Season 2, Episode 05: Brian the BrainThis 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
Alpha is contacted by a clever, friendly wisecracking robot who seems to just want some company. But his demeanor masks some sinister intentions
My Thoughts
I can't help but marvel at how often Alpha runs into objects, people or probes from Earth. Either earth was sending off a shit-ton of missions or that's the unacknowledged coincidence of the ages. Whatever.
I'm betting that a lot of hardcore fans hated this episode. It is by far the campiest one yet, and in some ways seems more like Lost in Space than Star Trek. I, however, loved it. Brian's patter was really fun to listen to, and yet he made a great villain, once he decided to go there. It's also an interesting and well told story, although I notice there seem to be a lot of episodes about Alpha meeting people (beings?) who seem congenial and friendly but are hiding ulterior motives.
I especially loved the scene where Brian devises a variant of the prisoner's dilemma to test John's and Helena's feelings for each other. Even though it was obvious how that would turn out. And the ending was well done, even though I was worried at one point that they were going into Star Trek territory with some variation of Kirk's "confuse the computer" ploy. Fortunately, the script made the ending better than that.
I have to admit that I find the interpersonal dynamics stilted and offputing when the show addresses the Koenig/Russell romance. I'm glad they went with it, and this is still a vast improvement over the wooden stoicism of season 1. But I don't think the writers have it right yet. Also, so far no follow-up mention of Helena's sculpting or Tony's beer-brewing. I really hope those weren't one-offs.
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