What Use is Captain Black?

by **Marion** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:37 pm

doc gold said:

I always woundered that on NCS. When Black kept failing, why did they keep him??

I think that applies to both series of the show - why keep an agent who continually fails to achieve what's expected of him?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

by **hazel** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 3:34 pm

Much of the time, it's not Black who fails. He is seldom tasked with actually carrying out the threat himself - his role seems to be that of facilitator, acquiring the right agent for the job. Just off the top of my head:

Winged Assassin - I'm not entirely sure what Black does here. I've always liked the idea that he's putting the 'fluence onto the DT19. If so, he succeeds - the plane crashes and is successfully Mysteronised.
Operation Time - Black kills Dr Magnus. Magnus was the careless one, putting his hand where he shouldn't.
Codename Europa - Black succeeds in killing Gabriel Carney. It's Carney himself who fails the Mysterons by not watching where he's putting his feet.
Heart of New York - he blows up the bank, kills the crooks and gets away from Spectrum.
Model Spy - yes, I'll give you this one. Instead of killing Verdain, Black simply dumps him out of the car.

In NCS, I think the only time Black actually fails in what he has been ordered to do is in Best of Enemies, where he is thwarted in stealing the Rhino, and eventually has to work in concert with Scarlet to get out from under the ice. Even in Circles of Doom, he is partly successful, even though Scarlet and Blue do manage to stop him eventually.

Of course, given that catalogue of agents failing in their tasks for the Mysterons, you might make a case for Black making the wrong call in the choice of agent. But that presupposes that it's Black's choice to make. I don't think it is; not entirely, anyway.

by **MMK** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:13 pm

hazel wrote:Winged Assassin - I'm not entirely sure what Black does here. I've always liked the idea that he's putting the 'fluence onto the DT19. If so, he succeeds - the plane crashes and is successfully Mysteronised.
Operation Time - Black kills Dr Magnus. Magnus was the careless one, putting his hand where he shouldn't.
Codename Europa - Black succeeds in killing Gabriel Carney. It's Carney himself who fails the Mysterons by not watching where he's putting his feet.
Heart of New York - he blows up the bank, kills the crooks and gets away from Spectrum.
Model Spy - yes, I'll give you this one. Instead of killing Verdain, Black simply dumps him out of the car.

That reminds me of bad guys (and their henchmen) from other tv shows, and in films too... If a job needs to be done, you're better off doing it yourself! :wink:

by **Marion** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:31 am

I must admit, I tend to see Black as a sort of walking power relay, to boost the strength of the Mysterons' powers so they can destroy things like the DT19. That's partly because I don't see why they'd keep him if they didn't need something (or someone) to enable them to function on Earth.

I also wonder if the other missing crew members from the Martian Expedition aren't somewhere in the Mysteron equivalent of the deep freeze, in case anything happens to Black, so they could send a replacement... if you follow me.

by **DartBrat701** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:07 am

Marion wrote:I also wonder if the other missing crew members from the Martian Expedition aren't somewhere in the Mysteron equivalent of the deep freeze, in case anything happens to Black, so they could send a replacement... if you follow me.

I see where you're coming from.

The Mysterons may also have kept them as (how should I say it.....) "working models" for reference purposes in their duplicating processes.

I also can't recall seeing the rings when Captains Scarlet & Brown became Mysteronized.....all that's seen is a bluish haze, just before the SPC crashed.

by **Intensity Angel** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 1:45 am

Black's like Felipe Massa, the Mysterons keep him because he's still of use somehow but not a race winner. Mind you I think Felipe's days at Ferrari are truely numbered this time, unless he's retained as a test driver, he'd do good in that role. Anyway back to Captain Black. It could be that Black is retained as the Mysterons needed a mysteron agent with key skills for example, to think human in a way, find out what would be good threats or targets.

by **gojohnniegogo** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:11 pm

Well as we know, Gerry originally intended him to be killed permanently off in the show but thought he was an effective character. I'd subscribe to the relay/signal booster theory as well. His briefings were pityful though weren't they!? "You know what to do?" Which was followed by a response in the affirmative. I think the show would have been less without him though.

by **Marion** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:56 am

Yes, I thnk he does serve a purpose, if only as a focus for the Mysterons' activities - so viewers can sense there is danger afoot when he appears, if you follow me?
It's a bit like the use of the threat for every episode - that sets the scene effectively for what Spectrum has to do and the tension is if they'll make it in time. In NCS, I found that a lack of a known threat tended to make the denouement seem rushed, as Spectrum had to try and work out what was intended. Nothing wrong with that, in theory, although I think it would have worked better if the episode had been 45 minutes (like Thunderbirds) rather than 30 minutes long.
On the other hand, NCS Black was a very effective and utterly callous 'baddie', with a nice line in nastiness...