Duel

[Serena Lewis]

Now...excellent episode topped off by a nauseating ending. Yeech. I still like it, I just tend to stop the DVD after Blue and Green's little friendly banter bit, and before Destiny and Scarlet's stomach-churning manky bit.

Pros

1. Beginning. Terrific, especially when Ochre appeared. I'm a fully signed up and paid for member of The Elaine McGee Appreciation Society, and she seems to make any episode better. Oh help! I sound a bit...stalkerish now...
2. Ending. Green and Blue = Aww. I think it sort of enforces their verging on proper maybe relationship. They're even standing exactly the same. Mimicking each others body language, tis good. And bare in mind, I did say Maybe, so no one bother arguing with me.
3. Go, Green!! For interrupting the soppy kiss between Destiny and Scarlet when she waltzes in. She does that loads, it's always her.

That doesn't sound like many Pros, especially when you see all the Cons, but I do like this episode a lot.

Cons

1. Ending, again. I hate 'Dance with me Paul under the light of the Earth...'!! It's so disgusting!! But...okay, I'll be nice. The vision of Scarlet and Destiny holding hands when the camera is zoomed out is quite touching, before they speak. I think they should just have shown that. Okay, here's a new ending...
Blue and Green chat. Green says her last line. Camera switches to just above their heads, so you can see Scarlet and Destiny holding hands, facing away from camera. Camera rises, and zooms in on Earth.
Is that better? Anyone??
2. Bison Fight. It was very...very...good, but I switched off. I just cannot stay 'awake' when long vehicular fights are on.
3. Seriously, what is it with Spectrum members clothes? Green and Destiny look like they've got dressed in the dark, Scarlet and Blue are wearing exactly the same, for Gawds sake, albeit a few colour-coded bands...
4. More clothes...the swimsuits. I know that they can't be in bikinis, and personally speaking I'm quite glad, but why couldn't they be in one pieces or something? Those top and shorts things are vile. I'm not a fashion follower (I am UNIQUE, and I must emphasize that), but my mother adores it and she says that, even if those were 'in', not even the most dedicated fashionista would wear them.

Bloopers

1. The suited guy at the start has weird flap things on his suit sometimes. Other times they're gone. I know this is some sort of blooper (They weren't meant to be there) but what purpose did they serve when the series was being made? Did it make it easier to animate him?
2. The car chase. The Cheetah goes past the same cars several times, plus shadows which are supposed to be cars.

Little Things

1. The girl in the office that Blue crashes into is Victoria Grey (Great White Chiefs daughter). They've just given her glasses and messed with that God awful fringe she had.
2. I have to admit to a moment of childishness that came over me when watching this episode. I'm not going to say what it was, but it was something Destiny said that made me come over all giggly at what it could mean...
3. Wasn't it a little harsh of Scarlet to leave Zuka in the desert with no means of transport? Scarlet didn't know at the time that he was a Mysteron. Zuka could have died in the middle of the desert.
4. Moot point...but...what the Hell has happened to Destinys chest in this episode? It looks normal for most of it, but, in the 'swimsuit' scene, she could practically rest her chin on them! They're like a shelf! Greens supposed to be two years younger, but hers looked more...normal. Destiny’s got to have had hers done...
5. Poor Ochre trapped in Lunar Vehicle with Magenta...
6. Blue says, 'And why am I starting to feel like a fish on a line?'
That's because Serena's trying to reel you in!

Rating: 9/10

xx

[Skybase Girl]

I love this episode too - despite the icky dialogue at the end.I can't quite make up my mind what stage Scarlet & Destiny's relationship is at.

I agree about the beach wear. Those outfits seemed to be more or less the same thing they wear for bed, judging by "Swarm" & "Virus". My take on Destiny's chest is that it looks as if her top was well- padded and she didn't fill it properly, if you know what I mean. I find it rather endearing to think she's quite flat-chested under the armour-plated suits.

Is Scarlet a secret nail-biter ? The shot of his hand when he fires on Zuka's vehicle looked to me as if his nails were bitten to the quick and what was left of them looked pretty dirty......

[Father Unwin]

This is a curious episode bringing together action from 3 very different locations – New York, Egypt and the Moon. I know that most viewers found the skyrider/helicopter flying sequences between the skyscrapers exhilarating but I found them almost tedious – Sorry!

The music for both the helicopter and motorcycle chases was somehow predictable and formulaic. Heaven knows how many shots that bad guy had to fire before incapacitating the skyriders. Also, maybe the plotline was undermined because I had already read the NCS Episode Summary and was anxious for the duel on the Moon to begin.

Episode Summary: “Destiny and Lieutenant Green are taking a vacation at Serendipity, an artificial beach resort in a lunar biosphere but Scarlet uncovers a plan to destroy it – and finds himself caught in a duel for survival on the lunar surface with Captain Black.”

On a much more positive note I thought that the Bison duel on the Moon was fantastic. In particular, I really liked the stark black-and-white lighting of the lunar landscape. I guess there are few shades of grey because of the absence of an atmosphere. I also enjoyed the low horizons which must be due to the smaller size of the Moon compared to the Earth.

Normally, I am not a great lover of the Bisons. I think this began with “Instrument of Destruction” when I saw the great metal wheels crush some rocks into dust – I wanted the Bisons to have nice planet-friendly Goodyear or Michelin tyres! Incidentally, I feel sure that the aforementioned rock crushing was a deliberate way of signalling to the viewer that the Earth astronauts could be perceived as being unwelcome.

In this episode, the yellow and red Bisons looked terrific, especially with the harsh lighting. There were plenty of dust trails but I have no doubt that the Team would have liked to have put in proper tracks, both on the Moon and for the vehicles back in Cairo. I feel sure that they ran out of time on this episode.

Going back to my first comments, the script for this episode does seem to be all over the place. We spend nearly 10 minutes chasing a canister of laughing gas. Then Zuka says this was just a decoy because the real target was the lunar holiday resort. Then, when Black appears he says that there was little use for a nerve agent on the Moon either and that he had only wanted to get his hands on a Bison!

[shadokp]

The Story - Not sure about the set up for this one although the action at the start is certainly one of the better sequences. This is probably for most series, their finale chase scene but for NCS, it is just the begining set up scene. In a way the action later on doesn't live up to the opening, but it certainly comes close. If you can buy into the elaborate set up to get a Bison then the duel is certainly worth the price of admission. What a great battle and fun story all around.

uh, even I have to admit the final line by Destiny certainly turned my stomach.

The Animation - Superb stuff both on Earth and the Moon but I was a bit disappointed with the moon stuff. Perhaps because Earth and Mars are much more interesting, the Moon scenes just don't seem up to par. Of course the mention of the missing tracks and shadows by some keen eye observers has forever led me to notice these mistakes and dwell on them.

Other - Pretty good one liners in this one

On screen Death Count - The shooter in the helicopter more than likely and I think that was it.

KP

[Gun-wielding Lombax]

Does anyone else find it silly that Black intends to conquer the moon with one Bison? Just how much ammo can that thing carry? And how did he get to the moon unnoticed in the first place?

Visually the episode is stunning but the plot meanders about too randomly to be considered great. I find it hard to swallow that Tranquility just happens to be targeted when Destiny and Green are holidaying there. As the title suggests, the whole "plot" is just an excuse to have Scarlet and Black fight in Moon Tanks.

And yes the ending is just...ugh. Scarlet/Destiny is the worst thing about NCS. It just doesn't work.

[MMK]

[quote="Gun-wielding Lombax"]Does anyone else find it silly that Black intends to conquer the moon with one Bison? Just how much ammo can that thing carry? And how did he get to the moon unnoticed in the first place?[quote]
1. Take out Scarlet then conquering the moon would be a 'piece of cake'... in theory
2. A truck driver was hypnotised in Chiller... so perhaps someone piloting a shuttle got hypnotised too... also don't disregard fanfic - they can provide possible answers that the tv series doesn't.

Does this help?

[Winged Assassin]

I did like the start of this episode as it features a chase scene and thats really where this show works, chases and air battles. Unfortunately its at the end of such sequences when everything crash's, explodes or burns that you wish they were still doing it with models and you could see a proper bang!
Again the lack of tracks coming from such big wheeled vehicles on a dusty Moonscape reminds you of the simple failures of CGI.
But quite a good episode.

[Intensity Angel]

Am I the only one who found the end amusing? Mind you I find romantic endings funny anyway. It was cute in a nice way but please!! I couldn't control myself!!

As for that little talk between Blue and Green. I liked that. It was nice to see the focus finally off Scarlet and Destiny. It showed us another aspect of Blue and is the sort of scene that is very adult like and sensible. Mind you it did make me wonder...

What happened to captain Magenta?
Did Ochre finally give him a good kicking or what? Maybe someone could do that as a fan fic.

Alright, I've gone off track. I need a break to remember what I was going to say about the moon chase squence.

Post edited to include:

Right, Overall, I found this episode enjoyable. But there were times when I rolled my eyes and wished it would just skip over (ie Destiny and Scarlet talking aout spcesuits). It was a good one and do the Mysterons have to follow Destiny Angel?! She's just an Angel!!

The Good

1. Lt Green interrupts Scarlet and Destiny. Yes sucess!!

2. Scarlet's informant Zuka. Who would've thought he was a Mysteron? And what a funny character!!

3. Scarlet swaning off and leaving Blue with the girls!!

4. The two bisons exploding. Impressive explosion and an understanding one. The moon has no oxygen.

5. Seeing Captains Ochre and Magenta.

6. Black's comments during the stand off. Brilliant!! He's one smart cookie.

The Bad

1. Lack of resistance offered by the objects Destiny picks up.

2. Too much of Destiny, why couldn't we of seen Lt Green and Captain Blue at the start instead?

The Downright Findings

1. That landing must've given Scarlet a really sore butt when his seat hit the surface of the moon.

2. The little people moving around inside when a wide shot of Tranquillity is shown.

3. The person in charge of Tranquillity, Ava, is a dead ringer of Astrid Winters.

4. The Rhinos come in more than one colour.

5. Why build ejector seats into a Bison in the first place? Who's gonna want to leave a Bison that way? Other than Scarlet of course who was saved from being blown up.

6. Scarlet saves himself from being killed. Lucky him!!