Well after the events of the past two days I'm still in a terrible state of mind, so I'm going to take advantage of this to post my thoughts on what is, in my opinion, the most dire episode of
#TheOmegaFactor by some margin. Step forward "St. Anthony's Fire", and yes, I hope Saint Anthony is suing for use of his name.
Things are getting herbal in this episode, and I don't just mean that it watches like everyone involved was trying to roll a joint with their other hand while they were making it. Tom is shocked to discover that a botanist and commune leader he used to pal around with in the Scottish countryside has been murdered by his apparently sane wife, though I do question the sanity of whoever signed off on the EXECRABLY poor opening scene in which this happens - bad acting, bad dialogue, bad editing, bad music, and terrible day-for-night shooting in a series until now famed for its great night scenes.
Anyway, Tom moseys on down to the Findhorn-in-thin-disguise wonderfarm (which of course his boss stresses is nothing like those giant-vegetable cranks at Findhorn) to begin a discreet investigation. He's not discreet enough, even in that neutral beige, off-white and dun clothing, and soon falls under the spell of a pair of evil botanists who are taking Dead Friend's work in a sinister new direction.
This is where things get truly chilling, because the woman botanist is the series' best effort at a traditional femme fatale, a blonde, flicky-haired entity who slinks around in relatively tolerable seventies fabrics and can't say ANYTHING without making it sound like a double entendre, especially when giving Tom a tour of the greenhouses.
Anyway, this all culminates in a very distressing scene in which Tom ends up topless to receive a massage, and although I stand by my opinion of James Hazedene as a Hot Guy, on this showing he's clearly one of those Hot Guys who need to remain fully dressed at all times. Because we are in a brave new world where body-shaming is frowned upon, I won't dwell in detail on the evils lurking under his shirt, and in any case the lighting and grooming are definitely to blame for some of those evils, but I'm afraid I cannot remain silent on the topic of his tanning ("tanning") pattern, which has the unmistakeable form of a hideous 70s gentleman's vest. Yes, this hard-hitting occult-savvy supersleuth has his own torso haunted by a GHOST VEST, and isn't doing a thing about it. What a disgrace. (And needless to say, his female counterpart is perfectly tanned and groomed, working that good old double standard as usual. Though you don't see her topless, don't get your hopes up.)
Anyway, after a lot of bumbling around the site, falling through holes and propping up the local bar, Tom is joined by his colleague Anne. Things actually pick up a bit here because Anne is uncharacteristically bitchy in this episode (none of the main characters are really acting like themselves in this ep, but in her case it's an improvement.) She also gets the episode's one exciting peril scene. Though the wardrobe department have really done her dirty. There's one scene where she's in the most revolting pleated blue dress imaginable, and when she complains to Tom about a local weirdo "undressing me with his eyes", all I could think was "well, SOMEONE's got to step up to the plate and undress you before you end up at the Hague for crimes against fashion."
Things stumble on for a while after that - there's mind-altering drugs involved, but this is the least psychedelic episode of the series, possibly of the entire history of television. Robert Trotter adds some class as the local doctor crumbling under the weight of secrecy, but by the time the episode drags itself to its end, the feeling is one of relief.
#sci-fi #horror
#occult
#CultTV
#70sTV