Exciting plot with good suspense and an example of a voice against the Cold War, the script, you can tell, asks for peace between United States and Russia as evident by the two countries having to work together to stop a nuclear bomb from reacting within a capsule that has landed in the ocean near the Bay Area of San Francisco. The capsule was supposed to go into space but sabotage caused it to land in the ocean. The ones responsible have swapped an impostor for another Russian space capsule expert, Gronski (Everett Sloane, expertly cast because he face, demeanor, and voice are of a civil, kind, and reliable nature that makes him seem trustworthy and likable), who flies by chopper to meet the Seaview while another Russian space expert, Malinoff (Michael Ansara; the Lost in Space episode, "The Challenge") arrives by a trawler to board the sub. The goal is to rendezvous with the capsule in time to disarm the bomb before it goes off, causing a devastation that will not only impact a million lives in San Francisco but the entire country as nuclear energy has the ability to do. That "rush against time" is palpable and the idea that time is ticking away, "time is of the essence", can be felt in the performances of the cast of characters on board the Seaview (the sweaty nervousness of the crew during the key sequence where Gronski and Malinoff are in the capsule is brilliantly conveyed). I prefer these kinds of episodes to the usual giant underwater monsters and "on the ground" plots that often feature heavily on the show, as it takes a realistic scenario, something very authentic of the era for when Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was on the air and wrings as much tension it can from the premise. The idea that it takes a capsule dropping into the ocean near US, a weapon inside threatening to destroy American lives in order to cause two countries at odds to join forces I think is a good message storyline that I imagine gave the audiences of the time good food for thought. One of my personal favorite episodes of the series thus far.
3 Reviews
At least it's only the West Coast...
planktonrules17 September 2017
The show begins with the launching of a Russian rocket*. Soon, it's apparent that the rocket is going off course and is headed towards the US West Coast. Why is this a major problem? Apparently there's some sort of nuclear payload aboard and some rogue Soviets are orchestrating all this. The Seaview comes into the story because the rocket's payload lands in the sea...and unless the bomb is disarmed, bad stuff's gonna happen. But what Admiral Nelson doesn't know is that one of the Soviet experts aboard has no intention of disarming the weapon!
This is a decent episode but resorts to a bad cliché used too often in the series...or at least the first season. There's a crew member on the most sophisticated ship on the planet and he is unprofessional and lets his problems become the ship's problems. This is WORSE in the next episode but still you'd think the crew would be professionals and not overly emotional knuckle-heads. Despite this, it's STILL a pretty good episode...one worth seeing.
This is a decent episode but resorts to a bad cliché used too often in the series...or at least the first season. There's a crew member on the most sophisticated ship on the planet and he is unprofessional and lets his problems become the ship's problems. This is WORSE in the next episode but still you'd think the crew would be professionals and not overly emotional knuckle-heads. Despite this, it's STILL a pretty good episode...one worth seeing.
Seven Out Of Ten Episode
StuOz30 October 2016
A rocket with its nuclear pile is about to crash into the San Francisco area.
I like the way the first half of this hour has shades of a disaster movie with concerned seaman Clark fearing his family will be killed by a falling rocket.
Also, it seems Voyage and Lost In Space both have the same actor playing the President of the USA: Ford Rainey. But since this was set in 1973 and LIS was set in 1997...he should have been several years older in LIS. But still, it feels nice having both shows in the same Irwin Allen universe.
This is a very early Voyage adventure, and for this reason I am sure Irwin Allen or ABC felt it right that we should see a lot of underwater filming with divers to keep true to the series premise. That is all good and well but the footage in question here is very lengthy and boring with sleepy music playing over it (the poor music problem would be fixed in the colour seasons).
The dull diver stuff takes three points away from the hour that gets seven out ten from me.
I like the way the first half of this hour has shades of a disaster movie with concerned seaman Clark fearing his family will be killed by a falling rocket.
Also, it seems Voyage and Lost In Space both have the same actor playing the President of the USA: Ford Rainey. But since this was set in 1973 and LIS was set in 1997...he should have been several years older in LIS. But still, it feels nice having both shows in the same Irwin Allen universe.
This is a very early Voyage adventure, and for this reason I am sure Irwin Allen or ABC felt it right that we should see a lot of underwater filming with divers to keep true to the series premise. That is all good and well but the footage in question here is very lengthy and boring with sleepy music playing over it (the poor music problem would be fixed in the colour seasons).
The dull diver stuff takes three points away from the hour that gets seven out ten from me.
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