User Reviews

In "Tunnel of Fear", Jeff and Bill put their lives on the line as they sneak back into Ape City to find Cornelius and Zira. They hope the pair of simian scientists will help them locate an isolated spot to move the humanoids to so they won't be such sitting ducks for Urko's army. Cornelius gives them a map showing the location of a secluded valley. He also leads Jeff and Bill to an underground river they can use for their escape.

Although I admit that it probably helps that I'm getting more and more accustomed to the style of animation, overall, the Return to the Planet of the Apes episodes kept getting better and better. There's a lot to like about "Tunnel of Fear". Beyond the giant spider in the drainage tunnel and the wild ride over the waterfall, "Tunnel of Fear" features the most original bit I've so far run across. And reading other comments across the internet I see that most people agree with me. Is there anyone who has seen this episode that doesn't remember the song "I'm Going Humanoid Over You"? It's awesome! I'd love to have a copy of the song – or at least the lyrics. It's just too bad the rest of the series couldn't have been this clever.

Plot; Bill and Jeff risk capture to sneak into the city to find Zira and Cornelius, hoping the two humanoid sympathizers will help them to find a place of sanctuary for the human population.

There are few things less scintillating than listening to this particular group of voice actors (nearly all of them stiffer than a starch-soaked corpse who overdosed on Viagra) debate and cajole one another, but this still manages to be a moderately compelling episode. As usual, the best stuff revolves around the apes, with the hardline General Urko and the steadfast, but compassionate, Dr. Zaius flanking the two sympathetic scientists.

The best part, however, is a scene where an ape is driving down the road listening to a song on the radio where the singer harmonizes that he's "gone humanoid" over a girl.

• There's a scene where Bill and Jeff get caught up in the web of an enormous spider. Pretty typical trope, but the giant spider thing seems out of place here. Assuming the story is still humans nuked the world, it could be chalked up to mutation, but still.