When we left the Stranger (Colin Baker) in Breach
of Peace, he was forced by Egan (David Troughton) and Saul (John
Wadmore) to lead the way into the Web, to leave earth behind and get back
to their dimension ... but that doesn't work properly, and thus the three
of them are spat out at a top secret research facility where ruthless
gouvernment official Sheila (Alison Troughton) and scientist Hunter
(Geoffrey Beevers) train Meta (Bernadette Gepheart), a young woman with
ESP-powers to mindcontrol (enemy-)computers. Somehow though, her
ESP-powers have found a way into the Web, and the Web doesn't like that
one bit, creates a couple of indestructible zombie soldiers and gives Egan
and Saul a new assignment, to kill Meta. That's easier said than done
though, since Egan, who has always resented humankind, has since fallen in
love with Meta (and she with him), and now would do everything to defend
her, even against Saul, whom the Stranger eventually sends off into the
Web to keep the whole affair under control himself. Problem is of course
that no matter how you put it, Meta has to die, and even she herself
becomes aware of that eventually - and in the end, when the zombies are
already attacking Egan, who won't give her up, it falls upon the Stranger
to shoot Meta (at her request, since she finds herself unable to shoot
herself) ... even if killing a human is something he has sworn to never do
again. Nicely written conclusion to the Stranger-series
that manages to tie up most of the loose ends and actually give it's
villain-characters from The
Terror Game and Breach
of Peace some substance when actually teaming them up with the
Stranger for better or worse. That said, one can't help but notice several
shortcomings of the episode caused by its miniscule budget, like the
research facility being nothing but an old house in a country, its science
lab consisting of nothing more than a personal computer, and the army
defending it consisting of a mere half dozen soldiers, but in a way that's
just nit-picking, as despite all of this, the story still works reasonably
well and is at least a nice piece of science fiction - one that probably
doesn't make much sense without having seen The
Terror Game and Breach
of Peace first, but then again, that's the nature of a series,
right?
|