Episode 14 – Third from the Sun

We are dropped into the final days of a cold war military standoff. Our protagonist, Will Sturka, is a military scientist who has been part of the team building the H-bomb that will supposedly give us the edge in the conflict. A conflict that is scheduled to start in 48 hours. Will expresses some trepidation about everyone in the world launching missiles, and his supervisor Carling, finds his behavior suspicious, if not traitorous.

Back home, Will is met by his friend Jerry, the two go out to the garage and go over their plan to steal an experimental top-secret spacecraft from work and head out into space with their wives and Will’s daughter, Jody. Despite their precautions, they are overheard by an eavesdropping Carling, who now knows their plan.

Later that night Will, Jerry, their wives and Jody are playing cards at Will’s house and Carling stops by unexpectedly. He drops enough hints and knowing looks to alert Will and Jerry that he must be on to their plan. He departs, and Will and Jerry resolve to depart that very night. The group heads to the military base under the really crappy excuse of giving their families a tour of the TOP SECRET EXPERIMENTAL SPACESHIP. This is just dumb, I’m sorry, but it’s dumb. Anyway, they all pull up in a car and Will and Jerry get out to talk to their contact. Unfortunately, their contact has been replaced by Carling, who brandishes a gun and tells them the jig is up. In a bit of quick thinking, Jody kicks the car door open, knocking the gun from Carling’s hand. He is quickly overpowered, and the group dashes past the guards and takes off in the ship.

Finally, on the bridge of the ship, Will tells the group their destination. A planet with people just like them, 11 million miles away, third from the sun, called “Earth.”

Not a bad episode, but a little short on suspense. I’m finding I like the slightly more supernatural episodes more than the plot twist episodes. Meh, maybe next time.