Fireball XL5 Ep 22: Dangerous CargoRating out of 10: 8.3
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0807584/?ref_=ttep_ep22Review (SPOILERS AHEAD):I really liked this one. The Planet 46ers, a really big bomb, a good adventure-style mission? Check, check, check, and an 8.3 score to go with those.
The feel of this one was as a relatively "serious" high-tension episode, and this was set up right from the beginning with the shots of the collapsing mineshafts, in a very evocative opening sweep that set the "adventure in a crumbling abandoned mining zone" stage very nicely. The theming was maintained throughout, with music maintaining the atmosphere, a good "mission montage" that felt quite Thunderbirds-esque, and then the cave and planet sequences being cut around the action with good effect to keep the audience reminded of the tension. The countdown timer, whilst perhaps overused as a trope in Fireball, worked pretty well here and the high-tension section toward the end of the episode was maintained to good effect, with multiple not-totally-stupid strategies employed by the crew to try and get themselves out of their predicament. The serious part of the episode was counterbalanced well, too, with the fact that the Zounie subplot was quite charming.
The work with emotions was pretty good for Fireball; it actually had Steve providing some rare self-criticism, and Commander Zero showing both customary bluster and his quieter, kinder side at varying times. If the characters regularly had their flaws and positives played this clearly, it would make a lot of the weaker Fireball episodes significantly better. It didn't all work perfectly - Matthew's fear of the bomb was a bit overplayed, and Venus was made to be perhaps a bit too weepy at times, but overall the characterisation in the episode was pretty nice.
The score for this one was also boosted significantly by the Planet 46 aliens actually having a good idea that very nearly worked, and - even better - having the villains actually shoot off into the distance such that the heroes "win" doesn't give their enemies their comeuppance (indeed the episode ends with the good guys never even realising that foul play was at work, which I quite like). Precisely why they have agents on a crumbling, mined-out planet is never made clear, and they're a bit overly cackling, but one can't have everything and this was a pretty effective villainy moment for them. The good guys also get planning plus points; vapourising the planet to stop it breaking into shipping lanes is, well, disturbingly and unusually close to what the World Space Patrol might be expected to do in the circumstances.
All in all, this was a fine story, and one of Fireball's classier adventure moments.
