Fireball XL5 Ep 14: The TriadsRating out of 10: 8.0
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0807597/?ref_=ttep_ep14Review (SPOILERS AHEAD):This was very cute, about as suspenseful as an episode of the Clangers but genuinely very charming and had a lot to like about it.
The Triads certainly lacked threat as a story; one never felt that Zounie or Robert were seriously under threat from being abandoned, which could have been played up considerably more (it was "oops I forgot to feed my pet", when perhaps "my pet needs medicine for a deadly illness" or something might have made the time pressure feel a bit more real), and whilst the lion was pretty fun it wasn't all that terrifying.
That said, Fireball is at its best when it's a show about exploring space and exploring new worlds, which has been a worthy staple of fiction from the Odyssey onwards, and this was an adventure that sat firmly and proudly in that tradition; the main focus of the episode was really just a fun showcase of how life might be on another world. The firmly brobdingnagian theme of the episode worked very well indeed, and it was (as it usually is) nice to see some sympathetic and interesting aliens. Also, for once the science was really not bad, with the characters actually feeling and noticing the effects of the higher gravity on Triad. The ship probably shouldn't have gone into quite the spiral that it did, but the characters finding 3 Gs very tough but survivable is not too far off realism. Good heavens!
This was definitely in the "would rewatch sometime" category of Fireball episodes, and was a worthwhile addition to the series.
