Towards the end of the episode, Maya metamorph-wotsits into a rock creature and then gets into trouble as the rock in the Eagle tries to pull her into itself. During that struggle she's yelling instructions at Koenig from inside her rock and we can see her in human form inside the rock. Does this make sense? Does she really keep her 'own' form - albeit much tinier than usual - inside the form she's taken?

Is that really "glisters"? or is it "glistens"

I was wondering if it was "glitters", as in, "All that glitters is not gold."

In the English translations of "Don Quixote", the book where the phrase originated, it's "glisters".

This episode is so bad it's painful. Martin Landau spends the entire time looking like he wants to strangle his agent. Just bad, bad, bad, from the campy fake-looking planet to the "I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker" line. Eeek! I'm a brunette, not a blonde, I'm a model not an actress....Anything other than that line!

For some reason, Martin Landau was reportedly unhappy with this particular script. This saddens me, for this was one of the few episodes I was able to see when I was young, and much of my enjoyment of 1999 stems from this episode. Although I will admit, the rock creature premise is a bit shaky and Maya's transformations are inconsistent. However, that was a problem in several other episodes as well. I remember the red planet set as being quite spooky and unearthly, yet I've read criticisms about it looking hokey and unrealistic. Since I haven't seen the episode since the 70's, I can't refute that comment. The ending is good however; the Alphans show mercy to an entity that tried to destroy them. Koenig needed to display this attitude more often. Perhaps a 6 or 7 out of 10 for this one?

When Tony has been turned into a zombie, and is wandering around carrying a rock, Maya, Carter and Reilly go looking for him and shout his name as in "Tony where are you?" Why didn't they use their commlocks to try and find him? I seem to remember in "Deaths Other Dominion" in the first series someone mentioned that they had this facility - to locate each other.

As I remember, there ws a line of dialogue in this episode that amused me. It went like this: Helena: Tony's brain is still functioning.
Koenig: That's one of life's mysteries!
Well, I thought it was funny, anyway!

You can read Martin Landau and Tony Anholt's comments on the episode at

http://www.space1999.net/~catacombs/main/epguide/t28atg.html

Well if Freddie thought it was an excellent script that says it all.......

*For some reason, Martin Landau was reportedly unhappy with this particular script. This saddens me, for this was one of the few episodes I was able to see when I was young, and much of my enjoyment of 1999 stems from this episode. Although I will admit, the rock creature premise is a bit shaky and Maya's transformations are inconsistent. However, that was a problem in several other episodes as well. I remember the red planet set as being quite spooky and unearthly, yet I've read criticisms about it looking hokey and unrealistic. Since I haven't seen the episode since the 70's, I can't refute that comment. The ending is good however; the Alphans show mercy to an entity that tried to destroy them. Koenig needed to display this attitude more often. Perhaps a 6 or 7 out of 10 for this one? *

Zantor, perhaps you need to seek professional help. This ep is Exhibit A in how Fred F-berger singlehandedly murdered S:1999.

SUPERB!!! This is one of the series best episodes. It explores the concept of a rock like organism in a manner similar to Star Trek's "Devil in the Dark" (also with a thoughtful and emotionally uplifting conclusion). The idea of a truly alien creature is presented,instead of another alien who's just an old white male in a robe (Zantor,Raan,Magus,etc). This is a challenging and thought-provoking story. Some may be content with watching episodes with rubber squids swallowing people - me, I prefer a more thoughtful story such as this.

I rather thought the Zantor & Raan episodes were thoughtful; they certainly have spawned enough conversations on their respective boards! I think the sheer horror of "Dragon's Domain," especially in the context of when it was made, is a major reason that ep is so popular; for a pure monster story (in any series of that time), it was one of the better ones.
As for "All That Glisters," much of its criticism stems from its similarity to "Devil in the Dark." On the other hand, didn't an early ST: The Next Generation ep involve a desert planet (ripe for terraforming) with mineral-like entities that needed water? While most probably see that as a nod to "Devil in the Dark," it seems a bit derivative of "All That Glisters," too.

This episode is awful. Period.

me pa says dat talkin rock story wuz a real good one. maya freeks me out. dat chick hav sum funny eyebrows! da rocks just want water, like cousin bubba's rhododendron. them is thirsty suckers!

If your 'pa' thinks this is a good episode then he enjoys garbage.

OK, let's start with the obvious - there is no way the brain can survive without the heart beating. Anyone who has had high school science should know that. Somebody smack the writer of this episode.

There is also no such thing as milganite.


I agree with Martin Landau - rubbish.

So far I have yet to like one Season 2 episode. I hope they improve from here...

Perhaps, Milganite is something discovered on another alien planet the Alphans visited.

Doesn't every scifi also depict near dead people surviving in some sort of stasis? Of course, this ep's depiction is impossible; a rock couldn't have any powers (or instrumentation) to keep Tony in some sort of suspension.

Some reviews claim this ep has an "Outer Limits" type appeal. I disagree. It's thouroughly awful in every regard (even the effects are disappointing).

Curious,

My wife thought of that, but Helena stated in her beginning log that this mineral was critical to their life support systems, implying that they would have had to have found in on Earth, prior to Breakaway. And Dave the geologist was familiar with it.

Was it just me, or did anyone else expect Dave to succumb to Red Shirt Syndrome?

Its possible milganite was something discovered on the Moon itself, or perhaps some place like the asteroid belt.

SFX Comments:
Looking at this episode again is pure torture. It's thoroughly awful in almost every respect: the story, the dialogue, and some of the effects. This story features a rock (seeking water) which can teleport people, pilot Eagles, control minds, and apparently program computers. With all these exceptional powers, why can't it condense a few drops of water from the atmosphere?

The ep starts off fine; a couple of nicely done shots of a booster pod Eagle flying from the moon and towards the planet. Things get worse from there. The next shot shows the Eagle swooping through a bank of clouds with the black wires quite visible. An aerial shot of the planet follows. It takes the prize as the series' worst effects shot of a planet' surface. The shot is totally unconvincing. The mountains are plainly flat cut-outs, as are some foreground peaks and stalagmites (I thought they only formed inside of caves). This shot ruins the effectiveness of later groundlevel scenes of the planet; the viewer is aware that he is seeing flat cut-outs from a more convincing angle. The flat Eagle cut-outs used in "War Games" and "Missing Link" look far more convincing than these flat mountains.

...So, the Eagle sets down as the "Irish cowboy" is rudely staring at a very uncomfortable looking Maya. The gang is looking for Milganite. Apparently, it can be found in a plastic rock with a light bulb in it. They bring back a piece to the Eagle. It fuses with another piece via a superimposed sparkler. Not very convincing, but we'll let that pass. The rock disables the Eagle. John has to do something. Helena warns him "For God's sake John, don't go near it. It could kill you". "...so could old age" replies the Commander. The rock then hits John with a blue beam (a blue spotlight) causing him to make a face so ridiculous, one can only laugh. Masterpiece Theatre this ain't.

Later, the Commander delivers a truly prize-winning line to Reilly; "You've got a one track mind in a Stone Age skull". Dialogue just can't get any worse than this! This exchange occurs as Koenig, Maya, Carter, and Reilly helplessly watch as the Eagle takes off (piloted by the rock sending a yellow spotlight around the corner to work the Eagle controls). The Eagle magically looses its pod section, luckily it reappears. Everyone considers that a nit, but did anyone ever consider that the rock might have magically done that? It has very special powers! In all seriousness, the groundlevel shots of the pod Eagle taking off are beautifully done. They're probably the best thing in this ep.

Keith Wilson's sets are fine. The backdrop painting of the planet ( with red mountains and some funky gnarled white trees) is impressive, but it is poorly lit and the director uses too many closeups of it. The interior set for the Eagle is another matter. What are Medical Center panels (with a heart moniter) doing in the Eagle. Never before, or again, did the Alphans use an Eagle with Medical Center panels in it. Ah, but they did come in handy when the rock incapacitated Tony. This episode also features the only instance when a stun gun fires beams from all four barrels.

All ends well though; the departing Alphans luckily carry nucleoid crystals (standard supplies on a lunar vehicle) to seed the clouds and give the thirsty rock a drink. Gold glitter, used by every kid in elementary school art class, is dropped out of the Eagle accompanied by happy music. Someone then turns a hose on the plastic rock. Rain has arrived. Thankfully, the story is over. Sir Freddie was impressed by this story. Why?

..because he was on a mission to destroy S:1999. After this, his task was much easier.

Freiberger would rewrite scripts. Perhaps, he should have added his magic touch to this story.

Suggestions for this story:
(1) Have the rock talk! If trees can talk, why can't rocks? Freddie could have wrote some great dialogue featuring an angry argument between the rock and the Alphans (like Tony and cloud in The Beta Cloud).

(2) Let the rock fly! Why resort to mind control of the humans when flying about on visible strings would be so much more efficient?

(3) Add some "rock" jokes. At the end, Koenig could say, "I"ll never look at a hunk of granite the same way again!" Helena could warn the others of the possessed Tony by yelling, "Watch out! He's got rocks in his head". And Koenig could be naughty and tell Helena, "I wish I was a rock. Rocks don't need Viagra". Think about it.

How about "I'll never take rocks for granite again!" (It's a play on the old rockhound joke to differentiate between two rocks: "Don't take it for granite because it's gneiss.")

Stop quartzing around!

watching this ep made me all sedimentary for the old days....

This story is no diamond in the rough. Caught between a rock and a hard place, I'd magmananously prefer a lava flow to this...

Fryburger could have gone the Michael Bay route and added some songs to the mix. "Like a Rock" would be good. The Rolling Stones and Pebbles would be inspired choices too.

"Stone Cold" - Rainbow

"Love is Like a Rock" - Donnie Iris

....the list goes on....

Of course, the theme from "Rocky" would be good for the action scenes in this ep!

Is that a rock in your pocket, or are you just....?

Red is DEATH!

Just finished watching it. Utterly ghastly. I think it would have been far better if Maya had successfully mated with the rock to create some sort of british-rock creature. Like the Sex Pistols.

But seriously - Fred Frieberger should be beaten senseless.

At one point, the Cowboy (seriously, I thought he would be the token Ensign Deadmeat character, a guest character with a ship full of regulars, but I was wrong) says that he plans to write a paper on the rocks. Uh, Cowboy, just WHERE would you submit said paper too? You're a long way from any university!

Somehow the rock creature was able to selectively control what worked and what didn't inside the Eagle. It locked the doors and made the engines inoperable, but kept the air and lights on, luckily for Helena.

Um, I thought the rock creature was inside a cave? How did it get rained on in the end?

This episode could have easily been a Star Trek episode, substituting a crew aboard a Galileo shuttlecraft. Maybe Sulu would have been the zombie character

Um, I thought the rock creature was inside a cave? How did it get rained on in the end?

It wasn't the same one. There were many of those creatures on the planet, all very thirsty.