Raiders of the hawk
Mark discovers an ancient statue of a hawk which seems to wield considerable power…and Schubert is after the item too.
Brief summary, I know, but thrown in the mix here is Schubert’s daughter who fancies Mark and even helps him escape from a prison cell (a clever scene, actually, where Mark maneuvers the guards into hosing him down…cause he’s dehydrating fast).
This is actually the most fun episode so far. Schubert is there just for laughs and there’s a no logic here continuity wise. Case in point; Mark discovers that the girl he rescued from drowning is actually Schubert’s daughter – there’s a scene where they (Schubert and Mark) meet – and then immediately after he’s out diving with Dr. Merrill – then suddenly taking an evening stroll again with Schubert’s daughter. Very weird.
If you’re supposed to take Schubert seriously at all; wouldn’t authorities want to apprehend a man who just recently nearly flooded the entire nation? He did after all contact the White House to arrange a deal to stop melting the ice caps in return for a meeting with Mark; and didn’t follow through on that. Still, Mark and his pals at the Foundation for Oceanic Research just leave Schubert up to his own devices.
Well; three episodes into the series and it’s clear the show was struggling. Dr. Merrill is already taking a complete backseat with no role to play here and Schubert, once again, shows up as the foe.
Still; taken as light family oriented sci-fi/adventure the show actually displays quite a lot of charm. Patrick Duffy is extremely likable here and without his charisma this would probably be a chore to watch. The diving scenes are still pretty impressive; the underwater cave scene is wonderfully reminiscent of old Saturday matinée adventure oldie’s and the Hawk statue and it’s mystic origins are the stuff which good fantasy tales are made of. And for once the climax is actually fairly exciting.
You gotta know what you’re in for with “Man From Atlantis” and so far I’m having a decent time with this relic of a series.
