Dead Man's Switch

Once I got over the absurdity of the plan put in place by the military leaders, I did begin to care about the principle figures. Place in bunkers spread around the world, four people are given the task of monitoring a fail-safe system. Aliens are on their way to Earth and their level of hostility is unknown. The plan is to put a doomsday machine in place (makes sense to me) that will loose nuclear and chemical weapons. Should the aliens be hostile (assuming they have the ability to destroy earth) they will be beaten to the punch. This, at its altruistic worst, seems a bit risky. The future of the world rest in the hands of a group of bored people, sealed underground who must get to a red button and a recognition hand print and stop the machine from going off. This is to be done in less than 60 seconds. They are to be kept in this state for one year, at which time it is estimated the aliens will arrive on earth. At one point they become annoyed with each other over whose turn it is to save the world. For me, the choice of people to take on this task seems arbitrary and dangerous: one is a forlorn soldier (the main character, I guess), one is a middle aged woman, one is a video game playing Asian guy (Atari and Gameboy, of course), and a beautiful Russian woman who has been ordered by her government to do this. The episode has relationships forming among the characters, numerous close calls, and a conclusion that has been done before (I won't spoil it). This series occasionally became really cynical and this is no exception. It's certainly entertaining but really fizzles out at the conclusion.