New Adam New Eve

A strange disturbance causes
Alpha's sensors to react wildly,
and also causes disorientation,
headaches, and fainting among
the crew. As the disturbance fades,
a being appears on the screen,
and when asked to identify himself,
he claims to be God.

He materializes in Command
Center, and tells the Alphans that
they need not bow down and
adore him. Koenig tells him that
it is not their style. After trying to
convince Koenig that he is who
he claims, he destroys an Eagle
when Koenig's flippant remarks

push him too far. Koenig asks
what he wants, and Magus says
he wants to give them a second
chance on a new Earth. He picks
a reconnaisance team for them
to investigate the planet. Koenig
balks, but Magus tells him that it
his team or none at all.

Koenig hesitantly agrees, but
insists that they take an Eagle when
Magus offers to transport them to
the planet. Magus concedes, then
transports the entire Eagle to the
planet, rather than wait to fly there.
Koenig tries to contact Alpha but
cannot. Magus suggests that

his method of transporting
them may have disrupted their
communications and that it will
come back later. They disembark
to investigate the planet. All their
readings suggest that it is perfect
for them but Koenig wants to
bring more people down to

conduct a feasability study.
Magus tells him that no one else
will be joining them. They are to
be his new Adams and Eves.
Koenig pulls his stun gun on
Magus who transports it away
and fires it at himself. It appears
to make him more powerful.

Magus announces that he
has decided on the pair bonding
of Koenig-Maya, and Helena-Tony.
They try to explain that this pairing
will not work, as they are not in
love with those he has selected as
mates. Magus leaves them, as the
sun begins to set, with a warning

not to leave the glade. They
head for the Eagle but it vanishes. They soon learn that Magus has not
left his pairing to chance. The four
are encased in oppositely charged
energy fields, which will shock them
when they touch the "mate" not
selected for them by Magus.

The Moon rises in the sky and,
with Magus' help, seems to have
all the romantic powers ascribed
to it. Koenig goes to gather wood
for the fire, and is joined by Maya.
They are drawn to each other, as
are Helena and Tony back at the
camp. As they kiss, the mood

is shattered by the sounds
of creatures fighting nearby. They
investigate, and find a disfigured
humanoid being attacked by a
larger ape-like creature. Sensing
their presence, it turns and moves
to attack them. Koenig stuns
it and it falls into the brush.

Helena heads toward the
cave the smaller retreated to, and
an ape-beast emerges from the
brush to grab her. Maya transforms
into a creature to rescue her. With
Helena safe, they decide to search
the cave to see if they can figure
out what is going on. Before

they can enter, lightning flashes
and Magus' face appears in the
sky. Angry that they left the glade
against his wishes, he forces them
back with lasers from his eyes. The
next morning he appears as they
wake. They ask why he reacted the
way he did. He tells them that

was only trying to protect them.
He erects a force field, in order to
enforce his wishes, which John
experiences first hand. While the
others ask Magus what he is trying
to hide, Maya moves behind him
with a medical scanner. When he
leaves, she tells the others

that Magus has an implant which
is the source of his powers, proving
he is no super-being. Koenig learns
that the force field has a limited
height. Maya turns into an owl to
look for a way out of the glade.
Alan tries to lift off from Alpha
with a booster enhanced Eagle.

Magus strains to keep him
from lifting off. This, along with
holding New Earth together against
the pull of a disproportionately
large Moon, generating the force
field, and other jobs taxing his
powers, almost proves too much.
He catches Maya in owl form

but lets her go, not realizing
it was her. She returns to the others
having found footprints that lead
to a cave that was recently sealed
with rocks. They blast their way into
the cave. Upon entering, they are
immediately met by giant lizards.
They are easily stunned, and

when Koenig moves ahead
he is attacked by the mutant they
saw fighting the ape-creature.
When he throws his attacker off
and grabs his stun gun, it pleads
for him to shoot. It explains that
Magus, in seeking the secret of
creation, has only managed

to create mutants, and won't
even let them die because he feels
he can learn from his mistakes. It
points the way out of the glade
through the caves. When the four
exit the caves, Tony is stunned by
Magus. When confronted about
the mutants, Magus explains

that he cannot solve the
mystery of creation alone, and
wants their offspring to help him.
He threatens to destroy Alpha
if they do not agree. John agrees
to think about it. Magus says
that they can discuss it in the
morning, and leaves. John

suspects that Magus doesn't
like the dark. Maya suggests that
the implant she detected might be
a light-decelerator, capable of
converting light into an almost
unlimited power supply, directed
by thought. Koenig says they have
to find a way to keep the light

away from Magus. While he is
on the far side of the planet, they
dig a hole, and make blinds out
of the vegetation. When morning
comes Magus returns and asks if
they agree to his terms. Koenig
tells him that they have terms he
must meet before they can agree:

no more experimentation on the
mutants. Magus is outraged at the
arrogance of the humans. Koenig
replies that they are shocked at
the horror of his deeds. Furious,
Magus marches forward into their
trap. They cover it up, and Magus
tells them they will all die

without him to hold the planet
together. As planet starts to break
up, the Eagle reappears. Koenig
sends the others on while he goes
back for the mutants. They choose
to remain, and Koenig returns to
the Eagle, and lifts off as the
ground opens beneath it.

Their Eagle barely gets out of
range as New Earth explodes.
Koenig ponders the possibilities
of Magus surviving if a shaft of
light had gotten to him as the
planet broke up. Tony thinks
this is quite the longshot but
wouldn't bet against him.

New Adam, New Eve is an unususal blend of different ideas. One theme I, personally, have difficulty with is the mixing of religion and science-fiction: more accurately, the placement of God in science fiction. Whether one believes in God or not, and whatever the form that belief takes, I think the concept of meeting God is one best left to personal reflection or literature. By showing "God", you immediately alienate everyone who does not share the same image of God as you do. And more than likely, the God-figure in science-fiction tends to be a fraud, so there tends to be little mystery about it.

That being said, I think Guy Rolfe does an admirable job with the part of Magus. His attitude and demeanor convey a mild sense of smug superiority, with a soft spoken gentleness, until he is riled, then he slips into "old testament" wrath mode.

There are some aspects to this story, I just don't know how to feel about. When Magus appears to the Alphans, They are understandably sceptical, but if we are to believe that they are entertaining the remote possibility that this could be God, then Koenig's flip behavior could be potentially shocking. On the other hand, perhaps he simply never believed.

There are a lot of cautionary underpinnings in this episode. Some regarding genetic manipulation, "playing God" so to speak. Others regarding humanity's mistreatment of the planet and each other, these from the mouth of "God", no less!

There are lapses in logic in this story. Magus claims to have been to Earth in various guises; as Simon Magus who offered to buy the Nazarene's powers from his apostles, as Merlin, as Nostradamus, and as the magician in ancient Egypt who contended in magic with Moses. With the exception of of Nostradamus, the rest of his incarnations are figures whose existence or reputation may or may not be provable. And knowing humandkind, as he claims, he thought masquerading as God would earn their trust? That was a serious miscalculation.

There were some great moments when the Alphans were under the the romantic spell of the Moon (or was it Magus, or a drug in the food?). It was interesting to see the different pairings, and I would say that Koenig and Maya pretty well sizzled together.

Now to pick some nits... Undermining the illusion of Magus' super powers was a small editing gaff. When Magus transports Koenigs stungun into his own hand and fires it at himself, the gun materializes in a somewhat less than magical way. Apparently they had meant to cut

out the portion where it was handed to Guy Rolfe in the editing room.

There was another goof when Maya changes into an owl, and rests on Tony's arm. Shouldn't they both have received a shock? Where were the magnetic field cocoons then?

And I assume they meant for us to believe that there were more than one of the mutant humanoids. Despite the fact that they made no effort to trick us into believing that there were, in fact, more than one, they did constantly refer to him (them?) in the plural. This is especially noticable at the end when Koenig is trying to convince the one mutant to come with them as the planet is breaking up. When he says "all of you" to the mutant, I wasn't sure if he thought he might leave a portion of himself behind...

perhaps the brown boots?

When all is said and done, this is a decent episode with both good and bad points. How bad could it be? It appears to have inspired Star Trek V: The Final Frontier! Or was it inspired by Who Mourns For Adonais? Perhaps we will never know.

Any replies to comments made here are always welcome. You can contact me by using the commlock in the Communication Centre.

	The Alphans meet their maker ...and live!
	Magus allows the Alphans to remain standing.
	Magus reflects on the charms of humanity.
	Magus gives humanity a second chance.
	Magus expounds the glories New Earth.
	It's good to be God!
	Magus drops the "other shoe".
	Magus waxes biblical.
	Magus gives the good news.
	Magus plays matchmaker.
	Magus takes the credit for love.
	Tony wonders if Magus could be God, and Helena works on her addition.
	Koenig and Maya discuss universal comparative theology.
	Magus puts on a show!
	Magus and Koenig discuss free will.
	Magus tries to make peace.
	Magus recalls the sixties.
	Magus steals a line from Victor Bergman.
	The Mutant "sheds some light" on Magus' background.
	Magus has a few choice words for the Alphans, and stuns Tony.
	The Alphans verbally attack Magus.
	Magus threatens to blow up the Moon.
	Koenig figures out Magus' secret.
	Magus is trapped.
	Background sound.