My Three Crichtons Book Summary and Study Guide
If the body switching episode "Out of their minds" wasn't enough, we have another "mind in different body" episode this week when Creighton is sucked into a green ball, which in turn spits him out as well as a prehistoric caveman version of him, and a futuristic "brain busting" version of him.
They spend some time chasing the caveman Creighton around, and Chianna comes onto him, because he's sensitive like the real Creighton. The brainy futuristic Creighton turns out not to be so sensitive, however. When the green sphere demands one of them returns to be taken away, they vote to take the caveman, but Chianna lets him go. Then the brainy Creighton tries to force the regular Creighton to go in.
The regular Creighton volunteers to go in, but the caveman Creighton stabs the brainy Creighton, and the two of them go in instead.
This episode didn't work for me on several levels. For one thing, why would the real Creighton volunteer rather than try to force the brainy Creighton, an artificial construct who hadn't been around long, into the green ball?
For another, if the green ball wanted one of them to return, why did it spit them out of the ball in the first place? Why not replicate them and keep them inside the ball, or wait until it went home to replicate them? Furthermore, if the green ball had Creighton's genetic pattern and could make copies at will, why did it need any of them?
And finally, how did the defense screen help them fend off the gravitational pressures of the green blob? The defense screen operates outside the ship, and the green blob was inside the ship? None of these things were clear....
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
