Computer Affair

I didn’t like the way they introduced the conflict for
the episode. From the way Alec Freeman looks after
the incident, we are supposed to be suspicious of Lt.
Ellis handing Mark Bradley his helmet and telling him
good luck. I guess I always thought that as he was
the Interceptor leader it was like wishing them all
good luck. As the episode goes along, however, the
attachment is rather painfully obvious – the way Ellis
and Bradley look at each other through the glass, the
wink. Since, in the same episode, strawberry blond
electronics/computer dude on Skydiver 1 hands Carlin
his helmet, then says, “Yes, Sir. Good Luck”, am I
supposed to think he has an improper emotional
attachment to Carlin?

The only question I have about Ellis’ actions is that
she hesitates to give the evasion orders, but it
doesn’t seem to be long before she starts. If I had
been the pilot of Interceptor 1 (the one seen on the
credits every week), I think I might have made my own
choice instead of getting hit. I wonder if the
problem wasn’t that the pilot froze. However it is,
the drama is set in motion.

“If by terra firma, you mean Straker’s carpet, rather
them than me,” says Joan Harrington. LOL This is the
first time going to Straker’s office is looked at like
being called to the principal’s office.

There are a couple of instances of amusement on the
part of a couple of characters I like, one more subtle
than the other. The not so subtle, Alec’s amusement
at Straker’s exasperation with Masden, whoever that
unfortunate person was. Alec just sits there
chuckling. Great Alec moment. The other involves the
doctor during the psycho testing. It’s not a direct
smile at the camera, it’s seen from the side as he
listens in to the conversation about does SHADO have
someone checking the doctor out. It’s a nice touch,
it’s not too obvious.

But the meat of the episode is Alec and his conflict
with Straker over his decision making. After the
rocky start with Alec hitting on anything with boobs,
he settles in as one of my favorite characters. He
isn’t the glamorous pretty boy or the heroic (or
obnoxious, depending on what scene) commander, but the
solid, dependable guy - much harder to play and make
interesting.

This episode sets Alec up as the more people-oriented
character who goes by gut reaction in contrast to
Straker’s straight logic approach (I know, no news
there). I think the scenes between Alec and Straker
are what makes this episode interesting to me. Sewell
and Bishop appear to have had a very good working
chemistry between them and I really enjoy those
scenes.

I find them convincing as old friends having a
difference of opinion – in this case the science
fiction staple man versus computer. And in sopite of
Mike Billington’s comment about Alec being Straker’s
faithful dog, he wasn’t afraid in this episode to tell
Straker he thought he was wrong. And, as we find out
later, Alec Freeman was probably the only person left
around who cared about Ed Straker, the man, from
before he became Ed Straker, Commander Extraordinaire.

And I have to say I love the scene that sandwiches the
Ellis/Bradley restaurant scene. My first reaction was
that Straker was sitting there with his hands on his
head over the “calculated risk” that didn’t turn out
right. Sort of a “I’ve really done it now” moment.
But there is that file open on his desk. It has to be
the one that says that they’d have lost all 3
interceptors had regular procedure been followed.
This, after they’ve put the moonbase personnel through
the grinder. My regret it that you can’t see more of
Straker’s expression before he takes a deep breath and
puts on his game “I’m fine, I didn’t just kill a
prisoner” face to deal with the person coming in the
door. That expression would tell me what Ed Bishop
thought Straker was doing – was he upset or was he
just reading? And Alec wants to tender his
resignation. Wasn’t Straker having a good day?

And then there’s the part of the episode that I find
most impressive. The funny thing is not much happens
in it. Straker says, “We’ve worked together for a
long time, Alec.” And Straker and Freeman look at
each other. There’s a lot that isn’t said in that
scene, but I love the thoughts that visibly flit
across Alec’s face. “Can’t we talk about it?” comes
as almost a plea of “Don’t leave me.” But Straker
gets Alec talking. By the time we get back, Alec’s
going to think about it.

And the thing I like about the ending – both are wrong
and both are right. Alec admits there was an
attachment between Ellis and Bradley, then Straker
tells him about the outcome of the course analysis –
Ellis’ “mistake” saved 2 out of 3 interceptors.
That’s the kind of outcome we need for the man versus
computer argument.

----- Original Message -----
From: Diorite Gabbro
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 4:58 PM
Subject: [SHADO] Computer Affair

<snip>.....

And the thing I like about the ending - both are wrong
and both are right. Alec admits there was an
attachment between Ellis and Bradley, then Straker
tells him about the outcome of the course analysis -
Ellis' "mistake" saved 2 out of 3 interceptors.
That's the kind of outcome we need for the man versus
computer argument.

....<snip>


---------------------------------------------------------------


That was my biggest dissappointment in the ending - that it turned out the interceptors were actually saved by her action and that it wasn't a blunder after all. It was a needless feel-good ending to an otherwise classic UFO hard luck story.
Dave H.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks for your comments about COMPUTER AFFAIR, Diorite!

> And then there’s the part of the episode that I find
> most impressive. The funny thing is not much happens
> in it. Straker says, “We’ve worked together for a
> long time, Alec.”  

This is one problem with viewing the episodes in the
production order -- having Alec try to resign in
the 2nd episode seems a bit too soon. I mean, we've
barely gotten to know the character and he's already
handing in his resignation papers?

(of course, in THE PRISONER, Number 6 resigns in the
opening credits. But for some reason, this works
better for me!)

Marc

Well its only the second episode but you have to remember that Freeman has
been with SHADO since the start which would be around 1970. So after ten years
perhaps he feels he has had enough of Straker's cold computer like manner.
Of course the fact that Number 6 resigns works. There would be know show
without it. The whole reason he was sent to the Village was to find out why
he resigned!
James K.
"Any man can deal with hardship. If you want to know his true measure, give
him power." Abraham Lincoln



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- Marc Martin <[hidden email]> wrote:

> This is one problem with viewing the episodes in the
> production order -- having Alec try to resign in
> the 2nd episode seems a bit too soon. I mean, we've
> barely gotten to know the character and he's already
> handing in his resignation papers?

I've given it some thought. That's one way to look at
it.

I guess I've always thought that his attempted
resignation was a way to actually get to know Alec
better. There's a hint in "Identified" that Straker
and Freeman have known each other for a long time, but
at the end of that episode we don't know that much
about their relationship.

"Computer Affair" tells us for sure that Straker and
Freeman have worked together for a long time. But
even though that's true, Alec isn't a yes man, he will
tell Straker when he thinks he's wrong. The conflict
tell us that Alec and Straker approach things quite
differently, Alec is more of a people person,
establishing that for later episodes.

Alec is more intuitive and less about logic. Instead
of a computer report to tell him if a relationship is
interfering with Ellis and Bradley doing their jobs,
Alec takes them on an operation and watches them work
himself to test it.

I think that had the conflict in this episode been
strictly about that, the resignation letter might have
been a little much, but there is also Alec's
disapproval of Straker "killing" the alien in an
attempt to get information out of him.

I could see that Straker's merciless approach could
cause a problem, especially as Straker hides a lot of
how much things cost him emotionally even from Alec.
I think the combination of computer diagnosis of
emotional attachment and the death of the alien could
be the point at which Alec had enough, however much he
liked the original Ed Straker.

I've also just watched "Flight Path" with thoughts
about it to write up. The conflict between Straker
and Freeman continues in this episode, then it seems
to sort of disappear later. At this point, it feels
like a story thread that got discarded with the
decision to bring in Foster's character.


Diorite

Hi all,

Okay, I've now listened to the PSYCHOBOMBs commentary with moderator
Jonathan Wood and actress Deborah Grant. This one is hard to compare
with the other commentaries, because Deborah was only
in this one episode, so she doesn't have a lot of inside information
to give about the series. However, it is nice to listen to, and
she does remember some stuff about filming the episode, and
does reveal a thing or two. Jonathan Wood was part of the group
who remastered the series for DVD, and also has some things to
say about that during the commentary, and also points out some
of the tricks involved in filming. Certainly it is better
than Ed Bishop's commentary, but I think people may prefer
hearing from the more "famous" UFO stars. There is virtually
no "dead space" or "awkward silences" in this one, though.

Elsewhere, Jane Merrow does an introduction for THE RESPONSIBILITY
SEAT. This is an audio introduction, and almost qualifies as
a mini-commentary track, where she just tells you everything she
remembers about the episode up-front. Darren Nesbitt also does an
introduction for THE MAN WHO CAME BACK, but this is much shorter,
and he doesn't really say a whole lot about what he remembers about
the episode (other than "weights are heavy"!).

Marc

Diorite Gabbro wrote:

<snip>


I like reading your interpretations of the various characters' motivations.

Please continue.

Paul