episode #26 - Doomsday is Tomorrow

episode #13 of 2nd season / Air Date: 1/19/77   written and directed by Kenneth Johnson

Johnson, the creator of the Bionic Woman, presented his movie-length episode as writer-producer-director, a 2-parter, with the requisite big scope to fit with his concept of a cinematic kind of big story. The title isn't hyperbole; this is truly doomsday for the world unless Jaime saves the day. In the plot, an elderly brilliant scientist (Lew Ayres) plays the part of supervillain: he's the inventor of a cobalt bomb (one of which he sets off as a demonstration) and now he's also invented a doomsday bomb and will set it off unless the world meets his demands - no more use of nuclear bombs. To verify that his new bomb indeed exists, he demands that 4 particular scientists be sent to his base. One of these is Rudy Wells; there's also a Russian and a Japanese; Jaime impersonates a French scientist. When they get there, another character is introduced - Alex, supposedly an assistant who we only hear over an intercom. But, Alex, we suspect, may play a bigger, more sinister role in this drama...