Well, for whatever its worth, I liked it. A book I have on the Zone rated this one very poorly. It seems like many of the 5th season episodes suffer from bad reviews, at least partly out of suspicion that the show was out of gas with fresh ideas. True enough, this one is probably too reminiscent of "Where is Everybody" from season 1.
Still, I feel this one is completely emblematic of the show's core entertainment values ... suspense, fish out of water characters, distorted realities, a surprising twist, etc. One of the common critiques about this one is the "unlikability" of the characters. They certainly have a short emotional band width here ranging from whiny to grouchy to hysterical. Then again, who wouldn't ? Hung over and with no footing in reality ... can you blame them ?
To me, though, their unlikability is part of the show ... they appear to be your typical no-kids-yet, self-interested, self-obsessed, urban (yuppie equivalent of the time) couple. Not liking them means we are more likely to be entertained by, than be saddened by their likely fate in some alien child's toy chest.
It's a good story. OK, it's not one of the best, but, because it checks most of the boxes for Zone entertainment criteria, I find it very entertaining and will stop what I'm doing to watch it, despite having seen it so many times.
Still, I feel this one is completely emblematic of the show's core entertainment values ... suspense, fish out of water characters, distorted realities, a surprising twist, etc. One of the common critiques about this one is the "unlikability" of the characters. They certainly have a short emotional band width here ranging from whiny to grouchy to hysterical. Then again, who wouldn't ? Hung over and with no footing in reality ... can you blame them ?
To me, though, their unlikability is part of the show ... they appear to be your typical no-kids-yet, self-interested, self-obsessed, urban (yuppie equivalent of the time) couple. Not liking them means we are more likely to be entertained by, than be saddened by their likely fate in some alien child's toy chest.
It's a good story. OK, it's not one of the best, but, because it checks most of the boxes for Zone entertainment criteria, I find it very entertaining and will stop what I'm doing to watch it, despite having seen it so many times.