Having fictional characters meet real people (as with Cheyenne getting involved with Custer's Last Stand), but in this case, the result is a bomb. One is reminded of the "Adventures of Superman" episode ("The Whistling Bird") in which Uncle Oscar (Sterling Holloway) invents a flavored postage-stamp adhesive that's also a powerful explosive. It actually more believable.
Just about everything in "Hobson's Choice" is wrong. Alfred Nobel didn't invent nitroglycerin; he found a way to stabilize it in clay, so it wouldn't go kablooey until deliberately set off with a blasting cap. Nor does nitroglycerin spontaneously explode "just sitting there", nor is its tendency to detonate related to its "purity". On the other hand, simply tossing a bottle across the room could very well cause it to explode. None of the people handling it complain about headaches. (Nitroglycerin is a vasodilator.)
In short... A poorly thought-out episode, a rare misfire from an otherwise outstanding series.
Just about everything in "Hobson's Choice" is wrong. Alfred Nobel didn't invent nitroglycerin; he found a way to stabilize it in clay, so it wouldn't go kablooey until deliberately set off with a blasting cap. Nor does nitroglycerin spontaneously explode "just sitting there", nor is its tendency to detonate related to its "purity". On the other hand, simply tossing a bottle across the room could very well cause it to explode. None of the people handling it complain about headaches. (Nitroglycerin is a vasodilator.)
In short... A poorly thought-out episode, a rare misfire from an otherwise outstanding series.
