Planet of Evil

It's watching us. It knows every movement we make.

I always get the title of this one mixed up with The Face of Evil.

Planet of Evil is an episode that suffers from my preconceived notions. I have a strong feeling that if I went back and watched it again, I would rate it a bit higher than I currently do, so I'm going to try and be a bit softer with this one.

Before I saw this episode, I saw some still shots from episode one of the anti-matter creature manifesting and I instantly locked into the idea of this being similar to Forbidden Planet. This was true, but I was expecting that theme to carry through the entire episode rather than take the Jekyll and Hyde turn in episode three.

I have no problem with Jekyll and Hyde; in fact I rather enjoy the numerous twists that story has taken on over the years. But when you develop an idea in your head of what to expect and a story seems to reinforce that idea, shifting gears in to a different direction can pull you out of things a bit more than you would like.

It also doesn't really help that the foundation laid with a force that couldn't be seen or fought is then replaced with a monster-man who is tangible and can be dealt with in a somewhat logical manner. The beauty of the initial set-up and taken from Forbidden Planet is that the monster is undefined with the ability to be anywhere and you would not know of it. It takes that extra bit of psychological terror that comes only from imagination and uses it to put the protagonists off their footing and we the audience become that much more unsettled as a result.

Again, I'm not trying to bad mouth what was a pretty good episode on the whole. I just felt a bit let down by the second half.

Overall personal score: 3 out of 5