Now this was an unusual episode. It seems the last two were a bit more of what I’d hoped to find in season two and, while I don’t have much hope of that continuing, it was nice to experience another interesting, fast-paces episode.
Alpha is passing through an area of space where every 12 hours, a massive explosion is taking place. As they get closer and closer to the source, the explosions are becoming more cataclysmic. The latest one does massive amounts of damage and the next one is bound to destroy the base. Koenig identifies a planet that seems to be the origin of these explosions so he, Alan and Maya take a trip down to see if they can find out the cause and stop it.
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Kashimashi is a yuri anime with a difference. The main character is Hazumu, who is accidentally killed by aliens and restored to life. The problem is that they make a mistake and he returns to life as she. It’s a bit of a silly idea, but somehow manages to be a springboard for some excellent drama. 
How important is IQ? Could a hyper-intelligent person have a chance of outwitting Lieutenant Columbo? Who are we kidding…
Any review of Passion is obviously going to be dominated by one thing, but let’s at least look a the build-up to the shock moment in this episode first. Right from the start, Buffy’s world feels more dangerous than it ever has before, because nobody can get a break from the fear. Both Willow and Buffy have previously invited Angel into their homes, and he’s taking full advantage of the access to their lives that affords him. Interestingly, we see him in Buffy’s bedroom, stroking her hair. He could easily have killed her, there and then, but this is no simple battle of mortal enemies. Angel is obsessed. He might be undead, but he still has passion. 
When David Ellington is introduced to us through a seeming fourth wall break, I remembered this was an episode I loved from my youth. Written by Charles Beaumont, I welcomed the change from the last few episodes of loathsome characters Serling had given us. And this is one that stands out. It’s such a classic. David Ellington finds a monastery and inside is a man trapped in a cell. The keeper of the monastery says it’s the devil, but surely that’s crazy talk. I mean, look at Brother Jerome! It’s the early 1900s, somewhere after the Great War but before the Second and this man dresses up like Moses and walks around carrying a staff. Forgetting for a moment that we are watching The Twilight Zone – a show where we know the strange happens regularly – this seems like a wild claim from a madman. But watching this with the critical eye that comes from writing about shows, I realize how unfortunate the 25 minute format is for such a great story. 
A few weeks ago, we looked at the pastiche. For those who do not know, those are the stories written by other writers that imagine Holmes in a different sort of story. Many are incredibly enjoyable, and they often defy expectation. Holmes as a comedy? Yep, works well. Holmes against Cthulhu? I love it! Holmes against Count Dracula? You bet. But the pastiche isn’t where we first see Holmes up against a vampire. The Sussex Vampire, upon which this story is based, gave us the first speculation of how Holmes would really do against the nightmare world of Vampires. 
This episode has another memorable opening sequence: a man being murdered by his doppelgänger, who is hiding in the wardrobe. The illusion of the scene is immediately shattered by the lack of a visible wound. I realise that was a line that couldn’t easily be crossed on television at the time, but if the representation of a shooting extends no further than the firing of a gun and a man falling over, it’s probably better not to have the victim bare-chested, just to make it blatantly obvious that there is no actual wound. 
One of the most popular subgenres of anime is known as isekai, where somebody escapes their humdrum, human existence to live in a fantasy world. I can understand the popularity, because it’s pure escapism, but I’m not sure there’s a good reason for the reverse existing. There are plenty of anime shows where a fantasy character pops up in the human world, and they are often a huge amount of fun, but they are almost always told from the perspective of a human character, into whose life the fantasy character crashes. This is different, because the perspective character is Jahy, the second in command of a Dark Realm, who has to survive in the human world. It’s reverse isekai in its purest form, and that’s not a strong foundation for a series. Not all genres need to be flipped. 
This series is 20 years old now, and watching it today is a reminder of how much anime has moved on in the last couple of decades. There is generally a lot less movement in the animation nowadays, but watching an older show like this isn’t necessarily a hugely impressive experience, as the picture quality on the DVD is hardly great to say the least, but this one was an impulse purchase at a cheap price in a second-hand shop, so I didn’t feel too cheated. The main thing is the story being told, and this is an unusual one. 
Last week I mentioned that The Creeping Man felt like a crossover between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Jekyll. As we come to the end of the Granada television series with season 4 approaching and only 6 episodes, we have time for a detour. Holmes is no stranger to crossover fiction. There are comedies that are absolutely hilarious. There are horror stories and science fiction ones that will blow your mind. But the really remarkable thing is that almost all of them work brilliantly. 
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The View from the Junkyard 