The Winnipeg is constantly breaking down and losing parts, and the heroes’ blasters are always running out of batteries when they need them most. The low-fi feel is part of the show’s charm, and the characters often joke about how unreliable their equipment is.

Still, there are some decent alien prosthetics that are at least at the level of highly accomplished cosplay, and the makeup and costume designers make up in bright colors what they lack in elaborate detail. The obvious low budget means that CGI effects are minimal and not exactly convincing, and most alien races are indicated by slightly differently shaped ears (as on Elida) or a bit of face paint (one dog-like alien looks a bit like John Candy’s Barf from Spaceballs). Otherwise, onscreen titles consistently remind viewers the planets are in “another galaxy, not yours,” the show’s variation on “a galaxy far, far away.” While Star Wars is often praised for the believably ramshackle aesthetic of its backwater planets and outposts, Vagrant Queen takes that style a step further, making the best of its budgetary constraints by styling its various outposts like the truck stops, convenience stores and dive bars of America’s back roads. Isaac only arrived in the galaxy from Earth via a freak accident, and he’s disappointed that no one understands his pop-culture references or appreciates his love for Canada (there is an amusing bit in one episode about the pronunciation of Saskatchewan capital Regina).

Vagrant queen