Episode #03 - The Trap

Air Date: 09/27/74 / Production #B-505 written by Edward J. Lasko Directed by Arnold Laven

The trio of fugitives are chased by Urko (Mark Lenard) and his gorillas to a village which is known to harbor fugitives; it's run by a friendly family man (John Milford) whose daughter has just returned from a foray in a nearby ruined city from the old days (probably what used to be Oakland, as it's established that it's what used to be the San Francisco Bay Area). She brought back a bunch of old wiring and other old gizmos, and this once again gives Virdon hope to find those elusive computers that he's searching for. The area of the dilapidated city is dangerous, however, because there are earthquake jolts happening every few minutes, it seems like. Sure enough, during the latest chasing, a jolt hits and both Burke & Urko fall through the city street down into what used to be a subway system. Once down there, they are forced to team up to find a way out, despite Urko's grumbling. Burke pacifies Urko by telling him that all the various past achievements that they see here were from the apes, but he also hopes that Urko doesn't spot a zoo poster on a wall, which shows contrary evidence. Meanwhile, Virdon & Galen figure out a way to team up with the trio of gorillas who want to save their commander.
This might have been the most interesting episode of the series. Lenard as Urko is given his most substantial role here and he makes the most of it. As usual, he is consumed with hatred of the aberrant humans and is convinced that lying is the prevalent trait among all humans. But, once down in the trap with Burke, he easily accepts Burke's explanation that apes were responsible for all the past technology that he sees there. This is convenient for him to readily believe. He even begins to grudgingly accommodate Burke's requests, tolerating his presence, until he sees the truth. Also surprising is the characterization of the other lead gorilla (Norman Alden) on the surface; this shows that not all gorillas are alike. This was also a superior episode due to the set design, making use of a post-holocaust setting in a wrecked city. It does raise a couple of issues: (1) it contradicts the questionable version of New York City of year 2503 in the 1st episode, since all the buildings in this episode are obviously 20th century; and (2) there are no questions from the gorillas about this wrecked city - we never find out what they think of this city from a past era. There are also some spectacular action scenes in the first act, when Virdon & Burke fight a gorilla soldier. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


Trivia of the Apes: though the wrecked city is thought to be Oakland (above), it may very well be San Francisco itself, since the fugitives later come across another decaying city in The Legacy, which turns out to be what used to be Oakland.