Fatal Cargo

Leo Brock controls a big white ape and that ape is placed on Seaview (??) with tragic results for the crew.

I think the Land Of The Giants jungle set was used in the early stages of this episode, it is not the Voyage jungle we normally see and Giants was in production at this stage of the game...so it makes sense that this is the Giants jungle. This is just one of a few quirks that make this Republic-serial-type episode - Fatal Cargo - rather pleasing. The Leo Brock character and the white ape give the hour a unique goofy feel. A feel never seen in season three Voyage/Sea.

Adding to this, Nelson and Sharkey make amusing reactions to the non-sense that is going on around them, such as Nelson's: "Who is hunting who?" Adding to this, a great bit with the Seaview crashing into rocks.

But the whole hour is damaged by the fact that the ape simply does not look real.

Seeing the Mugato in action is still a thrill for an old Trekkie like me, and the tongue-in-cheek nature of this episode yields a few laughs (many of them unintentional). But my problem with "Fatal Cargo" is a drama-related one. The same things happen over and over again, and that's the plot arc. Brock pushes yellow button... Gorilla goes mad... Somebody either dies or avoids death... Crewmen shoot at gorilla... Brock puts gorilla back to sleep. Repeat. The writer's term for this is "padding". Sorry William Welch, but having your characters do the same thing over and over again betrays a serious lack of dramatic ideas.