Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Season 2, Episode 1
Prod #: 8201

JONAH AND THE WHALE


Written by Shimon Wincelberg
Directed by Sobey Martin


Guest Star:
Gia Scala as Katya Markhova

Seaview is hosting a joint project with the USSR to find and recover anything they can from a recently destroyed Soviet undersea research lab. The first dive ends in disaster as a whale smashes into the diving bell (code named "Apple One"), causing the death of a Russian scientist, Alexi. Nelson and the remaining Soviet scientist Katya Markhova (Alexi's fiancée) make a second descent themselves. On the way down, sonar picks up a group of approaching, migrating whales. Before the diving bell can be retrieved, it, with Nelson and Katya inside, is swallowed by the largest whale in the sea. Crane takes Kowalski and Stu Riley on a rescue mission, hoping to save the occupants of the bell before their oxygen supply runs out.

Voyage bursts into full color for its second season and a great many changes arrive with this season premiere. First was a new time slot from Mondays at 7:30 to Sunday at 7, replacing Wagon Train. This would be Voyage's home for the remainder of its run.

The Seaview control room was consolidated with the observation lounge. This opened up the sets, allowing the characters more latitude; however it created a huge periscope & conning tower location discrepancy. The changes applied to the exterior of the sub as well. The eight windowed bow was changed to a more gracefully angled four windowed model (these changes make the submarine itself much smaller, although it was never intended to be a second ship), while the underside was carved open to make room for the Flying Sub, a versatile mini-vessel that made a huge difference in the series. Although not used or mentioned in this episode, it was able to reach great depths, it could surface and launch into the air at super-sonic speeds. The FS1, as it was often called, made it easier to separate the cast in a visually exciting manner. The effects and model work employed to show the sub in flight remain extremely impressive.

The officer's uniforms remained the same, however the enlisted men lost the sailor outfits, replacing them with colored coveralls (red and blue - with matching socks!). While it played up the idea that the crew were civilians, it took away some of the naval realism.

This episode also introduced two new members of the crew: Chief Petty Officer Francis Ethelbert Sharkey (Terry Becker), replacing Chief Curly Jones (actor Henry Kulky died the previous year) and crewman Stu Riley (Allan Hunt). Riley was created as someone for the younger audience to relate to, with his "hip" surfer lingo and youthful energy. At first, the writers laid it on pretty thick, but Allan Hunt proved better than the material and by the season's end, Riley was a valuable and likable member of the crew. However, it would take a few episodes for the slang to calm down and he was not off to an auspicious start with lines like "you gotta get with Daddy on that," "that makes riding a hot tube seem like kid's stuff," and the immortal "man, dig that fish!"

"Man, dig that fish!"

Sharkey was envisioned as a stand up, regular guy. Terry Becker plays him very reserved in his introduction and he would develop a wonderful friendship with Admiral Nelson (and actor Basehart) as the episodes wore on. He would become an audience favorite, especially among the younger members who would write to him and talk about their problems.

It is difficult to remain objective about this one as it is my favorite episode of the run. It is a classic example of blockbuster television, and considering the era in which it was made, remains a remarkable achievement. Much of the whale footage is colored stock from the first season, but anything involving the diving bell and the cable hanging from its mouth is all new. Also, much of the Seaview shots are from the first season as you can see by the bow windows. In fact, since the Flying Sub is not referenced, much of the technology shown gives the episode a first season feel.

The interior of the whale, while overly bright, is extremely impressive for the time. While the sets are reminiscent of the later Fox film Fantastic Voyage and were used on the Lost in Space episode "The Derelict" filmed around the same time, the whale innards were created specifically for this episode. With the colored lights, water spray (which, when you realize it's saliva, is pretty gross), and layers of bodily sound effects, the result is amazingly convincing. I can only imagine how the audiences of the day felt upon seeing this, but it seems to me it was the first time such an epic and unique vision was brought to TV screens. Irwin Allen should have been proud of the accomplishment.

Trapped in the belly of the leviathan....

It should be mentioned that Voyage, while steeped in cold war tales, rarely, if ever, used the USSR as villains. Usually some outside force would try to pit the Russians against the United States (such as The People's Republic), but never would the two super powers take an action against the other. As this episode illustrates, there would even be times when both sides would work together, providing a hopeful example of political solidarity. There's even a line from Katya, where she mentioned her late fiancée Alexi (the unknown actor "killed" in the first dive) said that people like them (Nelson, Katya, Alexi) should be friends. The understated message being that whatever problems the governments might have should not prevent individuals from living in peace. Pretty deep stuff for an Irwin Allen program.

Sobey Martin's direction is crisp and the action movies at a brisk pace. Each act ends on a minor cliffhanger, escalating the jeopardy and suspense just enough to get us through the commercials, never going over the top. Shimon Wincelberg's script is a little on the nose with the religious implications, but it does acknowledge the source material and manages to entertain without being overly preachy.

"What? Whales, you say?"

The lovely Gia Scala is alternately sweet and irritating - mostly the latter unfortunately. Granted, it was how her character was written and she does come around at the end, but she tended to grate in some of the discussion scenes in the diving bell. However, when the script called for her to be friendly, she was charming and she and Basehart had good chemistry. Even Kowalski is given a brief moment of flirtation at the beginning of the episode. She would have made a nice recurring character. While it occurred long after the series ended, Ms. Scala (a friend of Lost in Space's Guy Williams) sadly died of an accidental overdose in 1972, a regrettable end for a fine actress and a beautiful woman. She was 38 years old.

Special mention must be made of the episode's music. The great Jerry Goldsmith provided his only full Voyage score. It's an excellent piece of work, one that found favor, as it was tracked repeatedly for the remainder of the run. Nearly every episode closed out with the triumphant new Seaview theme (first heard when the bell is successfully pulled from the whale). He was also called upon to provide a new opening and closing theme for the series. It was only used for this segment, although presumably it was meant to be a permanent change; the next few episodes had the theme woven into the background music by other composers. Apparently it wasn't as well liked as Paul Sawtell's original and more nautical theme. However, Goldsmith's was very well done and a good fit for the series, which, after a brief love affair with Bondian espionage, would rely more and more on science fiction and the supernatural for stories.

With a lighter, more action oriented format, full color, high concepts and some very positive changes, the second season was off to a smashing start. It would prove to be an excellent year, but more alterations were on the horizon as a shrinking budget dictated the story content. However, for the moment, Voyage was riding high.