The Threats

by **Intensity Angel** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:46 pm

The Mysterons make some pretty easy to follow threats but some of them, like the kill time one, are harder. Why would the Mysterons do this? Why not just make all the threats harder to understand, wouldn't they of had more victories?

by **Marion** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:02 pm

Rather ask: Why make any threats at all? If they were serious about killing all life on earth, why give us even an obscure chance of stopping them?
It all comes down to how serious they are and if they are testing the human race or not. In the pilot episode they do say they have been watching us.

On a far more mundane level - it allowed the storymakers to get to the exciting bit much quicker in a short programme time. I think NCS was the worse for having to set the whole threat/mission/rescue or save scenario from scratch in one 22 minute episode.

by **chrisbishop** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:05 pm

I don't see it makes any difference to them. A riddle is just an added difficulty, but doesn't really change the outcome. In the example your gave, the Mysterons threatened General Tiempo using a riddle, but in the end, Spectrum beat them. On the other end, when they threatened the Asian Director (Second episode), the threat was very straight forward, and yet, Spectrum loses.

Really, they're just playing with the Earthmen - remember, they said it would be a 'War of Nerves' and that their retaliation will be slow. And they do it, quite simply, because they can do it - and it doesn't matter to them HOW they do it.

Maybe they're studying Spectrum's reactions under various types of threats.

by **Intensity Angel** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:46 am

Like rats in a maze.

Prehaps by issuing different threats and examining responses, the mysterons are trying to understand themselves at an eariler stage of development, could it be that they are tricking Spectrum into believe they are really furious about Black's unprovoked attack? But in truth it was just the perfect excuse to conduct research?

by **Marion** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:31 am

I think there might be more to it than that they are just testing us; I mean people do die because of what they do - quite a lot of people in some instances (DT 19, for example).
They are obviously in no hurry to wipe us out - they do seem to retain their curiosity about us - and they can get quite moralistic and superior too - if we are to believe 'Heart of New York'.

In the stories in the comics - which are not strict canon, but surely must be taken into account - the Mysterons seem less vague about their intentions, so maybe the impression given by the TV threats had something to do with the medium of TV, and what it was acceptable to portray in what was - let's not forget it - a children's show.
In addition, 40 years on what can be shown on TV is radically different from what was acceptable in 1968 and, for its day, Captain Scarlet was a pretty uncompromising and hard-hitting concept. For a start, I think I am right to say it was the first Anderson show 'peopled' entirely by adult characters and without cute, or amusing, fluffy animals. (I am assuming Zoonie was fluffy... )
Come to think of it: 'Captain Scarlet' had no 'light relief' at all, apart from some pretty lame jokes now and again. (Step forward Captain Blue and Captain Scarlet ... Spectrum's answer to the Chuckle Brothers... :roll:

)

by **gojohnniegogo** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:07 pm

Marion wrote:I think there might be more to it than that they are just testing us; I mean people do die because of what they do - quite a lot of people in some instances (DT 19, for example).
They are obviously in no hurry to wipe us out - they do seem to retain their curiosity about us - and they can get quite moralistic and superior too - if we are to believe 'Heart of New York'.

In the stories in the comics - which are not strict canon, but surely must be taken into account - the Mysterons seem less vague about their intentions, so maybe the impression given by the TV threats had something to do with the medium of TV, and what it was acceptable to portray in what was - let's not forget it - a children's show.
In addition, 40 years on what can be shown on TV is radically different from what was acceptable in 1968 and, for its day, Captain Scarlet was a pretty uncompromising and hard-hitting concept. For a start, I think I am right to say it was the first Anderson show 'peopled' entirely by adult characters and without cute, or amusing, fluffy animals. (I am assuming Zoonie was fluffy... )
Come to think of it: 'Captain Scarlet' had no 'light relief' at all, apart from some pretty lame jokes now and again. (Step forward Captain Blue and Captain Scarlet ... Spectrum's answer to the Chuckle Brothers... )

Marion I think you may need to clarify the Chuckle Brothers to our non-British friends on the board! :oops:

by **Marion** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:14 pm

I chose them because I thought the name was pretty self-explanatory..
http://www.thechucklebrothersontour.co.uk/
My daughter will kill me for saying this - but she used to adore them. We went to see them live a couple of times and she has their autographs! They tell better jokes than Scarlet and Blue... :wink:

Website · by **Sage** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:49 pm

LOL

I think it wasn't entirely doom and gloom, Flight to Atlantica had comic touches and Colonel had a dry wit* .
Maybe that's why I'm so fond of the show, it wasn't forced or aimed so squarely at children. I hated the fluffy animals.

Getting strictly back on topic, I do agree the threats may be a test and lesson for humanity, and perhaps for the mysterons to learn about us too. So they like to shake it up a bit.
After all humans do some horrific things to lab animals in the name of 'research' and 'testing' so it doesn't seem to unlikely as a theory.

*which yes, I did notice and appreciate at eight. But then Eeyore was my favourite in winnie the pooh; so my sense of humor was perhaps slightly precoious .

by **Marion** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:16 pm

Sage said:

I think it wasn't entirely doom and gloom, Flight to Atlantica had comic touches and Colonel had a dry wit* .
Maybe that's why I'm so fond of the show, it wasn't forced or aimed so squarely at children. I hated the fluffy animals.

I agree - there were some comic touches and the colonel was an excellent straight man - but the 'comedy' wasn't cringe-making or designed to appeal to the under-eights, specifically.
You have to admit that Scarlet's and Blue's 'jokes' are fairly lame though... dearly though I love them both.

However, the overall tone of the show - given that these are not the 'comedy' villains of 'Stingray' or the oddly-irrelevent 'master-criminal' in Thunderbirds - is one of surprising darkness.
The Mysterons may well see us as of no more importance than 'lab rats' - although until Black fires at them, they are getting ready to 'welcome' us, because they recognise a curiosity about the universe that resembles their own - so they can't have despised us that much - until then.
The ruthless way they carry out their threats and the total disregard for human life that they exhibit, does, to me, suggest that they are intending to carry out their main threat and wipe us all out. They're just investigating us as they do it.

by **Intensity Angel** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:30 pm

Like clearing up an disease while probing around.

Maybe before Black opened fire, they were like,

"If the humans make contact, that's cool, but we'll just stay here on Mars,"

THEN look what Black does. BANG!! Could it be they were scarred by a previous battle and thought.

"We're not letting this escalate, lets get rid of them now before they become a big pain in the future,"

by **TheRiddler** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:33 pm

Or maybe the Mysterons are very powerful trolls…