Collision Course

Air Date: 09/18/75    written by Anthony Terpiloff    Directed by Ray Austin

As the episode begins, Alan is on a mission in an Eagle to blow up an asteroid heading for Alpha, but he encounters all sorts of mechanical problems, delaying his retreat from the nuclear explosion. Though he is presumed lost and there's a radiation cloud from the explosion, Koenig refuses to give up on him, so he and Paul head out in another Eagle - the good news is that Alan is found alive; the bad news is that a giant planet (34 times the size of the moon) is revealed, also on a collision course with the moon. Since they can't blow up the planet, the Alphans make alternate plans to set up a shock wave and shift the moon in a similar fashion as to how they left Earth's orbit. But, Koenig meets up with an elderly queen (Margaret Leighton) in a huge cobwebbed ship and she convinces him that this new plan must be halted, that he and the Alphans should just do nothing. However, the other Alphans believe Koenig to be delusional due to radiation exposure and humor him, continuing with the plan to create a massive shock wave.

This episode was slow and talky, especially in regards to all the mystifying words from the mysterious old queen, who speaks about destiny and about how her people will evolve when the two celestial objects meet. The whole story hinges on what will happen at the end - will the moon collide with the planet or will something else happen?  Must the Alphans act on their usual logic or should they simply adhere to Koenig's blind faith? There is some tension in that Koenig and Alan do behave feverishly - even hysterical - and are perhaps deluded.  Unfortunately, this is one of those episodes short on answers, even at the very end - it's all very mystifying even after we find out what happens and we never learn anything about this mysterious race (only the queen is shown and even she behaves like some lost spirit). The audience has to come up with their own conclusions and theories. This does have nice FX, as usual, of the outer space vistas, but the interior of the alien ship is too minimalist, as if they were short of funds.  BoG's Score: 6 out of 10