Review: Ultraman Episode 16 - Science Patrol in Space

 

Ultraman Episode #16

Science Patrol in Space

Original Air Date: October 30th, 1966

Directed by: Toshihiro Iijima

 Screenplay by: Kitao Senzoku

Review by Toku Tom Fool

Set controls to outer space now. Flying higher than ever before. Space Patrol in Space! Like Power Rangers in Space being a return to form for Power Rangers after Power Rangers Turbo, this was a return to form for Ultraman after a couple stinker episodes. I joked in my last review that maybe they would follow up on the Mars subplot from episode 2 which they did not but they did follow up on the Baltans from episode 2 which pleased me. The stakes actually felt pretty real in this episode because of it being a sequel episode. 

The story begins with Professor Mori of the Space Exploration Research Center boarding the rocket Otori to make the first expedition to planet Venus. The SSSP is there to make sure nothing goes wrong. They have Hayata flying a plane up there hoping he doesn't crash another one. The planes are called Jet VTOL which I have been neglecting to mention because plane is easier to type. The launch is a success and Hayata is ordered to go back to SSSP HQ. I asked last episode if Hoshino had been written off the show but he's back in this one. Hoshino is upset that Professor Iwamoto's rocket was chosen for the mission but Iwamoto wanted to make sure his rocket was 100% ready as opposed to the Otori which still had some kinks to work out but they launched it anyway. Iwamoto is another character that appears every few episodes that works for the SSSP. 

Professor Mori is flying through space and the SSSP has a direct feed to watch him. Ide is having way too much fun watching Mori eat food. Something starts to interrupt their transmission to Mori and luckily Ide is an excellent inventor that was prepared for this situation with a universal translator. The cause of the interrupted transmission turns out to be a Baltan. I like that Hayata is immediately upset about this because he and everyone else thought Ultraman wiped out the Baltans back in episode 2. The remaining Baltans that survived found a new planet to live on called Planet R and they have made a Light Wave Barrier to counter Ultraman's Spacium Beam. 

Back on the Otori, Professor Mori is enjoying the view of Earth when the Baltans dock with his rocket. The Baltan then takes over Mori's mind and comes up with a plan for the SSSP to come to space and save Mori while the rest of the Baltans go down to Earth to invade. The SSSP know something weird happened to Mori's ship so they go to Professor Iwamoto to take his rocket called Phoenix but he says it is still not ready. He instead has the Jet VTOL equipped with special rockets so it can fly into space instead. 

The SSSP falls for the Baltan trap by going after Mori but they were smart enough to keep Ide and Fuji on Earth. As soon as the Jet VTOL is in space, the Baltans come down to Earth. Luckily, Ide was flying a plane of his own when the Baltans came to Earth. The Baltans action figures are flying around his ship but earlier in the episode we saw Ide show off a new weapon he invented called the Mars 133. He uses his new weapon to start blasting Baltans out of the sky. Ide's the man! He should be captain. The rest of the SSSP realized they had flown into a trap and now they must save Mori from the Baltan mind control. They get Mori to the Jet VTOL but he starts going crazy and they crash land into Planet R. I'm not quite sure how Planet R works so I'm hoping we get more information on that in future episodes. 

 

The team recovers from the crash and realizes that Mori is gone but they spot him outside the VTOL on land. Arashi thinks they are on Earth so he grabs his trusty Spider Shot and is ready to shoot things. He's very lucky Planet R has a breathable atmosphere or else he'd be dead. Mori uses mind powers to hurt Arashi and then he transforms into a giant Baltan. The Baltan tries to tip over the Jet VTOL but Hayata transforms into Ultraman which raises a few questions. Hayata transformed in the VTOL so it can be assumed he didn't grow large and destroy it. I'm guessing he transforms into that ring we saw in a past episode and flew out and became Ultraman. Muramatsu was in the VTOL with him. He would have to know Hayata is Ultraman after that.

Ultraman flies at the Baltan and uses his Spacium Beam but that pesky Baltan was prepared with the Light Wave Barrier that reflects the beam back at Ultraman. The Baltan seems to be in control of the battle when he starts to fly at Ultraman and then Ultraman busts out a energy disc that cuts the poor Baltan in half. That move never worked for Krillin in Dragon Ball Z. Muramatsu calls back to Earth saying that Ultraman showed up and defeated the Baltan. I guess he didn't notice Hayata missing from the backseat. Maybe he's just known this entire time and is covering for him. 

It turns out that Ultraman also knows how to teleport so he goes from Planet R to Earth instantly. The narrator says it weakens his life force to do this but it didn't seem to hurt him that much. Maybe it cut thirty minutes off his life like eating a hot dog apparently does. The Baltans on Earth are attacking what looks like an oil refinery. I'm pretty sure it's just the footage from the "Oil S.O.S." episode. The Baltans combine to form another giant Baltan which seems like a bad idea for their race. Ultraman starts the battle with his slicing disc technique that Google tells me is the Ultra Slash. The Baltan blocks it with another Light Wave Barrier. Ultraman tries Superman laser eyes next but that also fails and then he uses a trusty kick to the chest which works. This Baltan then makes the same mistake as the last one and flies at Ultraman and gets cut in half from the Ultra Slash. I think they even used the same shot. I guess they were saving money this episode after all those model rockets they built. Ultraman also uses his Spacium Beam to blow up both sides of the split Baltan to blow it up for good. Will the Baltans be back? Hopefully they stashed a few on Planet R. 

Okay, I missed this when I watched the episode initially. Back on Planet R, Muramatsu and Arashi notice that Hayata is out cold but is still alive. I thought this was Mori when I first watched the episode because it was after midnight and I was tired. I guess Mori got cut in half as a Baltan. So to answer my questions from earlier, it appears Hayata's soul left his body and became Ultraman. That would explain why he didn't destroy the VTOL while transforming. Not sure what Muramatsu thought when he turned around and noticed Hayata passed out. Maybe he assumed the crash hurt him more than he initially thought. That means Hayata's secret is safe. Muramatsu and Arashi think they are stranded on Planet R but the Phoenix arrives with Iwamoto, Fuji, Ide, and Hoshino in a creamsicle uniform of his own and they can go back to Earth.

Sometimes you know an episode is going to be good right away and I felt that with this one. I was ecstatic to get back to the Baltan storyline and it gives me hope that will we get to Mars in one of these episodes. Good episode for Hayata because he was taking the Baltan threat seriously and I liked seeing his reaction to them still being alive. Also a good episode for Ide because we see how good of an inventor he is as well as being comic relief. Hoshino came back and we see how much he loves the SSSP that he cries when Iwamoto's rocket was chosen for the space mission. That boy has a dream job and he's going to achieve it! I mean they already gave him a uniform. 

That's all for episode 16 which I really enjoyed. Episode 17 is titled "Passport to Infinity" and that's one of those titles that you can't guess anything from unlike "Science Patrol in Space" where we see our team in space. We'll see what that episode means next time so be sure to follow me on Twitter @TokuTomFoolery where I am followed by Tom Whalen who does the artwork for the Power Rangers: Lightning Collection figures. Follow him too. I'll be live tweeting episode 17 of Ultraman on Twitter so I'll see you there.