Touch of the Reaper

[Serena Lewis]

This episode is quite good, but just didn't particularly do it for me.

Pros

1. The Group Gathering. Excellent. An appearance of Silver, look! Ochre coming in late, brill! And, in case you wanted a full list of people there (If you're like me), here it is. They seem to mostly be standing in pairs...
A Medic and Brown
Ochre and Indigo
Silver and...Medic? (She's got hair just like Rhapsodys, but she's not wearing the Angel off-duty stuff, she seems to be wearing Medic uniform)
Grey and White
Green and Gold
Blue and Scarlet
...and Magenta, all on his lonesome...
2. Blue's moral boosting speech to Scarlet, while the latter pouts with his arms folded. It was very...macho, but sorta sensivtiveish at the same time.
3. Blue's fight with King. 'That was fun.' Looked like it...
4. Kiss. A bit more passionate than Scarlet and Destinys little pecky lip touching moments, that can't even be called kisses. Not that I'm asking for x-rated stuff at all, it's just nice that it is a bit more like a normal kiss.

Cons

1. Dana (Or however you spell it). She annoyed me no end. Apart from that 'Oh, Danny!' stuff, she sounded stilted in her speech, plus she had very stupid lipstick.
2. The incredibly thin air hostess. Nooooo...give her curves, animators!!
3. The Cheetah can't fly!! It can only glide!! Continuity problem, sort of.
4. The President is so thick. Scarlet charges in, saying 'NOOO!!' and proceeds to fight Dan, who is trying to kill him. All President does is go 'Dan?' at a guy who is quite clearly not the real Dan!!! Is he a...'sly' homage to George Bush?
5. 'One giant leap for man kind.' Per-yuke...

Bloopers

1. In the Group Gathering, Ochre disappears in one shot, but is back in the one straight afterwards.
2. On the TV screens during the GG (I hope you get what this means by now... ), King slides his leg about for a bit when he's moving.
3. Ms. Kings suit thing (Which, by the way, is hideous) keeps passing through itself, if you get that...

Little Things

1. Why is everything that happens in the NCS world always in Nevada, Louisiana or Houston?
2. Why is Blue SO annoyed at Lloyd? I can understand that he doesn't want Spectrum to be all 'Smile, you're on Candid Camera' when they're on duty, but he does seem a little over the top. Did Dan nick his girlfriend or something?
3. When Green is searching for Dan Lloyd on the plane list, loads of names come up. Are these made up or do they have some relevance to animators or anything? (Beware, long list approaching!!)
Phil Young
Myles Asseter
Charles Beglan (? Not sure if this spelled right)
James Firth
Jess Groom
Dave Petrucci
Clare Pakeman
Adam Rowland
Andras Kaylale (Not sure about this either)
Mark Fleming
Andrew Bowles
Michelle Branch
Matt Sturgeon
Mark Myles
Robert Balls
Sarah Young
Charlie Cullen
Jamie Walker
4. Also...the head of...err...the presidents plane place thing, that Green contacts about the presidents plane...is called Curtis Randell. I don't know what he did, but I know he worked on NCS.

Rating: 8/10

xx

[Gun-wielding Lombax]

I was completely blown away by this episode when I first saw it. Definately one of my favourites of the series. No Destiny, for starters. We also get to hear The Voice of the Mysterons, which is sadly absent in too many episodes. "Death by kissing" is added to the list of bizarre CS deaths, and the virus itself looks very ghastly. I love it when the series slips in content like this that was completely inappropriate for the Saturday morning timeslot. It wouldn't be the same without the violence.

I can't think of that much to complain about this one, although I would like to know why The Mysterons are so specific about killing the US President, when instead they could just spread the virus and slaughter as many people as possible. In other episodes ("Instruments of Destruction", "The Storm at the End of the World"), The Mysterons don't hesitate to attempt wiping out the entire Earth in one go, so why not here? The virus wouldn't be hard to spread after all.

And "Air Force One" is clearly just the stock cargo plane again with a new paint job.

[Mary]

3. When Green is searching for Dan Lloyd on the plane list, loads of names come up. Are these made up or do they have some relevance to animators or anything? (Beware, long list approaching!!)
Phil Young
Myles Asseter
Charles Beglan (? Not sure if this spelled right)
James Firth
Jess Groom
Dave Petrucci
Clare Pakeman
Adam Rowland
Andras Kaylale (Not sure about this either)
Mark Fleming
Andrew Bowles
Michelle Branch
Matt Sturgeon
Mark Myles
Robert Balls
Sarah Young
Charlie Cullen
Jamie Walker

They are relevant indeed! I recognize quite a few of these names as our very own "Skybase Techs" on this forum!

[Father Unwin]

This is a reasonably good episode but the quality seems to me to be somewhat variable. For example, there appear to be some key animations which would have been better done with motion capture. If he had been a bit fatter I think that when Dr King fell into the cellar he might have been mistaken for Mr Blobby (or Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters).

It is hard to define but, on the plus side, the laboratory and lighting for the opening scene with Dr Michael King and Dana Parish appears to be rendered with an exceptional crystal clarity. This is not always evident in the series but it somehow raises what might otherwise be a ‘routine’ passage of the story to a higher level. The scientist with the silly centre parting in his hair deserved to be Mysteronised!

I was amused by Dan Lloyd’s flying tv camera and wondered what it said when it got shot – it seemed to be muttering expletives to itself! Some of the character faces were a little disappointing. The president seemed a bit like Bill Pullman but I would have expected more work to be done on him. Also, Claudette King has that generic female face shape which you would never mistake for a real person.

One particularly classy moment was when the Cheetah chasing Dana jumped over the silver Hydra Laboratories lorry and you see the driver swerve violently to the side as he brakes. This might not be that special except that you suddenly realise that the action has happened in Scarlet’s rear view tv screen which is really quite disorientating!

By far the best action scene is when Scarlet leaps from the flying Cheetah onto Airforce 1 - an undoubted highlight of the series. The way the aircraft’s banks of wheels lift off the runway during takeoff is absolutely awesome and the animation of Scarlet’s face as he leaps and clings to the undercarriage is unparalleled.

[shadokp]

The Story - Thought this was pretty good overall with plenty of action and suspense. The only thing that bothered me - and these are nitpicks - was the abrupt chage of scenary from a secluded cabin in the forest, to a city during the motorcycle and Cheetah chase. I guess that cabin wasn't that far out there. Some level of horror with the virus and that guys eyes rolling up into his head - very affective!! It is interesting to note that Spectrum's warning to Airforce One doesn't seem to be taken that serious and one wonders if there is not a political agenda involved in this decision.

The Animation - More of the same excellent stuff. I love the details, including one of my favorite moments, Scarlet's hat flying off his head!!

Other - Another great action scene with Scarlet boarding Airforce One. Not sure why this episode was the firt to air of the second season and yet was one fo the last in this listing. Any ideas?

On screen deaths - Three scientists and the reporter.

KP

[Winged Assassin]

There was another blooper, when Dan stands up to go and see the President his gloves have gone but in the next bit he's taking them off.
The bit with Scarlet getting onto the plane is a series highlight for me, great stuff.

[MMK]

This isn't exactly my review of the episode... its more like a comment.
(This is slightly based on the work I did at college, whilst doing Biology, which is a wonderful subject... not!... but it does come handy sometimes )

The virus (after it had been altered by the Mysterons): I doubt it'd kill the two scientists that fast. But then again it might do. If only we could compare it to the effects of the K-14 virus in OCS... damn you Scarlet for saving the day! *runs and hides*