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On a survey mission on a supposedly uninhabited planet, Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) and Hawk (Thom Christopher) are caught in a storm and seek shelter in a cave - where they find a dying man, the Guardian (Harry Townes), who instantly recognizes Buck, knows about him coming from another time, and tasks him to deliver a certain box to the next guardian - without of course giving him the next guardian's identity or whereabouts before dying. Still, Buck accepts the challenge - and when he touches the box in his sleep, he has a vision of him being back in 1987 and with his mother (Rosemary DeCamp), only days before he was shot into space and got frozen for 500 years. Later on ship, everybody gets mighty curious about the box and several people try to open it, like Admiral Asimov (Jay Garner), who then has a vision of a famish on board, Hawk, who sees his dead lover (BarBara Luna) and even Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), who witnesses a blind version of herself. Then the ship is taken off course, provisions run low, Wilma's indeed blinded, and ultimately everything appears to be the will of the box which is better to be heeded. Eventually, the ship reaches the fringes of the universe and stumbles upon an earth-like planet, and Buck, Hawk and Wilma go down - to find a lame young shepherd (Shawn Stevens), who claims he can't help them at all, but then there's an earthquake, he falls into a fault in the ground, and when Buck tries to save him, the boy rather gives his life than letting Buck risk his to save him. And suddenly he's the new Guardian, Wilma's no longer blind, the provisions are replenished, and the ship's back on course, because ...

... yes indeed, because of what? What were all those weird visions, why did Wilma go blind, why did the ship run out of provisions (something that's only mentioned, never acted upon), and why was it so important that Buck delivers the Guardian's box? In all, this episode feels very much like a classic Star Trek story, what with the survey mission, all the human-like aliens speaking perfect English, the ship taken over by a mysterious force and whatnot - with the one difference being that the story doesn't make all that much sense and leaves too many questions open.

One point of interest about this one is it's one of the last directorial appointments by science fiction legend Jack Arnold, but he, always more of a craftsman than visionary, fails to leave any personal stamp on this one.

... and all of which is making this a definitely less than perfect episode, more an intersting curio.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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