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[ 5 ] Vegas in Space
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| Season: | 1 |
| Date Aired U.S.: | Thursday, October 04, 1979 |
| Writer(s): | Anne Collins |
| Director: | Sigmund Neufeld Jr. |
 Episode Synopsis
 "Buck is sent to the gambling city of Sineloa with special Directorate agent Marla Landers. The two are assigned to rescue a young woman who has been kidnapped by the city's ruler, Velosi. Velosi plans to extract some information from the girl's mind to destroy one of his competitors, Armat. Armat offers the Directorate plans to the Draconian Hatchet fighters that have been plaguing Earth's defense forces in exchange for the girl's life."
 "Buck and Directorate agent Marla Landers travel to Sineloa, a gambling city that Buck finds resembles old Earth's Las Vegas. Their mission from the Earth Defense Directorate is to locate and return to Earth a kidnapped girl being held prisoner by the city's ruler, Velosi. The young woman has critical knowledge that Velosi must extract in order to destroy Armat, his competitor. Learning of their plans to rescue his prisoner, Velosi offers the Earth Directorate a deal: in return for keeping the girl, he will turn over blueprints of Princess Ardala's Draconian Hatchet fighters that have been attacking Earth's defenses."
Guest Cast
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Amos Armat (Cesar Romero)
Alleged businessman dealing in moonbase construction. Actual activities include smuggling illegal weapons to warring colonies, extortion and slave trafficking. Armat's daughter, Falina Redding, was kidnapped by Morgan Velosi. Armat's business dealings put him into direct competition with Velosi. It is thought that Armat has sold Hatchet Fighters to the Draconians. Velosi surrendered to the authorities when Buck Rogers and Marla Landers rescued Falina.
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Marla Landers (Juanin Clay)
Earth Defense Directorate Major. Considered to have vast knowledge of the city of Sinaloa. With the help of Buck Rogers, she helped Falina Redding escape from Morgan Velosi, the city's owner and administrator.
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Carl Morphus (Joseph Wiseman)
Specializes in extraction of information from the mind by pulling memories from the subconscious using drugs and other means. Hired by Morgan Velosi to extract vital information from the mind of Falina Redding. Morphus' methods traumatize the brain tissue as a result and leave the victim incapacitated.
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Falina Redding (Ana Alicia)
Daughter and employee of businessman Amos Armat. Redding was kidnapped from New Chicago by Morgan Velosi to extract information to be used to destroy Armat. Redding is considered a good digital programmer and inadvertantly saw a numerical code which Velosi needed.
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Rita (Alice Frost)
Former caregiver to Falina Redding.
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Tangie (Pamela Susan Shoop)
Employee of Morgan Velosi in the city of Sinaloa. Tangie was desperate to leave her duties at Sinaloa as escort and "welcome wagon". She escaped from Velosi with the help of Buck Rogers and Marla Landers.
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Morgan Velosi (Richard Lynch)
Owner and administrator of the city of Sinaloa, often referred to as an "orbiting city of moral depravity". Velosi kidnapped the daughter of Amos Armat, one of his direct competitors, to extract information to destroy Armat.
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Fan Reviews |
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Average Fan Review
 
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Reviewer: Mark Weller
Submitted: August 12, 2002
Classic Buck Rogers from the pen of Anne Collins. Similar in structure to much of the first part of the series, Buck goes undercover to fight evil off-world human villains who threaten the Earth. They say good things come in threes and we get THREE great bad guys in this episode, Richard Lynch (also played Xavier in Galactica 1980) as Velosi, Cesar Romero (Joker from Batman) as Armat AND Joe Wiseman (Dr. No from the Bond movie of the same name) as Morphus. We also get THREE great heroines - Ana Alicia as Falina, Juanin Clay (who was at one point months earlier was almost cast in the role of Wilma Deering) and Pamela Susan Shoop as Tangie. In a way it seems that Juanin Clay plays a character that acts a lot like the movie version of Wilma Deering, which is interestingly contrasted in this episode with Wilma as we've come to know her in the series. A lot happens in this episode, and I have to take one point off for a bit of confusion that ensues for the viewer as a result. Otherwise, great. 4 stars.
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Reviewer: Susan Kite
Submitted: July 21, 2003
If the first episodic Buck Rogers, 'Planet of the Slave Girls' reminded me of something out of Bond, this one had even more similarities, even to Huer as 'M' and Theo as 'Q' replete with a whole arsenal of gadgets and devices. And of course the girls-- Marla, Buck's cohort, Tangie, the tagalong, and Falina, the damsel in distress.
The dialogue was crisp and taut, having just the right blend of delightful campiness and thoughtful seriousness. Although not considered politically correct these days, the running Qualoff joke had me rolling on the floor. And I especially enjoyed seeing yet another peek into the character of Buck Rogers as he reminisces about his and his buddies all nighter in Las Vegas during his Air Force days. A nice bit of poignancy and well played by Gerard.
The story begins when a shady businessman (Caesar Romero), offers to turn himself and all his dark little secrets over to the Defense Directorate if they will save an employee of his, who has been kidnapped by his rival, Velosi. Buck and Marla Landers are sent to Sinaloa, a Vegas-like space station, to rescue Falina. Buck provides some of the diversion, winning at a virtually unbeatable 25th century version of Black Jack, while Marla tries to work her magic on Velosi.
This was another winner, chock filled with action, fun, mayhem and double entendres. A definite two thumbs up.
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Reviewer: Casey
Submitted: February 15, 2006
This is a good example of a well done first season episode; the characters and dialogue are well written. It would have been more believable if Dr.
Heuer had initially asked Armat if the young woman he wanted rescued was his daughter. That should have been the first question that popped into his mind.
Vegas in Space is also largely free of mismatching effects footage that is often edited into other eps (such as Draconian mauraders showing up in Planet of the Slave Girls). The effects for this ep are both good and bad.
The zoom into the landing bay of Sineloa is breath-taking. It's far more spectacular than a similar shot in Battlestar: Galactica. Unfortunately, the model of Sineloa will be revamped to become the "Cruiseship to the Stars" and later, the second season Searcher. The matte-work (showing the top half of the casino) is poorly done. It looks cartoonish. That's especially disappointing since the matte-work (of New Chicago) in the pilot is some of the best ever for tv.
Juanin Clay is very likable, it would have been nice to see more of her in the series. Tangie manages to come off quite likable too, even if she is a hooker. It was hilarious when she questioned Buck about being from that transvestite planet because of his odd (to her) humour. Felina overreacts (with all the screaming), but how would someone react if they thought they were about to die?
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