Special assignment - some questions

[Lenzar]

1) Why did the mysterons first reconstruct a mechanic? They could easily have just got Captain Black to kill the intended reconstructions easily. (Or, as they were shady in the first place, just offered money.)

2) Why were the mysteronised shady guys going to recieve 1 million?

3) Why were all the mysteron agents convinced it was easy to kill Captain Scarlet?

4) What exactly was intended by sending Scarlet undercover? Was the assignment to see if the mysterons fell into traps?

[Marion]

Well, your guess is as good as mine on this one.
This is one of the episodes that's full of red herrings and obscure plotting
'The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet' says that the killing of the motor mechanic (One of the nastiest scenes in the whole series and as you rightly point out - a pointless murder) was added on afterwards - maybe because the episode wasn't long enough? - but it doesn't do anything to clear up the confusion.
There is also some speculation that the barman at the 'Vincent Bar' - where Scarlet goes to drown his sorrows after he's been kicked out of Spectrum - works for Spectrum Intelligence and must've warned Cloudbase after he overheard the racketeers plotting and guessed they were Mysterons.
I'm not sure that blowing up an SPV with an atomic device in it - even if it is in the middle of the desert - is a terribly good idea either - but that's what they do in the end. (Mind you, the CS episodes are rather fond of blowing up 'atomic devices' and 'nuclear reactors'... see 'Big Ben Strikes Again', and 'Expo 2068'.)
None of which gets us much further towards answering your questions...

Any one got any ideas?

[chrisbishop]

I think the device in the SPV is simply a detonator, not an atomic device. By itself, it would blow up, yes, but if it had detonated in the atomic center, it would have caused much more trouble. So it would be 'safer' to destroy it before it would reach its target.

Answers to two of the questions here:

2) Why were the mysteronised shady guys going to recieve 1 million?

I personally never thought that they would, indeed, receive a million each. They simply said that to Scarlet, as a bait to attract a potential accomplice. They would not tell him that their intentions were to blow themselves up in the first place.

3) Why were all the mysteron agents convinced it was easy to kill Captain Scarlet?

They never said anything of the like, did they? Many possible answers to that question, actually. They simply keep trying until maybe, they will get it right. After all, maybe they can always hope that his retrometabolism might fail one day. In the meantime, each time they shot him down, they would incapacitate it for a time, while they pursue their mission... There's also the possibility that the Mysterons (those on Mars) might be collecting information about the good Captain each time he is wounded/killed, thus learning more about the enemy they had themselves created.

Another possibility - and that specifically concerns this episode - might be that they were hoping that a nuclear explosion would destroy Scarlet once and for all. Shooting him down is a good way to insure he'll stay with the Mysteron agents until they reach their target. But Scarlet had time to give the alarm... and eject...

[Cerise]

To be honest, what I never understood about that episode is why they thought it a good idea to reveal to Scarlet that they were, in fact, Mysterons.

His incentive for getting an SPV was having his debts paid off, not changing sides to spite Spectrum.

When he discovers that they're mysterons he finds out that he won't be paid, but, instead, he'll be right in the middle of a nuclear explosion (lets face it, even HE'S got to wonder if he can survive that).

Then they insist he proves that he's on their side by shooting Blue. Now, why did they believe he would still be fine with it knowing they were Mysterons?

And why - and this can apply to almost any episode - can the Angels not hit their target first time? That IS all they do after all. The only occasions I can think of where they managed to hit their targets first time were the first episode where Rhapsody takes out a motorway and in White as Snow when they're doing target practice.

[Lenzar]

'The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet' says that the killing of the motor mechanic (One of the nastiest scenes in the whole series and as you rightly point out - a pointless murder) was added on afterwards - maybe because the episode wasn't long enough?

Is this why Captain Black appears just after the duo in the car are killed? Was a regular Captain Black killing done originally?

[Marion]

That could very well be the case - unfortunately the book doesn't elaborate - even the reason that the episode was too short was my idea - it merely states the fact that the death of the mechanic was tacked on later...

Too true, Cerise - the Angels regularly fail to cover themselves with glory when it comes to hitting targets, don't they? No wonder Blue had them practising on the target range so much in 'White as Snow'...
But then, moving targets do present a whole new problem, it seems.
Mind you, they must be up against some of the Mysterons deadly powers, poor girls... after all, they take forever to blow up the Aztec temple in 'Inferno' (and I didn't think the Aztecs made it to Peru, by the way ) yet even the collapsing roof and all the walls failed to destroy the actual statue of the Sun God. perhaps it was shielded by a force field?
A sneaking part of me wonders what good blowing the Temple up was supposed to do anyway - was the missile supposed to think : oh... where's my homing beacon gone? - and stop??? We know that Symphony took out the rogue radio satellite in 'White as Snow' - surely that would have been a better option here? Blow the rocket up before it crash landed? But that would have deprived us of some spectacular bangs... :

[Maltray]

Hmm intreasting in deed marion. I sometimes wonder in the Original CS if they hadn't bought a bit to much fuller's earth.

Granted the series did more than like a huge to massive explosion.

[That could very well be the case - unfortunately the book doesn't elaborate - even the reason that the episode was too short was my idea - it merely states the fact that the death of the mechanic was tacked on later... ]

I'd go for tacked on myself and yes it was pretty nasty for a so called kids show. To be honest I wasn't that suprised Black was showing a more nasty side anyways. I know there's be all sorts of questions about Captain Black. I would think he is still human as it wasn't shown if the crew of the MEV where killed and reto-metabolised. (Perhaps the other three where kept back if Black was captured or destroyed, Mysterons heging their bets?)

Hm atomic devices yes they did seem to have a rather unhealthy intreast in them. But the 60's where a decade where nuclear war was suppose to be imminate at anytime. Paranoia mostly I guess.

I guess I prefear the old Black to the new one, if they had made a nice mix with the new version I would have liked that better. Still not sure about the whole thing with the New Captain Scarlet. In the old one he'd died what nearly every episode so is he indestrctible as they claim?

I'm tempted to wonder if some of the changes in TNCS are just for changes sake. I prefear the background to Condrad Turner as Captain Black. Or is that just me?

[Marion]

I have to say that I rather like the new CGI:CS Captain Black - in fact, he's the best thing in it - IMO.
The original Captain Black was so dead-pan, which was scary enough - but a villain with a wicked sense of humour, who seems to be enjoying his work - is even scarier.
What I don't like as much is the fact that Scarlet says: 'Black died with me on Mars' (to Destiny) which - if it is the truth, and we have to assume he thinks it is - removes the uncertainty about Black's state of existance.
I rather like the idea that under his Mysteron-exterior there is still a human being. And, from what we are told in his Classic biography, at least - a man who would really suffer to know what terrible actions he was being made to perform...
I suppose much of the uncertainty about Black and his 'motivations' became redundant when Scarlet went with him to Mars....