Who's the Mole?
by Denise Felt 2009
Every science fiction show has its own leaps of faith that it requires of its audience. Star Trek wanted us to believe that man could eventually travel at warp speeds between the stars and not run into any planets along the way, as well as the truly wild concept of the transporter (which would leave me feeling as paranoid as Lt. Barclay.) Space:1999 tried to get us to believe that the moon could leave Earth's orbit in a vast explosion that somehow did not reduce it to millions of tiny pieces. And Sliders -- well, Sliders was just out there!
So, accepting that such leaps of faith are a prerequisite for any sci-fi show, we might ask ourselves what leap of faith the UFO series required of anyone? After all, the concept of aliens coming to Earth is so well entrenched in our culture that the names UFO, Roswell, and MIB are immediately recognizable to the average citizen. And even close encounters of the first, second, third, and fourth kind are known about, even if they may still be scoffed at in some circles. So what was so farfetched about UFO that it required us to stretch our imagination beyond its normal bounds into the incredulous?
It was the aliens.
Now, I'm not talking about their appearance; which wasn't so incredible, after all. I can buy into green-tinted skin from the oxygenated liquid they breathed much better than I can accept the idea of the Gorn or the Nausicaans. I can even accept those eerie eye covers they wear. No, what I'm talking about is the fact that they seemed to be consistently in the know about everything that went on at SHADO. In fact, they were so omniscient that they sent their ships out the millions of miles on the long trek to Earth far ahead of the crisis so that they'd be there when it occurred. Now, really!
Let's look at the storylines for a minute. In the pilot episode, Straker lays out a picture of the alien race for us that tells their sad story; all about a dying planet and a stagnant civilization coming across the vast reaches of space to replenish itself among Earth's healthier specimens. And we see that they've been keeping track of SHADO's efforts to get built, in spite of the fact that this is a top secret organization that even families of the men involved didn't know about. Hmmm. Not only that, but the aliens seem to be aware of whom SHADO has used as their contractors, because they bombed Westbrook Electronics. Right about now, I'd be looking for the security leak.
But that's not the end of the aliens' all-knowing capabilities. They find out through their devious means that SHADO is launching the plane containing the Utronics equipment and immediately send out a ship to intercept it and shoot it down. From millions of miles away? Come on.
At the end of the episode, Straker comments about the oddities of coincidence that stretch from one end of the universe to the other. He should be more concerned with finding out who the mole is in his organization. Because someone told the aliens what was going down. And of course, even this line of reasoning is accepting the truly ludicrous concept of the aliens being able to get to Earth so quickly.
But we sci-fi fans are a gullible lot. We are willing to accept an awful lot of things on faith. What I find amazing, however, is that some of the rest of the episodes continue that same insane plot device. In Flight Path, we know who the snitch is. It's Dawson, a medical technician whom the aliens took control of in the opening sequence. And Straker cannily uses Roper as a decoy to flush out the saboteur. Good move.
But with Dawson dead, we then come across Conflict, where the aliens once more know just when those interceptors are being sent out after their little red herring. They send a ship, a really powerful one this time, to destroy HQ. And only Straker's unusual ability to outguess them prevents them from ending the series almost before it has gotten underway. The next step, we are certain, is to find the spy who told the aliens the details.
Not! In The Dalotek Affair, we find that the aliens now know how the interceptors are programmed to fire their missiles, and they come up with a diabolical scheme to thwart SHADO's efforts to keep them at bay by jamming Moonbase's radio frequencies.
Again in Psychobombs, they know not only where several of SHADO's installations are, but they also know Straker's schedule and the route he takes to work. It almost makes you wonder if they have a studio fan on their payroll!
In Destruction, we are again a witness of the aliens' odd foreknowledge about things on Earth. Once more, we know who the mole is. It's Sarah Bosenquet, daughter of the poor guy who got lost while working on building Moonbase. But do they neutralize the enemy's mole? Do they silence the spy? No, of course not. She's just a pawn. We can't hurt her. After all, she's pretty and Paul's in love with her. Sheesh!
And of course, the episode that ranks number one for the best spywork done by any mole is Reflections in the Water, where the aliens have a detailed description of not only SHADO HQ's control room, but the operatives as well. Including Straker himself! And since the episode gives us a clear view of how the organization deals with even suspected traitors, we are left rather dumbfounded at the end, where the answer to the big question of the hour is: We don't know. Hey, that sure gives me confidence in the continued abilities of SHADO to protect the world from those omniscient aliens!
No, really. This article is all in fun and in no way seeks to undermine our very real love and affection for the series. But the loopholes in the reasoning behind the show's premise become obvious to anyone who thinks past the final commercial. So, are we forced to prefer Star Trek's less hole-ridden series if only to prove that we're not such gullible fools? Not at all. Personally, UFO is still my very favorite sci-fi series of all time, in spite of its few minor deficiencies.
But the question remains: who is the mole? It has to be someone intimately connected with SHADO, and its brave commander, as well. They just know too many important details for it to be otherwise. So. Is the mole Paul Foster? After all, he's been under alien control before. Naw! Even though he's a member of the command team, he's just not close enough to the big man to be aware of all his secrets. Is it Alec Freeman? He is often privy to Straker's private thoughts and schemes. I might almost believe it could be him if he wasn't so honestly bewildered by his commander's plans within plans. No, I don't think it's him. If you ask me, the mole is Straker himself. Just look at the evidence. Not only do the aliens always seem to know what he's thinking, but he has that strange ability to know what they're planning, too. Hmmm. Perhaps a two-way mind probe?
Well, it wouldn't be the first time we took a leap of faith.
-- published in SHADOFILE 17, Summer 2002 issue. Revised November 2009.
Every science fiction show has its own leaps of faith that it requires of its audience. Star Trek wanted us to believe that man could eventually travel at warp speeds between the stars and not run into any planets along the way, as well as the truly wild concept of the transporter (which would leave me feeling as paranoid as Lt. Barclay.) Space:1999 tried to get us to believe that the moon could leave Earth's orbit in a vast explosion that somehow did not reduce it to millions of tiny pieces. And Sliders -- well, Sliders was just out there!
So, accepting that such leaps of faith are a prerequisite for any sci-fi show, we might ask ourselves what leap of faith the UFO series required of anyone? After all, the concept of aliens coming to Earth is so well entrenched in our culture that the names UFO, Roswell, and MIB are immediately recognizable to the average citizen. And even close encounters of the first, second, third, and fourth kind are known about, even if they may still be scoffed at in some circles. So what was so farfetched about UFO that it required us to stretch our imagination beyond its normal bounds into the incredulous?
It was the aliens.
Now, I'm not talking about their appearance; which wasn't so incredible, after all. I can buy into green-tinted skin from the oxygenated liquid they breathed much better than I can accept the idea of the Gorn or the Nausicaans. I can even accept those eerie eye covers they wear. No, what I'm talking about is the fact that they seemed to be consistently in the know about everything that went on at SHADO. In fact, they were so omniscient that they sent their ships out the millions of miles on the long trek to Earth far ahead of the crisis so that they'd be there when it occurred. Now, really!
Let's look at the storylines for a minute. In the pilot episode, Straker lays out a picture of the alien race for us that tells their sad story; all about a dying planet and a stagnant civilization coming across the vast reaches of space to replenish itself among Earth's healthier specimens. And we see that they've been keeping track of SHADO's efforts to get built, in spite of the fact that this is a top secret organization that even families of the men involved didn't know about. Hmmm. Not only that, but the aliens seem to be aware of whom SHADO has used as their contractors, because they bombed Westbrook Electronics. Right about now, I'd be looking for the security leak.
But that's not the end of the aliens' all-knowing capabilities. They find out through their devious means that SHADO is launching the plane containing the Utronics equipment and immediately send out a ship to intercept it and shoot it down. From millions of miles away? Come on.
At the end of the episode, Straker comments about the oddities of coincidence that stretch from one end of the universe to the other. He should be more concerned with finding out who the mole is in his organization. Because someone told the aliens what was going down. And of course, even this line of reasoning is accepting the truly ludicrous concept of the aliens being able to get to Earth so quickly.
But we sci-fi fans are a gullible lot. We are willing to accept an awful lot of things on faith. What I find amazing, however, is that some of the rest of the episodes continue that same insane plot device. In Flight Path, we know who the snitch is. It's Dawson, a medical technician whom the aliens took control of in the opening sequence. And Straker cannily uses Roper as a decoy to flush out the saboteur. Good move.
But with Dawson dead, we then come across Conflict, where the aliens once more know just when those interceptors are being sent out after their little red herring. They send a ship, a really powerful one this time, to destroy HQ. And only Straker's unusual ability to outguess them prevents them from ending the series almost before it has gotten underway. The next step, we are certain, is to find the spy who told the aliens the details.
Not! In The Dalotek Affair, we find that the aliens now know how the interceptors are programmed to fire their missiles, and they come up with a diabolical scheme to thwart SHADO's efforts to keep them at bay by jamming Moonbase's radio frequencies.
Again in Psychobombs, they know not only where several of SHADO's installations are, but they also know Straker's schedule and the route he takes to work. It almost makes you wonder if they have a studio fan on their payroll!
In Destruction, we are again a witness of the aliens' odd foreknowledge about things on Earth. Once more, we know who the mole is. It's Sarah Bosenquet, daughter of the poor guy who got lost while working on building Moonbase. But do they neutralize the enemy's mole? Do they silence the spy? No, of course not. She's just a pawn. We can't hurt her. After all, she's pretty and Paul's in love with her. Sheesh!
And of course, the episode that ranks number one for the best spywork done by any mole is Reflections in the Water, where the aliens have a detailed description of not only SHADO HQ's control room, but the operatives as well. Including Straker himself! And since the episode gives us a clear view of how the organization deals with even suspected traitors, we are left rather dumbfounded at the end, where the answer to the big question of the hour is: We don't know. Hey, that sure gives me confidence in the continued abilities of SHADO to protect the world from those omniscient aliens!
No, really. This article is all in fun and in no way seeks to undermine our very real love and affection for the series. But the loopholes in the reasoning behind the show's premise become obvious to anyone who thinks past the final commercial. So, are we forced to prefer Star Trek's less hole-ridden series if only to prove that we're not such gullible fools? Not at all. Personally, UFO is still my very favorite sci-fi series of all time, in spite of its few minor deficiencies.
But the question remains: who is the mole? It has to be someone intimately connected with SHADO, and its brave commander, as well. They just know too many important details for it to be otherwise. So. Is the mole Paul Foster? After all, he's been under alien control before. Naw! Even though he's a member of the command team, he's just not close enough to the big man to be aware of all his secrets. Is it Alec Freeman? He is often privy to Straker's private thoughts and schemes. I might almost believe it could be him if he wasn't so honestly bewildered by his commander's plans within plans. No, I don't think it's him. If you ask me, the mole is Straker himself. Just look at the evidence. Not only do the aliens always seem to know what he's thinking, but he has that strange ability to know what they're planning, too. Hmmm. Perhaps a two-way mind probe?
Well, it wouldn't be the first time we took a leap of faith.
-- published in SHADOFILE 17, Summer 2002 issue. Revised November 2009.