Episode 20: Fallen Angels

[Conrad Lefkon]

20. FALLEN ANGELS

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Mr Toucan is the most endearing creature in the entire series. What a fine fellow he is!

STORY
1. NCS HALL OF FAME

You can read a synopsis of this story at the following location: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gerry_Anderson%27s_New_Captain_Scarlet_epi sodes

The highlighted main characters appear in ‘Fallen Angels'.

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2. CAPTAIN BLACK’S REPORT

The Mysterons want to kill all the world leaders who will be attending a Summit Conference at a top secret location. As Colonel White will be attending the gathering, Captain Scarlet is left in charge. Rather than follow any one of those leaders and thus discover the rendezvous the Mysterons prefer to take over the pilots of 4 Canadian vampire jets and engage the Angels in an aerial dogfight.

Having shot down the Angels or caused them to crash over a desert island the Mysterons take over a gang of pirates and instruct them to force the Angels to tell them the location of the Summit. As it happens, it would have been just as easy for the vampire jets to follow Colonel White and the Spectrum aircraft as that was where they were headed anyway.

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I like the way the flocks of birds give perspective to the size of the recently active volcano.

3. GUEST ARTISTS

The leader of the pirate gang is an intelligent and ruthless one-armed woman called Vane. She has a mechanical arm with a particularly sinister steel hand capable of crushing rocks and which she uses to intimidate her crew. I didn’t like the characterisation of Vane although her brown/blue eye combination seemed to be a nod to David Bowie who also suffered an eye injury (I am a fan – of Bowie, not eye injuries!).

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Vane, Twiggy and David Bowie. Bowie is an artist and a genius. Now where have I heard that before?

[Conrad Lefkon]

CONTENT

4. CHARACTERISATION AND VOICE WORK

There are 4 pirates in the gang consisting of Vane - the female leader, Kreuger - a musclebound musclehead with a nasty scar, O'Brien - a South African with a red Mohican haircut and Chang - a slippery oriental deckhand.

Destiny proves herself to be a one-woman Commando-type by disposing of all 4 pirate replicants. O'Brien falls into an animal trap and breaks his neck while Chang is kicked to the ground while trying to get a good vantage spot up a tree.

Kreuger's death is more dramatic. He appears to trap Destiny on the edge of a cliff but she has tied herself to a safety rope and she deliberately makes them both fall off the cliff as he lunges at her with a knife. Finally, Vane is thrown or pushed into the lava of the volcano which is now errupting more vigorously than the one in Iceland.

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O'Brien gets hit where it hurts! How silly men are (in this episode, at least).

5. VEHICLES AND TECHNOLOGY

Here is a vampire jet creeping up behind one of the Angels during the dogfight. It is evident that Skybase must be nearby as it is only necessary for Destiny to abort her landing and in a few minutes she is involved in the combat. The air battles are quite exciting but it is difficult to capture screenshots as the motion blurs the image. I feel a little sorry for the vampire pilots because their aircraft don't contain escape pods.

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How many times has Colonel Walter been Mysteronised and then killed in combat?!

6. MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS

The score is as good as always.

7. LOCATIONS, SETS AND LIGHTING

The lighting and scenery in this story is often quite breathtaking and how could you not love Mr Toucan at the top of this review? The sea is a beautiful blue and the palm trees wave very nicely. The forest floor and lighting were superbly realised and there were some nice birds, including a pelican which accompanies the Angels when they leave in the pirates' ship.

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"Wish you were here?" - signed Judith Chalmers.

8. MOTION CAPTURE

The Angels came across as if they had been motion captured by the same artist. Admittedly, they look and move really well but there was no individuality at all. The way they ran together, fell backwards together (due to an explosion) and laughed at the same time made them seem like identical triplets!

By contrast, I really quite liked the characters and animation of O’Brien, Kreuger and Chang – particularly the first two although Chang moved really well. Incidentally, the pirates have an unbelievable arsenal of weapons and yet somehow none of the Angels gets hit.

Vane says there will be no need to go and get Destiny because she will come to them (as the pirates have Harmony and Melody prisoner). Yet within a couple of minutes, after Destiny fires a flaming arrow into their hiding place, the pirates abandon their plan and venture forth into the darkness of the island so that they can be picked off one by one.

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Here is Chang waiting to be made a fool of by someone with a superior intellect.

[Conrad Lefkon]

SUMMARY

9. OVERALL COMMENTS

A lot of work has gone into this highly colourful episode but I am sorry to say that it annoys me more than any other. The overall look is tremendous but I feel offended by the story itself which seems like an exercise in either women’s lib or political correctness, I’m not sure which.

My problem is that there is no valid Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons storyline here at all and that this just seems to be a vehicle to make the Angels look clever and superior. It’s almost as if Gerry had insisted on an episode showcasing the female contingent of NCS.

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Melody enjoys a scalp massage.

10. EPISODE RATING

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Rating 2 out of 5

TRIVIA

11. “I GUESSTIMATE THE PYRENEES” (Plot Accelerators)

There is no plot to accelerate! Having said that, it is evident that Skybase must be flying very near the desert island on which the Angels eventually crash. The logic for this is that Destiny is about to land, having returned from another mission, when she overshoots the runway. Within a few minutes she has linked up with the other Angels in their fight with the vampire squadron.

Indeed, I am not sure why the writer bothered with Destiny's slight diversion unless it was to give Harmony a brief opportunity to take charge and cry "Break! Break!" when the vampires attacked!

12. “WHAT ABOUT SCARLET?” (Other Captains do some work)

The Angels do all the work or, more specifically, Destiny does all the work. Melody and Harmony were shot down in combat but Destiny was simply 'unlucky' as her plane was the victim of collateral damage.

Not only that but Melody and Harmony are silly enough to get themselves captured and so it is up to Destiny to rescue them using all the tricks she has learned in the Girl Guides. She fashions a knife and bow and arrow and arranges some booby traps for the slow witted pirates.

13. “THEY NOT ONLY FIGHT IN THE SHADOWS BUT MARSHALL THOSE SHADOWS AGAINST US” (The latest Mysteron powers)

We don't see the vampire pilots being Mysteronised but we do see the pirate crew being killed by bio-hazard vapours. The latest Mysteron skill is apparently an ability to read someone's mind by grabbing their head firmly using a mechanical prosthetic hand!

14. “MY INDESTRUCTIBLE BUTT” (Scarlet defies death)

Scarlet doesn't do any work in this episode but risks getting sores on his behind and having them fried in Colonel White's 'hotseat'. Not a pleasant thought! I thought that Scarlet's face was particularly well animated during his good-humoured conversation with Lieutenant Green. His dancing, expressive face and twinkling eyes were top notch.

15. “GO OUT THERE AND GET IT BACK!” (Damage and destruction of Spectrum property)

Two Angel aircraft are shot down and a third is destroyed by shrapnel from another plane. So 3 Spectrum craft worth millions are destroyed and yet within seconds of Destiny parachuting to the ground she is flirting with Scarlet and laughing with Harmony and Melody!

16. “WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY” (Nods to other films and shows)

When Vane is thrown into the lava the last thing you see is her mechanical hand as it disappears into the cauldron. I think this happened in one of the Terminator films.

As already mentioned, Vane's 2 colour eye configuration seems to be a salute to David Bowie whose is naturally blue eyed but had an eye damaged by one of his boyhood friends.

I am sure that most fans will have noticed that the name of the research ship looted and blown up by the pirates was called 'The Four Feathers' in acknowledgement of the western series 'Four Feather Falls'.

17. MONKEY MAN AND FRIENDS (NCS Repertory Company)

There are no Repertory Company stalwarts on holiday on this desert island.

CORRECTION: Colonel Walter must be regarded as the Mysterons' honorary member of the Repertory Company!

18. RUBBERY LEGS AND FACELIFTS (Dodgy key-framing and other anomalies)

There is one amusing moment when Melody and the girls, having just been captured by the pirates, were using the element of surprise to fight back and escape. Melody struts towards O'Brien in a most wooden and unnatural way, as if she is wearing 10 pound shoulder pads, before he gets punched in the back by Destiny and kneed in the unmentionables by Harmony.

Harmony showcases her vocal talents by warning Destiny of the old animal trap in an Australian accent even though she is supposed to be from the deep south of America. I see that Harmony's real name is Rebecca Drake which somehow doesn't seem to square with her being an American citizen.

19. LOOSE ENDS

The whole story is a loose end waiting to happen.

20. BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT! (In-jokes)

If you look carefully at the dollars you will see that it is Gerry's head on every note. Incidentally, who is that in the photo - it looks a bit like George Clooney and are those his false teeth on the left?

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VANE: "If there's one thing I like better than a billionaire on a boat... it's two!"

As Destiny and the girls use jet-skis to escape the river of lava which is burning everything in its path and head out to sea you can see a dolphin or porpoise roll in the surf as they head for deeper water.

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You get a glimpse of the porpoise as it follows the jet-skis.

21. SPECTRUM GOODIE BAG (Colour coordinated bling!)

No goodies washed up on the shore. Captain Ochre gets the chance to improve her mind by reading the Colonel's copy of the book, 'Instrument of Destruction'. Incidentally, the Colonel's put-down of Captain Blue when he disturbs Ochre's reading is almost cruel in its delivery: "Gung-ho heroics are all very well but ..." Cringe!

[Steve Gerard]

Conrad Lefkon yet another brilliant analysis of episode 20 "Fallen Angels". Well done!

[Conrad Lefkon]

Hello Steve,
Thanks once again for your kind comments. Not many episodes to go but I will make 'Dominion' my last review rather than 'Grey Skulls'. :D

[Chrisof]

I do agree with you review, it was a pretty naff episode but looked cool. The air battle looked cool too despite the entire angel squad being shot down.

[Steve Gerard]

Conrad Lefkon , great idea. All of your reviews of the episodes of NCS are a priceless resource for information.