Monday, November 23rd, 2009
12.00 Man From Atlantis
Man From Atlantis. Season 2, Episode 2. "The Mudworm" An underwater probe goes out of control.
Flawed, but this is still probably the best of the first six episodes (including the four movies). The chief flaw is Mark Harris himself, the man from Atlantis. As written, he's a bit of a dead fish. No pun intended. He's very dull. He's deathly dull. And, at the end of this episode when he has saved everyone, he doesn't explain to anyone what the heck he has done. He just makes a dull quip and leaves it at that. Frustrating for his crew (I imagine) and frustrating for the viewers (for definite).
But there are some strengths. The most enjoyable thing about this episode (indeed, the most enjoyable thing about the whole series) is the character of Mr. Schubert, playing by the amazing Victor Buono. He's the recurring bad guy of the piece. He's appeared three times so far. Probably because Victor Buono is so good, and probably because the writers/producers haven't got much else to offer in the way of stories.
Schubert is a great character. He is selfish and greedy, and has evil traits, but he also has a genuine respect/affection for Mark. He would prefer that Mark is not killed while helping him. And if it happens you can see he would take no pleasure from it. Which is a nice bit of character work on what could have been a one-dimensional bad guy.
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Man From Atlantis
