The Tabor is another 2nd season episode of SPACE:1999 that is essentially a pale copy of an earlier and better episode of Star Trek. Tabor (Willoughby Goddard) is a jovial, flamboyant intergalactic trader who is far less trustworthy and scheming that he at first appears. Basically, he's supposed to be Harry Mudd.
To Goddard's credit, he plays the part with suitable bombast and slipperiness. It would have worked better in smaller doses. In fairness, it's kind of hard to limit the screen time of your guest star/nemesis of the week. I just wish he'd dialed it down to a 7 or 8 a couple of times.
Another plus in the episode is the pretty decent writing for both Landau's Koenig and Tony Anholt's Tony Verdeschi. Both men are believably suspicious and wary of the too-good-to-be-true offers of Tabor, and Koenig exercises some clever initiative that was often lacking for his character in S2 scripts.
The downsides to the episode are pretty much everything else. We suddenly learn that Dr. Russell can make robotic copies of crew members. We've never seen this technology used before, and I don't think it's ever used again in the show. It's a cheap gimmick to advance the plot. The F/X are subpar, with most of Tabor's collection of wondrous treasures looking like dollar store knockoffs of QVC jewelry. The resolution borrows heavily from "I, Mudd", and isn't humorous so much as it Is cringey.
It's still worth a look, but even by the lowered expectations of S2, it's not one of the better episodes of 1999.
To Goddard's credit, he plays the part with suitable bombast and slipperiness. It would have worked better in smaller doses. In fairness, it's kind of hard to limit the screen time of your guest star/nemesis of the week. I just wish he'd dialed it down to a 7 or 8 a couple of times.
Another plus in the episode is the pretty decent writing for both Landau's Koenig and Tony Anholt's Tony Verdeschi. Both men are believably suspicious and wary of the too-good-to-be-true offers of Tabor, and Koenig exercises some clever initiative that was often lacking for his character in S2 scripts.
The downsides to the episode are pretty much everything else. We suddenly learn that Dr. Russell can make robotic copies of crew members. We've never seen this technology used before, and I don't think it's ever used again in the show. It's a cheap gimmick to advance the plot. The F/X are subpar, with most of Tabor's collection of wondrous treasures looking like dollar store knockoffs of QVC jewelry. The resolution borrows heavily from "I, Mudd", and isn't humorous so much as it Is cringey.
It's still worth a look, but even by the lowered expectations of S2, it's not one of the better episodes of 1999.