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Space: 1999
"Missing Link"
TV episode
Screenplay by Edward di Lorenzo
Directed by Ray Austin
Original air date: February 27,
1976 |
Koenig is held by an evolutionarily
advanced civilization as an experimental subject and his only
weapon is love.
Read the episode summary at the Moonbase Alpha wiki
DIDJA KNOW?
The long, white wig worn by Peter Cushing as Raan in this
episode is the same wig that was worn by his Hammer Films cohort
Christopher Lee in "Earthbound".
CHARACTERS APPEARING OR MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Paul Morrow
Tanya Alexandre
David Kano
Commander Koenig
Alan Carter
Professor Bergman
Sandra Benes
Dr. Russell
Dr. Mathias
Raan
Vana
Zennite
June
Tony Allan
security guard
Alan Harris
DIDJA NOTICE?
Commander Koenig and Carter are piloting Eagle 1 but not
wearing spacesuits or even their seat harnesses! The
harnesses would certainly have been of help in the crash that
occurs! Maybe Raan was using his mind powers on them early
on to prevent the safety procedures so he could grab Koenig
for his experiments. (That still leaves the question of why
the Eagle pilots wear spacesuits in the command
module in some episodes and in others, don't?)
At about 1:40 on the Blu-ray, the edge of the command module
set is visible as the camera moves around violently to
simulate the jarring of the ship's impact on the ground.
| At 2:03 on the Blu-ray, we can see the internal nozzles on
the engine bells of the crashed Eagle. We don't see the
entire engine placement, but it appears that the two center
bells have more nozzles in them than the right and left
bells. But another shot at 7:26 on the Blu-ray shows all the
engine bells having the same number of thruster nozzles. |
 |
 |
The crashed Eagle is referred to as Eagle 1 during the
mission and it suffers some fairly severe damage. Was it
repaired and continued to operate as Eagle 1 in later
episodes or are the numerical Eagle designations simply
reassigned as the transports are destroyed or rendered
inoperative? I also speculated on this in the study of
"Ring Around the Moon"
regarding Eagle 3.
The rescue Eagle in which Dr. Russell and her rescue crew go to
the crash site is Eagle 4. It launches from launch pad 7.
There are only five launch pads seen around Moonbase Alpha,
but the later episode "The Exiles" mentions remote stations
that have launch pads. However, it seems odd that Dr.
Russell and the rest of the rescue crew would have to go all
the way to a remote station to launch their rescue. Maybe
(presuming there are only seven launch pads total), pads 1
and 2 are remote and 2-7 are the ones seen at the base? This
might make sense if the smaller, remote stations were built
first as worker camps while the main base was under
construction.
| At 8:34 on the Blu-ray, the label above Koenig's medical
sensor is misspelled as "Keonig". The Powys novelization of
this episode even incorporates the misspelling into Koenig's
observation of the label! |
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 |
At 10:00 on the Blu-ray, the computer bank in Eagle 1 is
seen to be an X5 Computer, just like the one in Main
Mission. |
Raan tells Koenig he is on the planet Zenno in the Cryton
star system, 5 million light years from Earth. This would be
outside of the Milky Way galaxy, as it is only 150-200,000
light years across. Did the mysterious unknown force throw
the Moon even farther away than thought at the end of
"Black Sun"?
The Zennites are able to read minds, hence their ability to
communicate with Koenig. They also use their mind power to
create everything they need, like a city made of light.
It is claimed that Raan is the foremost anthropologist on
Zenno. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humanity in
society past and present.
The cargo eagle that picks up the command module of Eagle 1
is Eagle 7.
In the Zenno simulation of Koenig's Alpha quarters, many of
the walls have been replaced with orange tenting. I suppose
this is intended to give the set a more dream-like "made of light"
feeling.
In the command office at 40:17 on the Blu-ray, the long,
angled floor lamp seen there is a Lucciola lamp designed in
1971.
At the end of the episode, it's not quite clear if Koenig
remembers his time on Zenno when he awakens back on Alpha.
In the Powys novelization, it is clear he does recall. In
the Zack comic strip, it seems as if he may not recall, as
he says upon awakening only, "I feel like I've had a very
long journey behind me..."
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Notes from the novelization of
"Missing Link" by
Brian Ball
as it appears in the Space: 1999 Year One
omnibus published by Powys Media.
The page numbers presented here come from the full
Space: 1999 Year One
omnibus. "Missing Link" begins on page 212 of
the book.
There will also be
notes (as appropriate) from the original adaptation of
"Missing Link" by
Ball as it
appeared in Space: 1999 - The Space Guardians, a merged
novelization of the episodes "Missing Link", "Force of
Life", and
"Guardians of Piri",
first published by Pocket Books in 1975. (Roughly speaking, chapters
1-6 cover the events of
"Missing Link"). |
CHARACTERS APPEARING OR MENTIONED IN THIS NOVELIZATION,
NOT IN THE TV EPISODE
orderly
Deveraux (original Pocket Books novelization)
Johnson (original Pocket Books novelization)
DIDJA NOTICE?
On page 212, Commander Koenig reflects that hearing of a new
star system that might hold intelligent life no longer stirs
him, as the Alphans have encountered both benevolent and
malevolent races, albeit limited to a small group of the
former and a probe of the latter. These would most likely be
references to "Earthbound" and
"Ring Around the Moon",
respectively. However, they've also encountered entities of
the mysterious unknown force in
"Black Sun" (more-or-less benevolent?) and the unseen
beings who took in Dr. Lee Russell years ago as described in
"Matter of Life and
Death". Not to mention the comic book stories
"The Carrier" (neutral aliens)
and "Adam & Eve Mark II"
(malevolent humans from 1000 years in Earth's future).
Page 212 states that Koenig's Eagle was scanning the nearby
planet for mineral deposits, particularly tiranium.
Tiranium is a fictitious mineral used in the Space: 1999
universe as a replacement for plutonium in fueling nuclear
reactors. Tiranium is said to yield more power than
plutonium and have less harmful by-products. It is mentioned
in several Season Two episodes.
The novelization presents an account of the near-crash of
Eagle 1 on the planet which the televised episode omits
except for Koenig's quick recital of the event at the
beginning of the episode.
Page 215 indicates that the errant Moon has an orbital
satellite able to relay images of the Moon's surface. Has
this satellite always been there? Did it accompany the Moon
away from Earth during the immense nuclear blast of
"Breakaway" and it has remained
in lunar orbit throughout the Moon's cosmic odyssey? Or
could this be a satellite placed in orbit later by the
Alphans? Later, "Collision Course" indicates more than one
orbital satellite around the errant Moon.
Page 227 makes it clear, where the televised episode does
not, that Koenig is manipulating Vana into feelings of love
for him, while also not allowing his own deceptive thoughts
to become fully formed, so the mind-reading Zennites will
think he also loves her, all a ploy to get them to return
him to Alpha.
However, in the Zack comic strip (see the study
below), it is presented as if Koenig really had fallen in
love with Vana and wanted to stay with her until Raan's
vision of Sandra told him how he was needed on Alpha and
was convinced to go back.
On page 232, Koenig thinks of Jean, now dead. Jean was his
wife who died during World War III on Earth as related in
the
"Awe" comic book adaptation of
"Breakaway".
On page 237, Raan says something to Koenig just before the
Commander's spirit returns to his body on Alpha. It is, "The
sole drift of my purpose doth extend Not a frown further."
This is a quote from Shakespeare's The Tempest. It
is from a larger quote made by the character of Prospero and
it fits with the "balance of thought and emotion"
conversation Raan and Koenig were just having. (The story of
"Missing Link" itself is similar to The Tempest.)
The full quote is:
Though with their high wrongs
I am struck to th' quick,
Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
Do I take part. The rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance. They being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. |
In the original Pocket Books version of the novelization,
the story proceeds quite a bit differently due to having
been based on an early draft of the "Missing Link"
script, where the Alphans find a spaceship buried under the
Moon's surface in which they make plans to send three Alphans in
cryosuspension to Earth. This is very similar to elements
of "Earthbound", which was
never novelized by Pocket Books at the time.
In the original Pocket Books version of
the novelization, Koenig has a brief reminiscence of a
pale-skinned girl he had known who swam like a mermaid in
the warm Cretan sea one summer. He imagines taking the alien
ship back to Earth and seeing her, implying this was a girl he
knew after the death of his wife during WWIII.
Crete
is the largest of the Greek islands.
 |
Notes from the
"Prisoner of the Future"
adaptation of "Missing Link"
German comic strip
Zack
#21
Koralle-Verlag GmbH
Text: Farinas
Art: Cardona
October 6, 1977 |
Zack
was a German comic magazine, 17 issues of which featured a
Space:
1999
strip. Many of the strips were original stories, others
adaptations of the televised episodes. All were written by
Farinas and drawn by
Cardona (Spanish artist José Maria
Cardona Blasi).
CHARACTERS APPEARING OR MENTIONED IN THIS
COMIC STRIP, NOT IN THE EPISODE
second Zennite
DIDJA NOTICE?
In this comic strip, Eagle 1 is searching for new mineral
deposits on the Moon itself, not on a newly-discovered
planet as seen in the televised episode. This is a leftover
from the original teleplay.
In the comic strip, Raan talks to two other Zennites about
the experiment on Koenig, not just one.
In the televised episode, June spills the tray of coffee. In
the comic strip, the woman is also referred to as June, but
the drawing of her looks more like Tanya.
MEMORABLE DIALOG
you have the most beautiful voice.mp3
a
permanent guest.mp3
you are our missing link.mp3
we're not living, we're existing.mp3
violence beyond description is a way of life for Earth
man.mp3
do
not forget me.mp3
the perfect balance.mp3
Back to Space: 1999 Episode
Studies
