Exposed

“Exposed” is one of my favorite episodes, introducing
Michael Billington as Paul Foster. I confess, as a
teenage girl I was rather smitten with Paul. I never
really understood why they were introducing a new
character at that point. Having found out about
Derosa, it makes more sense to me now. They didn’t
suddenly decide they needed a young male lead but
found they needed to replace their initial one.

As hard as Straker may seem at times, he tried very
hard to get the experimental plane that was in danger
out of the way before finally authorizing the attack.
He cares about collateral damage to civilians.

We learn a lot about Paul Foster in this episode.
They didn’t say it in describing him, but I will –
obstinate. He’s hot headed, too. Determined. All
characteristics that will make him successful in
SHADO. And he’s obviously obsessed with UFOs, judging
by the book titles prominently displayed in his
apartment. The geologist in me gets all gooey because
Paul Foster’s decorations include – ROCKS! I didn’t
get enough of a look to tell what kind. There was one
on the desk and a couple in the honeycomb shelves
under the window.

If, as zergharry said, we see “Flight Path” as Straker
in Sherlock Holmes mode, “Exposed” shows Straker in
master people manipulator mode. The first time I saw
this episode, I bought the impression that Foster was
following the leads all on his own. I was a little
concerned about the gun. Was Straker actually going
to shoot Foster? Then we find out that Straker has
orchestrated the whole thing to test Foster, to see if
he is worth recruiting. I have to say I get a kick
out of Straker’s amused expression while he is leading
Foster down the garden path to his final test. My
only question is – when did Straker actually initiate
Project Paul Foster? Immediately after the
experimental plane went down or did he wait until Paul
requested the military inquiry?

And then there is Miss Ealand. She really is my
favorite female character. I bet she’s the one who
really runs the studio, plus she is Straker’s gate
keeper. I loved the serious problem she had with
Straker taking Paul Foster into his “office”. “It’s
all right, Miss Ealand”. I don’t think I would have
wanted to mess with her. She looks tough. And we see
that Straker places a lot of faith in her, both to
deal with Henderson and to let him know when Carlin
arrived. She doesn’t let him down.

There are two scenes in particular that make me laugh
in this episode. The first is when Jackson at his
smarmiest is talking to Foster about his previous UFO
sightings and tells him they shouldn’t be seeing each
other for another couple of years. The other follows
pretty quickly – Paul bursting through his own door,
rolling, and then sheepishly saying he doesn’t usually
enter rooms that way. LOL.

Diorite

Foster was in a six day coma and after that he awakes to find his eyes are not working: Straker later says "we induced a temporary blindness, just to keep you on ice for a few days." Presumably, it was while he was "on ice" that Straker checked out his back ground and decided to set up Jana Wade, Dr.Jackson and others to begin the "is he a good recruit for SHADO?" test.
   
Is that a viable theory?
   
Ruthless fella, old Straker...renders a man blind, just to buy time!
   
Z.

Diorite Gabbro <[hidden email]> wrote:
“Exposed” is one of my favorite episodes, introducing
Michael Billington as Paul Foster. I confess, as a
teenage girl I was rather smitten with Paul. I never
really understood why they were introducing a new
character at that point. Having found out about
Derosa, it makes more sense to me now. They didn’t
suddenly decide they needed a young male lead but
found they needed to replace their initial one.

As hard as Straker may seem at times, he tried very
hard to get the experimental plane that was in danger
out of the way before finally authorizing the attack.
He cares about collateral damage to civilians.

We learn a lot about Paul Foster in this episode.
They didn’t say it in describing him, but I will –
obstinate. He’s hot headed, too. Determined. All
characteristics that will make him successful in
SHADO. And he’s obviously obsessed with UFOs, judging
by the book titles prominently displayed in his
apartment. The geologist in me gets all gooey because
Paul Foster’s decorations include – ROCKS! I didn’t
get enough of a look to tell what kind. There was one
on the desk and a couple in the honeycomb shelves
under the window.

If, as zergharry said, we see “Flight Path” as Straker
in Sherlock Holmes mode, “Exposed” shows Straker in
master people manipulator mode. The first time I saw
this episode, I bought the impression that Foster was
following the leads all on his own. I was a little
concerned about the gun. Was Straker actually going
to shoot Foster? Then we find out that Straker has
orchestrated the whole thing to test Foster, to see if
he is worth recruiting. I have to say I get a kick
out of Straker’s amused expression while he is leading
Foster down the garden path to his final test. My
only question is – when did Straker actually initiate
Project Paul Foster? Immediately after the
experimental plane went down or did he wait until Paul
requested the military inquiry?

And then there is Miss Ealand. She really is my
favorite female character. I bet she’s the one who
really runs the studio, plus she is Straker’s gate
keeper. I loved the serious problem she had with
Straker taking Paul Foster into his “office”. “It’s
all right, Miss Ealand”. I don’t think I would have
wanted to mess with her. She looks tough. And we see
that Straker places a lot of faith in her, both to
deal with Henderson and to let him know when Carlin
arrived. She doesn’t let him down.

There are two scenes in particular that make me laugh
in this episode. The first is when Jackson at his
smarmiest is talking to Foster about his previous UFO
sightings and tells him they shouldn’t be seeing each
other for another couple of years. The other follows
pretty quickly – Paul bursting through his own door,
rolling, and then sheepishly saying he doesn’t usually
enter rooms that way. LOL.

Diorite



                         

       
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--- zerg harry <[hidden email]> wrote:

Sounds reasonable to me. Better hope no real life
Straker ever sets their sights on you!

Diorite

LOL! Yeah, he'd blow me up just on the off-chance I might know something the aliens need or the press shouldn't know about...


Diorite Gabbro <[hidden email]> wrote:
--- zerg harry <[hidden email]> wrote:

Sounds reasonable to me. Better hope no real life
Straker ever sets their sights on you!

Diorite





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