Klaus, dressed in the Visitors' black uniform, moves slowly and quietly down the corridor in pursuit of Diana, who finally begins to run.  Klaus sneaks up behind her, moves quickly and strangles her to death.  Diana's limp body falls to the floor, and her executioner stares down at her with a smile.  Finally, he reaches down and peels off the human mask to reveal the face of a lizard.

"And whose idea was it to make her look like me?" asks Diana as she nears Klaus.

"Just a little harmless humour," Lydia responds with a sly smile.
 
Does this scene sound familiar?  It's lifted almost directly from the James Bond film "From Russia With Love", whose opening sequence had 007 being pursued by Red Grant in a garden area, eventually destined to be strangled.  Audiences were shocked when they saw James Bond murdered in the first two minutes of the film, but then Grant bent down and peeled off a mask, thus revealing the man to actually be an agent of SPECTRE.  But whereas that scene worked twenty three years ago, somehow it looks dated and uninspired on V.

Nathan Bates, who stands next to Diana and Lydia, is obviously put off by what he's just witnessed.  Diana ignores this, pointing out humans have basic training for their army.

"We don't kill them if they don't make it," Bates responds, obviously perturbed.

She goes on to explain that the reason he was asked to come there is that the Visitors need the right to pursue suspects elsewhere in the city, which he flatly refuses.  He points out that the legation is her concern, while the city is his, and with that he leaves.

At Club Creole, Ham Tyler is showing slides taken at the Visitor Youth Corps, and Donovan is sickened when he sees the image of Sean -- obviously enjoying himself -- but points out that the situation is nothing he can't change.

Klaus' image is the next one to come up, with Tyler explaining that he had worked out of Berlin the first time the Visitors came, and that he's their chief executioner.

"So why demote him to the kiddie patrol?" Elias asks.

"Don't kid yourself," Tyler says in his usual monotone.  "He's here for a reason -- to make good little killers out of whomever they give him."

"Not my son," differs Donovan.

Julie adds that Diana is merely using Sean to push his buttons, but Mike doesn't care.  He wants his son back, and is determined to get him.

While they're debating, Kyle Bates pulls up on his motorcycle and asks Elizabeth if she would like to go for a ride through Los Angeles, and, despite the fact that Julie told her to stay put, she agrees, mainly because she is so attracted to Kyle.

Later, while they're in town, Kyle goes into an ice cream parlour to get a couple of popsicles and Elizabeth stays outside.  She catches glance of Robin entering a movie theatre, and tries to follow her.  The manager stops Elizabeth, stating that she has to buy a ticket, but the Starchild doesn't want to hear this.   All she does is repeat "My mother ... My mother ...," growing more frantic by the moment and accidentally uses her powers, slamming the manager and a pair of ushers against walls without touching them.  Two Visitors begin approaching, but Kyle steps out of the store at that time, sees what's going on, and gets her on his bike so they can take off.

Disguised as a delivery driver, Donovan gains entrance to the Visitor legation by giving the guard a couple of live mice to snack on.

Within the building, Klaus is training a class, including Sean, who impresses his teacher by defeating a Visitor student -- a feat which is almost never done.  Moments later, they start down a corridor, but Donovan pulls Sean off the line, a fact which angers the boy.

Noticing that Sean is missing, Klaus withdraws his laser, and begins walking back the way he came.  Donovan shoves his son outside and into the van just as Klaus catches sight of them.

"You must let me go after him!" Klaus demands of Diana.

"Yes . . . kill him!"

In the van, Sean tells Donovan that it was a mistake for him to come, because Klaus will find him wherever he may go . . . and kill him.  Painfully obvious to Mike is that his son is completely brainwashed by the Visitors, and he wonders whether or not he will ever really get him back.

At Science Frontiers, Diana is complaining that her legation was violated yet again, and wants permission for her to do something about it.  Bates turns her down once again.

"Then I want you to arrest Mike Donovan for assault with intent to kill, and criminal trespass."

Nathan wants proof.

"I don't care about proof," Diana exclaims, "I care about punishment.  If you see Donovan, tell him that when I go fishing, I eat what I catch."

"I bet you do," Nathan says without humour.  "Don't break the law."

Donovan and Sean approach what has been deemed a "safe" house, and have another confrontation over what the Visitors are doing to the youth.   For a moment, Sean looks like he could actually kill his father, then he runs off into the house.  Despondent, Donovan follows him.

Shortly thereafter, Klaus arrives, and in place of his right hand is some sort of electronic whip.  He slaps the whips against one of the van's tires, causing it to explode and deflate, and then does so to another.  He turns his gaze toward the house.

The next morning Donovan actually seems to be getting through to Sean, when Klaus suddenly steps out of hiding and orders the child back to the Visitor Embassy.  A fight erupts instantly between Donovan and Klaus, with sparks exploding everywhere the whip touches.

As Sean is running down the street, Ham Tyler spots him and orders him to get in the car.  After a moment's hesitation, Sean does so.

"Where's your old man?" Ham asks.

"Dead.  The Visitors are everywhere."

The Resistance is highly concerned at Club Creole due to the fact that Elizabeth is still missing, and they have no idea where to look for her.  Robin, much to everyone's delight, enters the club at that point and there is much rejoicing, though the young woman's first concern is for her daughter.  Julie attempts to explain that Elizabeth has gone through another metamorphosis, and is now a beautiful woman.  Robin is completely confused, but they try to make everything clear for her.

In the car, Ham pauses at a stop sign, and Sean punches him square in the jaw, knocking him out instantly.  He takes the keys out of the ignition, throws them outside, gets out of the vehicle, and starts running again.

In Griffith Park, Kyle and Elizabeth are feeling rather comfortable with each other, as Bates puts all the information together and comes to the conclusion that Elizabeth is, in actuality, the Starchild, only somehow accelerated in age.  She reacts fearfully to this, but he calms her by saying, "I don't care who you are or what you do or where you come from, I'm just glad you are here . . . now . . . with me."

The two begin to kiss, while, unknown to them, Nathan's henchman, Chiang, watches them from the bushes.

In front of the Visitor legation, Tyler catches sight of Donovan, who managed to knock out Klaus during their
fight.

"You're supposed to be dead, Gooder," Tyler smirks.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Donovan is still determined to get Sean, a point which Tyler can't believe.

"If he were your kid, Tyler, would you let him leave without a fight?"

"All right.  I'll help you with the condition that we pull this stunt my way."  Donovan agrees with him.

Kyle and Elizabeth enter Club Creole, and are verbally lashed by Julie for their inconsideration.  Like an innocent child, Elizabeth pleads with her not to be angry with her.  She forces a smile, and tells the Starchild that she had better go downstairs to let her mother know that she's all right.  Delighted, Elizabeth hurries through the door.

Diana is angered by the fact that Klaus lets Donovan slip right through his fingers, stating that she is not fond of failure (though by this time you'd think she would be used to it).  Klaus says that the game is not over, and that he will still eliminate Donovan.

"That won't be necessary," replies Diana as they enter a gymnasium to find Sean, eagerly waiting for Klaus.

Donovan and Tyler launch tear gas grenades at the Visitors guarding the entrance to the Embassy, and Donovan leaps the fence during the confusion.  Ham drives away, barely being missed by various laser blasts.

Donovan makes his way into the gymnasium, where he confronts Klaus.

"You're tenacious, Mr. Donovan," Klaus smirks.

"And you're dead," he responds while raising his gun.  But the whiphand of his opponent knocks it away from him.

Their fight goes on for quite some time, with each gaining the advantage over the other, and then losing it again.  Donovan manoeuvres the battle in front of a fuse box, and when Klaus lashes out he ducks out of the way and the electric whip hooks into it.  Klaus is first paralyzed and then electrocuted, his lifeless body falling to the floor, and his human make-up burned off.

Sean is suddenly behind his father, holding a gun.  A virtual tug-of-war ensues, as both Diana and Donovan vie for loyalty of the youth.  Ultimately he goes to the Visitor, leaving his father to stare in disbelief.

"There's your proof, Mr. Donovan," Diana smiles sinisterly.  "He's ours . . . "

Donovan begins down the corridor, but Diana places her laser next to Sean's head.  " . . . Or he's no one's."

He comes to a stop, and she begins firing her laser at him.  Donovan manages to escape each blast and, with no choice, heads back outside, where he finds Tyler waiting for him.  They drive off.

Mr. Chiang brings Kyle into his father's office, where the two immediately launch into an argument.  Nathan wants to know who the girl that Kyle is with is and whether or not it is the Starchild.  Kyle, naturally, has no intention of saying anything on the subject.

"The girl I'm talking about," pleads Nathan, "Could be the solution to all our problems."

"Then it couldn't have been this one -- she was noting but trouble."

With that he departs, leaving Nathan to stare on in seething anger.
 
 

"The Sanction" was truly a disappointment, consisting of mostly lackluster performances and production values that don't seem very high.  We're not only talking about the lack of special effects (hell, Star Trek didn't need an abundance of special effects to be as powerful as it was), but the set-ups were poorly done, and the story was lacking an edge.  To its credit, though, the Youth Corps idea was finally expanded upon, it would have been interesting if it had had the opportunity to be further developed in the future.
 

Previous Episode:  The Deception