After the thematic emptiness and confusion of "Fear Factor," it's a relief to watch the crowded, loaded-with-elements, exciting next episode of Logan's Run, entitled "The Judas Goat."
Here, a Sandman is given plastic surgery (courtesy of the New You Laser featured in the Logan's Run feature film) to resemble a Runner that Jessica once befriended. After being given the runner's memories, this Sandman is sent out into the wild to bring back Logan and Jessica. His story is that the City of Domes has changed, and that all it would take to destroy Carousel forever is testimony from runners who have survived outside the hermetically-sealed domes.
Logan and Jessica find the idea of revolutionizing their corrupt civilization a tantalizing one, and after encountering the Sandman/runner begin to contemplate the idea of a return to the Domed City. But then, they run into a primitive society run by an all-powerful "Provider." But this Provider is actually Matthew 12 (Lance Le Gault), the very first runner...the first man who ever fled Carousel and headed out into parts unknown in search of Sanctuary! Now the Sandman in disguise (Nicholas Hammond) realizes he could bring back an even greater prize to the City of Domes, and with Jessica and Logan tries to convince Matthew 12 to return to the City to lead to an insurrection.
Each of the characters in this drama has competing and interesting motivations, and there is more than enough plotting and back-stabbing for a two-parter here, and as a result, this is one of the most fast moving and entertaining of the Logan's Run canon. Spencer Milligan - who played Rick Marshall on Land of the Lost - is also present as one of the guardians of the "Provider" and so there's even something of a society here that needs rescuing. Here, the idea is that Matthew 12 uses the locals as slaves, rewarding them for being his protectors by "giving them joy," aka computer-sponsored memory flashes of happy times.
Here, a Sandman is given plastic surgery (courtesy of the New You Laser featured in the Logan's Run feature film) to resemble a Runner that Jessica once befriended. After being given the runner's memories, this Sandman is sent out into the wild to bring back Logan and Jessica. His story is that the City of Domes has changed, and that all it would take to destroy Carousel forever is testimony from runners who have survived outside the hermetically-sealed domes.
Logan and Jessica find the idea of revolutionizing their corrupt civilization a tantalizing one, and after encountering the Sandman/runner begin to contemplate the idea of a return to the Domed City. But then, they run into a primitive society run by an all-powerful "Provider." But this Provider is actually Matthew 12 (Lance Le Gault), the very first runner...the first man who ever fled Carousel and headed out into parts unknown in search of Sanctuary! Now the Sandman in disguise (Nicholas Hammond) realizes he could bring back an even greater prize to the City of Domes, and with Jessica and Logan tries to convince Matthew 12 to return to the City to lead to an insurrection.
Each of the characters in this drama has competing and interesting motivations, and there is more than enough plotting and back-stabbing for a two-parter here, and as a result, this is one of the most fast moving and entertaining of the Logan's Run canon. Spencer Milligan - who played Rick Marshall on Land of the Lost - is also present as one of the guardians of the "Provider" and so there's even something of a society here that needs rescuing. Here, the idea is that Matthew 12 uses the locals as slaves, rewarding them for being his protectors by "giving them joy," aka computer-sponsored memory flashes of happy times.
Another fine element of this episode involves my favorite character, Donald Moffat's android, REM. In this episode, REM must make a choice between saving his friends and committing murder...an act which is counter to his very programming. Here, he violates the First Law and kills a villain, rather than seeing Logan and Jessica die. He admits to feeling "disturbed" by his action, and this is an interesting development for the character. In many ways REM is surely the forerunner of Brent Spiner's Lt. Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He's learning more about humanity and what it means to "be human" all the time. This week, that learning involves a dark lesson.
The only downside of this episode that I can see is that in virtually a millisecond, Logan, Jessica, REM and their betrayer drive all the way back to the City of Domes. Whoa! I thought they'd been traveling for months and months, so it seems odd that they would just turn around and REVERSE THEIR ENTIRE JOURNEY so quickly. That established, there is a lovely matte shot in the finale of the episode, of the Solar Craft pulling up to the City of the Domes. It's a great visual, and a rare "big" effects moment in the series. The story's climax is also quite rich, with the duplicitous Sandman mistaken for a runner and shot down by his own brethren. I love that "just desserts" kind of ending, and it was the icing on the cake in this enjoyable episode.
"The Judas Goat" is an entertaining addition to Logan's Run, but in a way it just reveals how schizophrenic the series really was. One week it was down, the next it was up, and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of consistency from story to story.
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