Episode Guide, Year 4

Flaming Ice (Airdate: March 3, 1968)
STORYLINE
     Crashing Arctic ice announces to the men of Seaview the latest alien invasion. Alien Frost Men need Seaview's reactor as a power source for their damaged ship and they have no compunctions about demanding it. Their heat transfer process, employed to keep them cold, is melting ice all over the place, and raising hell with Earth's weather. After Sharkey kills one of the aliens, he and Nelson are frozen into suspended animation and taken to the Frost men's base. Nelson is thawed out and informed of their leader, Gelid's, demands. First Gelid tries to freeze all aboard Seaview, then he turns on the heat. He makes his way to the reactor room and gets the fuel rods he needs for his ship to escape, but, with Seaview and her crew saved from fire and ice, Nelson blasts the saucer out of the sky even as it's headed back into space.

Written: Arthur Browne, Jr.
Directed: Robert Sparr
Guest Cast
Gelid...........................Michael Pate
Frost Man #1.............Frank Babich
Frost Man #2......George Robotham
Frost Man #3...................Phil Barry

                Seaview once again bashed
                by familiar looking Arctic Ice

Mark says: At one point, snow actually falls in the control room as the crew keels over from the cold. Is it never explained why Nelson blasts the departing flying saucer out of the sky or was it just good old fashioned revenge?*

*Please note--site visitor Scott McIntyre clarifies the ending of this episode: Nelson returns to the Seaview and Sharkey points out Gelid's ship about to take off. Nelson realizes he is going to leave the ice cap aflame. Once aboard Seaview, Nelson hurries to the laser control, knowing he has only one chance to stop Gelid. He fires as the spaceship takes off, blowing it to smithereens. With the destruction of the alien craft, the polar cap fires subside and the temperature returns to normal, stopping the flooding of the world.

Mike says: Darn nice ice-cave sets with Seaview's conning-tower prop hauled out of storage and put to use. When Gelid fires his weapon, an electrical discharge is animated into the scene, rather than just a sound effect accompanied by a flash of offstage light--little touches that add to the verisimilitude. Still, not one of my favorites.

Attack (Airdate:March 10, 1968)
STORYLINE
     This episode begins with a bang--the destruction of the Pacific Fleet by (for the third successive week) space-aliens. Nelson and Kowalski, subsequently out reconnoitering in the flying sub, are then captured by the aliens.  On Seaview, a human-appearing alien named Robek claims to want to help save Earth. He offers to lead Crane and his men to the alien base but winds up in the brig.  After the requisite see-saw action, Robek is shot and apparently killed and his drawings of the alien base destroyed; Kowalski, mysteriously back from captivity turns out to be the killer--obviously under alien control. Crane and Sharkey, working from impressions on a blotter, deduce Robek's drawings and head to the alien base where they are promptly captured by Komal. Before the captives can be killed, a recovered Robek shows up to free and then guide them to the base where Nelson reprograms the alien attack so their ships will explode within the base. Seaview is caught in the eventual blast but survives. Not so for Robek, who is killed. Alas, poor Robek, we knew him well.

Written: William Welch
Directed: Jerry Hopper
Guest Cast
Robek.......................Skip Homeier
Komal........................Kevin Hagen
Aliens....................Denver Mattson
                                   Troy Melton

        Fanciful matte painting of alien
        saucers was partially animated.

Mark says: The idea of Robek being a peace-loving alien reflected the division over the Vietnam war at the time - a nation torn between the hawks (military proponents) and the doves (hippies and university students opposed to war). Unfortunately, Robek and his philosophy are not very well developed. There’s a fantastic shot of a fleet of flying saucers hovering in a giant cavern. This semi-animated matte painting was originally created for Irwin Allen’s unsold pilot, Man From the 25th Century (see above).

Mike says: A) OK, so how do we replace the Pacific Fleet? B) The black box in which Nelson and Sharkey are initially held captive was a budget-saving, but very effective device. C) It's a pity William Woodfield Read wasn't given the opportunity and a free hand to write the dialogue for this episode. D) Note to wardrobe--enemy space-aliens never to be garbed in purple again.

The Edge of Doom (Airdate: March 17, 1968)
STORYLINE
     General Beaker warns Nelson that Seaview, about to leave on an important mission, may come under attack and that Captain Crane may have been replaced by an imposter. Thus, Nelson is ordered to try to break the captain. Nelson agrees under strong protest, and brings Sharkey and Morton in on the charade. Elsewhere on Institute grounds, a Seaview crew member is seen slugged from behind by an enemy agent who takes the fallen man's place. Nelson impatiently waits for Sharkey to come aboard so they can begin the mission. He finally does, and as they embark, a calculated plan to break Crane goes into effect. Crane endures one set-up after another, but tries to control his anger. Sharkey is actually the replacement, and he works to make Crane appear a liar and a fool. At the climax, Seaview is attacked by an enemy sub and Sharkey revealed to be the enemy agent in clever disguise.

Written: William Welch
Directed: Justus Addiss
Guest Cast
General................................Tyler McVey
Helmsman...........Darryl Scott McFadden

   CPO Sharkey or ???


Mike says: Richard Basehart was an actor, and a damn good one, but in the context of the series, Admiral Nelson was an admiral, not an actor. That is what the viewer accepted him as. When this episode first ran, I found it hard to believe that Nelson (and Morton) would be good enough actors as to pull off their heinous assignment so seamlessly, especially since their hearts weren't in it.  (If their hearts weren't in it, why did they appear to be to so into their work? And would not Crane have smelled a rat?) Of course, the enemy agent impersonating Sharkey would probably be trained for just this kind of skullduggery.

Mark says: Many episodes of Voyage are distinguished by the cast’s acting chemistry. This episode, a taut suspense tale, features several well-played scenes, including an explosive clash between Nelson and Crane

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