also, the open credits slap. And the end credits are AMAZING. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_1ENlYzgr8

There are a couple different episode-order lists, based on production #, airing #, and internal plot points. I've seen them all gathered somewhere, but don't remember where now.

Also, it wasn't Straker that re-routed the transport with the medicine on it. He wasn't going to use his position too directly for his own benefit, it was already on the schedule and he just had it start earlier than originally planned, after getting the medicine aboard first. It was Freeman who noticed that the plane was already in flight, and re-directed it to Ireland (I think it was) with the Mobile units to work on the alien landing.

As it turned out, the alien was killed by other aliens before they got to him/it, and Straker's son died too. But he wasn't going to put that on Freeman. And remember, Straker was in a sense responsible for all of Earth. He took the hit for other things too, over the course of the series. "In the real world" I've suggested elsewhere that even if Straker being involved with military intelligence - which his wife knew about - wasn't enough, they should have brought her in, shown her what was up, had her make a recording to herself to show that she shouldn't doubt him, and then give her the amnesia drug. But they didn't, Because Plot/Because Drama.

yeah, I should have stopped and rewatched in the correct order. But alas I'm not starting this one again! I did recognize Paul from The Spy Who Loved Me. He would have been a great Bond.

Striker -- the way he talks to his staff and the things he does (comes to the office early to startle his crew) kills me. He is so flippant and rude to all his workers. Entertaining. The episode when time stands still and they have a high-speed go-cart race when you could run faster was very Austin Powers. Also, Striker has a hard-liqueur dispenser in his office (it takes up a quarter of the space!) and he doesn't drink!

Yeah, Knixon, I get your points but if they just discussed the drug thing they could have saved his son. Watching out of order made his whole home life seem like a big riddle.

@felixxx999 said:

yeah, I should have stopped and rewatched in the correct order. But alas I'm not starting this one again! I did recognize Paul from The Spy Who Loved Me. He would have been a great Bond.

Striker -- the way he talks to his staff and the things he does (comes to the office early to startle his crew) kills me. He is so flippant and rude to all his workers. Entertaining. The episode when time stands still and they have a high-speed go-cart race when you could run faster was very Austin Powers. Also, Striker has a hard-liqueur dispenser in his office (it takes up a quarter of the space!) and he doesn't drink!

Yeah, Knixon, I get your points but if they just discussed the drug thing they could have saved his son. Watching out of order made his whole home life seem like a big riddle.

The only way you could have gotten Straker to tell Freeman and possibly others that the transport plane was also bringing critical medicine for his son, and to not divert it, would be if you could have seen the future and known that the plan to capture/rescue the alien would fail. Even then, likely Straker would have just ordered the transport to leave earlier so the Mobiles could get to the Alien before the others destroyed it. And maybe his son still dies. I doubt that he would have had the medicine put onto another plane instead. Straker was very serious about not taking advantage of his position, and the son of anyone who wasn't something like the head of SHADO, would also have died.

Even if the Mobiles had gotten to the Alien before the others did, they might have destroyed the Mobiles too, and Straker's son still dies...

Ultimately, Straker is sort of God in the show, sacrificing His (first-born) son for the good of Earth. As well as his personal life, and his marriage...

@felixxx999 said:

And UFOs... is pronounced you-foe. Should I call the show U-F-O or you-foe?

Whatever you prefer. It is an acronym and originally pronounced as 'yoo-fo'. But the general public considered it an initialism and nowadays almost everyone pronounce it - in English - as 'U-F-O'.

Some characters in the series pronounce it as 'yoo-fo', others as 'U-F-O', or even mixing both. I think Straker used 'yoo-fo', Freeman and Foster 'U-F-O'.

you-fo is faster to say, too. Could be relevant for a military outfit.

Finished it off. Enjoyable but not enough episodes to really get me hooked. I'm AMAZED they had the Beatles music in one episode! And they were all hippies (well TV hippies anyway) partying with Paul. Lol. The change in cast half way through the series (the doctor and the second in command) was odd and watching them out of order just made a weird watch harder to enjoy. The second doctor -Jackson - is quite entertaining however. Now I'm back to blurry CGI 90s sci fi with SG1. At this rate I'm going to be out of classic sci fi shows to binge soon.