“The Bringers of Wonder, Part 2”

Koenig, Helena and Maya race against time to prevent telepathic aliens from duping the Alphans into destroying themselves.

Writer: Terence Feely

Director: Tom Clegg

Guest Cast

Toby Robins as Diana Morris

Stuart Damon as Guido Verdeschi

Jeremy Young as Jack Bartlett

Drewe Henley as Joe Erlich

Patrick Westwood as Dr. Shaw

Cher Cameron as Louisa

This episode does its job, that is, it completes the story began in “The Bringers of Wonder” Part 1. The one gripe I’ve always had about this episode is that when Koenig convinces Maya to transform herself into one of the gooey plasma creatures, there should be some kind of reaction from Helena. This would be her first time seeing what the aliens looked like. Was she having a Year One moment or something?

The story is basically a chase sequence with some nice set design in the nuclear waste dumps. There’s even an attempt at a little good old Year One philosophizing: “It’s better to live as your own man than as a fool in somebody else’s dream.” But it doesn’t work as well in a Year Two episode.

One haunting historical irony presents itself in this episode now. As Carter, Erlich and Bartlett think they are returning to earth, their imagined ship lands in the heart of New York City. As they pass over Lower Manhattan, we see the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Granted, they’re imagining this, so they will see the world as they remember it (as of September 1999). Still, it’s a little weird.