As international tensions mount, the Pathfinder crew starts weapons tests for their mission. Aleida’s mouth gets her into trouble. Gordo’s return to the mon has mixed results. Molly gets some very bad news.

It’s odd to think that episode 7 of this series managed to thread its own, alternate history premise and characters into a genuine historical atrocity and not only managed it with a reasonable amount of sensitivity but also managed to tell a compelling story of its own. Odd because so much of what this episode does feels clumsy and slightly tin-eared by comparison.

For starters, it feels a little like none of the characters here much behaves like actual characters. It’s like the writers took a week off and those left in charge decided on a bunch of stuff they wanted the characters to do without first looking into who those characters were. Aleida shoots her mouth off to Bill, who patronises her one too many times when she comes to him with a good idea – so far, so Aleida. But then that sets in motion a whole set of events which end with her not only having to apologise to the last person you’d expect her to, but also basically humiliating herself by revealing deeply personal and horrifying details of her own past in an attempt to relate to that person which feels – at absolute best – a reach.

Or take Margo, who suddenly seems to have progressed from all business all the time boss to slightly awkward geek girl who could totally get the date with the guy she likes if only she could just get over her own insecurities. Where has this sudden narrative arc come from? I can see the human empathy angle that saw her covertly warning the Russians about their faulty O-Rings in an attempt to avoid tragedy, that fits with who she is. But romance? Really?

Molly gets unwelcome medical news which is about as shocking as a not very shocking thing given she stayed out in the middle of a solar storm, but somehow she still seems surprised. This is perhaps one of the few character arcs in the episode which feels consistent – Molly is up against a problem that just being ornery isn’t going to help with, and that predictably doesn’t sit well. But honestly, for all that the character has always been bloody minded, she’s also always had the safety of her comrades first in her mind, and the idea she’d risk them by lying so blatantly about her condition is getting hard to swallow.

Gordo’s return to the moon engenders mixed feelings in him – he’s still carrying the mental scars of his previous tenure at Jamestown and it doesn’t help that he’s decided he wants Tracy back and is therefore as awkward as a lovestruck teenager around her. Making it odder is that when he finally blurts out his plan Tracy’s response seems… inadequate to the absurdity and their own history.

But perhaps the hardest pill to swallow – aside from the cliffhanger ending telegraphed a good ten minutes in advance and relying on huge leaps of logic – is Karen Baldwin finally indulging herself in the Mrs Robinson moment the episode title so eagerly points to. It felt weird when she kissed Danny last week and then immediately went home and jumped Ed’s bones. It feels absolutely outlandish the way things play out here, doubly so when it becomes clear that Danny has – as the kids have it these days – caught feels. Oh dear, indeed.

Verdict: Handles its tragedy almost as comedy and makes everything else a little laughable on the way. I guess everyone’s allowed a bad day at the office? 4/10

Greg D. Smith