"This place is nowhere. And it's forever."
Well, it's fair to say I wasn't expecting that. A magnificent ending to Sapphire & Steel, and a properly weird and, er, final finale from a televisual age when such things were not routinely done. The whole set-up is indeed a trap, and we end with Sapphire and Steel trapped in a 1940s cafe, for all eternity, with nothing outside but endless space. Wow.
It matters not that there are so many questions unanswered- the background of the "Transient Beings", and the true nature of the woman from 1948- this episode is about mood and weirdness. As ever with Sapphire & Steel, the point is ro reveal just enough to tantalise but not enough to penetrate the sense of mystery and unknowability. Ths episode achieves that magnificently.
It also achieves the shocking effect it intended, with the twists and turns for once occurring quickly, and with a truly outstanding bit of villainy from Edward de Souza.
The series ends memorably, in a way that will stay with me. Alas, the series wasn't of this quality throughout, with P.J Hammond's magnificently weird ideas not matched always by his plotting or pacing. But I shall miss Sapphire & Steel.
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