Space: 1999 (TV Series) The AB Chrysalis (1976) User Reviews

While it has some really, really goofy aspects, this is one of the season two shows that forgot to totally suck!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 4 July 2010]

Season two of "Space: 1999" was a nightmare. While season one had some serious problems, the show was so radically re-tooled that season two was even worse and helped to bring the show to a premature cancellation. Losing some good characters, introducing silly new ones (Mya the lady who could turn into animals at will) and bad scripts (often ripped off from the original "Star Trek" thanks to Fred Freiberger being brought on board to produce) all helped make the show pretty tedious. However, occasionally in this doomed second season they did manage to make a good show here and there despite their best efforts! While there clearly are some silly elements to "The AB Chrysalis", overall it's very much worth seeing.

Once again Moonbase is in trouble. A long series of space explosions are in danger of destroying the humans--especially because they get stronger and stronger as they approach a bizarre planet. I say bizarre because the planet is surrounded by equally spaced moons that together produce these explosions in an attempt to discourage or destroy outsiders.

When Koenig, Mya and Carter land, they are greeted by the weirdest thing I can recall on the show...ever. There are weird bouncing balls that rest on pedestals. Why they occasionally hop off the platforms and bounce about is never explained, but these apparently are part of a computerized system that controls everything--the planet, the explosions and humanoids who are in a state of hibernation in a 'chrysalis' until they've 'transformed'--an odd way to avoid death. The problem, however, is that convincing the machine to stop causing the explosions and spare the Moon doesn't seem to be getting anywhere (at which point, Carter behaves really, really stupidly--a low-point in this show). So, it's a case of trying to revive at least some of the beings from their hibernetic state to get them to override the system and spare everyone. But, as these aliens are so alien (as they breathe chlorine gas and live part of their life in cocoons), getting them to even care about the humans' fate is a serious problem.

What I liked best about this show is that it was so unlike any other in the series or any other. While occasionally goofy, overall the show is one of the best of the second season. Too bad this creativity didn't prevail during this season, as it might have ultimately saved the show.

neat special effects

[bills442 · 7/10 · 14 August 2008]

I have to agree with a previous poster that one of the cool things about this episode was the genuine sense of alien exploration it had. Felt like you really didn't know what to expect when a door opened. I can still recall watching this in the late 70s as a child. Those bouncing balls were the coolest thing I had ever seen ... so strange. It was one of the few crystal clear memories I had when I finally viewed the DVDs as an adult again. I remember thinking as a child how cool it was that he drew the third planet from the sun and the aliens knew where we were from. Of course, watching these as an adult we can see all the incongruities, but still, remembering the sense of awe when I was younger is like having one of mom's old chocolate chip cookies.

The future ( and Sarah Douglas ) is fantastic!

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 17 March 2010]

A series of explosions send shock waves towards the Moon. Koenig, Maya and Alan fly out in an Eagle. A planet, ringed by moons, appears to be at the heart of it. On each is a station. In an underground chamber, our heroes encounter spherical robots which move by bouncing gracefully, the creation of an alien race led by The Guardian. The explosions were a form of defence mechanism against unwanted intrusion. Koenig must persuade the beings to stop the explosions long enough for Alpha to pass beyond...

Another good Tony Barwick-scripted episode. The sets are stunning, and the 'bouncing ball' robots must surely have inspired the Zeroids in Anderson's later 'Terrahawks'. No mention whatever of Tony ( possibly sleeping off his home-made beer ). The team of Koenig, Maya and Alan works well together indeed. Ina Skriver and Sarah Douglas play aliens 'A' and 'B' respectively, and neither is wearing clothes. Don't get excited though. They are glimpsed mainly through a chlorine mist. Douglas later appeared ( fully dressed ) as 'Ursa' in the first two 'Superman' films starring the late Christopher Reeve and as one of Jane Badler's rivals in 'V - The Final Battle'. The aliens are like insects in that they too enter a chrysalis stage and emerge reborn.

Intelligently done, about the only flaw is the pathetic looking chlorine-breather Maya changes into. Like a lot of the Year 2 monsters, it should have never have got off the drawing board. Robert Rietty, who provides the robot's voices, was also the voice of 'Number Two' in the opening credits of 'The Prisoner'.

Stylishly directed by the legendary Val Guest.

feels a lot like a year one episode in a good way

[marcgreenman · 9/10 · 28 November 2019]

This episode is extremely ambitious in concept, unusually so for year two. in fact it really made me think it might have been a year one episode, it is that good. it will grip you right from the very beginning. that alien solar system just looks so strange, there is nothing else quite like it. the aliens are humanoid but weird in breathing chlorine gas, their difference is effectively brought across. those bouncing spheres are something else, another unique concept. the orange underground set looks like something very different. and those strange marble floors. the three main actors are effective, particularly landau who gets some nice lines. the whole story feels quite epic in scope, quite ambitious, more so than usual yet it probably cost just the same. this is the perfect example of what year two might have been.

One of the Best Of The Weirder Yer 2 Episodes!

[Canis_Lupus · 10/10 · 3 September 2006]

I suspect this will have what humans define as spoilers so if you hate spoilers logic suggests you leave now and read no further! That out of the way, The AB Chrysalis is easily one of the better episodes of the Space 1999 Year 2 Journey. I concede the dialogue was sparse and what little action there was hardly excited a die hard action adventure fan. This particular episode plodded along at a snails pace most of the time.

In general the only thing that consistently recommended Space 1999 Year 2 was its lively music score thanks to Derek Wadsworth. Compared to Barry Gray's wholly uninspired painful scores for the much better written, executed and acted Space 1999 Year One Year Two Music rocks. Barry Grays music scores always leave me feeling as if I spent 900 years listening to music appropriate for listening only if you are confined to a Funeral Home in the Twilight Zone.

What made The AB Chrysalis cute were the sets. The cute little black and or white balls bouncing rolling hopping about from one pedestal to another was a really wild version of a computer that for once felt really alien in concept. The architecture of the space stations on the ring of moons was weird enough to make me believe this was really a world that developed completely different than we have.

What I so loved about The AB Chrysalis is that its sets were not familiar. the computer was not designed using familiar human like logic. In The AB Chrysalis I honestly felt like a visitor to a strange world. Too much of Space 1999 in Year 2 looked too familiar too common place. The aliens breathed chlorine gas. The aliens had an odd sleep \ life cycle so much of what made The AB Chrysalis different was not tangible. The beauty of The AB Chrysalis was in those things you experienced indirectly and for me it makes for batter science fiction when the place shocks me more than the odd looking aliens do.

Given Space 1999 Year 2 was dumbed down in general this episode still had a few small tidbits left for an intellectual soul!

Some Good Elements Here But...

[StuOz · 29 May 2021]

The moon base faces disaster again.

I enjoyed the sets, the special effects and the sense of doom to come.

But it just did not hold me the way it should. As others have noted, this very much resembles some year one episodes, meaning there is another faceless British voice (aka alien) talking away all the time, but we got so much of that before....

I like Martin Landau but found him oddly boring here?? And I can't help thinking the director picked up on the bland tone of the hour and requested three mostly covered up nude people (two girls, one male) to liven things up a bit.

But again, I liked the sets, effects and sense of doom to come. As other reviewers find this episode so wonderful it is just possible that I simply don't totally connect to Space 1999 the way I should?

Whatever the case, this hour is just average (to me).