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All is quiet, and the universe
around Alpha seems at peace.
That is, until sensors detect a
group of objects in space which
resemble a "swarm of space bees". When they change course for
Alpha, the base goes to red alert.
Eagles are launched to intercept,
but before they come into range,
they alter course, again, and go
into lunar orbit. Unable to
penetrate the cylinders with the
sensors, Koenig and Maya take
an Eagle up to investigate them.
Still unable to learn anything,
they bring one back to Alpha.
The safest place to examine it is
an underground research facility
at the outskirts of the base. Using
every precaution, they attempt to
open it. They finally succeed, but
not before damaging the capsule
itself. When they look to see what
is inside they are surprised to
find the lifeless body of a young
humanoid male... killed by their
actions! He is rushed to Medical
Center, where he is revived. It
turns out the pods are cryogenic
chambers, and Koenig wants to
know how they work. Koenig
orders another one brought down
so that they can try to open one
without damaging it. They select
the one paired with Cantar's,
and with his help, are able to
open it successfully. In it is
Cantar's wife Zova. While she is
being revived Cantar asks Koenig
to save the rest of his people
before the gravity of the Moon
crushes the capsules. Koenig tells
him that Alpha's life support
systems can't support that many
additional people. Cantar tells
him that He and Zova could
enhance the life support systems to
more than compensate for them.
Koenig tells him no, but Tony and
Helena ask him to reconsider,
asking what price is too high for
survival. Could they let all of
those people die without trying.
Koenig agrees to let them try after
stunning Cantar to make sure their
weapons will be effective against
them if something goes wrong. Cantar is returned to Medical
Center to recover from being
stunned, but is not so vulnerable
to stun guns as we were lead to
believe. Cantar and Zova begin
work on modifying the life
support systems to enable the
rescue of their comrades. During
her off time Helena is sculpting a bust of herself for John. While she
is showing it to Maya, John stops
by for a visit, but not before Maya
transforms into Helena's double.
John asks which is the "real"
Helena. After a kiss from both
of them, he is asked if he can tell
the difference. He says there is
none, aand Helena tells him he is
no longer getting the bust she
made for him! He tells her she
is needed in life support. There,
she checks on Cantar and Zova's
progress. They tell her they are
almost finished with their
modifications. When they do finish Cantar heads for the Power
Room which is off limits. The
security guard tries to stun him to
no effect. Cantar incapcitates the
guard and enters the restricted
area. Helena tries to sound the
alarm, but is stopped by Zova.
There is an explosion caused by
their tampering and Tony and
Maya rush to the Power Room
to investigate. When they arrive,
Tony manages to set off the alarm
before he is stunned. Maya tries
to stop them by changing into
a black panther, but is stunned
by Zova. Cantar and Zova kidnap
Helena and Tony, and take them
to their homeworld of Golos via
the teleportation device they
created from the life support
systems. When they arrive at their
destination, they are recognized
as exiles. Cantar threatens to
destroy the main life plant if the
ruler of the planet is not brought
before him. Mirella arrives and
Cantar tells her to tell the people
of Golos that they are the new
rulers of the planet, and if she
does not comply he will destroy
the life plant. Mirella counters that
the two of them will not be able to
hold all of Golos captive. Zova
tells her that the Alphans will
recover the rest of their group,
then returns to over see the
operation. She tells koenig of their
plan and he refuses to cooperate.
Zova digs her fingernails into the
sculpture of Helena, and Helena's
screams can be heard. Koenig
ultimately gives in and agrees to
recover the rest of the capsules.
He, Maya, and Zova are taken to
recover another capsule. They all
suit up and attach life lines for
the space walk. Cantar watches
as Koenig unhooks Zova's life
line and pushes her out of the
Eagle. Cantar tries to shoot
Helena in retribution, but she
has scratched the protective
membrane that has maintained
his youth for the last 300 years.
Helena manages to stay out of
his line of fire as he begins to age.
At the rate of 10 years per second,
he quickly becomes too feeble to
fire his weapon. Mirella returns
Helena and Tony to Alpha, where
they reappear in Life Support. They

head back towards Command
Center, but are met en route
and greeted by John and Maya.
Maya figures out a way to use their
antigravity screens to return the
capsules to their original trajectory.
Tony tells Maya she would be
court-martialed if Alpha was a
military base for "embarassing the
man in charge". Maya asks if a
kiss causes embarassment for
humans. Tony said it must for
Psychons, because she had to
turn into another woman to do
it. Maya said it was more fun
that way, and asked if he would
like to try. He declined...
Helena is in Koenig's quarters
and sees the damage to her
scuplture. She asks why he did
that to her, and said he probably
thinks she looked better that way
(not letting him get a word in
edge-wise), and ends suggesting
he make her "a pretty nose".


Screenplay.....................................................................Donald James

Director...............................................................................Ray Austin

Guest Stars

Cantar............................................................................Peter Duncan

Zova..............................................................................Stacy Dorning

Mirella.........................................................................Margaret Inglis

Stal............................................................................Anthony Blackett

Old Lady.........................................................................Peggy Ledger


The Exiles strikes me as being one of the second season's offerings that most contrasts the first season. They deal with the issue of "what price is too high to pay for survival?". This issue was also handled in Mission of the Darians. The main difference being that in Mission of the Darians, Koenig asked the question of the Darians (who would do anything to survive) and in The Exiles, Tony asks the same thing of Koenig who seemed to be willing to let "innocent" people die to ensure the safety of Alpha. Perhaps it should have been Alan asking that question?

Koenig seemed to behave very uncharacteristically in other ways as well. His "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude, for example. I have heard that Martin Landau was against doing the scene where he stuns Cantar to see if Alphan weapons would work against him for just that reason, but ultimately he did the job that was asked of him.

On a more positive note, there are some very nice character moments in this episode. I like the scene with Maya in Helena's quarters (By the way, what happened to the ones she had in Matter of life and Death?). We get to see Helena's interest in sculpting (she's rather talented), and her just being an average person envying Maya's ability to alter her form at will (Who wouldn't think this was a cool ability?). We get to see the fully developed relationship between John and Helena, including the kind of banter you would only use with someone you know and care about. We also get to see Maya's impish humor, in the "two Helena's" scene, and when Tony and she discuss the kiss later. I particularly liked how she raised her voice when asking if a kiss causes embarassment in humans, while Tony was whispering. She really turned the joke around on him!

There was also some very nice model work in this episode, like the long pan from the Main Mission Tower along the Travel Tube route

to the landing pad at the underground research facility.

But there was one flaw that I just can't let go of. When Koenig, Maya, and eventually Zova, leave the Eagle to retrieve the capsules...

they have no air tanks on their space suits!

I am sure this must have been because they didn't want to add the maneuvering thrusters on top of the tanks, but they could have designed it with a small air tank in the middle. Any replies to comments made here are always welcome. Please contact me by using the commlock in the
Communication Centre.

The set for the life plant on Golos is clearly a redress of the Grove of Psyche set from The Metamorph. Complete with the lighted oval panels and what looks to be the bottom half of Psyche in the middle of the room.

Even the triangular lighted panel in the wall made to the updated set.


click for downloadable version

 

 

Click here to play sound Helena and Tony see the capsules
on screen for the first time.
Click here to play sound Koenig decides to bring one
of the capsules down.
Click here to play sound The Alphans learn what
is inside the capsules.
Click here to play sound Koenig and Helena discuss
bringing another capsule down.
Click here to play sound Cantar tells Koenig how he and Zova
came to be cast into space.
Click here to play sound Tony, Helena, and John discuss
saving Cantar's people.
Click here to play sound Tony and Helena ask John
the price of survival.
Click here to play sound Koenig and the two Helena's.
Click here to play sound John compliments Helena
on her sculpture... too late.
Click here to play sound Cantar threatens to destroy Golos.
Click here to play sound Cantar and Helena discuss morality.
Click here to play sound Cantar tries to kill Helena (edited).
Click here to play sound Helena and Tony return to Alpha.
Click here to play sound Tony tries to explain "discipline
in the ranks" to Maya.
Click here to play sound Helena and John discuss what
happened to her sculpture.
Click here to play sound Background sound.

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