Episode #06 - Tomorrow's Tide

Air Date: 10/18/74 / Production #B-508 written by Robert W. Lenski Directed by Don McDougall

The locale changes in this episode to a beach area by the ocean (Burke wonders out loud if it's Pismo Beach or Malibu). The trio are jogging along the beach (within the water so that their tracks are erased) when they spot an old man tied to a floating raft on the water. Taking him to a nearby cave, they deduce that he must be from some nearby slave labor camp. The man (John McLiam) merely mutters things like "I am dead." Virdon & Burke go to spy on the fishing village/labor camp, but are quickly captured (as established in previous episodes, stealth is not among their many talents). They're taken to the head chimp (Roscoe Lee Browne) and, to save themselves, brag about how they're the best fishermen in the region. To prove themselves, they have to spear some fish in a lake of fire (strange, yes). Then, loudmouth Galen messes things up by rushing in and pretending that Virdon & Burke are his slaves; since this shows the two as liars, they are forced again to prove themselves in being judged by the gods of the sea (sharks). On top of all this, it's discovered that the old man had been saved - an act of treason - and a high muckety-muck orangutan named Bandor (Jay Robinson) is on his way, probably not a good event.

This episode throws in a lot of problems to be surmounted, so it's not boring - it seems like every 5 minutes Virdon & Burke need to prove themselves for a new challenge, escape some menace or get by on trickery and subterfuge. Galen also has to do a lot of double-talking and this all carries through to the final scene, when all three present their crowning achievement of tomfoolery and salesmanship, all about just showing how to fish in a better manner. At the same time, it's all a little too neat, too clean - a sample of episodic television in which everything has to end on an ideal note, very much outside the bounds of realism. It's cute and a bit too precious by the end. Ironically, in the larger scheme, the status quo remains unchanged at the end; though certain details like casting out old people have been discarded, the essential set-up of ape overlords and human slaves remains the same - just with some minor new benefits to the slaves. The episode also showed a strong streak of superstition controlling the humans (and perhaps also the apes and their sea gods) and spotlighted sharks just before the famous film Jaws came out in the next year. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

Trivia of the Apes: Roscoe Lee Browne was back in different kind of make-up as Box in Logan's Run (1976);
Star Trek TOS actor alert: Jay Robinson was in the episode Elaan of Troyus ; he's best known as Caligula in The Robe (1953)