Mr.
Schubert (Victor Buono) and his minions (including one played by Rene
Auberjonois) have discovered a bubble of inhabitable land at the bottom of the
sea.
It is called Killsborough Deep and is surrounded by a protective
force-field. It is rich in rare crystals that can make Schubert wealthy and
powerful. He can use the crystals to
block or jam all world broadcasts.
Taking the crystals out of the land, however, threatens the stability of
the island.
As
Schubert seeks to exploit the strange, ivory-skinned beings who live on the
island at the bottom of the sea, Mark Harris (Patrick Duffy) finds a way to
penetrate the force field -- which “is
the equivalent of a brick wall” -- and come to the culture’s rescue.
But
first he must gain the trust of the strange denizens…
Man
from Atlantis
(1977) is in its Star Trek (1966-1969) mode this week, as a strange (and
fragile) alien world is discovered at the bottom of the sea.
Consider:
Schubert is the Harry Mudd-like character who sees only the opportunity for
exploitation, while Mark Harris and the crew of the Cetacean are concerned for
the indigenous population, as well as the environment.
In
the end, the land -- apparently called Killsborough Deep -- is left intact, and
its people are left in peace.
Intriguingly, Mark even has to run interference with C.W. (Alan Fudge)
who, acting on the accord of the U.S. government, wants to acquire the crystals
too.
There’s
another Star Trek element here too, worth mentioning. Schubert rigs a flashlight to blind the
light-sensitive inhabitants of Killsborough Deep. He also uses the device on Mark, and blinds
him as well.
Mark’s sight is returned, however,
because his people possess a membrane over the inner eye. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Spock
(one of Mark Harris’s clear inspirations, at least in terms of alien-ness and
temperament) was saved from blindness by the existence of an inner eyelid in
the classic episode “Operation: Annihilate.”
Speaking
of eyes, Patrick Duffy clearly has some sort of growth or stye on his eyelid in this episode,
and it is visible in quite a few shots.
I wonder if it was caused by all the time he spent underwater…
Man
from Atlantis
does not feature the world’s greatest production values, even for 1977, and
that is clear from the jelly fish monster in “Man o’ War” and the underwater
aliens seen in this episode.
These beings
look and move like mimes, and have a passing reference to the “sperm” featured
in Woody Allen’s 1972 film, Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know
About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask.
Contrarily, the force field -- an optical -- that Mark is trapped in looks relatively
impressive. Eagle-eyed viewers may
recognize the alien city in this episode as a piece of Ape City from Planet of
the Apes (1968) and its spin-offs.
Finally,
this is the last episode of the series to feature Victor Buono’s Mr.
Schubert. The character appeared in five
of the thirteen episodes, but serves as the primary villain in the first three shows (“Melt
Down,” “The Mudworm” and “Hawk of Mu,”) and this is an unfortunate
happenstance. It seems like
the writers and directors would have wanted to more fully establish a flexible
format and tone for the series, instead of doing so many episodes with the
serio-comic villain right out the gate.
Next
episode: “The Naked Montague.”
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