In the deceptively tranquil waters of the Bermuda Triangle, one hundred thousand square miles
of beautiful Caribbean, more than 40 ships and 20 planes have disappeared without a trace during
the last century. Among the many theories to explain this phenomenon is one of mind-boggling
proportion: it is suggested that the Triangle is a time/space warp that traps its victims in
another dimension. 

This is the exciting premise for the Fantastic Journey, a science fantasy adventure series in which
shipwrecked travelers on a pleasant scientific expedition suddenly find themselves, in the aftermath
of a catastrophe at sea, on a mysterious island inhabited by humans from the past and future.
Their first encounters are with Atlantians, the remainder of an advanced society that flourished
30,000 years ago, pirates from the 16th century and an Earthman from 2230 A.D., whose crashlanded
space vehicle delivered him to this exotic locale. So, the travelers from the present are joined by the man
of the future as they embark on their fantastic journey, not knowing what other alien beings they will
encounter, but determined to continue - hoping that, at the other side of the island, they will be able to
make their way to their own time. Along the way, they are joined by an extraterrestial woman and a
scientist who also seek an escape from this inexplicable time/space warp. 

Part I of the 90-minute pilot introduces Varian, from the year 2230; Fred Walters, newly graduated
from med school, from the year 1977; and Scott Jordan, 13 years old, also from 1977. Fred, Scott
and their companions, including Scott's father, were shipwrecked. Varian first appeared wearing only
a loincloth, don't ask why. He has this nifty gizmo that looks like a tuning fork which he uses for healing. 

ATLANTIUM 

Part II of the pilot is set in Atlantium (actually the Bona Venture Hotel in LA), where they meet
Liana, half-alien and half-Atlantian. Three survivors from the shipwreck get a ticket home courtesy
of the Atlantians (Scott's father left him behind! What a great father. Wonder what he said when
he got home to his wife. 'Honey, I forgot the kid.'). Scott is selected as host for the Source, a
living disembodied brain (no, it's not Spock's) which provides the power for Atlantium by sapping
people of their life force. No Source, no power. No power, no free ride back for the remaining
travellers to their own time. 

BEYOND THE MOUNTAIN 

Introduction of the fifth traveller, Jonathan Willaway, a scientist from 1965 who has taken control
of a community of androids. Varian and his group help the original owners recover their androids,
aborting a wedding between Willaway and Liana in the process. Varian later invites Willaway to
join the group (a good thing or we wouldn't have watched the rest of the series), since being
from the future he knows that Willaway is actually a nice guy. 

CHILDREN OF THE GODS 

The travellers arrive within an area sacred to a group of young people who believe there are
no such things as peaceful elders (theirs got wiped out in a war). I don't remember how they
got out of this initial difficulty, but they did, probably because of Scott (or maybe it's because
a bust there looks suspiciously like Octavian/Augustus Caesar. Naaah). *But*, Willaway is later
caught poking around inside their temple, where he found futuristic weapons, and is promptly
sentenced to death. Scott challenges the leader, Alpha, for his position but is soundly defeated.
The other youths also challenge Alpha - apparently they were tired of his tyrannical rule. 

DREAM OF CONQUEST

Our heroes arrive in time to witness humanoid aliens capturing a primate-like being, and they
get captured, too. They are brought to the aliens' city, where the son of the dying consul
seeks their help. Willaway learns about the vice-consul's dreams of conquest, tries to locate
his army, gets caught (again) and gets sentenced to death (again). This guy is a magnet for
trouble. The vice-consul (John Saxon) is killed when his arsenal explodes; the consul survives
and initiates reforms. 

AN ACT OF LOVE 

A young lady shoots Varian with a dart dipped in love potion. The lady is scheduled to be
sacrificed to appease a local god who is having a temper tantrum. Varian volunteers to take
her place. 

FUNHOUSE 

Apollonius (supposedly a Greek or Roman mythological character - the writer may have been
thinking of Sisyphus, he of the rolling stone, or maybe Tantalus, because Apollonius was an
Alexandrian poet) takes over Willaway's body as part of a plan to escape the punishment
of the gods. 

TURNABOUT 

Matriarchal society needs help repairing their about-to-self-destruct computer. They decide
to enlist Willaway's help by poisoning his companions. When that didn't work they gave the
antidote and tried flattery. Trek fans: remember that STNG episode where Data shuffles ICs
or the ship will go ka-boom? Same thing happens here. This is the last episode that Liana
appeared in; the explanation given is that she stayed behind while the guys went on. 

RIDDLES

The group discovers the Stone, the key to the doorway back to their own time.
Actually, Willaway found it, got caught (again), got frozen or something (meant to be
permanent so equivalent to a death sentence, again), but was freed by Varian.
This episode revealed each member's hangup/fear/phobia, like Willaway was claustrophobic
and Walters, being a doctor, terrified of losing the use of his hands. 

THE INNOCENT PREY 

The travellers come to a place where the people are so trusting they don't lock doors, or
maybe they don't have doors. So naturally some criminal-types crashland their spaceship
there. There's a scene where our heroes are looking around inside the spaceship and
Willaway accidentally activates something, giving everybody a bad scare. 

Ike Eisenmann was the ill-fated Enterprise cadet in Star Trek II-The Wrath of Khan (1982).