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Post by HoudiniDerek on Jul 17, 2006 19:21:54 GMT -5
Not the best work of Lupo, Cannell, or Hasburgh. People don't like that Hasburgh wrote NOW YOU SEE IT, but I think it was much better than this episode. How did Ralph's head not fall off? He was not protecting it when the shuttle landed...so his head should have been smashed into the ground. Why did Ralph ask if the greenguys could manage something like this? It sounds like he thinks the greenguys sent the eel there to test them or something...rather than did the greenguys put a way into the suit to stop something like the eel? How did the eel get on the unmanned shuttle? Did it fly up to it and go in? Was it somehow created in the shuttle? I hate how Bill brought in "groceries" but they had tops like you find in catering or in restaurants. If it was room service, he got screwed on having to carry it in himself. How come the faucets in Ralph's bathroom did not come off and stick to him like everything else was doing? He even got to touch them...AND the car door without anything untoward happening. I am presuming that when Ralph is running away from the eel, that it was the electric attraction towards them that made Ralph run so slowly. The eel should have been lured towards Ralph regardless since he kept getting more electricity every time he touched something. One final thing I don't like is when Ralph grounds himself on the train tracks. His hair was sticking straight up before, yet after, it is back down to normal. That should not happen...he should have to comb it down.
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Post by MelMac on Jul 17, 2006 19:32:04 GMT -5
As far as his head, it was sand he landed in, so it's possible that protected him. But, it appeared he was KO'd, at least briefly and based on his staggering (well, at the moment) so why didn't he suffocate in the sand as he was lying face down unconscious beforehand? As far as the eel, I've always felt it encapsulated the shuttle, and first absorbed all life support system's energy, which killed the astronauts (even their airpacks I believe run on some form of them.) When Ralph grabbed the shuttle, he received the original absorbtion of energy (which causes him to pass out later on trying to get back to where Bill and Pam could pick him up). He also mentions "Sticking my finger into a light socket," hence why I think it was this way. Faucets/car... well, it's not plausible to have the plastic car basis that would be plausible today with modern-day cars, but I honestly don't know save to move the story along and give some sort of reason to find out how to get rid of the electric eel. (Well, unless Pam accidentally spilled water on him, which could kill him too. ) Grounding on the train tracks... well, based on that philosophy, everytime someone sticks their hand on a Van de Graff generator their hair should stay on end for some time after they remove their hand from the machine. While it shouldn't be perfect (and I haven't seen the episode lately to confirm it), it wouldn't stand on end after the electricity was grounded.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Jul 17, 2006 19:36:46 GMT -5
No...I understand how Ralph became electric, but I don't know how the eel came to be on the shuttle. There is no logical explanation for that.
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Post by MelMac on Jul 17, 2006 19:42:38 GMT -5
Only thing I can think of is that the astronauts came into contact with it while doing a survey of Earth's magnetic field or something and it received radiation or something.
Don't know, might do it as a missing scene. But... I'd have to do a second chapter with a GAH character, which could be my original of what goes on after the landing of the shuttle, both from Ralph's and then Bill/Pam's bits. No way were the two close to Ralph when that shuttle landed, so there's some time there that isn't explained.
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Post by Videofox on Jul 17, 2006 20:23:31 GMT -5
I really didn't mind this episode myself...the concept of him going up against an alien threat. After all, the whole focus of this show is based on the existence of extraterrestrials, so why not? And it is a good character bit for Ralph, wondering whether or not the suit could hold up against something not of this Earth. I would be wondering about that myself. And think about it...without this episode, we would never have my favorite Bill scene: "It's dark, foreboding, just like those movies..." "What movies?" "Where the thing comes out and goes BLUHHHH!!! and you drop your popcorn under your seat." I use the shot of him going "BLUHHHH!!!" as my desktop wallpaper. ;D Okay, so a lot of things weren't explained, but we're looking at this from the characters' point of view anyway. They don't know how the thing got on the shuttle, so we don't know either. They also don't know exactly why or how the suit works, so naturally we don't know either. We just accept that it does, so we might as well sit back and enjoy the show. And Ralph is walking slow in the dam because he is supposed to be trying to lure the creature to the water, by the way. And one thing I loved about this episode was that no matter how scared or unsure of the outcome Ralph was, he charged headfirst into the beast to make sure it took a swim in the lake. True heroism. And I know this beast, like the "other" Beast, weren't shown clearly enough for budget reasons, but it's been proven in the best horror movies that what you don't see can be scarier than what you do see. Let your imagination fill in the blanks, and you can devise a terror worse than the best special effect. I would love to see the original production sketches of these two Beasts, however. ;D
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Jul 17, 2006 20:35:12 GMT -5
On running slowly, he was so charged that I think he would have been followed by the creature anyway.
Yes, I know we don't know how the suit works or where the eel came from. I think they should have asked...especially after the fact. Especially since it sounds like Ralph thinks the greenguys sent the eel here to challenge them.
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Post by Videofox on Jul 18, 2006 19:45:44 GMT -5
Really? What exactly did Ralph say? I just don't remember any lines indicating that.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Jul 18, 2006 22:28:11 GMT -5
He tells Bill that he figures the greenguys could manage something like THAT. The THAT is never stated, but in the context, it sounds like Ralph means they could create an electric space monster to pit the boys up against. It is a poorly crafted scene, which was why I mentioned it.
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Post by Videofox on Jul 18, 2006 23:20:33 GMT -5
OK.... it just sounded to me like that line from Ralph was in response to Bill's line just before that, in which Bill said something like
"I don't buy it. Even if George S Patton rose up out of his box and told me himself, I still don't buy it."
"Well Bill I'm sure if the greenguys felt it was important enough, they could arrange something like that." -- referring to the greenguys' use of dead people to relay messages.
That was my take on that line.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Jul 18, 2006 23:31:28 GMT -5
See? It didn't sound right because Bill knew it could happen from OPERATION: SPOILSPORT which is why I didn't take it that way.
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Post by helane4bill on Sept 26, 2007 22:30:58 GMT -5
OK....why did they have Bill and Pam wearing the same shirt in this episode? Is it because, in the episode, they kind of team up against Ralph. Both are sure he can wipe out the monster...Ralph is scared and all they do is tell him to go into the sewer and kill the thing. Pam and Bill ride the horse together, eat a meal together........this is really the only episode they seem to truly bond in. So, same shirt=they finally come together and agree....on Ralph and on wearing the same shirt.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Sept 26, 2007 22:35:17 GMT -5
Possibly. Maybe wardrobe was on strike.
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Post by helane4bill on Sept 26, 2007 22:49:19 GMT -5
Possibly. Maybe wardrobe was on strike. Good Answer!
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Sept 26, 2007 22:52:02 GMT -5
Possibly. Maybe wardrobe was on strike. Good Answer! It could be something very simple or it could be as this idea that Pam and Bill were ganging up on Ralph for a change. It's hard to say unless you talk to the director, costume staff, etc. for the episode.
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Post by mmderdekea on Sept 27, 2007 1:04:10 GMT -5
I find this to be a very enjoyable episode.
The eel could have entered the shuttle if there had been a space walk, and upon opening up the door to the shuttle for the astronaut to re-enter, the eel dived in with the astronaut.
I see no reason for Ralph's head to be crushed upon landing when he has the suit on. I think we have to give him huge kudos for obviously being a bit stunned when he first touched the shuttle, by the electrical charge, and yet he still brought the shuttle down in a way that COULD have saved the astronauts if they had still been alive. Ralph really pushed through on this rescue and he deserves credit for it. I don't think he was out long enough with his head in the sand to suffocate; besides sand is malleable and can form a little air pocket if you fall down on it.
This episode is one where if you are a Bill (YAY BILL), Ralph or Pam fan, they all show up well, and they interact really well. I don't mind the monster aspect, either. This was the only monster from outer space episode they did--why not? It's a valid premise, especially as it was performed from the angle of what is Ralph and Co. going to do with an magnetic/electric suit?
I thought Bill went to get the food from the restaurant as he didn't want anyone to deliver it and see Ralph in the suit or have him possibly witness any odd electrical/magnetic problems. Keep things as secret as possible, although how he GOT in the room in his suit is unanswered; perhaps he was invisible when Bill and Pam checked in.
The other great Bill line outside of the hilarious "BLUHH!" one is when his watch is again snared by Ralph's magnetic field and when Ralph complains (broad paraphrase) about having to go in and investigate the ship alone, Bill says something like he's got a watch. I'm destroying that line, but you all know which moment I mean.
I LOVED Bill picking up the Counselor and riding off on a horse together. Good old Hoby! Hasn't lost any horseback riding skills.
Mona
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Post by MyTatuo on Sept 27, 2007 12:40:58 GMT -5
We have to give Cannell and Company kudos for making the best out of bad situations (not counting the "cheaper to replace music that pay for the rights" situation). ABC wanted a superhero show; Cannell didn't want to do it, but he found a way to do it his way: what if *I* had a suit with super powers? The New ABC wanted a cartoon-like show with monsters; Cannell didn't want to do them, but he found a way to give ABC their monster, but still added the touches that made it his own: Bill going "Bleegh!" summed up the whole "it's dark and I'm alone and I'm scared" aspect of the entire episode. Bill and Pam weren't necessarily ganging up on him, but they represented the outside "help" (local sheriff?) that are powerless to stop the B-Movie monster. They can't help Ralph catch a space shuttle, they barely figure out how to decharge him, they don't know why he's magnetic and disrupts electrical systems, and they can't fix him. And he is the only one powerful enough to stop the eel-thing. He's alone in the dark woods with the masked nutjob holding an ax...
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Post by helane4bill on Sept 27, 2007 19:48:19 GMT -5
Yeah, but that does not explain why Bill and Pam were wearing the same shirt....
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Post by MelMac on Sept 27, 2007 20:20:47 GMT -5
Yeah, but that does not explain why Bill and Pam were wearing the same shirt.... Plaid's not quite the same pattern, but my guess would be two reasons: Cost or just deciding to go same colors on everyone. :-\
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dolfyn
Agent
As good as me.
Posts: 342
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Post by dolfyn on Jun 22, 2008 7:19:58 GMT -5
This episode is one of my favourites. The monster is pretty lame, but the interaction between Ralph, Bill & Pam is just hilarious. ;D Not to mention the sight-gags of Ralph being electrified/magnetised. Personally, I tend not to look too deeply into the whys & wherefores of the storylines, because '80s shows often lacked a little logic or continuity; but that's part of the charm of these shows, for me. Feel the love. dolfyn.
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Post by Lauren on Jun 22, 2008 11:35:18 GMT -5
I'm trying to remember if I ever even noticed they were wearing similar shirts...
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