Syrtis Major

[Serena Lewis]

This one I always thought was better than the other Mars episode, Rat Trap. Rat Trap was...'made' better, but just never had the appeal to me of the paranoia inducing centre in this episode.

Pros

1. Flight towards the building at the start. So good to see helicopters zooming across the skyline again. Though I don't see why they needed three 'copters. I mean, there's four Captains in one, so...are there two Captains in one and the last Captain and the Colonel in the other? It's a bit silly.
2. 'Stunning.' In my opinion, one of the best lines in the series!
3. The whole paranoia idea. Eurgh, I understand how all that feels, and this episode did a great job of getting it across convincingly.

'Something touched me. I felt it.'

Yes!! It's the Adventures of Mario Moro on Mars!!
4. Guy crushed by stalactite. Very cool, even though it made me cringe. And it is definitely stalactite, because 'Stalactites hang tightly, while stalagmites stand mightily'.
5. When Ochre got stunned. I have no idea why, but I really, really liked that scene. If you slow-mo, you actually see her open her eyes again and stuff. It's just kinda cool.
6. Mention of Io and Ganymede made me feel included.
7. Seeing all the Captains at the start. There's Scarlet, Blue, Ochre, Magenta, Grey, Indigo and Brown for anyone who wanted to know.

Cons

1. 'Nice neighbourhood'. Oh, get a life, Destiny...
2. Destiny and Blacks stupid fight when Black first reveals himself (Oo er...). Destiny just gets beaten up really easily. I should be pleased actually...

Bloopers

1. Ochre’s reappearing/disappearing hair strands. The ones across her forehead I mean. And, is it just me, or does Ochre look kind of...elfish, in this episode?
2. At one point (I think it's around the time the oxygen is being stabilized after they've just entered the centre), you can see Gold's arm at the edge of the screen. His coloured shoulder pad thing is gold, but his coloured arm thing is red. Watch it and you'll see what I mean.
3. Griggs shoulder pads sometimes turn plain red, instead of reddish/orangey and black striped.
4. When Destiny and Ochre are walking back into the centres main room to meet the guys, Ochre is wearing Destinys suit. You can tell because the coloured bits on it are white, not yellow.

Little Things

1. Small appearance of Captain Brown. He's bouncing around in the background in the lift scene at the start, looking incredibly worried.
2. At the end (I don't know if this is some sort of blooper or what...), when they're all in the shuttle, you see Scarlet, Destiny, Gold, Griggs and two maintenance workers. Where are Ochre and Blue?
3. The drink machine in the centre canteen is called...'Carbonated Cola'. Inventive.
4. The thing that 'touches' Ochre is actually Black. If you slow-mo the bit when something rushes about behind her, you can see Blacks face.

Rating: 9/10

xx

[Skybase Girl]

Yep, this is a better Martian episode than "Rat Trap". It's really, really, well made and the spookiness of the mine was excellently conveyed. I think the initial digital art for the refectory etc was the work of Craig Clark ? Well done, it's fabulous !

I actually thought the Black/ Destiny scenes were the best bits - brilliantly done. Her anger and frustration really came through, especially at his "Whatever makes you happy" comment. When she lunged at him and ended up hurtling over the top of him, he looked like the kick in the head definitely hurt. I don't think the fact he overpowered her quickly was surprising. He's a very powerful bloke, and he has extra Mysteron strength, so all in all, she put up a pretty good fight.

Ochre's quite a gal, isn't she ? Not for her the titchy little pistols the guys were carrying. She likes to lug around the heavy-duty firearms. Looks like she knows how to use them, too. I thought she gave Destiny a funny look when D tried to reassure her that the "touch" was all in her imagination. Not sure why, but it occurred to me that she might have thought D was being a bit patronising. After all, for a woman who spends a lot of time telling everyone that she's just a pilot, D always seems to be in the thick of the action with the field agents. That could make for a bit of resentment.....

It wasn't made clear why Scarlet & Dr Gold seemed immune to the gas, although Griggs was seemingly unaffected as well. His accent really irritated me, felt like poking him in the eye.

The raid at the beginning was a bit over the top. All those agents running around like the SAS, just so they could have a chat with three guys round a conference table. Then Colonel White just strolls in as if he's going for a walk in the park.

I'll stop nit-picking now, because this is a really good episode. Well done, all concerned.

[Serena Lewis]

Ochre's excellent - I loved the fact she had one of those big guns.
On the note of 'She gives Destiny a funny look', I slow-moed the scene, and it's kinda true. She still looks really freaked out, but sort of... off as well. I don't think she likes Destiny that much either.

xx

[shadokp]

The Story - Not my favorite but I do like it better than originally. It is certainly a logical story. Plenty for each Spectrum agent to do on Mars. While this story has more structure I think rat Trap is still much better.

The Animation - This is where the episode shines. The entire shuttle landing segment is incredible. The raid at the begining and basically most the animation is very consistant. There is a moment where Griggs has Scarlet's space suit on (or at least his shoulder pieces).

Other - Destiny says that she can handle anything that goes bump in the night - I bet she can The death of that guy was well done, how the camera pans away just as it happens - showing just enough of it. Another tilt up at one point shows the lights in the corrider and you can hear the buzz of the lights - nice touch. Of the animation and stories, I think the audio gets left out quite a bit and much of the sound in the series is superb.

The Ongoing Tally -
On screen Death Count - 1 death - a fairly memorable one.

It is actually good to see an episode without the Mysterons in it for a change although why they left the base alone is a mystery.

KP

[Serena Lewis]

Destiny says that she can handle anything that goes bump in the night - I bet she can

Oh, I knew I'd regret not saying that! I've thought exactly the same as you, Shadokp, ever since I first saw the episode, but when I wrote the review, I thought saying 'I bet you can!' might get censored...LOL...

xx

[Skybase Girl]

Yes, at the time, I wondered if she was giving Scarlet a very heavy hint that she was ready to move things up a notch. Poor Paul is so slow on the uptake, he has to have things spelled out for him

[Father Unwin]

I have to admit that when this episode first aired I was disappointed. This was undoubtedly because I was hoping (and expecting) a Mysteron attack of the same intensity as occurred in Rat Trap. In retrospect I was wrong because this is a truly atmospheric story.

Syrtis Major became a real ‘slow burner’ for me and it is quite possible that I have now watched it more times than any other episode. There are a number of reasons for this, not least the absence of an actual Mysteron plot. In a way, all the action takes place in the heads of the characters and perhaps, to some extent, in the mind of the viewer.

The overwhelming highlights for me in this episode were the fantastic background sets. In particular, the external views of the mining complex as the Shuttle came in to land and the glorious underground caverns with their stalactites and stalagmites. The lighting of both sets was quite magnificent.

An unusual feature of this episode was the relentlessly cynical and confrontational dialogue. No doubt much of this was caused by the harmful gas but not everyone was affected. Griggs, nicely played by Jeremy Hitchen, was undoubtedly the catalyst for much of this bad feeling.

Even though there were no Rats, there was really quite a lot going on including a guest ‘appearance’ by Black. “Second home, sort of” was a nice line. The combination of brooding orange-lit caves and almost tangible bad feeling – or at least, strained relations - between the characters made this a compellingly claustrophobic experience.

[MMK]

:-D Yes, at the time, I wondered if she was giving Scarlet a very heavy hint that she was ready to move things up a notch. Poor Paul is so slow on the uptake, he has to have things spelled out for him

She may be ready but perhaps Scarlets afraid of what might happen if he gets too involved...
Captain Scarlet: It's the worst thing in the world.
Doctor Gold: What is?
Captain Scarlet: What the Mysterons did to me.
Doctor Gold: Making you indestructible? Virtually impossible to kill?
Captain Scarlet: What use is it? When everyone you care about is so fragile?

I have to say that it wasn't until the second time i watched this episode that i understood what was going on in the end bit when they all came back up... very clever
I wouldn't want to go down a mine on mars when theres the possibility that i might attacked by the mysterons... better them than me

[Marion]

Captain Scarlet: What the Mysterons did to me.
Doctor Gold: Making you indestructible? Virtually impossible to kill?
Captain Scarlet: What use is it? When everyone you care about is so fragile?

That is the tragedy of Captain Scarlet in a nutshell.
Well, as far as I'm concerned. That is what makes him a truly tragic hero and it is the aspect I try to explore in my fiction - where I can.

[gojohnniegogo]

I like this episode, although did feel a bit let down by the lack of Mysterons in the episode. I thought the dialogue was great, and all very appropriate and in the correct tone. Nice to see Captains Brown and Indigo make a cameo appearance too, must admit, I froze those screens to try and get a screengrab!

I agree with what shadokp says about the sound as well, very subtle where it should be, a well done job indeed.

Thinking about it, something I should have picked up on the first time I watched this episode - Black appears in his uniform, a dead giveaway that something was wrong!

And to cap it all, this ep is top notch in it's appearance with the creepy caverns that compliment the sound beautifully.

[Sweeps]

Watched this ep again tonight and it is absolutely "stunning"

The CGI is really good and the space costumes that the characters are wearing really do shine Nice to see Black get his ass whooped by Destiny (twice!) he so deserved that IMO also noticed for the first time that during one of the fights betweem Black & Destiny (the one where he looses his spectrum cap) she does the swinging kick by grabbing onto one of the pipes and then as she goes to dive for the gun she kicks him right in the face and then kicks him in the face again EPIC WIN

this ep also proves that Destiny still has feelings for Black even though he was a mysteron and Scarlet saved the day (again) by shooting Destiny and then Destiny saved the day by shooting Griggs after Scarlet had saved the day in the first place although it might not even have been day so that puts the whole concept out of whack but you see what I mean

Also Scarlet did a pretty awesome finishing move at the end of his fight with Blue, he just slapped him across the head LOL

I'm glad Ochre was in this ep...I got confused at first and thought it would be Harmony instead of Ochre but I was thinking of Rat Trap instead

anyway awesome episode...series 2 is where the series really kicks off (and sadly finishes sigh)

[lee evens]

Yes it does sadly finish there!! THANKS TOO ITV!!!!!!!!
But the cgi was fantastic, the detail was fantastic, everything about the episode was fantastic!!!!!!

[Sweeps]

I agree Lee, I prefer this to Rat Trap

[lee evens]

I kinda agree with you Sweeps, but Rat Trap was still a very well layed out, designed and enjoyable episode!! :grin

[doc gold]

I love this episode. Adam makes it look really easy kicking those doors in!