As our trio walk along a beach they see a man tied to raft at sea; Burke and Virdon swim out and rescue him but instead of expressing gratitude he is distressed as he was meant to be a sacrifice to the sea gods. Galen looks after the man while the two humans go to see the fishing village he came from. Here they are quickly captured and accused of stealing fish; not wanting to be shot they claim they came there because they want to be fishermen. Being behind on the quota the ape in charge says they can become fishermen if they pass a test
swimming underwater where the surface is on fire! They pass but that isn't the end of their problems; Galen turns up and, trying to help, claims they are actually his slaves who are inveterate liars. Hurton; the chief ape on the village, says they must face a trial by the Sea Gods
the sharks that swim close offshore!
In many ways this episode looked as if it was going to be a rehash of 'The Good Seed' but featuring fishermen rather than farming; there are similarities but not too many. It is true that our heroes are shown to be better at fishing that those who have done it all their lives and they know techniques that is massively increase their yield but the apes in charge here aren't particularly grateful they just want to get more fish to satisfy the demands of their superiors. The way the humans who are forced to fish for the apes accept that when they are past their prime they are sacrificed to the sea gods is interesting but not examined all that deeply. The action scenes are pretty good; the underwater views of the sharks may be stock footage but they look menacing and the fiery sea looked great; no doubt if it were remade today it would be CGI but here they clearly put petrol on the water and burnt it. While this obviously isn't a comedy there are a few laughs to be had; most notably Galen's efforts to get his friends freed which seem to put them in more danger. The cast do a solid job and anybody who enjoys seeing Virdon and Burke without their shirts should be pleased as they spend almost the entire episode topless. When we get to the end it does seem a bit sudden and their escape is surprisingly easy.
In many ways this episode looked as if it was going to be a rehash of 'The Good Seed' but featuring fishermen rather than farming; there are similarities but not too many. It is true that our heroes are shown to be better at fishing that those who have done it all their lives and they know techniques that is massively increase their yield but the apes in charge here aren't particularly grateful they just want to get more fish to satisfy the demands of their superiors. The way the humans who are forced to fish for the apes accept that when they are past their prime they are sacrificed to the sea gods is interesting but not examined all that deeply. The action scenes are pretty good; the underwater views of the sharks may be stock footage but they look menacing and the fiery sea looked great; no doubt if it were remade today it would be CGI but here they clearly put petrol on the water and burnt it. While this obviously isn't a comedy there are a few laughs to be had; most notably Galen's efforts to get his friends freed which seem to put them in more danger. The cast do a solid job and anybody who enjoys seeing Virdon and Burke without their shirts should be pleased as they spend almost the entire episode topless. When we get to the end it does seem a bit sudden and their escape is surprisingly easy.