There's a lot to hypothetically like about this episode. It tosses Ray into a situation out of his wheelhouse: it has an excellent performance by Lisa Hart Carroll as a proto-Joker/Harley Quinn with her red lipstick and broad-toothed smile. Eugene Roche plays a typical nemesis/tough guy, but he brings a little characterization to the part. And the suspense builds nicely.
But... the whole thing doesn't make sense. Didn't the scientists in charge do any kind of chemical analysis of the atmosphere, all of the organic substances in the habitat that would have absorbed some of the contaminant, and autopsies of the first team? Even if you somehow assume the contaminant was amazingly undetectable: someone replaced the burned insulation. That means someone had to know that the insulation burned up, and from there put 2 + 2 together to figure out the connection. Apparently some maintenance guy saw the burned insulation, shrugged, didn't bother to report it to anyone _trying to figure out the cause of the deaths_, and merrily replaced the charbroiled insulation without comment
Then the company in charge of the habitat just... recreates the first experiment. They don't do anything different, which kinda makes sense. But they also don't put in any special monitoring equipment. They just do everything exactly the same, with no attempt to solve the mystery. If it wasn't for Ray's presence, the second team would be just as dead as the first. And somewhere off in the distance, the Very Minor God of Burnt Insulation moans "Send... more... teams." Once imagines the corporation recreating the experiment, losing a team, and doing the same thing again... and again... and again.
it also doesn't help that we the audience get to see the glacial pace of the insulation slowly catching on fire, and the contaminant getting into the air. It comes across as padding rather than a necessary slower pace to generate suspense.
Overall, "Playback" is an okay episode of 'Stingray', but the plot holes keep it from being a great one. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
But... the whole thing doesn't make sense. Didn't the scientists in charge do any kind of chemical analysis of the atmosphere, all of the organic substances in the habitat that would have absorbed some of the contaminant, and autopsies of the first team? Even if you somehow assume the contaminant was amazingly undetectable: someone replaced the burned insulation. That means someone had to know that the insulation burned up, and from there put 2 + 2 together to figure out the connection. Apparently some maintenance guy saw the burned insulation, shrugged, didn't bother to report it to anyone _trying to figure out the cause of the deaths_, and merrily replaced the charbroiled insulation without comment
Then the company in charge of the habitat just... recreates the first experiment. They don't do anything different, which kinda makes sense. But they also don't put in any special monitoring equipment. They just do everything exactly the same, with no attempt to solve the mystery. If it wasn't for Ray's presence, the second team would be just as dead as the first. And somewhere off in the distance, the Very Minor God of Burnt Insulation moans "Send... more... teams." Once imagines the corporation recreating the experiment, losing a team, and doing the same thing again... and again... and again.
it also doesn't help that we the audience get to see the glacial pace of the insulation slowly catching on fire, and the contaminant getting into the air. It comes across as padding rather than a necessary slower pace to generate suspense.
Overall, "Playback" is an okay episode of 'Stingray', but the plot holes keep it from being a great one. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?