As I understood it, this was a "this is what the future holds" storyline. Challenger, in his delirium, was able to see the future and could therefore change it, once he fully realized the disastrous consequences of his new powers. I actually preferred that solution to a "just a dream" approach.

: : AR: ... Suddenly, they are attacked by Dirkon and his band of slavers. Before the others can help them, Malone is knocked down and Veronica kidnapped. The injured Malone is left behind at the treehouse, while Roxton, Marguerite and a very much alive Challenger follow the trail of the slavers.

: I think I've figured out what Malone's job on the show is - he's the "man in the red shirt" in Star Trek terms.

I think Malone's a bit more than the "man in the red shirt", but you're right, there definitely is a tendency to portray him in that direction.

: : AR: At the slaver's camp, Veronica is tied to a pole with her right wrist secured (you know why, Troy) :)

: I still don't get the whole "just secure one wrist" thing, except as an excuse for Veronica to throw a bunch of kicks at the slavers.

BTW, you were not quite right about the cheesecake shot of the week. The kicking scene you depicted from the website photo was shown from a different (less revealing) camara angle in the episode. The real cheesecake shot appeared near the end, during the second fight scene. To get an idea what I'm talking about, got to http://members.xoom.com/bunker/odell.html, click on the last photo ("odell17") and look a the bottom part of the montage, then you know what I mean. It probably doesn't get more revealing than that in this kind of a show.

: : AR: Roxton and Marguerite prepare to take Veronica's corpse back to the treehouse. Challenger asks them to stay with him, claiming he did not want to kill her. As proof, he is shedding a tear over her death which he turns into a diamond, handing it to Marguerite. She rejects it, telling him that some things cannot be bought with diamonds....

: This goes back to my question about "its all just a dream" or "this is the future of things to come". Would Marge go through this transformation from being self-centered to starting to develop the capacity to love others more than herself? Keep in mind that, later on, Challenger will destroy the idol and won't allow this "future" to occur, so will Marge go through this transformation or will she continue to be the gem-loving, self-centered character Challenger suspects her to be? Or maybe she's already transformed and her "future" act is just a confirmation of what she's already become. Hmmmm. This is getting too deep for campy entertainment ;)

I think her "future" act is just a confirmation of what she is ( or has become). Then again, it's not such a heroic act to reject a diamond from someone who has just killed one of the members of your group, even for Marguerite.

: : - The short scene with his dying wife confirmed my earlier criticism that Summerlee's not utilized enough. Michael Sinelnikoff is an actor that should be given more room to show his skills.

: Exactly. The worst actor: Tie between David Orth and Will Snow, but I'm giving Will Snow some credit for enduring the horrible scenes he was given in "Blood Lust" where he's roaming the jungle looking for prey. But Orth isn't the worst they've had. That credit goes to the actress that played the witchdoctor on "Nectar". In my opinion, there are 2 actors on that show - Michael Sinelnikoff and Peter McCauley. Rachel Blakely is a character actor - all of her roles on other shows have been about the same - the snooty self-centered person. Jennifer O'Dell still needs some polishing but has potential if she can land a few more roles in other shows that allow her to play different kinds of characters. But O'Dell does a very good job playing the action hero. If I was her agent, I'd try to get her a job doing a comedy film, and then maybe a drama.

I agree with most of your observations, though I do believe that Rachel Blakely has some potential to go beyond the "snooty self-centered person" type. Every now and then there are flashes of more, when the script allows. Her final scene with Challeneger in this episode was one of them. Will Snow is certainly not the best actor around (slight understatement :)), but I think he is the right choice for the part and does a reasonably good job. As for David Orth, it's almost impossible to make a real judgement about his acting skills in that kind of part.

:: But can anyone please tell me why the slavers look like they were coming right out of a "Mad Max" movie?

: Because both were filmed in Australia :)

I guess there's some logic in that. :)

: : Dirkon would especially be a useful character opposite Veronica. In this context, it was good to see Veronica finally lose a fight. I think it would be a mistake to turn her into some sort of invincible "Xena of the jungle". When characters cannot possibly come to any harm and win every fight they're involved in, they soon become less interesting. The same applies to Roxton. To have them lose the occasional fight keeps the characters (and the stories) more interesting.

: You're right - the characters need to have flaws in order to keep the show interesting. Veronica's been captured at least 3 times: once by the Saurian Empire (when the others were captured as well), once by a Cristec warrior, and now by the Slavers.

All of the times Veronica has been captured it was while she was fighting against overwhelming odds, including, to a certain extent, the first fight scene in "Absolute Power". I have yet counted this scene as the first real lost fight. The same (overwhelming odds) applies to Roxton, both he and Veronica have not yet lost a fight in one on one combat. This somehow seems difficult for some writers "to do" to their main characters. Yet I think it's important to have them loose such a fight once in a while, just to show that these characters are also human. When it could finally be done on "Xena", it can certainly be done on TLW.

:: In TLW, there's the initial gunfight followed by kicks and punches, and then by everyone falling down. And there's no gore, no foul language, no disturbing moral questions............Also, I think the producers are holding back on some of the cheesecake (whether its intentional or not, I'm not sure). For example, one of the oldest devices to build suspense is a whipping scene (see "Starship Troopers" for example). Now, in this episode of TLW, Veronica has defied her captors and injured Dirkon's men. So why didn't they chain her to a whipping post and give her a good lashing? Instead, we get Dirkon trying to build a rationalization - a reason to just keep his men away from her. Did the writers put it in there, but Landis took the scene out? Come to think of it, I don't recall any of the characters undergoing any form of torture in any of the episodes other than being marched through the jungle with their hands tied behind their back. In Star Trek, Kirk endured the whip, electricity, a spinning table, and even a chair that warped his mind. Spock went through a whipping and suspension. McCoy hung in tatters as part of an experiment by aliens. Even Chekov spent some time screaming in agony. And each time, the scene was used to build towards a climactic ending (or at least a dramatic build-up before going to a commercial).

In the TV environment of today, it's often more difficult to get away with some of the things that were shown on Star Trek Classic in the 60's. The scene in the slaver's camp with Veronica was pushing the previous limits of TLW, if only for a little bit. You have to see for yourself. As for your whipping suggestion, I think that would be out of line in the context of the scene. Dirkon's argument, do not damage our most precious "object", was logical. Why should they injure someone they made such an effort to capture to sell at a slave auction for a high price?

: Anyway, thanks for the review! I can't wait for the show to air.

You're welcome.