Ask any hopelessly dorky Buck Rogers fan, and you'll get the same: "Unchained Woman" is simply one of the best of the series. Its main draw is, of course, a mighty fine looking Jamie Lee Curtis in a tight red prison uniform, and of course there's the always mighty fine Erin Gray in her shimmering spandex. Both women are tough as nails while being deliciously feminine, and I think that's what put shows like this above the standard 70s damsel in distress cheese. On several occasions they save Buck's beefcakey butt.
But the icing on the cake is a very cool pre-Terminator story about a murderous android who will stop at nothing, travel the sands of time, and perhaps rip apart an awesomely cheesy giant squid to get to Buck and make him "report to the dayroom, escape is not possible". The butchering bucket of bolts is played by towering actor Walter Hunter who, bizarrely, never acted again according to IMDb. No matter, how could he ever top Hugo?
Although this predates Schwarzenegger's Terminator by 5 years, "Unchained Woman" is, itself, an unapologetic rip-off of the astounding "Westworld" (1973) starring Yul Brynner as the gunslinging gearbox who goes amuck and starts hunting the hero. If you haven't seen that movie, see it immediately after watching this.
In addition to the cornucopia of corny coolness I've already described, you can expect a dramatic & sobering subplot with the great Tim O'Connor ("Dr. Huer") who comes to a tense conflict of friendship and duty with his old friend. Subplots like this, along with the aforementioned badass chick themes, are what raised Buck Rogers a notch above the scifi fantasy cheese of prior generations.
If you're new to Buck Rogers, I think this is a great way to get your feet wet. And for you longtime fans of BR, who's with me on starting a kickstarter campaign to round up all the original actors to do a remake of this episode? Erin Gray, for one, is still quite the looker!