UFO as a series was totally sabotaged by having its episodes run completely out of sequence. Fortunately, the DVD box set fixed this. The flow of so many details makes SO MUCH more sense watching them this way.
"E. S. P." focuses on a man who's suffered from being able to read other people's minds since childhood. A year earlier, his powers suddenly increased, and in this episode, a very erratic UFO crashes into his house, killing his wife. He blames Straker and the military for it, and then reads a recuperating Foster's mind while Paul's in hospital.
In production order, the first time the aliens took over someone's mind was in "Flight Path" (ep.3), when they kidnapped a SHADO operative and implanted a device in his head. In "E. S. P." (ep.15), their actions get more insidious. The aliens exerting a variety of forms of mind-control increased in frequency, starting right here.
The most chilling moment has to be when Croxley (John Stratton) begins speaking in the voice of one of the aliens, insisting "We mean you no harm, our resources have run out, we must come to Earth to survive, how can we make you understand this?" When you consider how much kidnapping,. Death and destrcution the aliens have caused, all without ever trying to contact Earth authorities (the sole exception being the mysterious rogue alien who tried to do just that in "A Question of Priorities" / ep.8), you can see that either whoever is speaking thru Croxley is LYING, or HAS BEEN lied to by his own people.
Watching "UFO" in production order, it almost neatly breaks down into 2 acts. The first 13 episodes focuses on an organizaation just struggling to get their S*** together! The 2nd 13 kicks everything into high gear. This episode, if seen in the right order, is like them telling the audience, "Okay, hang onto your seats. Everything up to now has just been a warm-up. Here's where we REALLY start getting into it!"
"E. S. P." focuses on a man who's suffered from being able to read other people's minds since childhood. A year earlier, his powers suddenly increased, and in this episode, a very erratic UFO crashes into his house, killing his wife. He blames Straker and the military for it, and then reads a recuperating Foster's mind while Paul's in hospital.
In production order, the first time the aliens took over someone's mind was in "Flight Path" (ep.3), when they kidnapped a SHADO operative and implanted a device in his head. In "E. S. P." (ep.15), their actions get more insidious. The aliens exerting a variety of forms of mind-control increased in frequency, starting right here.
The most chilling moment has to be when Croxley (John Stratton) begins speaking in the voice of one of the aliens, insisting "We mean you no harm, our resources have run out, we must come to Earth to survive, how can we make you understand this?" When you consider how much kidnapping,. Death and destrcution the aliens have caused, all without ever trying to contact Earth authorities (the sole exception being the mysterious rogue alien who tried to do just that in "A Question of Priorities" / ep.8), you can see that either whoever is speaking thru Croxley is LYING, or HAS BEEN lied to by his own people.
Watching "UFO" in production order, it almost neatly breaks down into 2 acts. The first 13 episodes focuses on an organizaation just struggling to get their S*** together! The 2nd 13 kicks everything into high gear. This episode, if seen in the right order, is like them telling the audience, "Okay, hang onto your seats. Everything up to now has just been a warm-up. Here's where we REALLY start getting into it!"
