Fireball XL5 Episode 27 review: Hypnotic Sphere

[Jubal]

Fireball XL5 Ep 37: Hypnotic Sphere

Rating out of 10: 7.3
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0803296/?ref_=ttep_ep37

In which there is a villainous plot to conquer the universe which is... OK I guess.

There aren't many obvious and major mistakes or bits that grate in this episode; the plot runs fairly cleanly for the most part, there aren't many really grating character reactions, it's a standard universe domination story. The plans are all reasonably executed, it's nice to see Robert getting some good screentime and action; the glimpse of day to day life in space via the tankers, and it being disrupted, is a good impression-of-depth feature. The initial motivation behind the tanker hijacks is explained (though not enough else is, as discussed below), and the heroes actually do some practical work to counter their enemies strengths, the "flying blind" section being pretty good.

The downsides - firstly, lack of any obvious villain explanation, motivation, or anything else. It's a literal disembodied brain with an eye. So who the hell has been building all those spheres and tech if the Big Boss has no limbs? Why does the disembodied brain want to take over the universe, and why is it hiding on some random ice world where it clearly couldn't have evolved given it can't cope with even mild cold? Especially given that the brain got to narrate parts of the episode, it would've been nice to see a lot more development - it would have made a better recurring villain than a one-episode one-shot, really. Also, the resolution is a bit flat and just involves shooting a thing (albeit with some difficulty); we're not quite invested enough in the villain to make its defeat alone a worthwhile ending, and the scene in the heart of the villain's base is a bit rushed and lacks any decent foreshadows for the heroes.

All in all, this was a competently prepared episode that had most of Fireball's usual upsides and downsides, leading to an average-ish 7.3 score.