Babylon

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Babylon)

If Tony Todd's in an episode, doesn't matter what series, be it Trek, 'Smallville,' or this, it's like a seal of quality, a guarantee that you're in for a good'un. Is that because he was wise in his choices and only agreed to do scripts he saw were worthwhile, or is it just a fluke that he seems to appear in some of the best episodes of a number of sci-fi TV shows? It's not like he had a tour de force performance to give in this tale of an almost mythical offshoot group of Jaffa, but his steady presence is enough to ensure the drama works, and works very well. That Cameron Mitchell's at the heart of it all is a testament to some good writing in that he's naturally the character I'm least interested in just because of his status as interloper on this series, no matter the fact that he's been arranged and marketed to be the New Star to fill out the old team. It's not that I don't like him, but so far we haven't had that much to make us care, and just as the three main characters weren't exactly chomping at the bit to return to their roles under his leadership, I haven't come to accept him as the bona fide leader when we know the others so well, what they've been through, almost like good friends. With this episode that changes, finally we see something of the Mitchell that we saw in those other characters way back when. A personal optimism, a dedicated will to survive, not just corny witticisms and offbeat snark, though we get those as well!

I didn't know what to expect at first. We have SG-1 creeping through a forest on an alien world and it's like a traditional 'SG-1' episode. Even more when we meet this Jaffa group, the Sodan, and they kidnap Mitchell and take him back to their peaceful, agrarian village. So far, so 'SG-1.' And so I like. It even has elements of past episodes, such as the times they've helped or hindered various Jaffa groups, got involved in ritual combat and explored their heritage and culture. The surprise comes when the modern angle takes hold. You think because this village is so secret and unknown, hidden to the average person because of some Transporter technology, as well as other things that make it secure and untraceable, that the Ori wouldn't be showing up here. But even this grassy, thatched, wooden-club-battling, and scything community has been approached by a Prior. It's almost too good to be true that Mitchell, an avowed enemy of these wandering doom-merchants, should be there at such a crucial time. Sadly, he comes too late to change the thinking of their leader, Haikon (Todd), but is able to make progress with the warrior who trains him for the ritual combat to the death.

Though I laud Tony Todd, it is the interplay between Mitchell and this warrior that is the real success of the story. You get all the cool moves and whirling blades, the gradual acceptance and realisation of the one that this puny human has some nerve, and of the other, that his teacher isn't a mindless worshipper. It all looks beautiful, with a detailed weaponry, style and impression of history to the fighting form, as well as the lush green outdoors with its blue skies and wooden huts - surely that village wasn't created especially for this one episode, it looked far too detailed and extravagant for just that. If it means we return here in future then I praise this episode as even greater, because far more than the dull Jaffa political grumpiness on the roiling, ugly red planet of Takara, this setting and situation is far more welcoming both to the eye and the mind. What a great idea to discover a long-lost branch of the Jaffa warrior heritage, these Sodan are revered, having risen up against their false Goa'uld gods five thousand years ago and set the precedent for the current success. It's only a shame that they hadn't been referenced many times before (except we'd probably have seen them long ago, and then they couldn't have played their unique part here), especially in the light of the uprising in recent seasons that eventually freed all Jaffa. They have no scars, tattoos or mark of their false gods, but interestingly they have gone down the path of deifying The Ancients in place of the Goa'uld, even despite using their technology, such as the personal cloaks that have greatly assisted in maintaining their mystery and legend.

There was room for more discussion and exploration of The Ancients being just another set of Goa'uld to these people, as they're almost as in the wrong as their less fortunate brethren had been for millennia, but it was enough to show that despite living a mostly isolationist existence, had journeyed down a similar path. It means it's difficult for Mitchell to go against the obvious signs of power shown by the Ori through their Prior: it's no wonder The Ancients, not being gods, nor concerned with the lives of mortals, the 'un-ascended,' haven't shown themselves to their loyal followers over the centuries so that Haikon is almost desperate to believe in the signs and wonders of the evil version. Because as we know, the Ori are a kind of Ancient, but it's all the same in his mind. Mitchell has the impossible task of fighting off false religion using false religion, because he points to their faith of the last five thousand years, which existed without Ancient intervention, where now they run to the mere sight of 'magic tricks' as he calls them. It's a no-win scenario, and that's why he can't win. It wasn't a surprise to me that he didn't defeat his opponent, or that that opponent turned out to be the very tutor in the stick arts that trained him for the battle, because that was telegraphed from the beginning. As soon as you see two names in the opening credits that both have the same surname and are guest stars, you assume they must be brothers. Surely that's what they expected us to think, especially as they looked so alike, the trainer and Volnek, the warrior Mitchell thought he killed in the initial ambush. Yet the reveal was made as if it was supposed to be a big surprise, so maybe the tone needed ironing out one way or the other in another draft?

It was still a good fight! And I was left wondering how they were going to get around this quandary without Mitchell somehow beating his superior opponent. I was expecting the Prior to show up and shake the ground, or SG-1 to come in blazing, or the Prometheus 'rings' him to safety in the nick (or after the nick, seeing that gash in the leg!), of time. Instead they pull the 'Star Trek' trick from 'Amok Time' where Kirk is injected with a drug that simulates his death so that Spock doesn't actually kill him - I liked that they even referenced it in the most oblique way that was also very recognisable if you know Trek, a nod that was very much appreciated. The brother, interrogated back at the SGC, and now free of needing a symbiote thanks to Tretonin (it's said they survive by raiding un-hosted symbiotes during transportation to ensure their supply of the creatures, which was as good an explanation as any, and proves their highly advanced guerilla tactics compared to most idiot Goa'uld foot soldiers), had less screen time and less of a story, but it makes me strongly hope that we meet this group and those specific three characters again, because it was really good stuff. Haikon seemed like the perfect man to oppose Gerak for leadership of the Jaffa Council, but would Tony Todd have agreed to a role over multiple episodes? I can but hope, and even if this is all we see of the Sodan, it was well worth it for Mitchell coming into his own on the series, away from the other characters, which could have been a disappointment if not for the sympathetic writing and positive direction. Well done! Oh, and I only noticed for the first time that the episodes no longer start with the roaring MGM lion logo. Wonder why?

***

The Iron Man

DVD, The Champions (The Iron Man)

Nikko is quite a fun character, as he should be for an episode being based entirely around him. Sorry, I mean El Caudillo. Actor George Murcell gets to be in his own skin tones for this, his second appearance on the series, and the first guest star to play roles in more than one episode. Not the first to play more than one role, because that honour went to Clifford Evans for twin brothers Franz Reitz and Colonel Reitz in 'The Survivors,' but there's more prestige in being asked back to play a completely different character in a separate episode because it means the people at the top liked what he did. I'm not sure what made them choose Murcell since Nikko is a very different role than El Caudillo (which, in Spanish-speaking regions means 'leader,' though sometimes in the dialogue it's pronounced 'Cor-dee-o,' and sometimes 'Cor-dee-sho'), apart from both having a catchphrase. Nikko (from 'Reply Box No. 666'), was a much smaller role, and the iron man, I imagine, would have been a more enjoyable character to perform with all his petulant, childish ways. There could be a question mark over whether Nemesis is right to get involved with internal politics of countries, rather like the 'Mission: Impossible' team tended to ignore the subtleties of interference because they're the good guys, so of course they know what's best. In this case, though El Caudillo is hardly the best of leaders, being neither wise nor possessing many good qualities (that we see, anyway), he was considered harmless in comparison to the murderous ways of the regime that had seized power during his absence.

In his own way El Caudillo is a loveable rogue, and we can surmise that his enforced exile has brought out the weaknesses within and magnified them, where his military discipline may have tempered them in office. He excels in showing off to the women, whether it be the maid or Sharron's secretarial position, doing pushups on his knuckles, always trying to impress as if to convince himself he's still a man and not some coward. Yet he is cowardly - he reacts very poorly to the attempt on his life, and his behaviour in the extreme is quite comical: he crosses the room holding Richard in front of him as a shield, not the actions of a bold military leader. His psychology is the most fascinating part of the episode, the way he can't control himself, eventually giving in to his fears and thrusting open his veranda shutters to present himself to any potential assassin and shouts for them to get it over with. Having gone to the edge this actually gets rid of his fear and he can face people again. Not that he's a timid sort, as we see in the manner in which he deals with each of our agents. He makes sure to pose grandly for Craig, setting an affected stance which he clearly desires to exemplify his authority and dignity. Unfortunately Craig easily bests him in a duel, though has the presence of mind to heed Colonel Pedraza's warning that El Caudillo doesn't like to be beaten or look a fool, and makes it seem as if Craig was the one who lost his sword.

With Sharron, he's all sweetness and light, attracted like a moth to the flame, while she remains very professional, yet polite, refusing his advances without being rude, and he has enough of the gentleman in him to enjoy the game rather than force his unwanted affections upon her. And Richard gets the short end of the stick, treated very much as the servant, which his own nonchalant attitude to the appearance of his master, didn't help, and showing the harder side of El Caudillo that demands respect and demonstrates he isn't all foolish pomposity, but possesses some genuine bite and gives us a glimpse of how such a man could be the leader of a country. I'm not entirely sure of the reasoning behind bringing the agents in under cover rather than being open about the need to protect El Caudillo from an immediate threat, but Pedraza knows his superior well enough that we can imagine he might have refused Nemesis' help (unless they showed him a photo of Sharron, I expect!), or behaved differently than he did, and Pedraza didn't want to remove his peace of mind. It's mostly about Pedraza being set up in the narrative as a potential insider for the villains since he seems disappointed when El Caudillo doesn't smoke the cigars which we know to be booby-trapped. All a case of a bit of misdirection directing the narrative there.

The setting is a bit of a mixed bag. Rather than being a lot of location and some studio work, there's a bit of both, with some outdoor scenes created internally: any moment where the enemies are on a hill rife with foliage is obviously not really external, but the house itself was a good find as it has the look of some continental villa surrounded by trees and fields, and has some suitable areas to use for the action, such as the courtyard which boasts some nice filming (such as the shot looking up at Craig silhouetted against the darkening sky, or the camera looking at the villains through the cast iron gate, then pulling back to reveal that gate as they come through). The indoor scenes also complement the exteriors so it feels like being a part of the same house (though they love to use that clay tiled flooring that would become as synonymous with the series as the main staircase room, though that wasn't used this time). There are flaws - you can tell the view Sharron looks out on, all rolling green fields and hedges, is a painted backdrop, and whenever we see through binoculars it's clear that it's just filming as normal with a cutout blocking out the rest of the picture, which is the standard way of doing it in those days, but always looks off (they'd done it before on the series, 'Operation Deep-Freeze' to name one example). And while we're on the subject of flaws, you can see the wire the clay pigeons were used to hang from for closeups, though there was also genuine footage of clay pigeon shooting.

That became a running joke, used as a way of expressing El Caudillo's mood: when he's happy and secure he enjoys it, but when he's frustrated he goes about it angrily. The best part of that is it sets up a very fine way to laugh out the episode - rather than showing the agents' return to base for a confused talking to by the boss, they imagine how Tremayne might react to hearing of El Caudillo's wish to decorate them all with the 'Order of La Rivada,' and so we see Tremayne in hunting gear shooting clay pigeons with a perturbed look on his face! It has the advantage of being one of the few endings to actually be amusing. And to bookend the episode, we get another post-credits sequence in which one or more of the champions show off their powers, which is actually connected, however loosely, to the episode, rather than being completely divorced from it as many of them have been. We find all three in a casino with Sharron winning big. It's not clear at first whether she's using some form of precognition to predict the winning numbers on the roulette wheel, or some other unfair method - you can't help but laugh when the voiceover talks of them using their powers to their best advantage, because it surely can't be right to do what she's doing. Except we find out that she was actually using her advanced cognitive skills to calculate the odds, and then failing to take into account a change in the wheel operator. Richard wisely notes that, "Gambling's the one racket you can't lick, whatever you've got going for you," which brings her back down to earth when we see the addiction starting to take hold.

Actually, I don't know why they couldn't have used their powers to predict the number rather than advanced mathematics. But because it's more to do with effort it's not such a morally grey thing she's doing, because she's working at it, like card counting, though it could be interpreted either way and I'm sure isn't in the spirit intended by the lost civilisation that gifted them their powers in the first place! I assumed the operator was going to cheat somehow (as Quark would always do if someone was winning big on the Dabo wheel on 'DS9'), so I liked that it was as simple as a different man making the difference to Sharron's workings-out. I think this could be the first time we've seen all three of the agents in the post-credits demonstration, and though it doesn't technically have anything to do with the story, it segues quite neatly into it as Craig gets a phone call from Tremayne, calling them back for their next assignment. And it's just nice to see the three of them socialising together.

Aside from Sharron's extracurricular activities at roulette, we get a lot of powers used in the episode by all three. One early example is the speed at which Richard (as the personal chef), and Sharron (as a secretary learning shorthand), read the books Tremayne gives them to make their covers work. They read as fast as turning the pages until Sharron realises she doesn't actually need to know shorthand because she can rely on her impeccable memory. This proves to be so when El Caudillo dictates his memoirs and she makes nonsense squiggles on the notepad which baffle him, but then when he loses his train of thought she repeats verbatim the last few sentences, accidentally including a compliment about her eyes because she's not really thinking as she does it, just speaking in a monotone, like one reading a script, which is funny in its own way. Richard, too, when his credentials are questioned, repeats passages out of his cookbook like a robot, satisfying the demanding El Caudillo, at least on his knowledge. I wonder what that monstrosity was that he was preparing for El Caudillo's meal, it looked a bit like a cake, but had tomato and other things decorating the rim. He got that wrong, though, as El Caudillo informs him that tonight, as in five out of seven days, he eats simply, dropping Richard's pride and joy creation into the bin, much to the amateur chef's dismay!

The humour over how they interact with El Caudillo, and how he deals with each of them, is one of the draws of the episode, and it had to work because there wasn't much else going on: they were largely waiting for the enemy to make its move and hanging around in the villa until that time, so it's a much more stationary episode than we're used to, more in the manner of 'The Experiment,' which also took place in and around the grounds of a large house. Not that it's claustrophobic with the wide open greenery all around, and it doesn't try to do more than the budget could afford, as some episodes do, trying to show various countries and geography. I don't know if General Tornes, the 'mastermind' at work behind the three assassins that are tasked with taking out El Caudillo, was supposed to be directing events from an office in South America, or near where things were actually happening, on the Costa Brava, the location of the villa, but he and his superior (or the man he's trying to impress, in any case), Callezon, remained in an office for their scenes, so it made no odds either way. The villains themselves were okay, Tornes and Callezon coldly talking of killing El Caudillo (I liked the little touches in the episode, like the soldier standing behind getting visibly nervous after Tornes has given Callezon a cigar with a needle inside that administers a deadly poison, taking it out of his hand just before it activates!), but the three amigos who actually carry out the assassination attempts were not fleshed out.

One thing I enjoy is that the main one, Carlos, was played by Stephen Berkoff, a rare connection to my favourite series, 'DS9,' since he played a villain in that, thirty years later. Patrick Magee, who played Colonel Pedraza, was in a lot of things (I'd only recently seen him in a Stanley Baker film), so they were able to dig up some quality guest cast when they wanted to. I don't know what role 'Cabello' was - a name in the credits that I didn't recall hearing in the episode, though I'd assume it was Carlos' second since that was the only other credit-worthy role. Again, a few characters aren't credited: the guards at El Caudillo's villa, but more importantly, the maid who has a few scenes, and the old woman that works in the kitchen and doesn't have a word of English, just laughing genially at everything Richard says to her! But what we all want to see is what abilities our agents use, and there were plenty, from the physical (Craig beats up two of the three assassins; Sharron knows exactly when to move aside, just as El Caudillo goes to pinch her behind; she also bodily pushes him out of the way before the sniper shot slices through his grand portrait; Craig moves super quickly to place his own sword in El Caudillo's hand to seem like it was his own sword that went flying), to the sixth sense (Sharron feels enemies are watching - maybe they were too far away even for champion-level eyesight; Richard and Craig sense danger from the cigar), to the mental (Craig talks to Richard across the house without anyone else hearing - Richard pretends he's too far away and tries to go back to sleep!).

I don't know if Craig and Richard were on the scene so fast after the sniper attack because Sharron called for them in 'mind-speak,' or whatever you want to call it, or whether they were already on the way, responding to the sound of the gun, but one thing's for sure, their abilities are as nothing compared to those of El Caudillo himself: mainly the fact that he can make the grey in his hair appear and disappear, seemingly from scene to scene! I don't know whether there actually was more or less grey in his hair, or whether it was a trick of the light (he did have shiny hair). He also had an uncanny knack of being unable to see himself in his true manner. At least until the end where we do see some kind of an arc for him, going from pretensions and preening to being in fear of his life, and the real man showing itself. The soft life couldn't keep him down forever. "El Caudillo. Always! You understand? Always!" It was like a statement of his true place as leader of his nation, something he needed to remind himself of continually through telling others. Certainly he was a good character, a shame they couldn't have done a sequel where they assist him in his own country at some later date, but having three appearances in the series might have been too much for any actor outside of the main cast.

So why don't I rate this episode as highly as some others? I've mainly had good things to say about it, and it's true that it features the three of them well, all working together (no one gets kidnapped or separated!). The location shooting looks good, the interiors are fine, there's plenty of comedy and little touches that work… Maybe it's the scope of the story being so relatively small? They're protecting one man and staying in one place and we're used to seeing them on the move. They use their powers well, but there isn't the full scale raid on the villa that you'd like, just three men, and they were never going to prove a problem for the champions. I think it's also that the story is treading water a lot, and as charming as it is (aside from the innuendo which we're not used to on the series), it's not going anywhere fast and it's up to the enemy to bring it to them. It's a different approach, and it is close to being up there, but it's a 'nearly' episode for me.

**

Ex Deus Machina

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Ex Deus Machina)

I already knew there were to be multiple clones of Baal in the series so it was no big reveal for me. It's a choice in keeping with the style of the series, which was to deal with Earth-based issues, usually politics, but also with dangerous organisations such as The Trust, so it's really in keeping with all that, with the added political balance of the Jaffa council on Takara and Gerak's tendencies towards inflicting violence and aggression on their former oppressors. It's the kind of episode they liked to do every so often in the old days, full of intrigue and low on action - lots of talk, enjoyable for those invested in the series, touching on things that had been, or were still, relevant. Such things as Janet Fraiser's adopted daughter, Cassie, or Pete, Carter's boyfriend, two elements I didn't expect to come back. Maybe they still won't make a reappearance, maybe it was just for the longterm viewer to enjoy the references, but equally it could be jogging our memory in preparation for a return. After all, with the focus on the Ori for the opening barrage of stories this season, it's weird to go back to Goa'uld villainy, Jaffa politics and bad guys on Earth. And only in the previous episode we were given a precedent that set up this episode: when the fat Goa'uld they had 'helping' them revealed his kind don't need to speak in that effected voice. And one episode later they're using it for Baal so he can appear human.

Somehow this seems like a bit of a cheat, bending a long established, if not rule, then norm would be a good word. The fact that the Goa'uld always talked in those ridiculous vocal effects was one of the things that made them such hammy villains, yet it was also their call sign. If Baal sets himself up as some CEO of a human company and talks normally it somehow lessens his power, like he's had to stoop to the level of his enemies. That said, the cloning process must make him superbly naive if he thought the SGC was going to let him have a comfortable retirement on Earth, especially as he threatened to blow up a massive bomb if they bothered him. That's not the best way to get them to leave you alone! So I'm not really sure what Baal's plan was. Did he want the SGC to come for him, not to mention Gerak's men? Was it a setup for some fiendish plan; an experiment; a test? None of it makes much sense to me. Baal was entertaining as an enemy because he was so cocksure and arrogant. Putting him on Earth in a suit and tie and speaking in ordinary tones lessens him, but I wonder if it was a game plan to try and tidy up the series' style to make it more accessible to those that weren't into it? Creating a new enemy with the Ori, new main cast and now making the Jaffa and Goa'uld remnants more realistic seems to be a goal for them, and when you see how far they went with it up to 'Stargate Universe' you see they were trying to be different and a lot less cheesy, though that had been their style.

One thing that was a unique spin and had the advantage of never having been done before, was having a Jaffa ship pop down to Earth with a team of soldiers that break into your average offices and have a firefight with Baal's blokes. It's not something you expect to see as they always kept the Shakespearean over-the-top aliens largely on other planets, especially those of the Jaffa soldiers. Somehow their lunking great staff weapons look out of place amidst modern computer monitors and glass windows! But if Baal is trying to encourage Gerak's power base to grow then he might have an idea, since the guy seems as much of a warmonger as his predecessors, so if things don't make sense perhaps that's all part of the plan? I didn't think much of the coming together of SG-1 as a team, either. I'm still not sure why Carter is still there and accepts the SG-1 patch Mitchell hands out expectantly, rapidly after a meeting as if to avoid them declining it. You almost expect him to throw them at his intended team and run from the room with fingers in ears! It's like they didn't have Amanda Tapping for the first few episodes and wanted to create some drama by not having the team show up and get down to it again so easily, yet they haven't really used that potential or done anything with it. They may as well have been SG-1 from the beginning of the season and made up any old reason for Carter not being there if they were just going to sort of fall back into line like this.

It isn't that I don't want SG-1 to be SG-1, I do. But if you're going to make things different and make us wonder if the team will reform or not, especially when we know they're most likely to, at least give us a strong dramatic reason that brings them together and makes them realise where they belong. So far we haven't had that. Carter is sounding like she could just as well still be head of R&D, Teal'c has his people's politics to worry about, and Daniel missed his mission to Atlantis so might as well stick around. It's a poor use of the situation, but then the series (and franchise), has never been known for its tremendous writing and plotting skills. They do what they do best in this episode, which is using the myriad people and past, and moving them around on (more of a draughts board than a chess) board - chess would be too intelligent an analogy for what they do. I make it sound as if I didn't like the episode, but it certainly held my interest. It was nice to see Agent Bennett again, though I only just about remembered him. Nor did I really recall what The Trust was all about. And it didn't matter. We got a reasonably engaging story, the gang are back together, and Baal's causing mischief with a bomb integrated into a building. But it's also annoying to watch Gerak messing up what the free peoples have fought for and none able to oppose him effectively. I prefer it when things go well and we really need O'Neill to put his big mouth in it and make us care.

**

Beachhead

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Beachhead)

It's beginning to feel a lot like 'Stargate'… All you need is Lieutenant Colonel Carter, the missing piece of the season (aside from O'Neill, but he was definitely gone, despite being 'on the phone' to General Landry during this episode). Speak of Carter and she shall appear. It was only a matter of time, but six episodes in and she is, at last, back on the team, however temporarily. She was only going to be called away from her fascinating new job for reasons of galactic security, and the Ori converting a Jaffa planet into the means to power a 'Supergate' which will be big enough to allow an entire fleet of ships, or whatever nasty big stuff they have lurking on the other side of the galactic divide, would surely qualify. Not that it's Carter that really saves the day. It is, surprisingly, Vala, who seemingly perishes in the sabotage of the Supergate, halting the latest Ori plan with one little vessel. It should have been expected that she was going to do some kind of selfless act (not that she would have been certain to do it if she thought she was going to end up vaporised or worse, 'act' being the operative word), though it was more a case of exasperation that no one was listening to her idea so she took matters into her own hands. It was a convenient way to get rid of her, at least for now, and there's no doubt at all that she's safe and sound on the other side of the singularity, a new arrival in the Ori's galaxy, waiting to be rescued.

They do like planting seeds, and the predicament of Vala is a big one. I'm surprised we didn't actually see her wake up somewhere captive and it's all left to the conclusion she must have died (Teal'c's statement that she will be mourned wasn't said with much conviction!), though with Carter's caveat she could have been sucked in. Mitchell never passes up the opportunity to bug Carter about coming back to the team, his dreams of leading the complete SG-1, like some kind of groupie, still not fulfilled, even with ticking off Carter for this one mission. They missed a trick by not showing the four of them walk up the ramp and into the 'gate to strident music, making do with the preliminary approach - maybe they thought we'd seen it enough times in the opening credits that we didn't need to see it in an actual episode, which is fair enough, but reforming the team was a big deal and it should have been celebrated. I will say that Carter's reappearance wasn't enough to make a standup episode, the logistics of getting everyone to the point where they're on the ship and doing the 'Star Trek' thing, or 'beaming' down to a planet in similar style couldn't be approved for its slight tediousness. All that stuff with a fat old Goa'uld who shows up wanting to help them against the Ori, it was faintly unnecessary. We know the Goa'uld are two-faced nitwits, we don't need to see one.

I suppose it's a kind of shock that he worships the Ori and was the instrument of their plan. It throws up questions: how did they contact him, why did he choose to believe them, and other existential quandaries of that nature. I guessed their own weapons were the means to power the forcefield way before brain-box Carter ever did, as it was the clear and logical takeaway from the drama: they have no way to destroy this forcefield that is slowly expanding to envelop a planet and become the titular beachhead of the Ori, and then Gerak shows up and starts hammering at it, so what could happen except it turn out that the energy from their own weapons was being absorbed and they'd have to convince their 'nallyfoes' (neither ally, nor foes - a new word I've coined, possibly originating in Ancient Jaffa), to stop the attack before it's too late. Only it is too late. I do love all that starship stuff, probably because it does remind me of Trek, which I prefer, but also it's something else of the old days (even Cap'n Pendergast is back for more - I wonder what missions he and his crew undertake when they're not at the beck and call of SG-1), and, whether it was plodding around in space suits or the three original members of the team working together, there was a feeling of 'this is Stargate.' Just a touch, mind. It still has a more modern feel than the creaky old episodic visits to the latest human culture run by the Goa'uld or whatever comforting tropes we expect from it, but then again we haven't got O'Neill along.

One disappointing thing is that Carter is all business and we don't see her interact with Vala. Daniel keeps telling her to keep it zipped so she mutters away in the background while Carter's at the fore spouting her technobabble like a trooper, just as she always did, and nary the two shall meet. Not that we tended to see Carter out of duty mode, she was always more comfortable in brain mode than fishing in Jack's pond or having a laugh with her colleagues, but that's put in greater contrast by the fact we see the other four playing basketball. Vala is obviously more suited to that aspect, they only keep her around because she's the wifi dongle Daniel must stay near so he doesn't die. Fortunate that the effect of the bracelets has just about worn off when they get separated as they do. There was also something attractive about having some good old Goa'uld ships blasting a planet, and that the Tare are at least not in opposition in the current state of affairs, though Gerak is no fan of Teal'c. Where's Bra'tac, I want to see he?! Did they always have a tiny viewscreen at the front of the Prometheus? It was dramatically small, especially when compared to Trek's widescreen monsters, but then they do try to at least be slightly different from their greatest inspiration, and this being written by one of the main writers helps it all to have an authentic 'SG-1' atmosphere where sometimes you suspect they're trying too hard to be ironical or funny. In conclusion, nice to have you back Carter. Not quite there, but nearly. The Ori don't stand a chance.

**

To Trap A Rat

DVD, The Champions (To Trap A Rat)

This is it: if you were watching this series in the hopes of seeing some Swinging Sixties spy drama then this is as swinging as it gets. Although the series exotically attempted a global focus, the reality was that it was an English TV show on an English budget in the days when there were no multimillion pound budgets, so any time they filmed somewhere other than England it had to be a created illusion. They did a good job for the most part, but as I've noted in previous reviews, location shooting could make all the difference between selling the place as real, and settling for a cardboard and polystyrene mockup (or dressing merry olde England up for any number of other countries). You look at episodes like this or 'The Invisible Man' and you can see the difference it makes being in the open air among genuine buildings in the city. They can pull off the illusion, most successfully in 'Happening,' which still stands out as a relatively unexpected highlight of the first few episodes, but even that would have benefited from some real desert. Here we have real Sixties London and it adds a gigantic layer of realism and curiosity to proceedings. It's fascinating to watch quite apart from the story for the chance to see what it looked like in 1967 (and make me wonder what these same locations look like now), and it gives them a chance to let loose and play more than the constraining effects of set-based filming.

Often that's a literal letting loose, as in the scene where Richard steals a girl's handbag so Craig can stop him and inveigle his way into the narcotics network they've been sent to bring down. Were they sent to bring it down or investigate it? I forget, but they have plenty of fun along the way and you can see the actors enjoying it, too. With the three of them working in close proximity it's more reassuring and enjoyable, indeed there are scenes where the boys are tracking the villain with Sharron as backup in the car and, presumably because they're so attuned to each other, she pops up just at the moment they need to continue in a vehicle. It's this fast, upbeat and confident interplay that grows the characters on an audience from mere 'heroes' to people you want to hang out with. They didn't always get that right, but here it's spot on, and there's still room for the usual individual feats and tasks, all three having their moments. Sharron gets them on the track of dealer Frank (I have to assume he was the 'Edwards' of the end credits since there's no Frank listed and he was one of the main guest characters), doing a passable impression of a druggie in need of a fix and just happening to run into Kate O'Mara's Jane Purcell. Craig ends up tracking down the guy behind it all, suave sophisticate Walter Pelham (and finds himself on the rack), and Richard deals with Frank.

Tremayne doesn't feature much, just the beginning and end where they bumble out of his office on the pretext of meeting someone and mumbling about it being the way reports are written up that confuses Tremayne, when he's troubled by how they caught up to the guy after losing him. But that's really the boss' proper place, he wasn't made to get mixed up in the missions personally, otherwise why post agents to these places? The trio are the focus, as it should be, and they're here, there and everywhere, tailing using an electronic bug, which shows up the limitations of technology of the era in that the high-pitched beep it emits that only they can hear runs out of battery after a while - I'd have liked to see dogs running after Frank to show the nature of the sound in action, but details like that were a little outside the series' way of doing things. As usual, the champions' own abilities are more reliable than technology. I wonder where they got that device, it couldn't have been made especially for them as there's no Q figure that would know they would be able to track it, and I can't imagine things like that could be acquired off the rack. If there had been a line saying that one of them had modified a piece of Nemesis equipment it would have helped, but again, details like this aren't what the series is about, it just gets down to business and enjoys itself.

It's quite a different episode in many respects, being more immediate and pacey thanks in part, I suspect, to the manner of filming so much externally. Occasionally you can see passersby looking faintly bemused as if they're not used to seeing a television camera poking out at them, and it must have been filmed on the fly rather than closing up roads or blocking off areas, which adds more colour and vibrancy to the scenes. I suppose a lot of it must be handheld, too, if they had that capability in those days. It even features a teaser that has none of the main characters whatsoever, entirely focused on Jane as she hunts down Frank in a frenzy for a fix, The Bird Cage full of bright lights and hip young folk dancing the night away. It was directed by the famous Sam Wanamaker (Father of Zoe), and you can tell he was in his element the way he shoots her drama in the club, the faces distorted by the curved mirror or metal pillar, whatever it was, and the contrast between her desperation and the casual enjoyment of those around her, oblivious to her self-inflicted plight. I even thought they may have ignored the standard post-credits voiceover explaining who the champions are and showing what they can do, because it opens in Tremayne's office with Sharron and Richard hanging around. It might be the first time we see the world map actually swing round as Richard uses it as a screen for them to play a simple game of cards where Sharron 'reads' which ones he picked.

I like the way the episode is integrated into what is usually an entirely separate section of the story, as if to point to the fact that the whole episode is much more cohesive and realistic than normal due to the simple fact of being able to film in London. They have their little experiment, then Tremayne comes in with Craig to brief them on the mission (and they hear the pair approaching with their superior ears). I think what I liked about the whole thing was that it was kind of cosy, reassuring - they split off on their tracking, then Richard meets up with Craig early the next morning with a flask of coffee. There's a good sense of progression in the time they're on the case. They're not in some fake jungle on an island trying not to be discovered by soldiers, they're mixing with Londoners and trying to fit into the crowd. Well, ironically, in order to 'take a shortcut' as Craig put it, they deliberately make themselves obvious through Sandra that they're looking for the man at the top ("They set a trap for us, we walk into it. That's the shortcut," Craig says blithely). They're still in danger, however, by the fact they make clear that they can't involve Scotland Yard since Tremayne wants it off the record. I'm not sure why they wouldn't liaise with the police or MI5, or whomever, aside from the obvious advantages to drama, but it only adds to the cosiness of these three running around the streets of London, going from dives like The Bird Cage to a zoo (London Zoo?), to the palatial residence of Pelham at the top of the drugs food chain.

While this is filmed in a swift and speedy style compared to some other recent episodes, this approach also extends into the dialogue and activities of the characters. Like Richard on the phone trying to ring up Pelham's address so he can work out where Craig is, and it suddenly occurs to him that Sharron should play his secretary to make it more authentic. It's these actions on the fly that make the characters seem more with it, reacting to whatever comes their way with the kind of reflex brains and bodies they're supposed to have. The same for physical moments such as when we think Richard's about to get a surprise from Frank's chauffeur whom he hasn't appeared to notice just outside the door when he surprises Frank. Except, whether he did know he was there or not (and I tend to think he did and was just lulling them into a false sense of security, since we know he heard the footsteps coming up the stairs and could probably have distinguished how many there were), he reacts without even looking at him, the first thing the chauffeur knows about it is being thrown over Richard's shoulder, crashing through a sofa, skidding into the next room on the floor and having shelves of Frank's best china rain down on his head! Even when Frank apparently gets the upper hand by pulling a gun, Richard is able to hypnotise him and the last we see of the unfortunate dealer is vacantly guarding his downed chauffeur with orders to watch him!

The powers are less played up, there isn't as much of the mystical bell music we often hear, there isn't the time for slow closeups on their faces (though Sharron does see Craig's pain when he's being stretched between a car and the wall), they just do their thing and sometimes it's obvious and other times we can just assume it's their gifts (like Sharron showing up with the car at just the right moment). It makes it feel much more modern than a Sixties series, which is strange because everything is quite archaic, from the men wearing suits all the time, the women wearing colourful Sixties garb, to the coal man delivering the coal, and everything has that unmistakable period look, from the sports cars to the magazines on tables. So it's almost strange to see these characters so young and energetic when it's so many decades ago, because the past is 'old.' It's difficult to explain, but it's like they burst out of the period and were they wearing less period specific wardrobe they could be contemporary to us now. It's not something I usually get from the series, it's purely because of the strong period setting. Not that the Sixties would have been dull, drab, slow and old, but it's just that it's easy to think that way and forget that at any period in history there would have been people with energy and vitality running around.

When Sharron senses Craig's pain is she getting actual pain or is it just the situation he's in, because I wouldn't have thought he would have been troubled by that car, especially the way he pulls off the chains when they come to rescue him - yes, another trope, one of them always has to be captured and rescued, but even that was done with some panache and an old-fashioned villainous top hat and tails manner (Pelham wouldn't have looked out of place in such villainous getup, he had that old music hall look about him), the twist this time being that, like The Joker and Bane, capture was all part of the plan. There's a free-for-all rumble in the underground car park (always a good place for such things because of the cars, pillars and shadows), and even Sharron gets to beat up an old man, a servant of Pelham. Richard does a rather Clark Kent thing, lifting up the back wheels of fleeing Pelham's car so he can't escape. It doesn't take champion powers to be quick and witty, but it was clever how Richard and Sharron narrow down the Pelham residence by listening to the chimes of Big Ben on the hour and the other sounds of the area, such as roadworks and the coal man. I'm not sure why Richard and Craig needed to lipread out of Sandra's window, would it not have been easier to communicate telepathically? But that's one of the things that hasn't been tied down: do they have to speak aloud to send their message? They did a similar thing in 'The Experiment' where they were outside the window and were able to talk with Sharron, so maybe this time they just chose to lipread, and it was perfectly effective anyway.

What I can't quite reconcile is how Craig somehow hears the numbers of the phone when Sandra rings Pelham to warn him about people poking into his business. Was it the time it took for the dial to go round that he could keep track of? A similar thing had happened earlier when Sharron watched Jane ring Frank and saw the number from across the room, but Craig was actually listening, not looking! If their ears are so sensitive as to be able to pick up the high-pitched bug and the tiny sounds of a phone being dialled how much must it have hurt them at the zoo with all those screeching animals, where even ordinary human, Frank, was bothered by the cacophony! They no doubt have the ability to be selective in what they take in and can filter out the rest. Hearing may be one of their most important assets as so much information can be gleaned by hearing things that no one else does, or overhearing those that don't want to be overheard. The ability to seem simple and obvious must be a gift too, as Craig manages to impress Sandra the 'car greaser' as he designates her, when she's out walking Nicky the dog and has her bag snatched by Richard. Chesterfield Motors is either very progressive in featuring mainly girls as workers, or it's a marketing ploy to get customers to come in more often, not that Craig minds having to infiltrate the gang through this route…

It's fun seeing Craig chase Richard through a kiddies' play park and about, though I'm not sure Richard needed to actually bop him on the nose for that level of realism! I'm assuming Sandra was the name of the girl as I don't remember her being named in dialogue, but there's only one other female character, and that was Jane. Kate O'Mara would go on to fame in soaps and 'Dr. Who,' and she's pretty good as the junkie used as their key into the organisation of drugs that are killing the users. She has a ferocity and desperation about her that is only lessened by the shadow that follows her when she tries to get out of the house, probably that of the cameraman, which does undermine that moment subtly because we're supposed to be expecting someone creeping up behind her. But you have to expect little mistakes in such a comparatively frenetic instalment of the series, and we do get at least one other: in the park when Richard walks out from behind a tree trunk you can see the boom mike drop into frame for a moment. As often is the case, the choice of who ends up in the credits is a mixed bag: Higgs, or 'Peanut Seller' as he's credited, is there, but the man guarding Jane at her house isn't. The Ambulance Doctor and Ambulance Man, who share one tiny scene explaining how close Jane came to dying, are there, but the foreign dignitary supplying the drugs apparently isn't, so I don't know how they decided such things. Aside from the main speaking roles it's almost potluck. I think the chauffeur was called Bates (was Pelham's a different guy to Frank's?), and Frank calls up a couple of heavies called Jimmy and Lenny, but I'm not certain we ever met them.

Regardless of cast credits, this is a good, fun episode that never becomes wacky or silly - they're there to do a serious job involving pertinent issues of the day, the Sixties known as much for its opening of the floodgates of drugs as anything else. While that side of things is necessarily muted, being a family series, it's good that they were able to tackle something of that nature, an evil that is as great to the common person as the threat of rogue states, nuclear weapons and the misuse of technology, which are the more standard fare of the series. It doesn't have the same emotional weight as the German war survivors of the previous episode, but they've made an excellent choice in scheduling very different episodes in theme and environment in this first batch, and this episode continues that success.

***

The Powers That Be

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (The Powers That Be)

As usual, any idea of Vala's turns things sour, and this is about the most depressing episode so far. Not just because Carter is once again absent, or that Teal'c does little more than stump around scowling, but because of the apparently unyielding power of the Ori, as shown by the Prior who's been sent to a world that Vala has strong links to. Even the fact that this particular Prior is the leader of the villagers that burnt the hosts of Daniel and Vala to death earlier in the season gives him an uglier hold over our people. He's already 'killed' them once and now he's here to deal with Vala's people. Not strictly Vala, but we hear about her time under the influence of the Goa'uld symbiote Quetesh, a ruthless 'god' of these simple people that, once Quetesh was gone, Vala was able to manipulate her position on the planet to her advantage. It almost seems to shame her, but it's difficult to tell if that was because of regret or the imminent approach of death ordered by the people once she comes clean on Daniel's pleading. The episode was mixed, not seeming entirely believable on its own terms at all points. For a start I would imagine the people would have been much more likely to storm these trespassers and kill them immediately, no imprisonment, no allowing of Vala's colleagues to carry their weapons around, and no thoughtful reaction to such a horrid deception that left their planet mining naqahdah for a criminal, slave labour for no reason.

Equally, they were far too quick to forgive and let her off the death sentence in exchange for life imprisonment, which is watered down to just keeping the ill-gotten gains she'd stored up on their world, apparently without the people having their say on all this. The guy who acts as spokesperson for the people, difficult to say he's the leader as he's not masterful, is who decides these things, and then the pressing matter of the Prior's visit, and the illness and death of many in its wake, puts Vala's evil in a new light. It's not like she wins back the people by going around healing as many as she can with the Hand Device, which she does (and Daniel doesn't believe she did it out of any sense of shame for her misdeeds, but to lessen her punishment), which would have been a bit corny, especially as Vala's almost never serious enough to care about anyone, although she does seem affected by the death around her. You never know how much is an act, but she did appear genuine for once and it precipitates rash action where she confronts the Prior, blasting him. But, like Neo in 'The Matrix,' the bullets merely halt before making no contact, falling harmlessly to the sand, the Prior clearly with nothing to fear from the primitive teeth of humans.

That's where it's so depressing: it seems there's nothing that can be done to combat this 'convert or die' message that is sweeping through our galaxy, even Colonel Mitchell is at the mercy of the Ori in that he's dying and is healed when the people bow to the Prior as he lets everyone live, even the ones that had died. That kind of power is too much to oppose, surely? The Ori have turned out to be a vastly different threat from the cheesy, theatrical, and very predictable bullies of the Goa'uld and it really seems there is no hope, and so the episode ends. Could things be much more down? The sub-story of General Landry trying to talk with what we discover is his daughter, Dr. Lam, is rather muted in comparison. Is she marked for some special role in the season? Will she be sacrificed to show how bad the Ori are? Or is she just there to add a dimension to the otherwise relatively flat current leader of the SGC? It certainly came out of nowhere and could add some drama. I do wonder why Carter has been out of it for so long, and I have to admit to becoming slightly tired with the incessantly selfish and irritatingly unhelpful Vala. If they're trying to make us like her they may have gone off course, because we already know she can turn on the croc tears whenever she wants, and will always, without fail, get whatever she can for herself. In her own way she's as predictable as the Goa'uld. If she had some kind of redemptive arc it might be helpful to the character, but could also defang her, leaving a quandary over how best to proceed with such a person.

She even propagates the idea that doing a good deed should result in reward: a warm glow or something else, rather than the reality that doing good can result in hardship for the doer, or at the least no recognition. Such things it would be good to prepare people's minds for rather than reiterate the belief that good is rewarded, thus making a reason for doing it. It's not the only message of the episode that is somewhat faulty or incomplete, I can't even remember what uneasy philosophical roads they travelled down. It's enough that they are continuing to go down such an allegorical road as they are, taking on religious-inspired terrorism, and such things need to be considered from all angles - if a comical series such as this can tackle serious subjects satisfyingly then it's a good thing. It will be interesting to see how it progresses and what directions exploration turns to.

Whether going to the planet in the first place was a good idea is one thing, but once there they were trapped into needing to reveal Vala's deception to counter the teachings of the Ori, but again, was it the best course? Maybe they should have played out Vala's role, that's the way you'd have expected them to do it in earlier seasons, then the jeopardy would come from her being revealed as a fraud. The story happened backwards to how it used to, the reveal coming first, then the attempt at defeating the Prior afterwards, neither of which worked out well. At least it didn't turn into a courtroom drama as it might have, those scenes only a part of the story. But there lies the difficulty. It's a story made of little bits of other stories, they're trying hard not to do the expected and give us 'Stargate,' but not a predictable one where old hands know exactly where it's going to go. On that front I applaud them, but it doesn't make for the most satisfying instalment as it stands because it's going back and forth on what it wants to be. Daniel gets a starring role and has to battle with words, which is his forte, or should be, since he was ascended and knows a lot of what's being talked of. But his history is never mentioned and it's almost like we need an O'Neill who knows him to dredge up the past. Teal'c certainly doesn't have much to say, and Mitchell is still too new to carry the full weight, so Daniel's the focus, which is great, but he's being the lead and was never designed to be. It's a strange situation and I enjoy the characters, but the balance has been upturned this season and the dust still has yet to settle. Perhaps Carter is the missing ingredient we need that will bring everything back together?

**

The Survivors

DVD, The Champions (The Survivors)

After owning the first 2 DVDs, what a delight to find, on going through the Complete Series set that the first episode on a disc I hadn't seen was one of the best, and boded well for the rest of the series! For once all three champions are in close proximity, and while the usual trope of some getting captured and imprisoned is once again played out, it isn't quite the same and it's not long before Sharron is onto them. It's just nice to see the three going off on a mission together (although I'm not sure if a Pan Am flight would get them from Geneva to Austria - isn't it short for Pan American, so doesn't that mean across America? Never having flown, my ignorance of airlines is obvious, but the stock footage stuck out to me). In itself that isn't enough to make this one of the best in the series, but it helps, even though Craig and Richard go off and do boy's stuff on their own for much of the time and Sharron gets to go and chat up the Burgermeister Hans Reitz. Or was he Franz Reitz, I couldn't keep up? I think I was confused because the voice giving the orders on the phone to Richter was called Hans. Which seemed to be the Staff Colonel Hans Reitz whom the evil brother was pretending to be, when he was actually Franz. But in that case why would he pretend to Richter that he was called Hans, or perhaps he wasn't in the know about his true identity, just a hired gun of some kind? I don't know!

The whole idea of Nazi's maintaining a secret stash of soldiers and equipment after the war in some Austrian mines, buried alive until such time as they should be excavated and return the Third Reich to power, was a good one, and had the element of plausibility because of the relatively short time since the war, only ending twenty-odd years before the episode. Such things would have still been fresh in the minds of viewers, a ripe subject to pick from, whereas nowadays everyone who was involved in World War 2 is pretty much dead and gone, no one in any shape to bring the Nazis back. The distinction between the evil SS and the ordinary soldier of the Wehrmacht is something else touched upon, adding fire to the brotherly discord between the two Reitz', one on the side of honourable warfare, the other on the side of evil, and the rotten one is in the position of power having entombed his own brother, and the other soldiers, and stolen his identity to make a successful life for himself. It's a great idea, a good twist, and the use of an actor to play two characters, something common as muck in later TV decades, feels fresh and a surprising masterstroke you wouldn't expect in a Sixties drama. It also helps that he was so good as both, conniving and intense as one, apparently marble-less and tired as the other.

You feel for the real Colonel who spends his years wandering the tunnels, barking out orders at imagined soldiers, the war still living in his mind, the sound of artillery and the busy noises of active conflict surrounding him. The tragedy of these two men, last survivors of such an unpleasant order, trapped until they, too, finally fall prey to the ravages of time or madness, is what turns the episode from a peculiar and simplistic search for Nazi bullion, into a sympathetic story of human survival. It's almost unimaginable that Schmeltz (I assume that was the name of the other soldier down there, from the credits), lived for over two decades underground with no natural light or relief, and only the task of burying the others as his occupation, an undertaker forever cursed to remain with his dead in their grave. When he finally escapes into the night air of freedom you can see the joy and wonder on his face, a great moment. Sharron's interaction with Colonel Reitz is equally as compelling as he still insists the war is live, his mad plans up on chalk boards, threatening her with the prospect of a squad of troops available at the touch of a button. But she calls his bluff and I like that he doesn't then press the button - he says eventually he thought he knew the war was over.

Sharron gets some good stuff this time, going from interviewing the false Reitz to showing off her physical prowess in beating him up when he comes to the hotel to take her prisoner, and breaking into the mine or lifting heavy rocks, but also in talking with the real Colonel. She's as integral as her colleagues - they get to go diving and exploring the mine. Craig and Richard always work well as a pair, though it's surprising they never had a sense of danger at certain points: at the Austrian lake where the three students were gunned down in their search for gold, Richard has no sixth sense about Richter using a sniper rifle to shoot at him, but fortunately the villain shot the metal water bottle out of his hands, prompting a huge thirty-five foot leap for cover, baffling the killers. Craig never sensed anything either as he doesn't know about what had just happened on returning to the surface. The same when Richter shows up at the hotel later and Richard opens the door without any premonition of danger. It doesn't matter, because he takes out both Richter and his two accomplices in a dramatic brawl, hurling one through a window and dealing with them in stylish fashion! Craig and Richard also don't appear to use their powers when hearing Richter and the gang approaching in the mine - they do hear them, but there's no zoom in on an ear with the twinkly bell music, so I'm not sure if it was improved hearing or just that Richter was making so much noise. It even extends to Sharron who has some sort of intuition that Emil, the proprietor of their hotel (later shot by Richter for hesitating to kill Richard), reacted to seeing her flippers when she arrived.

If the success of the story is partly due to the team working together, or closer than they sometimes do, and also to the good characterisations of the guest stars, as well as the sensitive portrayal of men left underground for so long, the quality of the production also played its part. When we'd just had a couple of studio-bound episodes in 'Happening' and 'Operation Deep-Freeze,' it makes a huge difference to return to location shooting. It just makes everything that much more real. I must say I was especially impressed with the caves - they're so real I can't imagine they weren't because the production wouldn't have gone to that much trouble to strew the floor with rocks and a textured surface, they'd have been happy just to have sand under foot as we see with the cave entrance where the Attendant hands out flashlights, which looks like a set, so it must have been a real cave. You can also hear the actors voices echoing, an authenticity suggesting reality. Obviously there are fake rocks too, unless the actors had really been working out and Bastedo's tiny wrists could have managed such hulking blocks of stone! There's also some uncharacteristically sensitive music squeezed in between the usual bombastic stock series scoring, when they're travelling through the mine and discovering the graveyard, some of what was left of the fifty-six soldiers said to have entered the mine.

There are the usual selection of mistakes or inconsistencies, the biggest being the old man (Schmeltz?), seeming surprised when he's told the war has ended, yet a few moments later when he tells them his story he begins with 'when the war was ending.' Being stuck in a cave for so many years probably would make you a touch confused, in his defence. What seemed to be a mistake at the time was the Colonel saying the SS have no courage and talking of the Wehrmacht fighting a 'clean war,' not to mention wearing the normal German uniform, when his brother had said that he was a member of the SS. It turns out to be a clue, however, that the evil Reitz switched identities to save himself from trial or consequences. And while at other times no sense of danger is felt, Sharron does get a picture of the explosion Richard and Craig are caught in, yet didn't get anything when Richard was shot at. Generally though, the powers were used very well: I already mentioned Sharron slapping Reitz over a table, hefting rocks and using her brain (instead of snapping the chain and padlock she just rips out one of the wooden slats of the gate barring entry into the mine). Craig also shows greater strength when lifting a heavy rock so Richard can pull his leg out after the explosion. Sometimes strength isn't enough, as Craig pulls the handle off the door in the underground headquarters in a frantic bid to escape the activated death switch. He uses a crowbar and mashes up the wooden doorframe until he can get the door open. I was so sure the fire axe hanging on the wall behind Sharron in the scene where she talks to the Colonel was going to play a part at some point, but it never did!

Sharron also gets to show off her artistic skills with a highly accurate sketch of Reitz after he destroyed all photos of himself, which enables him to be stopped at the Swiss border, and allows for a fun little scene to cap the episode, which doesn't make much sense, but is funnier for it. And to see Tremayne's face at the insinuation that he'd ever be trying to escape across a border! She also gets the post-credits scene this time as a bar patron lets her have a go at darts and she scores a bullseye on her first throw, then to avert suspicion she aims for a number one on the scoreboard to the side of the board and hits it right in the middle, the guy assuming the first throw was pure chance! It's always good to see the team used effectively, and with a touching story and good ideas, everything works really well. There's even a logic to proceedings, such as the baddies using silenced pistols to threaten Craig and Richard who can't fire in the mine in case they bring down the shaft on themselves; or the compass being useless because of all the iron ore down there; or the villains' explosion being the manner in which the older part of the mine is finally opened; or the clue being in a map of the regimental positions in the last month of the war. There's even a nice new shot of the fountain in Geneva!

The only thing I wasn't clear about were all the characters in the credits. There were less speaking roles than in some episodes, but although I knew that Pieter was one of the students exploring the lake (played by Stephen Yardley who would later be Beckett's Dad thirty years later in 'BUGS'!), there was another student named as Klaus not in the credits, yet I didn't know who Heinz was, nor Hans, unless it was a different voice on the telephone to Reitz. Or was Hans the other old soldier in the mine, but if so, then who was Schmeltz? I felt I recognised the Mine Attendant, but maybe not. At least the cast was easier to keep track of than some recent episodes.

****