Achilles Messenger

[Scarlet Lady]

I'm first in with a post?

What an end to the series! Woo! That was fantastic! I'd love to know why Black didn't take them all out, though... maybe he enjoys chasing Spectrum too much...

[shaqui]

Who's crossing who?

So tantalising an episode... we get a new spin on the Mysterons. But was Astrid telling the truth, or is it a double, or even triple cross, by the Mysterons... ?

[Scarlet Lady]

Good question - I'm still confused! I'll have to re-watch that episode, I think. Well, we did say we missed the suspense of the original series - you don't get much more than that! I loved it! I think that has to be the best yet... but then again, I've enjoyed them all. Can't wait for series two!

[Clya Brown]

I have a feeling that this one is going to generate more comment than any of the others; not least because of the cliffhanger ending, but also because of the issues that the plot raises and the quality of the production, which was absolutely first-rate. I enjoyed it enormously, and am thoroughly looking forward to reading the postings that I expect will appear in fairly short order. Congratulations to the CGI team: you've really completed this run on a high, I think.

[Marcus]

That was BRILLIANT.

Lots of action (loved the Rhino duel), suspense, and a whole new insight into the Mysterons and Captain Scarlet's make-up. The Good Mysteron idea was fab, the Mysteron gun men (robots?) were cool too.

At last, an old fashioned car crash to create the Mysteron Astrid. Also, New York had people on the streets and cars!!! Sorry Captain Ochre fans, but I loved the new female Irish Captain Ochre.

Only minuses (and I am nit picking here) was, would Captain Black really have missed that chance to kill off Colonel White? And Destiny's rather prominent behind - those CGI boys have been having fun

[nice_captainscarlet]

Good cgi & plenty of action in this episode, but the story was poor .... the idea of there being a "good" mysteron seemed daft .... i would'nt want to watch it again .... at the end does'nt Captain Black know that "Paul" Scarlet is Indestructible ?

[hazel]

That was a FINE season-closer! Some of the best animation in the whole series, The Man In Red being put through the wringer at the beginning (which always goes down well with me ) and an intriguing story. I liked Destiny’s line “Looks like I arrived just in time”, in the second half. Is it just me, or was there a bit of subtext going on there?
I assume the Irish woman in the yellow tunic was Captain Ochre? She was never referred to by name, which was rather poor scripting. When a new character suddenly appears, we really need to be told who they are.
The plot could have done with a bit more development, but that’s from an adult perspective. From a child’s perspective, I’d like to think that the series ended on a high. Well done, chaps.

[Clya Brown]

Going back one post, I reckon it's a little too early to write off the idea of a good Mysteron - it depends on how the concept is developed (if indeed it is developed). As you've just noted, nice_captainScarlet, Black is obviously aware that Scarlet is indestructible - but then, why (apparently) wasn't Astrid also indestructible? Whatever Black's got in his hands, perhaps the indestructibility thing no longer applies - after all, the old series had a Mysteron gun, so why shouldn't the new one?

I definitely like the new Captain Ochre, by the way. (Sorry to all the old Captain Ochre fans!)

[JamesMagenta]

Very good episode.

So from this episode we learn that not all mysterons are indestructible and that some think that the war on earth is wrong.

Did you see that Destiny looked a bit upset that Scarlet and Winters were getting along quite well.
Also I could detect something between Blue and Ochre when he winked at her.

Also Captain Ochre is Irish

[Kambei]

nice_captainscarlet wrote:

the idea of there being a "good" mysteron seemed daft

By this you are implying that all Afghans are evil because of the Taliban, or all the Irish are evil because of the IRA? (please don't jump on me, folks, I am just playing Devil's Advocate here. I have some very good friends who are Irish and Moslem. Just giving examples! ) Never, ever judge a race by one group. There is good and evil in all of us. Just because a group of people in control believe in a cause, it doesn't necessarily follow that everyone in that race/creed/species is of the same mind.
Personally I liked the episode. I am hoping that we are going to see more of this 'rebel' faction of the Mysterons. One thing that interested me, though, Astrid Winters said that she and Scarlet would be good company for each other when the war was over. Did that mean she was willing to commit genocide against her own people? As I heard it, she meant that Scarlet and herself would be the only two Mysterons left. It also seemed that the Mysterons took her consciousness back. Does this mean that she could return in the future?

[Guest]

Yet another story that actually does something with the original format (unlike the original!) Loved that whole opening with the interrogation and escape on the bike. I particularly liked the way that the makers - and I've noticed this before in NCS - weave humour into the action: here you have one hapless pursuer who comes off his bike at full speed and goes smack into a wall (might not sound very funny but it was). The Mysteron assault on the castle was equally impressive: the guards with their glowing green eyes were a great touch and the 'chicken game' betwen the two Rhino's was excellent. Again, another touch of humour re Scarlet's 'reckless' behaviour when Ingrid points out to him that she may be a Mysteron but she's not indestructible. Nice touch, that. I also really liked her suggestion that Scarlet was a human psyche in a Mysteron shell and as such a man stranded between two worlds. 'When this is over at least we'll be company for each other' Astrid tells him. Very interesting and again something never even hinted at in the original. Also, when Destiny burst in and saved the two of them was there just a hint of jealousy in her voice when she said 'Looks like I got here just in time'?

I have some minor criticisms of the end though. It felt like a bit of a letdown - almost as if the second part of the story was still to come - and is it unfair to wonder why Spectrum didn't take a bit more care in their security arrangements re the final meeting? I suppose one could imagine that there were guards on the surrounding towers and that Black had taken them out but I would have preferred to have actually seen that on the screen. Still, overall 'Achilles Heel' was a satisfying capper to what's been an extremely entertaining half of a series. I'm going to miss this show and that's the biggest compliment one can pay a series.

[retrometabilized_duck]

boo yah! that episode rocked! i was a lil confuzzled at the beggining but i soon clicked. i loved the line "wat do we do now" "walk". very, very cool episode and i can't wait till next series.
retrometabilized_duck

[Sage]

Awesome episode

The opening was really good. Very intriguing.

Oh the mysteron army was so cool. You'd think they would just have retrometabolised agents, but hmm apparently not.

Did raise some very interesting questions about the mysterons and Scarlet.

Really like the new Captain Ochre, finally a female character who isn't annoying in that 'damsel in distress' way. Nice accent too. Good to see the revamped version of the Ochre & Blue pairing.

Ooh can't wait for the second series.

[Marion]

Seems to me there were a few plot gaps.
Scarlet blithly announces that the castle is well defended and Astrid is worrying unduly - cue 2 helicopters that arrive from nowhere, blast holes ih the castle walls and drop soldiers into the courtyard who storm the castle. So, Scarlet - where were the defenders providing the castle's sound defence??? I can't believe they'd all been given the evening off considering who they were (supposed) to be guarding. .
It also seems that Scarlet is putty in the hands of any blonde woman he encounters . No wonder Destiny was cross. Those two deserve each other .
The ending was fudged - if Black could shoot Astrid then - even if he didn't shoot Scarlet - you'd have thought he'd have taken pot shots at some of the others - especially White - as everyone seems to think eliminating the colonel would cripple Spectrum. (It would severely reduce their already depleted manpower- sure enough.)
Nice to see a new agent - the Lady Ochre was a sensible person - but Hazel's right, she did deserve a name check.
It does seem that Spectrum are short of personnel - twice in that episode, when you'd imagine the place would've been crawling with Spectrum security - the Mysterons were able to sneak up on them and do damage - the second time being the attack on Blue & Lady Ochre.
I hope he stopped off for his take-away afterwards...

[ROBE]

Overall a great episode, I loved it. However again the CGI series seems to suffer the same problem as the old, Spectrum seems to be really short of staff. Also how about a few heavily armed Spectrum commandos? I suggest anyone with some cash to spend and a DVD player buys Star Wars: Clone Wars, the Jedi all have loads of Clone Troopers as back up (okay they do tend to be cannon fodder). You need Captains leading units of support troops, not in every scene but when needed.