For such a new series, this offbeat episode was a surprise -reminding me at times of the late-in-the-day rethinking/revivifying gimmicks dating back to Irwin Allen's VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. I enjoyed the twists and trendy out-of-sequence ("3 hours before...") structure anyway.
SPOILERS ALERT:
Loyal fans will recall how VTTBOTS went into a strange and nearly campy mode several years into its run by having the crew go crazy each week, stepping out of character and becoming villains for an hour. Here we had Scott Speedman & company doing the same thing, under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, which kept me guessing. The only truly predictable twist is when he got very romantic with his wife back home (who wasn't there) - we knew it was in reality the French girl getting the fantasized attention, all the better to build up steam for future liaisons.
The show's mix of action, tense confrontations and timely political intrigue is a winning combination. My only question is why it hasn't stuck to a more orderly, linear plot development, building brick by brick on its novel nuclear gamesmanship premise. The writers seem a bit desperate to plunge off the deep end, perhaps hoping for a LOST style cementing of die-hard fans. Too many cockamamie twists and departures from the central conflicts is a pitfall to be avoided -I remember how the short-lived (and never resolved) series VANISHED fell victim to this syndrome not too many seasons ago.
SPOILERS ALERT:
Loyal fans will recall how VTTBOTS went into a strange and nearly campy mode several years into its run by having the crew go crazy each week, stepping out of character and becoming villains for an hour. Here we had Scott Speedman & company doing the same thing, under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, which kept me guessing. The only truly predictable twist is when he got very romantic with his wife back home (who wasn't there) - we knew it was in reality the French girl getting the fantasized attention, all the better to build up steam for future liaisons.
The show's mix of action, tense confrontations and timely political intrigue is a winning combination. My only question is why it hasn't stuck to a more orderly, linear plot development, building brick by brick on its novel nuclear gamesmanship premise. The writers seem a bit desperate to plunge off the deep end, perhaps hoping for a LOST style cementing of die-hard fans. Too many cockamamie twists and departures from the central conflicts is a pitfall to be avoided -I remember how the short-lived (and never resolved) series VANISHED fell victim to this syndrome not too many seasons ago.
