The
United Nations is concerned that five deadly canisters buried at the bottom of
the sea have been disturbed near the Philippines Trench.
The
Cetacean is dispatched to an island there, and learns that the natives on a small island now
worship Muldoon (Ted Neeley): the rogue who was believed trapped in an
alternate universe.
It turns out that
Muldoon escaped captivity there, and did so with a giant two-headed pet sea horse
named Oscar.
Now,
he has seen to it that the natives worship Oscar as a deity, and bring him (and
thus Muldoon) a wealth of riches in pearls.
Unfortunately, Oscar has also retrieved the five deadly canisters from
the ocean floor.
Now
Mark must navigate a tricky situation between the native leader (Ted Cassidy),
Muldoon, and “The Powerful One” (Oscar) to retrieve the cylinders before the toxic
materials within are released.
Man
from Atlantis (1977-1978) veers back to Star Trek (1966-1969) mode in “Scavenger
Hunt.”
Here, another Mudd-like scoundrel
exploits a primitive culture (with a giant sea-horse monster, no less…) so as
to acquire wealth.
The episode
introduces the culture, its politics, its beliefs, and its exploitation. Like Mudd, Muldoon is never really treated as
a villain, just a charming guy who doesn’t have his priorities straight.
My
favorite aspect of “Scavenger Hunt” is not the return of Muldoon, however, but the depiction of Oscar, the two-headed sea-horse. The
costume ain’t actually half-bad, and the critter certainly has character. In terms of its depiction, the creature is a
big improvement over the last sea monster we saw: “Man o’War’s” jelly-fish.
This
is also another episode that depicts a doorway between worlds. Here, Muldoon
and Oscar show Mark a doorway on the beach that leads back to the world of “Giant,”
the world they escaped from. Oscar drags Muldoon back thus ending his threat here on Earth.
I
wish the whole subject of dimensional gateways had been treated more coherently
on the series, but at least the existence of such worlds allows for the
possibilities of Oscar, or even a webbed-finger man from Atlantis…
Next
episode: “Imp.’
No comments:
Post a Comment