Fireball XL5 Episode 7 review: XL5 to H20

[Jubal]

Fireball XL5 Ep 7: XL5 to H₂0

Rating out of 10: 8.4
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0803307/?ref_=ttep_ep7

Review (SPOILERS AHEAD):

I really did enjoy this episode. It essentially takes the form of a rescue mission, foreshadowing Thunderbirds in some ways, with two survivors of a terrestrial species who have lost a planetary war being rescued from death at the hands of the victorious Aquaphibians (or rather, a victorious Aquaphibian). The starting hook is good, giving a clear and actually pretty effective vignette of the threat posed by the alien. Unlike the Lilispatians or Space Pirates who are always a little too silly to seem threatening, or the Subterranes whose guns and missiles are pretty similar to those of the humans, the Aquaphibian is made a credible and unique threat from the start, with a heat ray and a powerful poison gas launcher its weapons of choice. The silence of the alien is a pity; neither the Aquaphibian nor its intended victims really give any reason for the hostilities, but at least it gives no over the top villain speeches and actually presents a credible threat to the Fireball crew throughout the adventure, which ticks a lot of boxes for me.

Finding a way to counter the threat makes up a good deal of the middle of the show; more perhaps could have been done to make this feel time pressured (Commander Zero grumbling about them being late home didn't serve this purpose, or as far as I could tell any other). The later phases of the episode feel a little rushed by contrast; again, the threat posed by the Aquaphibian is played out extremely well, but the final resolution is a little rushed and, compared to the well constructed initial sequence about how to get around the threats, the return to Steve's normal "be tough and shoot things" tactics right at the end are a little weak and hurried.

Nonetheless, this is a fine episode of Fireball with a generally well-worked plot and an effective antagonist compared to many others in the series.