Airdate:
11/12/78
Better than Charles Nelson Reilly! |
A Cylon attack on the Galactica renders their farming unit nearly devoid ofvaluable seed, so Adama devises to trade a highly-coveted “energizer” for seed on the farming planet Sectar. One problem – he needs an untraceable energizer (lest the Cylons find it), but the only one without any identification belongs to a vampish woman named Belloby, who agrees to give up her prized possession in return for a courtship with Adama, whose feelings are not exactly requited. Everone heads down to Sectar, but it turns out the agricultural colony is terrorized by a marauding horde of alien thugs known as the Borays; they regularly plunder the town for grain (and woman) and always kill the town constable – no wonder the job has such a high turnover! The mayor, Bogan, schemes to trick Starbuck, who’s trying to win some money at cards to buy seeds and get back their recently stolen energizer. It works – and poor Starbuck is stuck doing the job that no one in the town is exactly clamoring for. It takes a full-on assault by the Galactica crew to check and further Boray advances, and Starbuck even talks the brutish leader into assuming the constable position!
Finally! Episode #10 marks the first halfway decent episode
of the series – the plot is relatively straightforward, the dialogue clear and
entertaining, and the action makes minor use of the same recycled shots of
fighter planes, joysticks and explosions. Veteran TV action Barry Nelson is
great in the supporting role as bad guy/good guy mayor, and Match Game regular Brett Somers (yes, that Brett Somers) is an absolute hoot
as Belloby, although one does wonder why on earth she’d be in possession of
such a coveted piece of hardware as an energizer. As its title hat-tippingly
suggests, this episode bears more than a faint resemblance to the Western
classic The Magnificent Seven; sure
it’s a rip off, but unlike the previous disaster, “Ice Station Zero,” it has
some fun with the premise. It reminded me of some later-to-come tongue-in-cheek
adventure movies from the 80s, full of dime-store costumes, eye-winking
dialogue and rousing, rooting climaxes.
Rating: ***
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