For Parkes it's actually low on continuity obsession. Muller is stated to be a student of Ensor but then old Ensor seems to have taught every inventor in the B7 universe; it comes up so often you'd think Boucher would write it down on a Post-It note so they could actually keep how many years ago Ensor buggered off consistent. Anyway, robot inventor Muller is the latest in Avon's prospective ally list, providing the crew can get him away from the Android Cartel he works for; while Tarrant and Vila extract him his wife (played by Lynda Bellingham, several miles out of place and eating up money that could have been spent on not having most of the cast in grey) is waiting at Xenon Base.
Obviously it goes wrong; Muller is seemingly killed in a tussle with Tarrant and Vila after freaking out (poor old Vila, he saves Tarrant's life - again - and just gets told off about it) when they try to open a box they picked up as well while an underling also discovers his headless body at the Cartel's lab. What's happened basically is that the android has killed Muller before he could can fit its' own head, decapitates him, sticks his curiously bloodless head seamlessly on its' own body and pretends to be him. Strange how viewers can't guess this stuff on the first watch. No time to really explore why or how, or how Tarrant didn't notice this when examining him. On we press...
It turns out the android has a similar circuit access thing to Orac but is for some hazily defined reason evil, wanting to kill everyone while taking over Slave and Orac himself. Again, the why isn't really explored but the thing does on a slow plodding rampage through the base, taking out Muller's wife Vena in true Season 4 guest-star style. Everyone tries their best to be scared but while the robot is unstoppable in a cartoony sort of way it's very slow and gets slower (and a foot taller, and loses the use of its' shoulders) when they manage to knock its' head off. Plus they keep showing close-ups of the feet and John Westbrook seems to just be wearing the shoes he came in with, though on location it changes into padded trousers. Oh, and the robot's unstoppable until it decides to explain the plot to everyone for five minutes, complete with hand gestures. It's basically an evil Orac on legs, just because someone wrongly thought this was what the series was crying out for to restore its' lustre.
At least everyone gets something to do and the acting of the regulars is a little better. Soolin even gets to do something other than shoot people, it's almost like she's an organic part of the crew for a moment. Someone's clearly told Paul Darrow to chill the fuck out and he's not as bad here, if still a bit of a poser. Pretty difficult to look dramatic in a space suit Steve Zodiac would think is a bit old-fashioned, though, and the dialogue is still hugely variable. At least Dayna and Tarrant take a grim pleasure in keeping the android busy; interesting that it's Tarrant's turn to be cannon fodder now Avon needs Vila to open the mysterious box (containing the head of the android, with what Avon easily identifies as very powerful restraining circuits - do circuits work like that?), though it feels like he's basically sent Dayna off to die in every episode this year.
The exciting climax sees the crew venture out onto the surface of Xenon for the second time; while the Hommiks moved away at the end of "Power" someone's nipped back to put a wrought iron bridge, electricity pylons and an old generator house there, which turn out to be pretty handy in disabling any rogue circuit-possessing androids wandering around. There's just time for silly facial expressions from Darrow and Glynnis Barber while Avon struggles to get the inhibitor head (probably because the two thousand studs on his jacket conduct all the electricity) and a half-hearted spat between Tarrant and Avon over the fate of the android before the blessed release of the end titles.
It's ironic that the regulars settle down and have maybe their best episode of the season thus far (the chemistry of Season 3 is long-gone but no-one is particularly annoying or underused here) but the main plot is barking. The headless android aside the production's not too bad either and both Scorpio and Xenon base are much more atmospheric with the lighting toned down here, but the script just makes next to no sense and requires everyone to be hugely stupid throughout.
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