The episode begins with Buck and Susan visiting the campaign headquarters for the "Alien Vote Amendment", which aims to allow newcomers, all of whom have been granted citizenship and indefinite leave to stay in the united States, to have the right to vote.
Both Buck and Susan believe strongly in newcomers right to vote, as does "Wyatt Earp", the newcomer campaign manager and Jesse, the human campaign manager.
Susan and Buck both volunteer to help the cause, and their assistance is welcomed, however both Jesse and Wyatt are more interested in having George, a respected newcomer police officer, speak out on the issue. Although Susan says she cannot promise she can get any assistance form George, Buck is more enthusiastic, however just as Susan begins to feel ill from her ongoing pregnancy, the campaign headquarters has to be evacuated due to a bomb threat, one of several that have happened since the campaign began. Up until now though, all the threats have been hoaxes, but this time round, as everyone waits outside, the building explodes.
Sikes finds he has been voted in to be the chairman of his apartment blocks residents association, much to his displeasure, however he has no time to worry about it as he is called to investigate the bomb. As it turns out, Jesse says that he received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative of the "United Purist Party", a right wing ultra conservative political movement dedicated to denying newcomers any rights to vote, or indeed, any right to exist as free sentient beings.
George is disgusted that people would go to such lengths to deny people their rights, and reminds Sikes that the countries foundations were based on people standing up for their rights, however Sikes states that matter doesn't interest him, as he generally doesn't vote.
Their investigation is made somewhat easier by the arrival of Max Clay, the head of the UPP, at the station. Max threatens Sikes and George with litigation if they make any statements directly linking the UPP with the terrorist bomb threats, as they have no direct evidence linking the incidents to him or representatives of his party. Max also states that it is the UPPs party line that direct threats and use of violence is neither encouraged or condoned, however as George points out to him, they have, in the past, made carefully veiled threats of violence against newcomers. Max launches into a monologue about how the Bible states that God created man in his image to have dominion over the Earth etc etc, and it is the Purists intention to keep mankind's "destiny" on course by whatever means necessary, even if that includes being violent or inhumane toward newcomers..George swears and leaves in disgust.
Buck is out canvassing with Wyatt while Susan helps Jesse set up the campaign headquarters in the Fransisco house (George isn't terribly pleased by this) however after having a few doors slammed in his face, Buck is shocked when Wyatt is kidnapped off the street, seemingly by some purists, who almost run him over in the process.
George is outraged at this, the second attack on his family that day, and heads over to UPP headquarters to politely "remind" Max Clay that violence can work both ways, and if anyone associated with the UPP attacks or threatens his family ever again, he will personally take care of the matter.
Meanwhile, Sikes is called to the scene of another kidnapping, this time Jesse has been taken off the street by the same vehicle car took Wyatt, however his investigation is cut short when he is called back to the station to receive a reprimand for Georges threatening behaviour towards Max Clay.
Sikes returns home to find he has to sit as chair at a meeting of the residents association, which quickly devolves into an argument between the other residents over whether they should pay $700 for an elderly resident to have a ramp installed on the back door, which apparently Sikes said he would look into at the last meeting, but hasn't because A) he is too busy with his police work and B) he doesn't care. As it turns out though, the weird old lady who has asked for the ramp has lived there since the place was built, brought up 3 children there and her husband died there, so she feels an attachment to the building itself in a way none of the other residents do. As it turns out later, Cathy paid for the ramp to be fitted out of her own pocket.
At the station the next day, Sikes arrives to find George giving an interview to Burns, the stations almost resident hack journalist. Burns is quite happy at George giving some very strong views on the purists, but Sikes steps in and stops him before he says something stupid.
Just then, Wyatt is dumped outside the station, having been badly beaten. Although he says that he does not know where he was taken, he says he knows that Jesse was there with him, and the people who held them, who identified themselves as purists, drew lots over which one of them to release. Unfortunately, Wyatt isn't able to give a description of his captors as he claims he was blindfolded all the time, but then he shocks both Sikes and George by insisting on giving a press conference right there and then to "expose" the treatment the UPP is meting out to newcomers.
With all the clues pointing to UPP involvement in the kidnappings and bombings, Sikes is a little surprised to receive an invitation for him and George to come and see Max Clay at their campaign headquarters. Clay explains that he personally instructed all members of the UPP to not make any violent action against anyone by letter a week before the trouble started, and he also presents Sikes with the proposition that maybe Wyatt and Jesse planned the bombing and kidnapping themselves, as despite the press conference and all the negative press about the UPP, the AVA movements approval ratings have only risen by 14%, as opposed to the expected 25%. George dismisses this notion as laughable, but Sikes sees his point. George asks why Sikes is so cynical about politics, and he explains that several years ago, a lobby group campaigned to outlaw chemical weapons, a motion which was passed through congress and lauded as a step towards the end of the production of weapons of mass destruction, however the money saved on developing, maintaining and building chemical weapons was funnelled straight into the development, maintenance and building of nuclear weapons instead of being used for peaceful means. Sikes says it was this incident which caused him to lose faith in the political system.
A report comes in that the car used in both the kidnappings of Wyatt and Jesse has been spotted, so Sikes and George follow it, only to find Wyatt at the wheel when it pulls up at a cheap motel on the outskirts of town. As it turns out, Wyatt confesses that Jesse planned the bombing and the kidnappings as a way to get free publicity for the AVA and to turn popular opinion against the UPP, however Jesse is ill and called Wyatt to come and take him to the hospital. They enter Jesses room to find that he has been beaten to death.
Now having a murder investigation on their hands, George and Sikes immediately suspect Wyatt, as the tyre iron from his car was used to kill Jesse, but no motive can be found. Sikes calls the phone company and asks for the call records from both Wyatt and Jesses telephones, however he finds that there has already been a wire tap made on both phones, seemingly without any authorisation.
Their investigation leads them to the phone company, where one of the employees there, a staunch purist supporter, had put a tap on the phones at the request of Max Clay, however he denies committing Jesses murder, saying he only told Max Clay where Jesse was when he had called Wyatt to ask him to take him to the hospital.
The vote comes, and the motion to allow newcomers to vote is passed in 32 states, meanwhile, at an investigation committee, the UPPs activities linking them not only to violence towards newcomers, but also to the murder of Jesse are brought to light, and the UPP loses all public credibility as Max Clay repeatedly takes the 5th whenever he is asked about his involvement. The judge ends the proceedings by ordering all the UPPs records to be seized and a full investigation into their activities be carried out.
This is one of the best episodes of the series in my opinion. firstly, it deals in a none too subtle way with the topic of racism in human society, and the efforts of those who use this racist attitude in order to further their own desire for power over others.
Secondly, it also deals with abuses of the political system to allow people to achieve their aims, regardless of the costs.
A very well written episode this be!.
Showing posts with label episode. Show all posts
Showing posts with label episode. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Monday, 21 July 2014
EPis0dIC! - Babylon 5 - "Deathwalker" (S01E09) - 1994
Teaser
Talia Winters is commissioned by Ambassador Kosh to sit in on a meeting he is having, Talia is initially wary as he refuses to reveal any details of the meeting but is compelled to accept his offer as he has already logged the relevant documentations and made a more than generous payment to her.
Meanwhile, Na'Toth waits at the docking bay for a Narn negotiator to arrive, however while she is waiting, she spots an alien woman disembarking from a Minbari ship. Na'Toth charges forward and delivers a vicious beating to the woman whilst screaming "Deathwalker!".
Episode
While Dr. Franklin cares for the female alien in medbay, Sinclair and Garibaldi discuss the patient, as Franklin has had difficulty identifying her species, but also her identification and clothing are of Minbari origin, when she is clearly not Minbari.
Na'Toth is under arrest for the unprovoked assault, and she explains that she attacked the woman, whom she identifies as the Dilgar war criminal Jha'Dur, AKA "Deathwalker", due to a family vendetta. She explains that 30 years ago, the Dilgar conquered a Narn colony world and Jha'Dur used the conquered population to perform medical experiments on. Most of the people that were on that planet were killed, however Na'Toths grandfather escaped, but not before he had had a device implanted in his brain which slowly killed him, thus, Na'Toths family swore vengeance against Deathwalker.
Na'Toth is released into G'Kars custody but under house arrest, where G'Kar admonishes her for her behaviour as their negotiator was supposed to be meeting with Jha'Dur to conduct a secret negotiation for something that she has.
Talia's meeting with Kosh goes ahead as planned, however she is somewhat disturbed when the man he is meeting turns out to be a human who behaves in a bizarre manner, and both he and Kosh communicate in a series of seemingly random and cryptic statements.
Using Earth Alliance records, Sinclair identifies the woman in medbay as being Jha'Dur, however both he and Dr. Franklin find it difficult to believe that it is her, as the Dilgar race died out some 30 years previously, and the woman they have before them is too young to be Jha'Dur, and too old to be her daughter. Garibaldi searches through the woman's possessions and finds a Dilgar military uniform, as well as an ampoule of some drug which neither he nor Franklin can identify.
The woman is brought round and proudly identifies herself as being Jha'Dur, last of the Dilgar, and much to all concerns surprise, she identifies the drug as being a serum which allows the user to live forever.
Sinclair is ordered to have Jha'Dur transported to Earth immediately, however word soon gets out that they have her in custody, and, as Jha'Dur is wanted for crimes against sentience by nearly all of the other worlds represented on B5, moving her proves difficult, especially when as they are escorting her to a ship bound for Earth, all of the representatives of the League of non-aligned worlds block their way, and state that they would rather be killed than let her escape. Sinclair orders Jha'Dur back to her cell, and convenes a meeting of the B5 council.
Talia attends the second meeting between Kosh and Abbot, and is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the proceedings, as she cannot read any thoughts in Abbots mind, nor can she understand the random gibberish both participants are spouting, she also starts experiencing strange and violent memories in her mind.However, she is unable to back out of the contract she has with Kosh, and Kosh isn't giving her any meaningful answers when she asks what is going on.
The B5 council convenes to discuss what should be done with Jha'Dur, with all the major powers attending except for Kosh, who tells Sinclair he doesn't want anything to do with the matter.. The League representative makes an impassioned speech outlining the crimes of the Dilgar during their invasion of their worlds, and calls for Jha'Dur to be put on trial as soon as possible for her crimes, with the trial to be held on Babylon 5 itself, as it is considered neutral ground.
Londo states the position of the Centauri Republic is one of disinterest as the Dilgar committed no crimes against them, and thus he votes "No"
G'Kar states that the Narn Reigme will vote "Yes", provided the trial take place on Narn, the League refuse for this to happen, so he quickly changes his vote to "No".
Sinclair states that the Vorlons abstain from the proceedings, but adds that on behalf of the Earth Alliance he votes "Yes".
Lennier, who is sitting in on the vote due to Delenns absence states that like the Centauri, the Minbari Federation has no conflict with the Dilgar or Jha'Dur, therefore their vote is "No".
Sinclair states that with 2 "yes" votes, 3 "no" votes and 1 abstention, the matter cannot clearly be agreed upon, so an alternative solution will have to be arranged. This causes an uproar amongst the League representatives, all of whom withdraw from the council in protest.
After everyone has left, Lennier admits that he would have voted yes, however he was ordered to vote no, being as the Minbari government are ashamed to admit in public that they sheltered Jha'Dur and their warrior caste used weapons during the Earth-Minbari war that had been provided to them by her.
Within minutes Babylon 5 is surrounded by warships from the various League worlds, all of whom demand the immediate surrender of Jha'Dur into their hands, however Ivanova manages to stall them by starting an argument over which race has the greater claim on her, with the right to open fire first going to the side that decides it has the best claim. Meanwhile, Sinclair reveals the existence of the immortality serum to the League representatives, and manages to come to a deal in which Jha'Dur will be transported to Earth where the serum will be researched and analysed by both human and League scientists, and once the research is complete, Jha'Dur will be handed over to the League to do with as they please. The League agrees to this and their warships depart.
Talia's final meeting between Kosh and Abbot takes place, once again they exchange nonsense conversation, before Kosh asks if Talia understands the meaning, at which point she it hit by a very sudden and clear memory of a man assaulting and attempting to murder her. Kosh states that their business is concluded, at which point Abbot removes his hat to reveal he has cybernetic devices grafted into his exposed brain matter. He removes a data crystal from his brain, hands it to Kosh and then leaves. Kosh once again offers no explanation as to what has occurred, except to say that the crystal contained "fear and terror", which he plans to save "for later". Talia is left feeling upset and somewhat distraught.
Sinclair and Garibaldi watch Jha'Dur change into her military uniform ready for her deportation. While she does so she states that although most species view the Dilgar as bloodthirsty and cruel, this will pale into insignificance once her immortality serum becomes available for widespread use, as its main active ingredient requires that a living being be killed in order for the recipient to become immortal, thus, in the quest for immortality, all other species will become as vile and evil as the Dilgar were, which is what she wanted all along, because as she says "the millions that live forever will be a testament to my work, whereas the millions who die will carry on my legacy".
The shuttle carrying Jha'Dur departs B5 while the assembled diplomats watch its departure on the stations monitors, but just as it is about to enter hyperspace, a Vorlon ship appears and destroys it. Kosh, who had arrived unnoticed is asked why this happened, to which he enigmatically replies "you are not ready for immortality", before leaving again.
Epilogue
Talia approaches Sinclair and states her concerns about Koshs behaviour towards her during his meetings with Abbot, and how during the meetings she experienced what appeared to be forced visions of memories she had scanned during her earlier employment as a psychic witness during a particularly brutal murder case some years earlier. Garibaldi recognises the name "Abbot" as belonging to a man he knows is a "Vicar", (a mispronunciation of the letters VCR) . Vicars are living recording devices, capable of recording sight, sound, smells and even brain activity via their cybernetic enhancements. It seems as though Kosh had set up the meetings simply to force Talia to relive horrible memories so Abbot could record them for him for some unspecified purpose. Talia isn't terribly pleased by this but there is nothing she can do now Kosh has what he wanted.
This episode consistently makes it into my Top 10 B5 episodes, simply because on the one hand it shows that the diplomatic mission of the Babylon stations works, but also shows that even though the great powers put on a facade of wanting to be just and righteous, they will quite happily ignore this when presented with some sort of massive gain.
This episode also marks the only canon appearance of a member of the Dilgar species, Jha'Dur, who is brilliantly played by Sarah Douglas. The Dilgar are mentioned again sporadically throughout the B5 series and throughout the expanded universe of the films, games and books, however this is the only time we actually get to see one, which is hardly surprising as this episode states that Jha'Dur is the last Dilgar in existence due to their race dying out.
The sub plot of Kosh using Talia in order to record her memories and emotions is also a nice touch, as it more firmly cements the Vorlons as being an enigmatic race of manipulators, however at this point in the B5 timeline it is not specified as to why they would do such things.
Talia Winters is commissioned by Ambassador Kosh to sit in on a meeting he is having, Talia is initially wary as he refuses to reveal any details of the meeting but is compelled to accept his offer as he has already logged the relevant documentations and made a more than generous payment to her.
Meanwhile, Na'Toth waits at the docking bay for a Narn negotiator to arrive, however while she is waiting, she spots an alien woman disembarking from a Minbari ship. Na'Toth charges forward and delivers a vicious beating to the woman whilst screaming "Deathwalker!".
Episode
While Dr. Franklin cares for the female alien in medbay, Sinclair and Garibaldi discuss the patient, as Franklin has had difficulty identifying her species, but also her identification and clothing are of Minbari origin, when she is clearly not Minbari.
Na'Toth is under arrest for the unprovoked assault, and she explains that she attacked the woman, whom she identifies as the Dilgar war criminal Jha'Dur, AKA "Deathwalker", due to a family vendetta. She explains that 30 years ago, the Dilgar conquered a Narn colony world and Jha'Dur used the conquered population to perform medical experiments on. Most of the people that were on that planet were killed, however Na'Toths grandfather escaped, but not before he had had a device implanted in his brain which slowly killed him, thus, Na'Toths family swore vengeance against Deathwalker.
Na'Toth is released into G'Kars custody but under house arrest, where G'Kar admonishes her for her behaviour as their negotiator was supposed to be meeting with Jha'Dur to conduct a secret negotiation for something that she has.
Talia's meeting with Kosh goes ahead as planned, however she is somewhat disturbed when the man he is meeting turns out to be a human who behaves in a bizarre manner, and both he and Kosh communicate in a series of seemingly random and cryptic statements.
Using Earth Alliance records, Sinclair identifies the woman in medbay as being Jha'Dur, however both he and Dr. Franklin find it difficult to believe that it is her, as the Dilgar race died out some 30 years previously, and the woman they have before them is too young to be Jha'Dur, and too old to be her daughter. Garibaldi searches through the woman's possessions and finds a Dilgar military uniform, as well as an ampoule of some drug which neither he nor Franklin can identify.
The woman is brought round and proudly identifies herself as being Jha'Dur, last of the Dilgar, and much to all concerns surprise, she identifies the drug as being a serum which allows the user to live forever.
Sinclair is ordered to have Jha'Dur transported to Earth immediately, however word soon gets out that they have her in custody, and, as Jha'Dur is wanted for crimes against sentience by nearly all of the other worlds represented on B5, moving her proves difficult, especially when as they are escorting her to a ship bound for Earth, all of the representatives of the League of non-aligned worlds block their way, and state that they would rather be killed than let her escape. Sinclair orders Jha'Dur back to her cell, and convenes a meeting of the B5 council.
Talia attends the second meeting between Kosh and Abbot, and is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the proceedings, as she cannot read any thoughts in Abbots mind, nor can she understand the random gibberish both participants are spouting, she also starts experiencing strange and violent memories in her mind.However, she is unable to back out of the contract she has with Kosh, and Kosh isn't giving her any meaningful answers when she asks what is going on.
The B5 council convenes to discuss what should be done with Jha'Dur, with all the major powers attending except for Kosh, who tells Sinclair he doesn't want anything to do with the matter.. The League representative makes an impassioned speech outlining the crimes of the Dilgar during their invasion of their worlds, and calls for Jha'Dur to be put on trial as soon as possible for her crimes, with the trial to be held on Babylon 5 itself, as it is considered neutral ground.
Londo states the position of the Centauri Republic is one of disinterest as the Dilgar committed no crimes against them, and thus he votes "No"
G'Kar states that the Narn Reigme will vote "Yes", provided the trial take place on Narn, the League refuse for this to happen, so he quickly changes his vote to "No".
Sinclair states that the Vorlons abstain from the proceedings, but adds that on behalf of the Earth Alliance he votes "Yes".
Lennier, who is sitting in on the vote due to Delenns absence states that like the Centauri, the Minbari Federation has no conflict with the Dilgar or Jha'Dur, therefore their vote is "No".
Sinclair states that with 2 "yes" votes, 3 "no" votes and 1 abstention, the matter cannot clearly be agreed upon, so an alternative solution will have to be arranged. This causes an uproar amongst the League representatives, all of whom withdraw from the council in protest.
After everyone has left, Lennier admits that he would have voted yes, however he was ordered to vote no, being as the Minbari government are ashamed to admit in public that they sheltered Jha'Dur and their warrior caste used weapons during the Earth-Minbari war that had been provided to them by her.
Within minutes Babylon 5 is surrounded by warships from the various League worlds, all of whom demand the immediate surrender of Jha'Dur into their hands, however Ivanova manages to stall them by starting an argument over which race has the greater claim on her, with the right to open fire first going to the side that decides it has the best claim. Meanwhile, Sinclair reveals the existence of the immortality serum to the League representatives, and manages to come to a deal in which Jha'Dur will be transported to Earth where the serum will be researched and analysed by both human and League scientists, and once the research is complete, Jha'Dur will be handed over to the League to do with as they please. The League agrees to this and their warships depart.
Talia's final meeting between Kosh and Abbot takes place, once again they exchange nonsense conversation, before Kosh asks if Talia understands the meaning, at which point she it hit by a very sudden and clear memory of a man assaulting and attempting to murder her. Kosh states that their business is concluded, at which point Abbot removes his hat to reveal he has cybernetic devices grafted into his exposed brain matter. He removes a data crystal from his brain, hands it to Kosh and then leaves. Kosh once again offers no explanation as to what has occurred, except to say that the crystal contained "fear and terror", which he plans to save "for later". Talia is left feeling upset and somewhat distraught.
Sinclair and Garibaldi watch Jha'Dur change into her military uniform ready for her deportation. While she does so she states that although most species view the Dilgar as bloodthirsty and cruel, this will pale into insignificance once her immortality serum becomes available for widespread use, as its main active ingredient requires that a living being be killed in order for the recipient to become immortal, thus, in the quest for immortality, all other species will become as vile and evil as the Dilgar were, which is what she wanted all along, because as she says "the millions that live forever will be a testament to my work, whereas the millions who die will carry on my legacy".
The shuttle carrying Jha'Dur departs B5 while the assembled diplomats watch its departure on the stations monitors, but just as it is about to enter hyperspace, a Vorlon ship appears and destroys it. Kosh, who had arrived unnoticed is asked why this happened, to which he enigmatically replies "you are not ready for immortality", before leaving again.
Epilogue
Talia approaches Sinclair and states her concerns about Koshs behaviour towards her during his meetings with Abbot, and how during the meetings she experienced what appeared to be forced visions of memories she had scanned during her earlier employment as a psychic witness during a particularly brutal murder case some years earlier. Garibaldi recognises the name "Abbot" as belonging to a man he knows is a "Vicar", (a mispronunciation of the letters VCR) . Vicars are living recording devices, capable of recording sight, sound, smells and even brain activity via their cybernetic enhancements. It seems as though Kosh had set up the meetings simply to force Talia to relive horrible memories so Abbot could record them for him for some unspecified purpose. Talia isn't terribly pleased by this but there is nothing she can do now Kosh has what he wanted.
This episode consistently makes it into my Top 10 B5 episodes, simply because on the one hand it shows that the diplomatic mission of the Babylon stations works, but also shows that even though the great powers put on a facade of wanting to be just and righteous, they will quite happily ignore this when presented with some sort of massive gain.
This episode also marks the only canon appearance of a member of the Dilgar species, Jha'Dur, who is brilliantly played by Sarah Douglas. The Dilgar are mentioned again sporadically throughout the B5 series and throughout the expanded universe of the films, games and books, however this is the only time we actually get to see one, which is hardly surprising as this episode states that Jha'Dur is the last Dilgar in existence due to their race dying out.
The sub plot of Kosh using Talia in order to record her memories and emotions is also a nice touch, as it more firmly cements the Vorlons as being an enigmatic race of manipulators, however at this point in the B5 timeline it is not specified as to why they would do such things.
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
EPis0dIC! - The Addams Family - Morticia's Romance (parts 1 & 2) - 1965
Part 1
At the stroke of midnight, Gomez presents Morticia with a gift, and wishes her a happy 13th anniversary. The other members of the family, Fester, Grandmama, Wednesday and Pugsley enter via a fireman's pole and with Gomez and Morticia a happy anniversary too.
Gomez says he cant believe that he and Morticia have been married for 13 years (to go by the time frame of the series, this would mean that they married in 1952), but as Grandmama points out, the wedding very nearly didn't happen. Wednesday asks why, so Morticia gathers the family around and tells the tale of how Gomez was originally to marry her older sister, Ophelia, in an arranged marriage....
....13 years ago....
A much younger Grandmama Addams berates her 22 year old son Gomez for being a hypochondriac, as he and Lurch work a contraption which is designed to help Gomez's supposed bronchitis.
The doorbell rings and in enters Hester Frump (Played by Margaret Hamilton, aka "The wicked witch of the west" ), Grandmamas old school friend,who has brought her daughter Ophelia to introduce to Gomez before their arranged wedding.
Ophelia (played by Carolyn Jones in a dual role) is very perky, but air headed, and wears white clothing and carries a bunch of daisies that she enjoys sniffing as well as pulling the petals off. Gomez takes a dislike to her as soon as she introduces herself to him by throwing him across the room with a judo throw, however, when Mrs Frump introduces her other daughter, Morticia, whom she says she wanted to keep out of the way until she gets Ophelia married off, Gomez takes an immediate shine to her.
Soon enough, Gomez and Morticia fall in love, as their bizarre habits and interests compliment each other perfectly, plus Gomez gets overcome with lust and passion whenever Morticia speaks French, so much so in fact, that for the first time in his life, he doesn't feel ill whenever he is with her. Eventually, Gomez kisses Morticia for the first time, and makes the decision that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
The union however will be difficult, being as their respective mothers have already begun planning the wedding of Gomez to Ophelia, So Morticia calls her Uncle Fester to see if he has any advice, but he has none, save that anyone who wants to marry Ophelia must have a screw loose.
Morticia sends Pugsley and Wednesday to bed, promising to finish the story some other time.
Part 2
Morticia and Gomez are still awake, enjoying the thunderstorm that has begun on the night of their anniversary. Pugsley and Wednesday sneak downstairs and ask for Morticia to finish her story...
The wedding plans are well underway, however Mrs Frump and Grandmama quibble over the dowry, Mrs Frump offers a large amount of money in return for financial assets being signed over to Ophelia, finally, a bargain is struck and it is decided they will have a quickie wedding in the Addams house at 2pm that day.
Uncle Fester arrives and Morticia informs him of what has happened, so Fester vows to match make Ophelia with someone else, settling on Cousin Itt. Initially, his attempts at matchmaking seem successful, however Ophelia and Itt don't seem to get on too well.
With only an hour to go before the wedding, Gomez hides, but is eventually found by Morticia and Fester hiding in a secret room in the basement. Gomez explains that he cannot tell Ophelia that he doesn't want to marry her, because he is a coward. Fester and Morticia try to help Gomez overcome his shyness by role playing him refusing to marry Ophelia, he eventually manages to do it, but then backs down at the last minute and decides to go through with the wedding anyway.
At the ceremony, when the preist asks if anyone objects to the wedding, Gomez tries to back out of it by explaining to Ophelia that he feels unworthy, however Ophelia has a surprise of her own, and declares that she prefers Cousin Itt.
Gomez and Morticia marry as soon ad Ophelia leaves with Itt.
Wednesday asks if Ophelia ever married Cousin Itt, but Morticia says that it was just a summer romance, while Gomez says that Cousin Itt was too much of a playboy to settle down.
The children are once again sent back to bed, Gomez suggests that he and Morticia should retire for the night too, but Morticia insists on finishing the painting she is working on, as she wants to perfectly capture the lightning. At that second, a lightning bolt his the canvas, tearing a huge hole in it, to which she exclaims "i've captured it!"
I like these two episodes as they are probably one of a handful of this 65 episode series which actually attempts to provide a backstory to the family, something which the original comic version never did. Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Frump was a genius casting decision, as was the decision for Carolyn Jones to play her own sister as a mirror of her more well known Morticia character. Another great decision was for John Astin to portray the much younger Gomez as being a hypochondirac nervous wreck, who was pretty much saved from a life of misery and self imposed victimhood by the chance meeting of the love of his life.
At the stroke of midnight, Gomez presents Morticia with a gift, and wishes her a happy 13th anniversary. The other members of the family, Fester, Grandmama, Wednesday and Pugsley enter via a fireman's pole and with Gomez and Morticia a happy anniversary too.
Gomez says he cant believe that he and Morticia have been married for 13 years (to go by the time frame of the series, this would mean that they married in 1952), but as Grandmama points out, the wedding very nearly didn't happen. Wednesday asks why, so Morticia gathers the family around and tells the tale of how Gomez was originally to marry her older sister, Ophelia, in an arranged marriage....
....13 years ago....
A much younger Grandmama Addams berates her 22 year old son Gomez for being a hypochondriac, as he and Lurch work a contraption which is designed to help Gomez's supposed bronchitis.
The doorbell rings and in enters Hester Frump (Played by Margaret Hamilton, aka "The wicked witch of the west" ), Grandmamas old school friend,who has brought her daughter Ophelia to introduce to Gomez before their arranged wedding.
Ophelia (played by Carolyn Jones in a dual role) is very perky, but air headed, and wears white clothing and carries a bunch of daisies that she enjoys sniffing as well as pulling the petals off. Gomez takes a dislike to her as soon as she introduces herself to him by throwing him across the room with a judo throw, however, when Mrs Frump introduces her other daughter, Morticia, whom she says she wanted to keep out of the way until she gets Ophelia married off, Gomez takes an immediate shine to her.
Soon enough, Gomez and Morticia fall in love, as their bizarre habits and interests compliment each other perfectly, plus Gomez gets overcome with lust and passion whenever Morticia speaks French, so much so in fact, that for the first time in his life, he doesn't feel ill whenever he is with her. Eventually, Gomez kisses Morticia for the first time, and makes the decision that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
The union however will be difficult, being as their respective mothers have already begun planning the wedding of Gomez to Ophelia, So Morticia calls her Uncle Fester to see if he has any advice, but he has none, save that anyone who wants to marry Ophelia must have a screw loose.
Morticia sends Pugsley and Wednesday to bed, promising to finish the story some other time.
Part 2
Morticia and Gomez are still awake, enjoying the thunderstorm that has begun on the night of their anniversary. Pugsley and Wednesday sneak downstairs and ask for Morticia to finish her story...
The wedding plans are well underway, however Mrs Frump and Grandmama quibble over the dowry, Mrs Frump offers a large amount of money in return for financial assets being signed over to Ophelia, finally, a bargain is struck and it is decided they will have a quickie wedding in the Addams house at 2pm that day.
Uncle Fester arrives and Morticia informs him of what has happened, so Fester vows to match make Ophelia with someone else, settling on Cousin Itt. Initially, his attempts at matchmaking seem successful, however Ophelia and Itt don't seem to get on too well.
With only an hour to go before the wedding, Gomez hides, but is eventually found by Morticia and Fester hiding in a secret room in the basement. Gomez explains that he cannot tell Ophelia that he doesn't want to marry her, because he is a coward. Fester and Morticia try to help Gomez overcome his shyness by role playing him refusing to marry Ophelia, he eventually manages to do it, but then backs down at the last minute and decides to go through with the wedding anyway.
At the ceremony, when the preist asks if anyone objects to the wedding, Gomez tries to back out of it by explaining to Ophelia that he feels unworthy, however Ophelia has a surprise of her own, and declares that she prefers Cousin Itt.
Gomez and Morticia marry as soon ad Ophelia leaves with Itt.
Wednesday asks if Ophelia ever married Cousin Itt, but Morticia says that it was just a summer romance, while Gomez says that Cousin Itt was too much of a playboy to settle down.
The children are once again sent back to bed, Gomez suggests that he and Morticia should retire for the night too, but Morticia insists on finishing the painting she is working on, as she wants to perfectly capture the lightning. At that second, a lightning bolt his the canvas, tearing a huge hole in it, to which she exclaims "i've captured it!"
I like these two episodes as they are probably one of a handful of this 65 episode series which actually attempts to provide a backstory to the family, something which the original comic version never did. Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Frump was a genius casting decision, as was the decision for Carolyn Jones to play her own sister as a mirror of her more well known Morticia character. Another great decision was for John Astin to portray the much younger Gomez as being a hypochondirac nervous wreck, who was pretty much saved from a life of misery and self imposed victimhood by the chance meeting of the love of his life.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
EPis0dIC! - The Outer Limits - "Soldier" (S02E01 - 1964)
"Night comes too soon on the battlefield. For some men it comes
permanently; their eyes never open to the light of day. But for this
man, fighting this war, there is never total darkness. The spidery beams
of light in the sky are the descendants of the modern laser beam — heat
rays that sear through tungsten steel and flesh as though they were
cheesecloth. And this soldier must go against those weapons. His name is
Qarlo, and he is a foot soldier, the ultimate infantryman. Trained from
birth by the State, he has never known love, or closeness, or warmth. He
is geared for only one purpose: to kill the Enemy. And the Enemy waits
for him…"
1800 years in the future, Qarlo Clobregnny (Michael Ansara ) sits smoking a cigarette whilst hiding amongst some rocks. He suddenly stops when a voice issuing from his battle helmet instructs him to "Find the enemy...Attack!..Kill!". A short distance away, a soldier from another army sits quietly and has a drink from his flask, his battle helmet also instructs him to "Find the enemy...Attack!..Kill!", both men carefully move from their hiding places as energy beams lance overhead, they spot each other, but, as they charge to attack each other, they are both hit by energy beams...and vanish.
"Time is fluid. The waters of forever close — and passage may not be completed. The present and the future are for a moment united. And the Enemy, half-today, half-tomorrow, is locked between…"
Qarlo materialises in an alleyway, still dressed in his body armour and carrying his energy weapon. At first he is bewildered, but he carefully removes his helmet, and is immediately deafened by the sounds of the city, which drives him mad with pain.
In his madness, he attacks several people and uses his energy weapon to destroy a police car, but he is stopped by several police officers and arrested.
Tom Kagan is a philologist, a specialist in languages, he is approached by the FBI and is asked to see if he can make sense of what the mysterious madman is saying, as ever since he was captured, he has repeated the same phrase over and over again...
"Nims qarlo clobregnny prite arem aean teaan deao"
...to which no one has thus yet been able to identify which, if any language he is speaking.
Kagen is escorted to meet with Qarlo, who is being kept in a padded cell, due to it "taking six marines to get him into the two strait jackets he is wearing". Kagen insists that they be left alone, and, within a minute of their first meeting manages to win a bit of his confidence by offering him a cigarette.
After a week of questioning, Kagen manages to deduce that Qarlo is a soldier and deciphers the language and meaning of Qarlos words. He is in fact speaking English, but the language is changed, mangled, when he says "Nims qarlo clobregnny prite arem aean teaan deao" , translated he is saying "(my)name is Qarlo Clobregnny, Private, RM EN TN DO", in essence, doing the same as any soldier would by simply giving his name, rank and serial number when captured by the enemy.
Kagen also deduces that Qarlo is from the future, by having an astronomer plot the location of the stars from drawings made by Qarlo of the night sky where he is from.
In order to continue "taming" Qarlo, Kagen requests that he be allowed to have Qarlo live with him and his family for a time, as Qarlo seems to be completely emotionally and psychologically deadened, and Kagen feels that exposure to other humans in a normal family environment will help him to lose their air of aggression and distrust he has of other people.
Initially, Qarlo seems to make some progress, revealing that in his time, the world is divided into two superstates, who are in the middle of an endless war. Qarlo says he is the product of artificial birth, and was brought up in the Clobregnny nursery to be a soldier from being a child, but despite this, he has never seen any of the ruling class in the flesh, whom he refers to as "the purple". He also says that in his time, they use cats as scout beasts, and the commanders communicate orders to the soldiers via telepathy.
Meanwhile, Qarlos enemy from the future fully materialises in our time, and immediately begins hunting Qarlo.
Things go wrong for Kagen when Qarlo breaks into a gun shop and helps himself to a high powered hunting rifle, stating that "a soldier needs a gun, otherwise he isn't a soldier". Kagen manages to talk him down by letting Qarlo accompany him back home, and tells him that if he wants a gun that badly, he can have one but he doesnt need to keep it on him at all times. Just as Qarlo agrees to hand over the stolen weapon, the enemy breaks into the house by disintegrating a wall with a blast from his own energy weapon. Qarlo throws himself on the enemy and the two men fight hand to hand, but then the enemys weapon goes off, disintegrating them both.
Kagen and his family look sadly at the pile of charred ash on the carpet....
I like this episode simply because Michael Ansaras performance of a man out of his own time is simply brilliant, he does a really good job of conveying the frustration that Qarlo must feel at having everything he has ever known taken away from him and replaced with what must seem to him to be a horrible parody of his own time.
This story was penned by Author and part time argument starter Harlan Ellison, who later went on to claim, and win, a lawsuit against James Cameron stating that the film "The Terminator" copied elements of both this story and another episode of the Outer Limits called "Demon with a glass hand"
The ending of the episode is rather sad, but also inevitable given the nature of Qarlos character, and Kagen efforts to make Qarlo more like a "modern" man as opposed to the near mindless sociopathic killing machine that he actually is are well portrayed by all concerned.
1800 years in the future, Qarlo Clobregnny (Michael Ansara ) sits smoking a cigarette whilst hiding amongst some rocks. He suddenly stops when a voice issuing from his battle helmet instructs him to "Find the enemy...Attack!..Kill!". A short distance away, a soldier from another army sits quietly and has a drink from his flask, his battle helmet also instructs him to "Find the enemy...Attack!..Kill!", both men carefully move from their hiding places as energy beams lance overhead, they spot each other, but, as they charge to attack each other, they are both hit by energy beams...and vanish.
"Time is fluid. The waters of forever close — and passage may not be completed. The present and the future are for a moment united. And the Enemy, half-today, half-tomorrow, is locked between…"
Qarlo materialises in an alleyway, still dressed in his body armour and carrying his energy weapon. At first he is bewildered, but he carefully removes his helmet, and is immediately deafened by the sounds of the city, which drives him mad with pain.
In his madness, he attacks several people and uses his energy weapon to destroy a police car, but he is stopped by several police officers and arrested.
Tom Kagan is a philologist, a specialist in languages, he is approached by the FBI and is asked to see if he can make sense of what the mysterious madman is saying, as ever since he was captured, he has repeated the same phrase over and over again...
"Nims qarlo clobregnny prite arem aean teaan deao"
...to which no one has thus yet been able to identify which, if any language he is speaking.
Kagen is escorted to meet with Qarlo, who is being kept in a padded cell, due to it "taking six marines to get him into the two strait jackets he is wearing". Kagen insists that they be left alone, and, within a minute of their first meeting manages to win a bit of his confidence by offering him a cigarette.
After a week of questioning, Kagen manages to deduce that Qarlo is a soldier and deciphers the language and meaning of Qarlos words. He is in fact speaking English, but the language is changed, mangled, when he says "Nims qarlo clobregnny prite arem aean teaan deao" , translated he is saying "(my)name is Qarlo Clobregnny, Private, RM EN TN DO", in essence, doing the same as any soldier would by simply giving his name, rank and serial number when captured by the enemy.
Kagen also deduces that Qarlo is from the future, by having an astronomer plot the location of the stars from drawings made by Qarlo of the night sky where he is from.
In order to continue "taming" Qarlo, Kagen requests that he be allowed to have Qarlo live with him and his family for a time, as Qarlo seems to be completely emotionally and psychologically deadened, and Kagen feels that exposure to other humans in a normal family environment will help him to lose their air of aggression and distrust he has of other people.
Initially, Qarlo seems to make some progress, revealing that in his time, the world is divided into two superstates, who are in the middle of an endless war. Qarlo says he is the product of artificial birth, and was brought up in the Clobregnny nursery to be a soldier from being a child, but despite this, he has never seen any of the ruling class in the flesh, whom he refers to as "the purple". He also says that in his time, they use cats as scout beasts, and the commanders communicate orders to the soldiers via telepathy.
Meanwhile, Qarlos enemy from the future fully materialises in our time, and immediately begins hunting Qarlo.
Things go wrong for Kagen when Qarlo breaks into a gun shop and helps himself to a high powered hunting rifle, stating that "a soldier needs a gun, otherwise he isn't a soldier". Kagen manages to talk him down by letting Qarlo accompany him back home, and tells him that if he wants a gun that badly, he can have one but he doesnt need to keep it on him at all times. Just as Qarlo agrees to hand over the stolen weapon, the enemy breaks into the house by disintegrating a wall with a blast from his own energy weapon. Qarlo throws himself on the enemy and the two men fight hand to hand, but then the enemys weapon goes off, disintegrating them both.
Kagen and his family look sadly at the pile of charred ash on the carpet....
I like this episode simply because Michael Ansaras performance of a man out of his own time is simply brilliant, he does a really good job of conveying the frustration that Qarlo must feel at having everything he has ever known taken away from him and replaced with what must seem to him to be a horrible parody of his own time.
This story was penned by Author and part time argument starter Harlan Ellison, who later went on to claim, and win, a lawsuit against James Cameron stating that the film "The Terminator" copied elements of both this story and another episode of the Outer Limits called "Demon with a glass hand"
The ending of the episode is rather sad, but also inevitable given the nature of Qarlos character, and Kagen efforts to make Qarlo more like a "modern" man as opposed to the near mindless sociopathic killing machine that he actually is are well portrayed by all concerned.
Sunday, 2 February 2014
EPis0dIC! - UFO - "The Square Triangle" (S01E09 - 1970)
...SHADO mobilises its space interceptors after S.I.D detects an incoming UFO whose trajectory indicates it will land somewhere in southern England. Commander Straker hurredly calculates a rough landing point while Colonel Foster waits for the order to intercept, however at the last minute Straker orders that the UFO be allowed to pass through and land unmolested.
Meanwhile, as S.I.D reports that the UFO has passed through SHADOs outer defence cordons, a woman drives seemingly alone along a deserted road.
The UFO lands in the middle of an area of dense forest, so Straker orders Foster to lead a team of SHADO mobile units to track down the UFO and capture it intact.
The woman is not alone in her car, a young man is with her, she continues driving as he nonchalantly smokes a cigarette.
The SHADO mobiles are deployed into the search area, and begin looking for the alien craft, meanwhile, the woman and the young man reach an isolated cottage, which the man begins looking around suspiciously. The man, "Cass" (Played by a very young Patrick Mower ) tells the woman, "Liz", to "go and get it", she returns from the bedroom carrying a gun.
Straker monitors the mobiles progress, while Alec Freeman enquires why Straker hasn't simply "asked the aliens round for drinks". Straker, in private, explains that he has let the UFO through because as an organisation, SHADO knows very little about the aliens or their spacecraft, therefore, in this instance, he allowed the UFO through in order to capture it intact and learn its secrets.
Cass and Liz are lovers, and Cass has planned that Liz's husband is to die that very night, killed by his own wife in what will look like an accident as he comes in the front door. His planning is meticulous, every detail has been worked out, nothing can go wrong.
In the forest, a security guard and his dog stumble across an alien, the dog attacks the alien while the guard runs off, but is then later killed when another alien shoots him with its machine gun, before dragging his corpse away back to their ship.
The SHADO mobiles close in on the UFO, but, they are too late, the UFO has spent too long in Earths atmosphere, and it spectacularly explodes before they can capture it.
Liz and Cass lie in wait in the darkened house, the front door opens, and, after some cajoling, Liz empties the gun into the figure that enters the house, except, to their horror, the figure that came in the door was not her husband, but instead was the other alien, who had escaped the clutches of the guard dog, and had managed to find his way to the house after damaging his helmet.
Cass panics and tells Liz to go through with the plan as they worked it out, he then leaves in a hurry and tells her to contact him later.
SHADO searches the wreckage of the UFO and finds the security guards body, and then finds his dog, which follows the scent of the alien and leads them to the isolated cottage, where they find the dead alien and a terrified Liz, whom Colonel Foster arrests and has taken back to SHADO headquarters. The SHADO operatives also pick up Cass as he flees, and take him along too.
Later, Lizs husband arrives to find Foster still in his house, after a tense standoff between the two, Foster orders the husband away and says he will be contacted later once they have completed their investigation.
Cass and Liz are reunited and informed of what has happened by Straker himself, initially they don't believe him, but as he points out, whether they believe him or not is irrelevant, as they have been administered an amnesia drug, which will completely erase their memories of the past 12 hours.
Straker knows what they were up to, as do Alec and Foster, however as Foster ironically points out "unfortunately for them an alien walked through that door instead of her husband", Straker acknowledges that although they can erase their memories of the, albeit brief, encounter with an alien and SHADO, it will not erase their intent to commit murder, and also unfortunately, they cannot warn the husband about his possible impending death, nor can they tip off the local police without raising suspicion about themselves, Straker regrettably states that any future events will have to take their course, and Liz and Cass are to be released as soon as their memories are erased.
The episode ends with Liz standing over her husbands grave, before then walking away hand in hand with Cass....
Of all the episodes of UFO, this one is probably my second favourite, (My overall favourite being "A Question of Priorities") simply because in this storyline, SHADO and its ongoing battle against the alien threat is secondary to the story of a murderous love triangle, but then both storylines crash together when a one in a million chance event occurs. I also like how Straker finds himself in a moral dilemma over whether to compromise the worlds safety simply to prevent the murder of one man, but finds himself having to make the difficult decision to allow the man to die so that SHADO can continue operating in secret, even though his two closest friends disagree with him.
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