space: 1999 -- season 2 episode 08 -- the rules of luton

Season 2, Episode 08: The Rules of Luton

This 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
Surveying a planet for possible colonization, Koenig and Maya pick flowers and eat berries. For this, they are condemned as murderers and cannibals (!!) by the plants that rule the planet. In order to save themselves, they must fight a trio of other condemned criminals.

My Thoughts
There's a certain unmistakable silliness to this episode -- the premise, the costuming of the aliens and the dialog all make it feel like an episode of Lost In Space, though there are obvious similarities (conceptwise) to Star Trek's "Arena." I would guess that this was a prime example of why Martin Landau was unhappy with the direction that the second season took. And yet, as silly as it is it's an enjoyable little romp. Sure, you have to suppress some doubts, but if you can do that, great!

At several points, Maya and Koenig see animal skeletons covered in vines and assume that the plants and animals fought a huge war and the plants won. Me? I would have assumed that vines grew onto the skeletons of already-dead animals. Whatever. I would have enjoyed seeing more about how plants fight, but sadly they didn't give us much of that. At one point, when Maya is in the form of a bird, we see a vine trying to sneak up on her. But that concept wasn't followed up, leaving me dissatisfied.

The one really annoying part of the episode was the bonding conversation Koenig had with Maya. We learn a bit more about their backgrounds. About Maya we learn more of her relationship with her father (who had been conveniently killed by Koenig). And we learn that Koenig had a wife who died in the 1980's during a world war. We also learn from Koenig that his wife was just like Helena. Excuse me, but barf-a-rama. Seriously, the whole conversation was supposed to be an exploration of the characters to give them more heft. But it was just maudlin.

But in terms of the characters' heft, I noticed that, at the end, there was a reference to Tony's homemade beer. It pleased me that they were revisiting, however briefly, some of the previously-introduced personal aspects of the characters. But we still haven't seen anything about Helena's sculpting since "The Exiles."

All in all, this was an enjoyable romp, though I suspect I shouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did.

On another matter, I find I've gotten used to Yasko. She's not a satisfactory substitute for Sandra, who was ever-present during the first season and the start of this one. Yasko is bland and uninteresting. But her character is little-used, so it's no big deal.