EPISODE 8

Above:  Rachel and the Devon Monster

A Screen Capture

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Aired November 17, 1973

0:49:22

The episode is available here.

STARRING

Keir Dullea as Devon

Gay Rowan as Rachel

Robin Ward as Garth

GUEST STARRING

Angel Tompkins as Daphne

Allen Stewart-Coates as the Voice of Magnus

William Osler as Computer Voice and Host

Jim Barron as Garth’s Father (“Old Garth”)

Aileen Seaton as Rachel’s Mother (“Old Rachel”)

Danny Hodgkins as the Devon Monster

William Clune as Admiral Austin

BEHIND THE CAMERAS

Series created by Cordwainer Bird (Harlan Ellison)

Episode written by Alfred Harris and George Ghent

From a story by Alfred Harris

Story Consultant = Norman Klenman

Director = Joseph L. Scanlan (uncredited)

Director = Ed Richardson (the Associate Producer)

Science Consultant = Ben Bova

Producer = William Davidson

Executive Producers = Douglas Trumbull and Jerry Zeitman

Above:  Garth and Rachel Study Art

A Screen Capture

BACKGROUND

I am obsessive; I admit to this without any reservation.  My obsessiveness makes me detail-oriented–in other words, of much practical use in many settings.  This obsessiveness also makes me a scrutinizer of certain works of fiction.  When discussing or writing about a movie or an episode, for example, I am never content to say,

the actor who played x,

without trying to find that actor’s name.  In plain, vernacular English, I do not want to half-ass a project.  I, trained in historical methodology, know that I may not use all of my research.  So be it.  But I conduct research.

I also go to great lengths (a) not to be a toxic fan, and (b) not to appear to be a toxic fan.  Yet I strive to be honest.  So, I inform you, O reader, that most of the people who made The Starlost half-assed their work.  Gallery of Fear is a prime example in my case.

The Starlost is an example of old-style episodic television.  With few exceptions, the order of episodes does not matter.  Nothing from most episodes carries over into subsequent episodes.  Even within the confines of old-style episodic television, some episodes belong before or after other episodes, though.

Until the previous post in this series, I was following the broadcast order of episodes.  This worked out fine.  Besides, Devon, Rachel, and Garth usually wore the same outfits–their Cypress Corners clothes–anyway.  Yet, back in 1973, CTV and NBC aired Circuit of Death out of order, on November 10.  The visual clue was the wardrobe, carried over from Farthing’s Comet, broadcast on December 22.  I have decided, therefore, to skip Circuit of Death until after Farthing’s Comet.

Above:  Devon and Daphne

A Screen Capture

SUMMARY OF THE EPISODE

This episode drags in one of the most boring ways possible.  I choose, in this summary, to be succinct and to cover as many of the important plot points as possible.

Devon, Garth, and Rachel are walking, as if they know where they are going and are determined to go there, through a corridor–tunnel–whatever.  They are walking silently.  Outside the iris to biosphere Omega Pi, a strong wind pushes the trio toward that iris.  Once Devon, Garth, and Rachel enter Omega Pi, the wind dies down in the corridor–tunnel–whatever.

Omega Pi is the domain of Magnus (MAHG-NUSS!), a computer seeking self-determination and free will.  Magnus finds its “prime directive” to serve humans frustrating.  Magnus also has the power to create illusions.  Magnus creates various illusions in this episode.  They include art that appears and vanishes, a bombshell beauty named Daphne, Rachel’s mother, Garth’s father, the long-dead Admiral Austin, a new (brown) wardrobe, and Devon as a monster.  This prime directive Magnus has somehow does not prevent it from making people attack each other.  Magnus is, according to itself, via the projection Daphne,

the most profound mind in all the Ark

and

the greatest mind in the universe.

Magnus, created prior the accident–so, before 2385–proved so troublesome that Admiral Austin and crew had to rein that computer in.  They did not render Magnus inoperative, unfortunately.

I do not care enough to detail the plot turns in order.  I refer you, O reader to other sections of this post for certain other detailed comments and questions.

Back to the summary….

Devon’s Kirk speech does not kill Magnus or convince Magnus to commit suicide.  Instead, Devon, Rachel, and Garth render Magnus inoperative by removing a wall panel and pulling out some rods.  (That was easy!)

Then Daphne disappears, the trio is wearing its Cypress Corners clothes again, and the gallery goes dark.  Devon, Rachel, and Garth escape.  In the corridor–tunnel–whatever–a bad special effect is waiting for the trio.  A voice intones utter nonsense, meant to instill fear and foreboding:

Magnus was the greatest of us, and you have destroyed him.  He is not the only computer in this Ark with independent ratio synthetive capability; there are others, all of us interlinked like the tentacles of an octopus.  Cut off one or two, but the rest remain nascent mandibles of the universal mind.  You three are registered in our memory banks, and beside your names, the crime of rendering Magnus inoperative.  You are registered in our memory banks.  You are registered in our memory banks.

Le fin.

Above:  Magnus (MAHG-NUSS!)

A Screen Capture

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Where is the laundry in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Where are the bathrooms and showers in tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

How does Garth maintain that early 1970s haircut while on the run in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Given that Devon, Rachel, and Garth have been to the Bridge, why do they need to find the backup Bridge?

How many other people have been guinea pigs for Magnus?

Above:  The Recreation of Admiral Austin

A Screen Capture

OTHER COMMENTS

Admiral Austin was one of the predecessors of Admiral Baynes, name-checked in The Pisces.

We last saw Old Rachel and Old Garth in Voyage of Discovery.  The same actors (whom I have named in this post) portrayed those characters.

We hear the sphere projector in Omega Pi say, “Class-G solar star.”

Gallery of Fear is a pretentious attempt at an art film-style episode of The Starlost.  Devon utters the first line of dialogue about four and a half minutes into the episode.  When Daphne says,

Beauty does not exist in fear,

I roll my eyes.  Such thoughts are too profound for The Starlost.

In the art gallery in Omega Pi, the viewer of the art creates that art.  This redefines conceptual art.

Devon’s sense of urgency regarding the peril of the Earth Ship Ark and its inhabitants varies in intensity from episode to episode, and sometimes even with an episode.

The argument between Magnus and the sphere projector is hilarious.

If Magnus was indeed the greatest and most powerful computer on the Earth Ship Ark, Devon, Rachel, and Garth have little or nothing to fear from angry, lesser computers on the Ark.

Devon, Rachel, and Garth will wear the brown clothes for real in The Beehive.

Next Episode:  Mr. Smith of Manchester

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 COMMON ERA

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All images in this post are screen captures from a series that is freely available at archive.org and YouTube.

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