with some other folks. Also, unlike the short film, in which Akana played twin sisters Victoria and Arden Young, in this series she only plays Victoria. She still has a sister named Arden, and the characters are basically the same as in the film, except that they're not twins. (Arden is now played by Nikki SooHoo.) The first season consists of twelve episodes, which range from 5 to 11 minutes each.

Season One
The premise of the webseries is essentially the same as the short film, but with some tweaks (and twists). There's still a deathmatch tournament with contestants from many planets, but the reason is slightly different. There's an alien race called the Vortix who apparently invade and annihilate any world that isn't a member of the Galactic Protectorate. I guess these tournaments are held periodically, and the winner's homeworld gains admission to the Protectorate. Arden Young has been training since childhood to be Earth's representative in the current tournament, though her sister Victoria (and apparently most of the people of Earth) just think she's some kind of ambassador. (Though some things I've read about the series suggest she's a famous war hero or something, so maybe I'm mistaken. It's really not entirely clear.) Anyway, Victoria has just won the Miss Earth beauty pageant, which she's quite proud of, and she goes to wish Arden luck before departing on her ambassadorial mission. But Arden completely disdains Victoria and considers her life choices and accomplishments pointless.

Then, for some unknown reason, Victoria gets teleported to the space station where the tournament is being held, instead of Arden. She has to put a sort of bug that acts as a communications antenna into her ear (which then crawls into her brain), so she can communicate with Arden, who tries to coach her through her first match. Victoria ends up winning, using her own talents rather than Arden's advice. Then she waits for her sister to come to the station to take her rightful place in the tournament. Meanwhile, Victoria meets her roommate, a rather feral, doglike alien woman named Endar. At first Endar intimidates Victoria, but later Victoria befriends an alien named Tiggle, who looks like a cuddly little teddy bear (and whose species seems to be the most utterly non-aggressive people in the galaxy, with the sunshiniest possible teddy bear-like personalities). When another competitor threatens Tiggle, Victoria defends her, which impresses Endar, who then becomes Victoria's friend and ally. Soon after that, Victoria hears a mysterious voice speaking to her through the antenna in her head, I guess. It tells her that her sister is coming, but it's not what she thinks. Then Arden shows up and tells Victoria she's not there to replace her, but to train her. (The training Arden gives her reminds me vaguely of the training Vrataski gives Cage in Edge of Tomorrow.)

Anyway... Victoria continues to hear a voice giving her brief, cryptic messages, essentially advising her not to trust her sister. And eventually, Arden reveals a troubling secret which I won't spoil, but it explains both why she's such a great warrior, and why Victoria was mistakenly beamed to the station instead of her. But as the series progresses, Victoria learns more about how hard Arden's life has been, and their relationship begins to become... less antagonistic. Meanwhile, she eventually meets the mystery voice. It turns out to be Laheer (played by Hartley Sawyer, whom I know from Caper, though I didn't recognize him at all in his alien makeup.). The tournament, I should mention, is more than just a series of fights to the death, it's also a sort of reality show that people all over the galaxy are watching, and Laheer is the host of the show. Once Victoria finds out he's the one who's been secretly advising her, he promises to answer all her questions.

I should also mention that not every round of the tournament is actually a fight. The competition takes a few different forms. And in one round, Victoria actually has to work with a competitor named Tri so they can both survive. Which is interesting, because Tri has basically been the tournament's "alpha bitch" from the very beginning, but Victoria learns more about her, enough to sympathize... somewhat. Anyway... Victoria eventually learns a shocking truth about the Merge (the ancient, supposedly godlike alien race that controls the Galactic Protectorate), which changes everything. I don't want to spoil what that truth is, but the aftermath of Victoria's discovery and how she reacts to it is sure to set up a very different (and probably very interesting) second season. (At which point, of course, I will have to spoil the end of the first season.)

Season Two
Okay, time for season one spoilers: The Vortix aren't an alien race; rather, it's a virus that infects various races, and turns them into evil soldiers. (For ease of reference, though, we can simply refer to infected people as "Vortix.") And the virus was created by the Merge. And Laheer works for the Merge. He wants Victoria to become his partner, but she refuses. In the end, Arden replaces her in the final round of the tournament, fighting Tri. But with help from Endar and Tiggle, Victoria beams to the battleground to stop the battle and make an announcement to the whole universe, revealing the truth about the Merge and the Vortix. The season ends with Arden, Endar, and Tri going from planet to planet, to convince worlds to join the new alliance they're trying to form to fight the Merge. Meanwhile, Arden is captured by the enemy and infected with the Vortix virus.

When season two begins, things have changed. It seems that Victoria's rebellion failed, and now she and Tri are working for the Merge, collecting orbs that are scattered throughout the galaxy. In the first episode, Victoria meets a guy named Peyton Parker, a general in Earth's intergalactic armed forces, who also wants to obtain the orbs. And at the end of the episode, while fighting a group of Vortix, Victoria sees Arden (now played by Arden Cho). She captures Arden and takes her aboard her and Tri's ship (the Ghostcat), hoping to find a way to cure her. Though Tri disapproves. In the second episode, we see Tiggle via a video call, in which we learn the reason Victoria and Tri are working for the Merge is because they're holding Tiggle and Endar captive. And we learn that there are six orbs, of which they currently have three. When all six are brought together, they will form a weapon that can destroy the Vortix. Also in the second episode, Victoria and Tri find that Peyton has snuck aboard the Ghostcat, still trying to get any orbs they've already obtained, because neither Earth nor any other planet trusts the Merge, since Victoria revealed the truth about them. But because of the deal the Merge had forced upon Victoria and Tri, there's no way they're going to give up the orbs. So... Peyton joins them on their mission, though none of the three are happy about it. In the third episode, an alien named Daphnii helps them escape from her people, who had captured them while they were trying to obtain the orb that the aliens worship. Daphnii seems a bit flighty, but she has psychic abilities, and she had a vision some time ago that Victoria, Tri, and Peyton would come to her world, and that she'd leave with them (either to help save the galaxy, or witness its destruction, she's not sure which). She later helps Victoria free Arden from the virus, though something about Arden still isn't quite right. Also, Laheer eventually joins the group to help with their mission. (He and Peyton also develop a rivalry, since they both have romantic feelings for Victoria.)

Anyway, I don't want to reveal any more details of season two, but I will say things take a turn for the worse, and it ends on a cliffhanger. So I wish there would have been a third season. Unfortunately, that never happened. (And now that go90 is gone, I also wish the first two seasons would be made available elsewhere.)


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