Review: Ultraman Episode 22 - Overthrow The Surface

 Ultraman Episode #22

Overthrow The Surface

Original Air Date: December 11th, 1966

Directed by: Akio Jissoji

Screenplay by: Mamoru Sasaki

Review by: Toku Tom Fool

Our good friends from the Paris SSSP are back in this episode. This time they have sent sunglasses wearing Anne who is a creepy woman that won't tell Ide and Arashi anything on the train to HQ. She only wants to talk to Captain Muramatsu. I'd talk to Ide and Arashi because they seem like a couple of fun guys. Anne arrives at HQ and the first thing Muramatsu does is point a gun at her, but it turns out this is just a thing they do because it scans her badge. He's going to wish he had blown her away with a real gun. Paris has sent Anne to take Hayata to Paris SSSP HQ to be a rocket pilot trainer for the International Space Development Force. I would not want Hayata anywhere near my rockets or planes. Most planes he gets in end up destroyed. It's really dark in the SSSP HQ this episode. They must have forgot to pay the electricity bill. I know the real reason is to give the episode a nice aesthetic which it is cool but I had to point it out. 

As soon as Hayata leaves, the entire city of Tokyo goes haywire and power has been lost. Now it would make sense for the SSSP to be so dark. The SSSP is told that the problem is coming from the SSSP HQ. A scientist explains that a mechanical force is causing the electrical jamming. Later, Arashi, Ide, and the scientist are driving around when Ide thinks he sees Anne walking around but she should be with Hayata. Arashi doesn't believe him like usual even though Ide is almost always right.

 

Back at the HQ, the scientist explains how they found a Gelmatant ore that only can be found underground. They are curious how it ended up in SSSP but Ide is smart and immediately suspects Anne. They brush it off since she's a valued Paris SSSP member. Arashi thinks that maybe the ore came from space. Fuji tries to contact Hayata but he can't be reached which is strange because all the power has been restored. They still haven't turned the lights back on in HQ though. 

Arashi and Ide are now flying around in a Jet VTOL when they spot a car. Ide thinks it is Anne again getting out of the car and Arashi once again doesn't believe the high intellect of Ide. The duo lands the Jet VTOL to get a closer look but fall down a hill tipping off Anne who gets back in the car and escapes. Arashi finally believes it was Anne though. They also find Hayata's transmitter and take it back to Captain Muramatsu. Paris SSSP sends a picture of Anne to them and it is indeed Anne but without sunglasses. Paris SSSP also informs them that neither Anne or Hayata have arrived in Paris so something is up. 

Ide is armed and looking for Anne. They must have some inkling where she is because he finds her right away. They get into a bit of a scuffle and he knocks off her sunglasses. This reveals that she has no eyes. Well, they obviously look like eye covers over her eyes but I think we're supposed to believe that they just have no eyes. Anne puts her sunglasses back on and summons a monster to start destroying the city. 

Muramatsu, Arashi, and Fuji in the Jet VTOL try to take on the monster. This is a tough monster though because it can breathe fire. The Jet VTOL takes a few hits but because Hayata isn't around they are able to land it safely and meet up with Ide. Speaking of Hayata, we finally find out where he's been. It looks like he's been kidnapped by the Men in Black. They are actually the Underground People and they have taken Hayata 40,000 feet below surface. They all have no eyes and some bad teeth. The Underground People want to bathe in the sunlight and enslave the surface people. I'm not sure why they have to live underground. It seems like they could easily integrate into society but I guess they are being bitter about being driven underground. They also know that Hayata is Ultraman. I guess they've been watching very closely. They want to take control of Ultraman so he can do their bidding. The Underground People put a gas mask on Hayata and use him to turn into Ultraman but the light of Ultraman is too strong and their plan fails miserably. 

It's time for Ultraman to fight the monster. The monster does have a name. We learn it's Telesdon from Anne during the episode. Ultraman monkey flips Telesdon through a building which is really cool unless you were the owner of that building. Telesdon gets a little ground and pound on Ultraman before being kicked off of him. Ultraman gets in a snapmare before hitting a big dropkick. This is one of the better fights we've had in some time. Ultraman does one of my favorite things when he grabs Telesdon by the tail and flings him around. He then flips him by the head again and then picks Telesdon over his head and slams Telesdon head first into the ground killing it. 

Hayata arrives back at SSSP HQ and everyone is so happy to see him. Anne also walks through the door and they start to panic before she removes her sunglasses and she has eyes! It turns out she was also kidnapped by the Underground People and they took her identity. Finally, Anne and Hayata are able to go to Paris so Hayata can hopefully not crash any of their planes. The end.

This is a good episode. It's very creepy at times and that's helped by the episode being so dark. They don't even turn on the lights in HQ until the end of the episode. Heck, the Ultraman fight is even in the dark. I did enjoy that fight though. The Underground People are very interesting villains and I wouldn't mind seeing more of them. I think this was a good episode for Ide because he continued to show that he is smarter than everyone else. On the other hand, Arashi needs to start taking Ide seriously. I do think the episode could have been a bit better but overall I was satisfied with it. 

The title of this episode did end up making sense since the Underground People wanted to overthrow the surface people. I've also seen this episode titled "The Underground Destruction Work" which doesn't work as well to me. Episode 23 is called "My Home is Earth" which to me sounds like it should be a good episode. Maybe Ultraman is being called home and he decides to stay on Earth. That's my prediction. Find out if I'm wrong on Twitter @TokuTomFoolery where I will live tweet the episode.