I gotta tell ya, it ain't easy walking three miles on a treadmill when your left heel is rubbed raw. I may need to go shoeless tomorrow. Regardless, I did get in my workout today, and made some slight positive progress in my numbers. Not enough to be inspirational, though. But I'll take what I can get. Especially, I'll take the final assignment for Sapphire & Steel and the very welcome return of P.J. Hammond to the writing duties.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6 a.k.a. The Trap, Episodes 1 & 2

Oh, yes, now this is the real deal. Sapphire & Steel arrive at a lonely gas station late in the evening, only to find Silver waiting for them. Inside the diner attached to the station are a man and a woman, sitting and waiting uncomfortably. It is quickly revealed that:  1) The couple have somehow arrived from the year 1948 with no idea how they got there, and 2) Time at the gas station has halted at 8:54pm and 23 seconds on a summer night in 1980. So what the heck is going on?

This is a true return to form for the series. With a simple standing set and five actors, writer Hammond manages to create a creepy and off-putting narrative entirely through the use of everyday imagery presented in an off-kilter manner. The time traveling couple is strange. Silver is behaving strangely (even for Silver). Neither Silver nor Sapphire and Steel can remember exactly how they were briefed to come to this time and place, and while there is certainly a time breach it does not seem calamitous. And yet. 

The thing I love most about Hammond's scripting is his usage of patient pauses and slow realizations.It is the literal opposite of jump scares, and there are no cheap thrills to be had here, only a slow creeping dread. I am going to be very sad when this is all over tomorrow.

STATS:

Episode(s): Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6 a.k.a. The Trap, Episodes 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 6,518 today, 5,140,274 total
Distance Walked: 2.75 miles today, 2,644.61 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 12,458 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 7,865 total
Weight: 278.96 lbs (five day moving average), net change -28.26 lbs