Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 8

Space Vampire

S1E13

In Space Vampire and yes those were the days when even the titles were cheesy we have a Buck and Wilma going on a kind of vacation and dropping off Twiki at a repair station which gets hit by a rogue freighter. The crew of the ship are dead but evidence indicates they were infected with the EL7 virus which causes fever, hallucinations and mental issues and then strange things start to happen. As the station personnel start to go mad Buck finds evidence that the ship had been invaded by a mythical entity but despite all the strange goings on Buck is believed to be suffering from the virus until it's almost too late.

Yes I Know

Ok then talk about an excellent example of it's time, this was a fun episode but a bad episode it really was. Lets begin with Buck and Wilma going on a trip, about time but it seemed strange Twiki needed to go off world for some maintenance even though they were joking it was due to all his fun and games with his "friend" from last weeks episode. Wilma smoking hot as always and maybe an old flame on the station in the form of Commander Royko (Christopher Stone) but that's cut short when the freighter comes through the stargate on a direct vector towards the station, now who in their right mind places a fixed station in the flight path of a stargate exit, you are really asking for trouble. Now I wouldn't even have bothered trying to show the collision, just stick with the shaky cam and actors throwing themselves around because the slow mo model work really didn't look that good. Anyhow the freighters air becomes mixed with the station and the presence of the EL7 virus clouds the arrival of this alien life form which is capable of controlling people and he sets his sights on Wilma in the classic Dracula plot, don't blame the guy one bit.

Oh yes

I liked how they presented this "Vorvon" via the use of an energy based entity and then the physical form although the makeup was a little well never mind:) Wilma once controlled took the hotness up a notch although the reverb in her voice would be a little off putting but so much fun seeing her "vamping" towards Buck. The episode saved it's best special effects for the shuttle and it's escape pod, that looked very nice even though the whole gate to a sun seemed bloody dangerous to me but we'll let it go.

Space Vampire IMDB

Happy Birthday, Buck

S1E14

Buck is feeling very depressed, it seems life is too easy and too uniform for him despite all his adventures and well yes all the ladies he has met this past year so Dr. Huer asks him to escort the courier Raylyn Derren (Morgan Brittany) on her assignment which gives them time to set up a surprise party for Buck. Meanwhile Cornell Traeger (Peter MacLean) after being imprisoned for 15 years by an alien species escapes and returns to earth to exact vengeance on Dr Huer armed with his new "powers" and first things first, find the courier get the security information and then strike but well he didn't plan for Buck being along.

Tamara Dobson as Dr. Delora Bayliss

Well it was good to hear of New Detroit and have the episode deal with the city even if only in a casual way, wasn't quite sure if using couriers and mind probes made sense given it seemed just as easy to get information if you have the know how as shown by the antics of Dr. Bayliss who was wonderfully played by Tamara Dobson. Traeger was a little over the top and so many things wrong with the plot elements surrounding his imprisonment and getting his special powers, maybe more daft than the space vampire:)

I liked the idea that psychiatry is still alive and well in 500 years although it seems most is done by machine and even then in an open environment, not exactly conductive to privacy but hey lots of screen time for some for the lovely lady extras. I laughed quite a bit with Huer and Wilma with the ballons and certinaly with the pointy hat and deja-vu with the Dagger of the Mind scenario using the mind probe machine.

Buck gets THE best presents

Happy Birthday, Buck had some good bits but I was tuning out for the most part, it just wasn't that exciting to watch.

Happy Birthday, Buck IMDB