Directed by Yuzo Higuchi. Written by Taro Kaido. Airdate Feb. 12, 1967.
Ultraman’s fighting style evolved over the show’s run. Starting with a close-contact, grounded style, Ultraman became more agile and flexible as Bin Furuya, the actor inside the suit, got more accustomed to the costume. The fight choreography changed to match. Furuya picked “Who Goes There?” as a peak of this fighting evolution. He’s right: the battle between Ultraman and the giant Vampire Plant Keronia is among the most athletic and dynamic in the show. Furuya as Ultraman executes impressive full-body flips and flying double-leg kicks that must have required intense training and practice. Furuya was right to feel proud — all of it looks fantastic.
This action spectacle is also an odd place for the episode to end. The story begins as a simmering mystery about an infiltrator in a human disguise entering the ranks of the SSSP. The tone is similar to several Ultraseven episodes (“Project Blue” and “Search for Tomorrow”) that emphasize suspense.
The mystery starts when Science Patrol Member Goto returns to Japan after a long absence. Although Goto worked in Bolivia with the South American Branch for 20 years, he looks like he’s only around 30 years old. He explains that he began to work for the Science Patrol with his father when he was ten. (The SSSP apparently has a history of recklessly making children into full-fledged members.) Goto’s behavior is odd, which he claims is because of his unfamiliarity with Japan. Ide, always the smartest one in the room, picks up that something more is amiss with Goto, while Fuji discovers the man knows about top-secret aspects of the SSSP’s Far East Base.
Of course, Goto isn’t who he says he is — although he’s not an extraterrestrial as viewers might anticipate. The truth starts to emerge when grotesque giant plants appear in a Tokyo neighborhood. The SSSP asks botanist Dr. Ninomiya to examine the monster plants. He finds out that the plants are related to a mobile carnivorous plant from the Amazon, the Keronia. The man who discovered the Keronia was Jiro Goto … Goto’s father.
Yes, Goto is the disguise worn by Keronia, a walking blood-sucking vegetation monster with electrical powers. Exactly what happened to the original Goto, or if he even existed in the first place, is never explained.
Once Keronia attempts to kill Dr. Ninomiya to keep its identity hidden, the mask is off and the episode changes into an action-filled invasion epic. Keronia calls on his race, the Botanical People, to attack from their island civilization. A fleet of enemy airships bears down on Tokyo, and Keronia grows to giant size to start smashing buildings. Tanks open fire, the Jet VTOL blasts down enemy saucers, and Ultraman hurls Keronia all over the place and uses the new Ultra Attack Beam to spectacular effect.
It’s a sharp shift from a story of science investigation and intrigue into a full-blown alien invasion, except with terrestrial plant creatures rather than aliens. Having an armada of Botanical People fly from a never-before-mentioned island nation asks the viewers to accept a massive, nebulous development deep into the episode.
It’s a strange swerve, but the action in the finale is too good to deny. The first half is strong as well, even if it doesn’t reach the levels of eeriness of “Overthrow the Surface,” the gold standard for uncanny covert invader stories. I’ve complained about tonal shifts in Ultra episodes before, such as in “The Human Farm,” where the big finale undermines the earlier weirdness. But there’s too much great work going on in “Who Goes There?” to truly hurt the enjoyment.
I’ve never particularly liked vegetation-based monsters, but Keronia bypasses most clichés of plant kaiju. He looks silly in his human-sized disguise, with a big head bulging out of a business suit. But the kaiju-sized version is fast-moving and the perfect combatant for the showdown with Ultraman. I’ll give the plant people a pass: as with the incongruous parts of the episode, the quality of the execution overwhelms the faults.
The guest cast contains two familiar faces: Nadao Kirino (Goto) appeared in two Ultra Q episodes (“Goro and Goro,” “The Disappearance of Flight 206”) and played supporting roles in numerous Ishiro Honda films. Shoji Nakayama (Dr. Ninomiya) would go on to play series regular Captain Kiriyama in Ultraseven thanks to the strength of his performance here.
Dr. Ninomiya delivers a moral lesson before fade-out: you can’t form a real civilization based on blood-drinking. Yes, that’s what he says. He also cautions that bizarre and dangerous aberrations like the Botanical People will continue to occur. That’s an unusual warning in the Ultraman universe — because there have already been 30 previous episodes proving this (58 if we count Ultra Q). I hope the Science Patrol didn’t really need reminding that menacing weirdness is always around the next corner.
Rating: Good
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