ids' WB! adds to its Saturday lineup of action-adventure animated series with The Zeta Project, which premieres with the episode "The Accomplice." It's the year 2040 and Zeta (voiced by Bader) is a robot who has been designed to infiltrate, destroy and replace the government's enemies. Zeta has many special features, including the ability to impersonate anyone using a hologram.
When Zeta realizes that one of the people he's been ordered to destroy is innocent, he escapes and goes on the run. Zeta doesn't want to destroy anymore. However, the National Security Agency wants him back, intact if possible, so they can reprogram him, but if not, they'll do whatever is necessary to retrieve him.
Even with the NSA closing in on him, Zeta can't keep himself from helping a girl in trouble. Her name is Ro (voiced by Nathanson) and she's a 15-year-old streetwise runaway from a state-supervised girls' home. They manage to escape together, but not before they have saved each other's life. Ro isn't so sure about hanging with an escaped government robot, but she really doesn't have anyplace else to go. Besides, Zeta may be a powerful high-tech weapon, but he doesn't know a thing about surviving on the street, and that's something Ro knows all about. Together they set off to find Zeta's creator, with the hope that someday Zeta may be free.
In the second episode, "Remote Control," while trying to track down Zeta's creator, Ro and Zeta end up exposing themselves to a creative young genius who has created a remote control device which can control any piece of machinery. When he takes control of Zeta, it's up to Ro to save him before Zeta's forced to do harm once again.
Another solid WB animated series
Kids' WB! adds another solid series to its lineup with the Batman Beyond spin-off as it continues to offer quality Saturday morning television for older kids. While the evil government agency is a convenient villain and neither the characters nor the premise is unique, Ro and Zeta still manage to give the series a center, which makes it worth watching.
The characters of the smart-aleck and streetwise Ro and the gentle and determined Zeta work well off each other. Both Bader as Zeta and Nathanson as Ro do terrific jobs lending personality to their voices to bring the characters to life. Series creator Goodman has also given his characters plenty of quirks to help the actors, and it's not hard to understand why these outcasts end up together.
While the animation isn't as rich as in Batman Beyond, it's on par with X-Men: Evolution. The Zeta Project doesn't have the colorful characters of either of those series, but still manages to do a good job realizing Zeta's world.
The premiere episode, "The Accomplice," is an excellent introduction to the series. Full of action, it quickly establishes the characters and their story. However, the second episode, "Remote Control," is weaker and doesn't have the same level of momentum. This episode didn't advance the story at all, and seems to exist for no other reason than to give Ro and Zeta a bit more time to bond.
