Following the slaughter of his family group, one of the last remaining members of a race descended from birds goes on a rampage against humans. Newly stationed on the exploration ship Searcher, Buck Rogers is sent to bring the Hawk in at any costs, but when the Hawk's wife is injured the cost is considered too high.

The opening story of season two is a two part story that introduces a whole new cast of characters and a new situation for Buck and Wilma.

For no readily apparent reason, Buck and Wilma are suddenly on a starship whose purpose isn't explained until right at the end of the second episode. The crew is a bunch of misfits including the newly revoiced Twiki, a robot called Crichton who knows everything, but is even more irritating than Twiki and a dotty old professor. Presiding over all of these is an admiral whose presence seems to be solely to give Buck someone to advise all the time. How did this man get to be an admiral when every decision he makes he has to be persuaded out of?

And then there's Hawk, a man who is nothing more than a ball of fury and with good reason. He is a suitable challenge for the surprisingly humourless Buck and in their final duel are so equally matched that they nearly kill each other. As it is, only Buck's impassioned plea gets Hawk off the death penalty and he immediately signs up to join the Searcher's mission to search for the lost tribes of Earth (erm, that sounds somewhat familiar to us).

All these changes come with an edgier direction that tones down the joie de vivre and attempts to go more real. Considering that what humour is displayed is hopelessly awful that's possibly a good thing, but it is not what the show was designed to be and it leaves a strange sense of split personality behind.