If I were to give a score for the plot idea for this episode of "Space: 1999", I'd give it a 9--it was that creative and potentially interesting. Sadly, however, season two of the series really, really 'jumped the shark' and this really undid a lot of the good that could have resulted in "The Bringers of Wonder". That's because instead of the cerebral sort of show it was in the first season, season two really panicked and inserted tons and tons of stupid looking monsters into practically every episode--making the show look cheap and stupid. Think about it--when the show began, it proudly announced state of the art special effects and the highest budget on television. Now, in season two, most of the outer space effects were cheap and terrible AND the monsters looked like they came from 1950s-60s cheap sci-fi films--like "The Terror of Party Beach"!
Part one had to do with a rescue party miraculously making it to Alpha from Earth. However, it's pretty obvious to everyone EXCEPT the crew of Alpha that these folks are evil piggies bent on destroying them--or at least poor Commander Koenig! When this episode opens, Koenig awakens from his neural sleep and immediately freaks out when he sees these 'friends' from Earth. The audience does, too, but for different reasons! He sees giant slimy monsters--the audience sees monsters that even Ed Wood would have been embarrassed to use! The problem, however, is that everyone thinks Koenig is crazy and refuse to listen to him. Part of this IS because Koenig DOES behave a bit goofy, but they also have their minds clouded by the creatures that are VERY reminiscent of the creatures from "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters"--from Sid and Marty Kroft!
Eventually, Koenig IS able to convince Maya and Dr. Russell that the rescue party actually consists of aliens who mean them harm. And, when Maya disguises herself as a Marty Kroft-style alien, she learns that these things mean to explode the Moon's nuclear fuel dump! But, how can they convince everyone else that these people aren't who they claim to be--as they DO look and act exactly like folks from Earth.
As I said in my review of part one, the show had a decent and original story idea. The problem is that the effects were terrible. Plus, episode two was too long and drawn out--which is often a problem with a two-part show--the pacing can lag or seem padded. Still, if you MUST watch any episodes from season two, these are among the best...really!
Part one had to do with a rescue party miraculously making it to Alpha from Earth. However, it's pretty obvious to everyone EXCEPT the crew of Alpha that these folks are evil piggies bent on destroying them--or at least poor Commander Koenig! When this episode opens, Koenig awakens from his neural sleep and immediately freaks out when he sees these 'friends' from Earth. The audience does, too, but for different reasons! He sees giant slimy monsters--the audience sees monsters that even Ed Wood would have been embarrassed to use! The problem, however, is that everyone thinks Koenig is crazy and refuse to listen to him. Part of this IS because Koenig DOES behave a bit goofy, but they also have their minds clouded by the creatures that are VERY reminiscent of the creatures from "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters"--from Sid and Marty Kroft!
Eventually, Koenig IS able to convince Maya and Dr. Russell that the rescue party actually consists of aliens who mean them harm. And, when Maya disguises herself as a Marty Kroft-style alien, she learns that these things mean to explode the Moon's nuclear fuel dump! But, how can they convince everyone else that these people aren't who they claim to be--as they DO look and act exactly like folks from Earth.
As I said in my review of part one, the show had a decent and original story idea. The problem is that the effects were terrible. Plus, episode two was too long and drawn out--which is often a problem with a two-part show--the pacing can lag or seem padded. Still, if you MUST watch any episodes from season two, these are among the best...really!