Ordeal

I don’t know how much I will be able to find much to
say about this episode. I wouldn’t dislike it as much
if it weren’t for the ending. I guess we can take at
least up to Paul’s arriving at the party as real. If
we’re generous, it’s everything up to him getting in
the steam bath. After that point, the episode is an
exercise in looking at Paul’s subconscious opinions of
himself and others. Not too surprisingly, he has an
excellent opinion of himself.

I had conveniently forgotten the ending of the episode
over the years. I’d managed to rearrange things in my
mind so that the abduction was real and it took them a
while to recover Paul. Then this abduction was what
caused “Kill Straker”. I guess that’s how I wished it
had happened.

On to the episode:

Paul has just spent a tour aboard Skydiver with the
new Captain Waterman. Waterman has been promoted from
sitting on the moon to hiding in a submarine. Quite a
career move, isn’t it? He’s replacing Captain Carlin
who, for all we know, is still driving a Mobile around
in Ireland.

After returning to land, Paul arrives at a party and,
if I’d ever taken any LSD, I could believe I was
having a flashback. Can we tell psychodelia was
making it to the main stream at this time? Look at
all of those groovy people. (It took a long time to
break the habit of using that word!) The thing I find
most unbelievable about the party is that there is
that much liquor left over. These obviously aren’t
the people I was partying with a couple of years later
in real time. They would never have left any alcohol
in the place.

Paul wakes up and goes to the fat farm for his 2 week
fitness workout. So, what is it with the writers and
surnames that start with F? We have Ford, Foster,
Freeman, Fraser, and now Franklin. It all seems a
little weird so many people hanging out at HQ have
names that start with F. I sense a conspiracy. So,
was there really a UFO sighting or is Paul already
hallucinating having had a little something extra at
the party? The reason I wonder about what Paul might
have consumed are the flashback-type scenes from the
party.

Paul goes in the sauna. Nothing like a little
beefcake to keep the women in line. More party
flashback. Uh-oh. He can’t get out of the sauna! If
not before, this is where Paul is definitely
hallucinating - too much alcohol, too little sleep,
all of the heat. Aliens come in and grab him.

We’re back at HQ. The UFO came in but was damaged.
It’s Alec who spots that it’s near the spa where Paul
Foster is. I guess that Paul feels closest to Alec
because we’ve seen the two hanging out socially in
“Survival” and “The Dalotek Affair”. It’s Action Alec
sent to check on Paul and the Research Center.
Strange that all the aliens want is Paul (in case
there is any question, I am joking here). Everyone
else is dead.

I guess the first hint that things are a little weird
came to me when the folks in Skydiver are all
devastated by Paul’s capture. I’ve been lead to see
them as a little more professional than this. Things
get even weirder as Alec gets back to SHADO. Alec is
upset with Straker for being willing to shoot the UFO
down. “You had just better hope that I’m never in a
position to push the button on you.” LOL Kind of
flies in the face of the Straker/Freeman friendship,
doesn’t it? But you have to know something is
definitely wrong when Straker starts heaping praise on
Paul.

Did you ever notice that the actor who played Waterman
was too tall for the tube they built to mock up
SkyOne? He slides to the bottom and stops. You can
still see him pretty high up in the chute. But, of
course, Waterman, having just served with Paul,
couldn’t fire on the UFO carrying Paul.

Straker is playing Imperious Leader (after all,
Battlestar Galactica had aired before our action takes
place ;-) ). Straker is furious at the intentional
miss of the UFO by Waterman and Alec plays the emotion
card. Straker is just too coldly analytical.

Paul’s subconscious wants Lt. Ellis to come and rescue
him. What red-blooded man wouldn’t? Everyone waits
with bated breath for the UFO to land or crash on the
moon. Miraculously, Paul survives! Gay is there to
hold his hand through the whole thing. She’ll even
help converting him back to breathing air.

After being so anxious to pull the trigger, Straker is
back to singing Paul’s praises. Straker and Alec
reassure themselves Paul will pull through.

Gay takes the helmet off of Paul, he struggles. Oops.
We find he’s only been hallucinating in the sauna.
It’s the precedent for Bobby Ewing in the shower. I
always feel cheated when I see this sort of thing.
The only instance of the “Oh, it was only a dream”
ending I did like was at the end of was “Invaders from
Mars (1953 version)”. Those familiar with the movie
will know why. The rest of you? Go find out.

We’re back to the workout room. Paul prepares for
another sauna. This time he’s a song bird.

Aside from the fact that I object to the premise, this
episode isn’t all that bad. I think it really suffers
from following “A Question of Priorities” on the DVD.
It’s such a shock after such a quality episode to come
to this one. The contrast is not favorable.


Diorite

--- In [hidden email], Diorite Gabbro <diorite@...> wrote:
> I don't know how much I will be able to find much to
> say about this episode. I wouldn't dislike it as much
> if it weren't for the ending. I guess we can take at
> least up to Paul's arriving at the party as real. ...

Also I dislike the ending, like in some young children's stories that
I have seen, of the type "... Then Johnny woke on his sofa at home,
and it had all been a dream.". I am tempted to ignore the ending and
to treat the story as a genuine abduct-and-return.

This story likely inspired a UFO story in "Countdown" comic "The
Snatch" where Foster is abducted to the alien homeworld and comes
back: I novelized it in
http://www.buckrogers.demon.co.uk/ufo/snatch2.txt .