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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - The Dorian Secret
episode 2.13
USA 1981
produced by John G. Stephens, John Mantley (executive) for Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal/NBC
directed by Jack Arnold
starring Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Thom Christopher, Jay Garner, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Devon Ericson, Denny Miller, William Kirby Cullen, Felix Silla, Mel Blanc (voice), Walker Edmiston, Michele Marsh, Dennis Haysbert, Stuart Nisbet, Eldon Quick, Brady Rubin, Jackie Russell, Lachelle Chamberlain, Keith Atkinson, Jeff David (voice)
written by Stephen McPherson, based on characters by Philip Francis Nowlan, Robert C. Dille, music by Donald Woods, visual effects supervisor: Peter Anderson, David Jones
TV-series Buck Rogers, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
review by Mike Haberfelner
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When Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) and company pick up evacuees from a dying
planet on a space station to re-settle them, Asteria (Devon Ericson), a
girl on the run from Dorian guards jumps on board at literally the last
moment. She refuses to say why she was on the run, and at first Buck
doesn't press her on the subject. Then though Buck's ship, the Searcher,
gets caught in a Dorian tractor beam, and Dorian leader Koldar (Walker
Edmiston) himself insists that Asteria is handed over, as she's accused of
having killed his son. And as Buck refuses, the Dorians alternately heat
up and freeze the ship to pretty much force the Searcher to hand over the
girl. Buck and the higher-ups on the Searcher of course refuse to give in
to what's basically torture, but the evacuees insist - only they don't
know who the Dorian in their midst might be, as the Dorians are said to
are mutants and invariably wear masks - but Asteria doesn't wear any and
is pretty as a picture. Buck demands to be let onto the Dorian vessel and
review the evidence - and that evidence is merely a video that shows that
Asteria might have pushed Koldar's son off a cliff (or actually tried to
save him). Talking to Kaldor's son Demeter (William Kirby Cullen), who
somehow takes the side of Asteria, Buck notices there's more to the story
that meets the eye, so he forces Koldar's hand, making him have Asteria
executed before Demeter's very eyes - and Demeter interferes in the very
last moment, admitting that shortly before his brother's death they had an
argument that resulted in the brother being hurt, and when Asteria found
him she actually tried to get him help when he stumbled and fell. Demeter
blames the mask on it all, and suddenly Koldar comes to the conclusion
that his people should never again wear masks - even if they all look the
same underneath. The very last episode of Buck Rogers in
the 25th Century, and the series, an uneven late 1970s/early 80s
piece of space camp to cash in on the early Star
Wars movies, ended not with a bang but neither with an
outright fizzle: Sure, many of the ideas here are ludicrous, and
especially the arguments between the passengers have disaster movie
quality, and not in a good way, while the episode as a whole centers more
on Buck then usual in the show's second season, with his co-leads reduced
to supporting status - especially when it comes to Erin Gray's Wilma
Deering, who's portrayed as little more than a glorified stewardess in
this one -, so not giving them a proper send-off. On the other hand
though, this episode was directed by science fiction great Jack Arnold
(even if you mustn't expect another Creature
from the Black Lagoon here) and features nobody's favourite Tarzan
Denny Miller (1959's Tarzan the
Ape Man) as benign strongman among the passengers. Plus, the
episode as such is actually one of the better ones of the series as it
doesn't follow the space opera formula too rigidly. In all though by no
means great science fiction, but fun nostalgia.
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