If this wasn't the last episode produced in the series, it should have been. Great story, lots of action, the return of the Subterranians from Planet 46, good moments for virtually the entire cast and a musical ending.
The Subterranians have kidnapped Major Todd who is scheduled to fly the head of the Space program, General Rossiter to Space City for the Astronaut of the Year program to honor Steve Zodiac. They use a brainwash machine so that when his supersonic plane the SL6 goes to 80,000 feet, he will crash the plane and kill all aboard.
General Rossiter invites Venus to join him and thus get to Space City in time for the ceremony, but Venus has her doubts about Major Todd. Her exam reveals nothing but on the flight to Space City she realizes Tod has been brainwashed. Steve and the XL5 is dispatched immediately to come to the rescue as Venus and Rossiter struggle to get control from Major Todd. Steve tells them to do the obvious: smack him on the head with something THEN seize control of the plane. They do so and then Steve talks Venus into a safe landing of the SL6 and the Subterranians are foiled one last time.
Alan Pettrillo once again does a masterful job of directing and the story is nice and taunt, leaving a little room for some comedy (Zoony destroys Jock's bagpipes with a ray gun!) We see Fireball Junior separate from the XL5 main ship while on the launch pad--something I don't think we've seen before--and Steve sings the theme song while backed by Matt on piano, Venus on Sax, Robert on drums, Zero on trumpet and Ninety on bass.
There are a couple of minor errors in consistency--here Matt needs the help of a machine to play the piano while he actually plays it well in an earlier episode and when planning the performance Zero's ability to play the drums is noted but then Robert plays them while Zero plays the trumpet. But this is mere quibbling on a fine adventure that pretty much finishes off the Fireball XL5 saga in fine style.
The Subterranians have kidnapped Major Todd who is scheduled to fly the head of the Space program, General Rossiter to Space City for the Astronaut of the Year program to honor Steve Zodiac. They use a brainwash machine so that when his supersonic plane the SL6 goes to 80,000 feet, he will crash the plane and kill all aboard.
General Rossiter invites Venus to join him and thus get to Space City in time for the ceremony, but Venus has her doubts about Major Todd. Her exam reveals nothing but on the flight to Space City she realizes Tod has been brainwashed. Steve and the XL5 is dispatched immediately to come to the rescue as Venus and Rossiter struggle to get control from Major Todd. Steve tells them to do the obvious: smack him on the head with something THEN seize control of the plane. They do so and then Steve talks Venus into a safe landing of the SL6 and the Subterranians are foiled one last time.
Alan Pettrillo once again does a masterful job of directing and the story is nice and taunt, leaving a little room for some comedy (Zoony destroys Jock's bagpipes with a ray gun!) We see Fireball Junior separate from the XL5 main ship while on the launch pad--something I don't think we've seen before--and Steve sings the theme song while backed by Matt on piano, Venus on Sax, Robert on drums, Zero on trumpet and Ninety on bass.
There are a couple of minor errors in consistency--here Matt needs the help of a machine to play the piano while he actually plays it well in an earlier episode and when planning the performance Zero's ability to play the drums is noted but then Robert plays them while Zero plays the trumpet. But this is mere quibbling on a fine adventure that pretty much finishes off the Fireball XL5 saga in fine style.