Playing tennis with an old friend Steve finds himself as a bodyguard. He has to accompany Fred (played by John Saxon) to a testing ground where a new missile-to-missile weapon is going to be tested. However, along the way Fred is replaced by another identical "Robot".
Saxon plays it well - overly robotic in my view but hey what can you do? But I have a couple of issues with this episode nonetheless. One, surely there is an easier way to get what you want than coming up with a purpose built robot with all the features, memories, intelligence of another human being? And two - isn't Steve Austin supposed to be the most sophisticated piece of bionic machinery in the world? Obviously not as Saxon is wholly mechanic and just as strong.
Anyway - enough nit-picking, I still enjoyed the episode even if the final showdown between Steve and the robot Fred is a little tame. Slow-mo only gets you so much. But the iconic "look" of the robot when his face has been removed is scarier than it should be.
A small cop-out at the end of this episode also as the real Fred is found near the tennis court by Steve after being thought dead. But still, it keeps the feel-good factor going.
Saxon plays it well - overly robotic in my view but hey what can you do? But I have a couple of issues with this episode nonetheless. One, surely there is an easier way to get what you want than coming up with a purpose built robot with all the features, memories, intelligence of another human being? And two - isn't Steve Austin supposed to be the most sophisticated piece of bionic machinery in the world? Obviously not as Saxon is wholly mechanic and just as strong.
Anyway - enough nit-picking, I still enjoyed the episode even if the final showdown between Steve and the robot Fred is a little tame. Slow-mo only gets you so much. But the iconic "look" of the robot when his face has been removed is scarier than it should be.
A small cop-out at the end of this episode also as the real Fred is found near the tennis court by Steve after being thought dead. But still, it keeps the feel-good factor going.