Space 1999: Review: The Last Enemy

“The Last Enemy“ is one of those classic episodes from the first season of Space: 1999 that really shows off the wild predicament Moonbase Alpha always finds itself in. In this one, the wandering Moon happens to drift right into the middle of a literal warzone between two alien planets named Betha and Delta. It’s a fantastic sci-fi setup because these two worlds are stuck on exact opposite sides of their sun, meaning they can never actually see or shoot at each other directly. The moment the Moon rolls into town, it instantly becomes the perfect tactical gun platform, and both sides want to use it to completely wipe the other out.

The trouble really kicks off when a massive Bethan gunship called the Satazius lands right on the lunar surface to launch missiles at Delta. The ship gets damaged in a retaliation strike, and its leader, a cunning commander named Dione, plays the victim card to get sanctuary inside Moonbase Alpha. Commander John Koenig tries his absolute best to act as a neutral diplomat and negotiate a ceasefire, but Dione is just using the Alphans as a shield while her crew secretly plans to resume the bombardment. It creates a pretty intense cat-and-mouse game, especially when the Deltan leader, Talos, threatens to obliterate the base if Koenig doesn’t hand over the Bethan coordinates.

Now, even though the concept is incredibly cool, the actual execution of the episode is a bit of a mixed bag. Behind the scenes, the production ran into major issues and the script had to be padded out with extra scenes, which you can definitely feel when you watch it. Some of the pacing gets incredibly slow, and watching the crew spend so much time checking computer monitors can drag the energy down. The special effects, like the model spaceships and the massive explosions, are easily the best part and look amazing for the 1970s, but the acting from the guest stars can feel a little stiff and wooden compared to the high stakes of the plot.

That being said, the climax completely saves it when Koenig pulls off a brilliant, high-stakes bluff to stop the war from destroying his people. He rigs a Moon buggy with nuclear explosives and remote-controls it straight into the Bethan ship, completely blowing it up and forcing a ceasefire. It’s a clever, gritty resolution that shows exactly why Koenig is the boss, even if the episode itself doesn’t quite live up to its full potential as a legendary season finale. Ultimately, “The Last Enemy” serves up a solid, thought-provoking hour of vintage space opera that reminds you just how helpless and vulnerable the Alphans truly are out there in the dark.