At last, it's time for fall premieres and with Dark Angel on a new night. I must say, I'm glad it's not competing with Roswell and Smallville, but Friday night has been a killer for Fox in the past. Let's hope DARK ANGEL can live up to the challenge. If all the episodes are as good as 'Designate This', written by Moira Kirkland Dekker, I think they've made a pretty good start.

Season two is traditionally the hardest season for any series. Series live or die based on season two. There are those that squeeze through despite a less than stellar season two, examples of that are ROSWELL and ONCE AND AGAIN. Shows that excel season two and move on include two of my all time favorites, BUFFY and FARSCAPE. I'm thinking DARK ANGEL's will be on caliber with those, at least if 'Designate This' is an indication. The writers of DARK ANGEL are all about throwing in twists and turns to keep Max on her toes with Logan not too far behind.

This opener had no shortage of twists and turns. Starting with a glimpse of Jam Pony, without Max, a look at Logan's crusade to take down Manticore, and then Max's training at Manticore. Renfro failed to break Max. Is anyone surprised? Max has been through a lot, but she didn't break. Then there is the surprise that Zack is alive. All you Zack fans out there are pleased to see him alive, although I'm not sure exactly how that is possible, but it does mean that Zack may come back later in the season. If he does, I'm guessing he'll be working for the other side. But either way, it would be good to see William Gregory Lee again.

We're also introduced to two of the three new characters in the premiere. First is X5-494, or as Max likes to call him, Alec. Alec is Ben's twin and is played by Jensen Ackles. Jensen shines in the role as a sarcastic youth and I'm excited to see how he changes over the season. Will he be the reluctant hero like Max or will he just be thorn in Max's side all season? I'm guessing a little bit of both. But whatever the case, Jensen is a great addition to the cast.

The other new character, Joshua, played by Kevin Durand, just happens to be one of the 'nomalies', that the X-5's and in particular, Ben, were scared of becoming when they were kids. Joshua is a bit of a beast, definitely not completely human, but very gentle. I'm seeing a bit of 'beauty and the beast' story this season, but I doubt they'll get carried away with it. I think Joshua will be means for Max to find out more about who she is and where she comes from. Joshua claims to the first and he's been waiting in the Manticore facility for his father, Sandman, to return. So this of course raises the question, who is Sandman? Was he the originator of the Manticore genetic program? If so, why did he leave? God I love all these great questions this episode has brought up!!

Lydecker is still around, still trying to figure out what Renfro wants with his kids. By the end of the episode, we find it is Max Renfro has been looking for all along. Renfro dies saving Max for that reason, and leaves her with a cryptic message that Max was the one they were looking for and then mentions Sandman. I'm thinking we'll be coming back to this later.

Renfro did leave Max with a little gift. She implanted Max with a genetically targeted retrovirus. So finally Max and Logan reunite, only to find out they can't be together or Logan will die. The torture!! We all knew it wouldn't be easy for them to get together, but I had no idea they were going to make it SO difficult. At least Logan knows Max is alive now. How they will overcome their latest challenge, we'll find out as the season goes on.

So we end the season two opener with Max back in Seattle, reminiscing about her strange little life which was now going to be a lot stranger.

A couple of things before I sign off: (1) I miss Michael Weatherly's voice over in the opener. What were they thinking by replacing him? (2) Another new guy was listed in the credits, Martin Cummings…the new bad guy maybe? (3) Logan has a new blonde friend…enough said. (4) Love Logan's new look, he looks tougher, harder than last season.

That's all for now, see you next week.