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"Nowhere Man"
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Season
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01
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Episode
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06
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Prod. #
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No information
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Written By
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Directed By
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Iain Paterson
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Plot Summary[]
The episode begins with Harlan Band working on a model of a Rigelian pyramid in the boys' bunkroom. Radu enters and surprises Harlan, causing him to wreck his work on the model. Harlan decides to treat Radu as if he were no longer present, and retreats to the Engine Room to continue working on his project. While there, he notices the engine acting strangely. He takes one bad step backwards, and accidentally throws his drink on the engine. This causes a power surge that hits both Harlan and the radioactive regulator console which was positioned behind him. This power surge affects the Christa, rocking the ship violently and causing an overload to the ship's systems and putting the jump tubes offline. Commander Goddard sends T.H.E.L.M.A. to investigate.
When Harlan wakes up, he sees T.H.E.L.M.A. tending to the engines, but notices that she can not only not see or hear him, but his hand passed straight through her, and she is able to walk completely through him. She notices the spilled remains of Harlan's model, as well as the fact that the regulator console is now missing. She shrugs the changes off and leaves, leaving a very confused Harlan behind.
Harlan runs into Catalina in one of the ship's hallways, but notices that she is not aware of his presence either. He also sees that she talks to Suzee while in private. He follows Catalina and Radu into the Classroom, only to find that absolutely no one can see him, not even Ms. Davenport. He takes the opportunity to mock Ms. Davenport while she is teaching, and the other students comment on Ms. Davenport's teaching methods; namely the fact that she isn't very nice. Ms. Davenport mentions that the students have not been very nice to her as well.
Later in the Command Post, Goddard is waiting on T.H.E.L.M.A. to track down the glitch in the jump tube systems while Catalina and Radu keep watch on the monitor. At this point, Goddard notices that he hasn't seen Harlan in a while. Radu tells him that he saw Harlan about an hour prior, working on his model. Harlan gets the opportunity to hear Catalina and Radu talking about him, and is quite taken aback when Radu stands up for him after Catalina comments that no matter how little she understands something, Harlan understands it less.
In the Galley, Rosie is making fudge for Ms. Davenport, hoping that the gesture would please her. Bova is there with her, and has been drinking all of the marshmallow sauce that Rosie needs for her fudge. When Rosie asks for the sauce, Bova quickly grabs the bottle of glue that Harlan had dropped in the Engine Room earlier, since the bottle for the glue was identical to the bottle that had contained the marshmallow sauce. Unknowing of the switch, Rosie pours most of the glue contents into the fudge batter. Meanwhile, Harlan has gone back to the Engine Room to reflect on his current situation. He finds that he is able to touch the regulator console, and thinks briefly that his condition has been reversed. However he is still unable to touch anything else. He then realizes that what had happened to him also happened to the regulator console, and that the readings on the console showed that there was a leak in the Protomix Core, causing heavy radiation. If he is unable to warn the rest of the crew, they will all die.
A short time later, Rosie and Bova present Ms. Davenport with the fudge they have made for her. She seems quite pleased with the gift, and offers some to Rosie and Bova. While Bova is explaining the painful death he would suffer from ingesting Earth fudge, Ms. Davenport realizes that she cannot open her mouth. The three of them are confused until T.H.E.L.M.A. arrives, asking if any of them had seen the glue.
Harlan goes to the Command Post, and sees that all of the stations are reading normal radiation levels. He concludes that the power surges are to blame, and the only console unaffected is the regulator console that only he can see. He tries to warn Commander Goddard, but Goddard still can neither see nor hear him. T.H.E.L.M.A. and Ms. Davenport arrive, and T.H.E.L.M.A. pries Davenport's mouth open with a razor blade attachment in her finger. Davenport expresses her anger at the students, thinking the incident with the fudge was yet another malicious prank they had pulled on her. Goddard rebukes this idea, claiming that there are lessons Davenport shouldn't teach, such as "no good deed goes unpunished." Radu arrives, claiming that he hasn't found Harlan, even after looking for him. Goddard and T.H.E.L.M.A. decide to go to Engineering, after noticing that the diagnostics were reading all clear after several more electrical glitches. Davenport questions Radu's concern for Harlan. He says that "We're a team. And we need all our members." He then leaves. Davenport suddenly finds herself stuck to a beam when she mistakenly places her fudge-covered hand on it.
In Engineering, T.H.E.L.M.A. and Goddard are unable to find any problems, even though Harlan is trying to tell them about the readings. Goddard asks T.H.E.L.M.A. about the missing console, and she replies "The Christa has been know to rearrange itself." Goddard instead thinks that perhaps Harlan took off with the console as some sort of joke.
In the classroom, Harlan laments that he cannot help his fellow classmates. In despair, he cries out "I'm sorry!" which causes Radu to hear him. At first, Radu thinks that it is nothing, but Harlan begins shouting at him. The students quickly realize that Harlan is invisible. Goddard enters, and Harlan tries to tell them to stay away from the Engine Room. However since Radu is only picking up his words like an echo, he can only make out the words "Engine Room." This causes the whole class, Goddard, and T.H.E.L.M.A. to go directly to the Engine Room. There, T.H.E.L.M.A. describes the scene she had come upon at the time Harlan had gone missing. They decide to recreate the accident in order to bring Harlan back. The plan works, and Harlan is able to show everyone the regulator console. Catalina suggest a solution of reversing the polarities of the neutron flow, which incidentally had been puzzling her earlier when Harlan had first come upon her in the hallway. T.H.E.L.M.A. says that solution would work, and makes the necessary changes on the engine. The radiation levels drop, and the crisis is averted. Catalina tells Harlan that she and Suzze believe that the accident had thrown him and the console into a hyperspace field, which was why no one could see or hear him. Harlan thanks Radu for helping him, but Radu is distracted by Ms. Davenport's calls for help on the Command Post. She is still stuck to the beam she had placed her hand on.
References[]
The title comes from the Beatles song "Nowhere Man".
Trivia[]
The phrase "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" is a catchphrase from Doctor Who; more specifically the Third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee. This phrase is used as a catch-all problem slover in any advanced technological problem. It has been used on other science fiction shows, such as Star Trek, and has become something of a TV Trope.
Notable Guest Stars[]
None