Fireball XL5 Episode 36 Review: Ghosts of Space

[Jubal]

Fireball XL5 Ep 36: Ghosts of Space

Rating out of 10: 8.6
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0819049/?ref_=ttep_ep36

Review (SPOILERS AHEAD):
This is one of the highest ratings I've given an episode so far, and it really did deserve it. Ghosts of Space, wasn't awe-inspiring or high octane, indeed in places it bordered on the quirky, but it was a well put together adventure with few plot holes, interesting supporting characters, and a well worked premise.

There are a few negative points. The night-time escapades could have been a bit scarier, though as someone who is not heavily into "haunted house" mythologies I guess some of it may have been playing on a bit of a genre I'm not familiar with. The two aliens could have done with being a bit less obviously based on pixies, as well, even if this was just done with some more sci-fi costuming nods and suchlike. These were pretty minor points though in the story as a whole.

The setting was part of what made this work. The ghost-town setup and general western feel of the adventure were interesting - Fraser was definitely as a character shifting into "final frontier" mythology with California Gold Rush style fervour. The main plus points of the adventure, though really came from the character motivations. None of the characters were inexplicably, cacklingly evil - and in some ways this made the piece's accidental villain vastly more of a threat, his erratic behaviour in the tense final scenes feeling dangerous and on edge rather than simply laughable. This was made even better by the antagonists and equally accidental saviours - who were, in contrast, not a direct threat but nonetheless proved calculating and highly effective. They managed to be, whilst extremely quirky and sort of cute, and indeed happy to change policy when a better alternative was offered, at the same time oddly chilling in their insular outlook. I felt I knew what everyone wanted, and it was believable why they wanted it, and the interactions between those things produced a good story that involved intrigue and danger; that sounds like a simple thing, but it's strangely rare in storytelling and writing generally and it's why Ghosts of Space worked so well for me.

All in all, one of Fireball's finer moments, and a solid 8.6 score is the result.