Poisons and Disease

[Cat 2]

(As our mod said we weren't to talk about this in Retrometabolisation

SPOILERS!







Well, another question has popped into my head after watching series 2 of NCS.

I mean most people agree that Paul can't get drunk or that it at least takes alot of alchohol, but i also thought his body would act the same with poisons and disease, and that they wouldn't really have much affect on him. But it appears i am wrong; here are a couple of examples.

In the episode 'The Homecoming' when the Lewis replicant takes Green in the impregnable base, Scarlet gets in by going through deadly radiation, he comes out a little dizzy, but overall he's not to bad considering it kills straight away (according to the major)

However in season 2, Scarlet seems to become as easily threatened by poisons as anybody else.

In 'Virus' he becomes affected by the computer virus, although it takes much longer, but the big thing is in 'The Storm at the End of the World' when at the Ragnarok Cafe, Blue pours out two cups of coffee, the coffee is drugged and Adam faints, about a second later so does Paul, wouldn't his body be able to cope with being a little drugged up and wouldn't the poisons be pretty much destroyed as soon as they entered the body?

Is he more immune to poisons, drugs and disease, or do they affect him like everyone else? And once his body has dealt with them, will they affect him again?

It's just been on my mind lately, that he is not quite indestructible!

What do you think?

SERIES 2 (slight) SPOILER

(Sorry, but I felt compelled to warn people who haven't seen it yet. I've done my best to avoid reading anything about the S2 eps until I'd seen them, and I reckon I'm not the only one.)



I must admit, I thought the same thing when I saw Storm at the End of the World. Whilst Scarlet is the last to pass out and the first to come round, it's a matter of seconds between him and Blue, and not the minutes or hours I would have expected.

I don't think that the issue of poisoning was ever brought up in OCS, but there are stories that deal with the issue. In the one I can think of ('Uneasy Relations' by KMS), Scarlet definitely succumbs to a powerful sedative, but it takes a little longer to knock him out, and he comes round much sooner than anyone else.

I think it's been discussed elsewhere that Scarlet's retrometabolism can be overwhelmed by something like a poison or sedative (or a large quantity of alcohol consumed quickly), but he would recover from said drugging/drunkness much quicker than a normal person would.

As for NCS... well... they're inconsistent. In some episodes, Scarlet is nigh-on invincible, and in others, the writers seem to have taken the word 'virtually' (as in 'virtually indestructible') to heart. Maybe some of the Techs could shed some light?

[Cat 2]

My theory with Storm at the World's end was that they used a "Mysteron drug" to knock out Scarlet and Blue. That would presumable effect both equally.

In Virus, I think Scarlet could be affected as the virus was phycological (Apologisies, I can't spell, I mean it effected the mind), rather than a physical virus in the tradisional sense of the word. In other words he (and most of Skybase) were hypnosised.

I need to rewatch homecoming to be able to offer a view on that.

[lee evens]

well i guess if your given a sleeping drug, it will prob still effect him, like anyway else

[Skybase Girl]

I agree with Indigo that the NCS position on what affects Scarlet and what doesn't is sometimes ambiguous.

My own feeling about retrometabolism is that Scarlet's body will heal or repair itself after illness or injury. That's not to say he won't get hurt or ill as anyone else would, just that he won't die as a result ; well, not for long, anyway!

That suggests to me that he will be affected by poisons or drugs of any kind, as anyone else would, but because he will immediately start to retrometabolise, the effects may not last so long.

That may be why he was affected by the Ebola virus in "Touch of the Reaper", but was able to successfully fight it off - also the potentially lethal dose of radiation in "The Homecoming." Having said that, Lt Green also was exposed to a great deal of radiation in that episode with apparently no ill effects!

It does seem strange that he was so easily floored by Katie's coffee, but perhaps, as Cat2 says, it was a particularly powerful Mysteron drug!

[Cat 2]

I think it says in the Spectrum agents handbook that the Spectrum suits offer protection against nerve gases ect. Perhaps they also protect against radiation?

[Marion]

Lt Green also was exposed to a great deal of radiation in that episode with apparently no ill effects!

Not judging by your avatar, Skybase Girl - she's gone all luminous...

Cat 2 said:

I think it says in the Spectrum agents handbook that the Spectrum suits offer protection against nerve gases ect.

How does the uniform stop them breathing it in?

[Cat 2]

Cat 2 said:[/color]

I think it says in the Spectrum agents handbook that the Spectrum suits offer protection against nerve gases ect.

How does the uniform stop them breathing it in?

Stops/reduces them being absorbed through the skin. Persumably they still have to use gas masks to stop breathing it (We see some in Virus I think)

[Cat 2]

Having finally had a chance to rewatch Homecoming, I can offer a theory on that too.

The Mysteron Luitentant Green's father (I'm too tired to look up his name right now), is released at least for a little while from Mysteron control in the episode, so maybe it's not the radiation that's affecting Scarlet (though he does have to be helped out of the place by Green), but the Plasma (at least I think they're plasma) coils.

The original Captain Scarlet could be aversely affected by electrity (or at least that's the impression I've got from fan fiction), so maybe New Captain Scarlet and Mysterons are allergic to plasma?

[lee evens]

Could well be. In which case its very interesting that he could be allergic too Plasma (if again thats what it was)

[Marion]

Presumably, the producers of the show wanted there to be some weakness in The Mysterons that offered a chink in their formidable armour for Spectrum to exploit?
I can't remember if electricity is the same threat to NCS Scarlet as it is to OCS, but the fact that Scarlet might be vulnerable to something does add an element of danger to the adventures. Having an indestructible hero who is always going to recover, even from death, could otherwise lead to rather emotionless adventures for the audience. The uncertainty is an important element in the whole Scarlet universe, in my opinion.

[lee evens]

quite agree Marion, it adds a sense off "oh my god" too it all, especially as you say "he`ll survive this, he`s Scarlet!"
Then again, everyone has a weak spot!