Comments on: Episode 79: Cold Equations

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 23:03:47 +0000

I just heard a remake of this and had to come and comment here. It was some show called Si-fi Radio I think, it sounded Canadian. It was nowhere near as good as this version.

By: Smuggins

Smuggins — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 03:05:16 +0000

This was terrible writing. What story did the author want to tell by setting this up? This isn’t sci-fi. The author tries to box it in that there isn’t enough fuel and blah blah blah, but it doesn’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. The fuel is used to get the rocket up to speed, so, since they are over the weight limit, the extra fuel has already been burned. This is just from the narrative setup.

There are two way more interesting setups. 1) the stowaway is the pilots son, unknown to the pilot until the end. 2) this is a flashback while the pilot is working with the husband on the planet.

By: Lamont Cranston

Lamont Cranston — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 22:56:49 +0000

Fantastic story. The ending was a down note but X -1 wasn’t always about happy endings. As soon as I heard the setup – only enough fuel for one try etc. I knew she was a “red shirt”.

By: David Daley

David Daley — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 06:45:38 +0000

I’m with the other commenters here- this is outstanding. I turn to old time radio for a variety of things but an important one is originality in the ideas and writing and this story certainly has it. It’s impressive what it manages to explore in such a short time frame. It also has the horror-show aspect when she realizes what’s going to happen to her: “well I’ll die! I’ll explode!” This sci-fi story is an amazing exploration of meaning, longing and fear but it’s also top-shelf vintage radio horror when she realizes she’ll get turned inside-out, and then the pilot thinks he hears a bump as she “leaves” the spaceship… There is an equation between art and entertainment in OTR episodes. Cold Equation sides heavily on the art side of that equation as it pulls the listener into sombre contemplation.

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 26 May 2018 01:00:34 +0000

This is now one of my favorites. Really, on the money perfectly done.

By: Tim Uren

Tim Uren — Sat, 05 May 2018 21:05:22 +0000

In reply to Darrell. Thanks for listening! There's just too much amazing sci-fi from that era-- we're sure to be doing more!

By: Darrell

Darrell — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 08:00:46 +0000

I loved this episode. I loved the ending, even though it was pretty grim. The final stoicism of the character was gut wrenching. Thanks for doing a sci-fi episode! Now if only there had been more commerce…