Season 2, Episode 20: The Seance SpectreThis blog comes with the generalized warning that any post may contain spoilers. That is especially true of these Space: 1999 posts. So if you haven't seen this episode, intend to watch it, and therefore don't want spoilers, then don't read.
Plot Synopsis
The moon is on a collision course with a planet, so they have to blast it off course. Meanwhile, a messianic-type is leading a mutiny to prevent any moon-saving action.
My Thoughts
After the exciting two-parter, we get right back with a regular ho-hum episode. How many times has an episode hinged on the moon being on a collision course with something? At least this time it didn't end with some kind of weird existential mumbo jumbo like a couple of season one episodes whose names mercifully elude me. This time things are complicated by the messianic (and mentally ill) Sanderson who is convinced that the planet is habitable. In some ways it seems like an interesting character study. He's charismatic, and his followers are torn.
There are a couple of plot devices that seem unnecessary and implausible. Why did Sanderson and his followers hold some kind of seance to come to his determination that the planet is habitable? Surely the writers could have leveraged his charisma on that front. Related, as the episode opens, there is restricted access to the Command Center because Koenig is hesitant to raise the crew's hopes in case the planet turns out to be uninhabitable. After all these episodes, now he decides they can't handle it? I don't buy it. Especially since Alpha has gradually become more and more of a military outfit this season.
I continue to be of a mixed mind regarding Maya's shape-shifting. She does another one of her strong creature transformations, which look like someone went into the prop room or Party City looking for any weird costume. Of course, at another point, when Maya was trapped behind a chair after her eagle crashed, I found myself screaming at her --"Just turn yourself into a bird and fly away!" Instead she turned into child-Maya, which was actually a disturbing sight. Of course, turning herself into a tree when she did was actually a very clever plot device which I applaud. It also had the added benefit of being a fresh use of her ability.
I suppose I should acknowledge that if I was screaming at the screen (as I admitted to in the last paragraph), then the episode does have at least some suspense.
I note that we haven't heard mention of Tony's beer-brewing in quite a while, and there's been nothing about Helena's sculpting since it was first introduced. And, while we're onto random observations, it seems odd to me that, according to Helena's log entries, we are now in the sixth year since they left earth's orbit.
I meant to mention this earlier but, regarding Maya…
ReplyDeleteIn its second season, Space: 1999 fell into the trap that ALMOST all sci-fi series invariably fall into… most of them fall into it at conception. Space: 1999 fell into it during its infancy – or, given that it only ran two seasons, possibly its dotage.
That “trap” (and I use the words in quotes because the trope DID result in some great characters across the other series – Maya was simply not one of them) being the existence of a regular cast member with “extra-human” abilities that often come in very handy when a problem is just too big for us “ordinary Joes” (if you will) to fix, get out of, or vanquish!
Star Trek TOS had the most famous, and certainly the best, example of this in Mr. Spock. Lost in Space had The Robot, and all future Trek series had enough “extra-humans” on board to qualify as teams of “X-MEN”! Starting with Data and Troi, I can’t even COUNT them all until we get to Mr. Saru and Ash Tyler! I should point out that not ALL aliens needed to have “extra-human” abilities – merely “be different” BECAUSE they were aliens. But it sure did come in handy…
Some series cut-to-the-chase and made the “extra-human” the STAR of the show… Man from Atlantis (who was a cross between Spock and Aquaman), The Six-Million-Dollar Man, etc.
But they were ALMOST always there! Almost, I say with the very notable exception of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (some examples of which you’ve seen during our BYOM sessions)!
Regardless of the seriousness or outlandishness of this week’s threat, the characters of VOYAGE prevailed without any “extra-human” abilities – and with only their submarine (an admittedly incredible craft), their technology, and their weaponry! …And perhaps that’s why it remains my favorite such genre series to this day!
That's an interesting point -- and one that I don't think I'd thought about in that way. Of course, I haven't really watched a lot of science fiction shows. Pretty much all the Star Treks through Enterprise and (now) Space: 1999. But I always figured that Trek was kind of following the template they established with TOS, and expanding on it.
DeleteAnd now that I think about it, I find it interesting that most of the high profile aliens on Star Trek (in its various incarnations) were primarily superhuman. The only exceptions that come immediately to mind are Phlox (from Enterprise) and Neelix (from Voyager). Or am I wrong because it's late and I haven't devoted enough thought to this?
Without thinking too hard, and excluding "ordinary" races like Andorians, Tellarites, and Ferengi (who DID have a super-power of acquiring things) I'd have to agree... Unless I'm missing something too. Funny, how they were all "high profile", wasn't it?
ReplyDelete