episode #37 - The Deadly Games of Gamma 6

episode #37 / Air Date: 11/2/66 (episode #8 of 2nd season)
written by Barney Slater; Directed by Harry Harris

John makes the acquaintance of two professional fighters - they try to beat him up. Then, the fight promoter (Mike Kellin) enters the scene. He's in charge of these intergalactic fight games and wants John to participate as a rep from Earth; John refuses, of course, seeing no need. Smith, again, sees an opportunity to make it back to Earth. Smith ends up volunteering himself when he sees his potential opponent, a very small alien. This is not what it seems, of course. The fighting is basically a version of Earth boxing.

This has similarities to the Star Trek TOS episode The Gamesters of Triskelion, but it doesn't involve slavery in the gladiatorial arena here. Rather, there's a baffling, not well thought out rationale behind this galactic spectator sport: the loser's planet will be attacked by an armada. I guess this is some galactic version of weeding out the weak in our universe. Obviously, Smith is not a good bet for our planet, so John has to figure out a way to reverse things. This involves a space age version of Russian Roulette.

This episode obviously had more action than usual due to the set-up but, as usual, a potentially exciting story is diluted with numerous moments of slapstick and silliness. Though a version of Russian Roulette naturally provides some genuine tension, it all comes off as a joke by the end, with John's hurried last minute decisions seemingly determining the fate of the planet Earth. Even when he's late to the game, John still saves his home planet! BoG's Score: 5 out of 10
Epilogue Tag: Smith & Will are out alone when some of their tools are stolen; the thief reveals himself as something out of the Arabian Nights: "Dogs! Infidels! Prepare to Die..!" Freeze frame!