Episode Title: Judgment from Outer Space Part 2
Original Airdate: January 17, 1977
Last time, we left off with the alien Andros having been captured by the Nazis, and his outer space cohorts just moments away from deciding to destroy Earth. Wonder Woman has taken it on herself to find Andros’ flying saucer in attempt to contact the aliens and stop the destruction. Let’s see what happens in Judgment From Outer Space Part 2.
Wonder Woman manages to find the spaceship and mimicking the whistle commands she saw Andros doing earlier manages to gain access. She then has to contend with some somewhat unconvincing force fields that are keeping her from accessing the controls. Eventually, though she gets to the communicator and pleads with the aliens not to destroy the planet. The aliens vote, but then we cut to commercial break.
When we come back, it is now two weeks later. I guess Wonder Woman convinced them to delay armageddon at least for a bit. Anyhow, at army intelligence, General Blankenship has received word of where Andros is likely being held behind enemy lines. Of course, Steve volunteers to rescue him. Diana is instructed to stay and take care of the office, but as soon as she can get away she follows as Wonder Woman. Steve, meanwhile, gets the help of a British agent and together they pose as Nazis to head to the facility where Andros is being held.
Wonder Woman, though, beats Steve there. She is surprised, though, to learn that Andros does not want to be rescued. He wants to attempt to communicate with various world leaders, and that includes the Nazis. Unfortunately, during the attempted rescue, Wonder Woman’s belt and lasso are nabbed, so she ends up captured, as well. When the hapless Steve shows up, he is quickly spotted as an impostor and locked up too.
Now, the Nazis are determined to get what they want from Andros. Not believing that he is from outer space, they think he must be a scientist working on the development of an atomic bomb. They try to get him to turn over secrets by threatening to kill Wonder Woman. Well, the sight of this is enough to finally awake Andros’ outer space pals. They use their power to freeze the Nazis long enough for Wonder Woman to get back her belt and lasso. A chase then ensues as they break out Steve and flee the Nazi stronghold. Later, back stateside, Wonder Woman bids farewell to Andros who has given the human race a 50 year respite from destruction. Come 1992, though, we’ll have to prove ourselves again.
Looking back at both Judgment From Outer Space episodes, I do think this story could’ve been told as a single episode had it been pared down to the key moments. This episode does have some interesting aspects, though. There is one sequence where Wonder Woman asks Andros why he would want to reason with the Germans, stating that the Americans don’t arbitrarily arrest people or use concentration camps. Andros responds, “I think you better explain that to the Americans of Japanese descent.” A surprising moment for a 70’s popcorn TV series.
One thing that was quite entertaining was the crop of Nazis we get in this episode. The character of Bjornson, no longer pretending to be a Swedish reporter, goes full Nazi this time. He adopts the shouting sputtering type of demeanor that tends to be the go to for movie and TV Nazis. We also get a German scientist in this one who also turns up the Colonel Klink juice big time.
The final escape is kind of fun, as Wonder Woman, Steve, and Andros run through a maze like series of hallways in this Nazi complex. At one point Wonder Woman blocks a hallway with two large steel doors, bracing them by bending a steel bar across the two. I will say, though, that Steve’s presence in all this is utterly unnecessary. All he does is get himself captured. If it weren’t for Wonder Woman this dude would’ve been dead several episodes ago. Will General Blankenship ever figure out what a screw up he is?
To Andros’ people we’re all among the ranks of screw ups. Except for Wonder Woman, that is. He even offers to take her to space with him. She can visit a water planet full of intelligent dolphins, or a place where you can talk with plants. She turns him down, though. Good thing for us, we need her next week to foil a Nazi plot that has to do with rubber tires. Join us next time for Formula 407.
Channel: Superhero 