Thunderbirds we have a problem!!!

As I stated in my last episode review, Steptoe and Son, today's show I will be looking at is Thunderbirds Episode 31 Ricochet. The randomizer controls my fate sometimes it will pick show I love to watch alot of and sometimes it will pick a show I don't want to see much. Even if the randomizer chooses a show I love it can always pick the one episode from the show I just don't like or love to death. How did the randomizer do today? The randomizer chose Thunderbirds a Gerry Anderson production featuring Supermarionation. Some of the best special effects for film and telivision were being done for this show. I love watching the show and it can make the effects on Doctor Who and Star Trek look just plain stupid. Thunderbirds follows the Tracy family as they control the International Rescue Corp team where they perform rescue missions, fight bad guys, and more. Even though I have seen the show quite a bit I still think for some reason the five vehicles or six if you count Thunderbird Six form up together to form some kind of giant robot to protect the Earth, but I guess that shows you I watched to much Voltron and Power Rangers as a kid. The system could not of picked a better show for me to watch, but is the episode one that I care for?

Episode Overview: I'm going to keep this simple because it is a long episode, but not much goes on in my opinion. Tin Tin loves the music from a manned Radio Station from space featuring KLA's announcer Ricochet and a technician. The rest of the Tracy family can't stand it. Transmissions from the station keep going on as normal. Fast forward International Science research launch a rogue missile into space that they lose control of they try everything to gain control, but can't so they end up exploding it in space. Unknown to the world KLA's satellite was in its path. The technician for KLA decides to explore the outside of the ship for damage. He finds out the damage is unrepairable and that the satellite is on reentry path for Earth without any parachutes to break the fall, but that is not the worst of it the airlock door is stuck and he can't get back in. In a desperate call for help Ricochet decides to put out a transmission for help in hope that someone in the world is listening and can get them help. KLA is in luck the only person listening to their transmissions in the world is Tin Tin who lives the Tracy family. She tells the family what is going on they decide to launch Thunderbird 2 with Brains and Virgil for help within the Earth and Thunderbird 3 with Alan performing the rescue from space. Thunderbird 3 arrives in space on the same projectory path as the KlA satellite. Alan rescues the technician and with less than four minutes left to go he tries to rescue ricochet, but your left hanging to know what happens. The satellite is now in Earth's orbit with a direct path of an oil refinery in the middle east. Thunderbird 2 catches up with and decides they must blow up the satellite to save the refinery and people in it, but out of no where another radio transmission with Ricochet comes across and with no way of telling if he is in there or not, both brains and Virgil decide it is inhumane to blow up the ship with him in it. So they decide to play bumper cars with the satellite to knock it off course. Which they did, but not the ship is stuck to their wing so they lift up shake it off and the ship goes into the uninhabited desert and crashes. A few moments later Virgil and Brains say how they feel bad that they couldn't save Ricochet, but they see a tv transmission come across the air with ricochet live and they are confused. Alan explains that he hit the tape button when trying to get Ricochet off the ship. So what they heard was a prerecorded transmission of Ricochet. Credits Roll

Episode Review: Overall this is one of my least favorite episodes of Thunderbirds I have watched for various reasons. The episode looks as if it recycled alot of old footage from previous episodes so some sequences involving the ships looks like the video quality is down compared to the rest of the episode. The episode Ricochet itself seemed like a standard throw away episode and nothing stood out to make me want to remember the episode. Virgil and Brain's decision not to fire the missile at the satellite to blow it up also seems kind of dumb. Either way Ricochet is going to die. Firing the missiles and blowing up the satellite would of been the easy and almost guaranteed way to save the refinery. Playing bumper cars with the satellite not knowing if you could knock it off course and with the possibility of killing hundreds of people seems ludicrous. Just to add insult the satellite is stuck to your wing with supposedly Ricochet still in there you can't land the plane heroically to save him. Instead you knock off the satellite once pass the city to send Ricochet to death real humane. I can try to knock on the episode more their are some bright sides to the episode the technology, special effects, and the suspense is still there that I come from watching Thunderbirds is still there. The effects are light years ahead of what of shows done 10 years ahead of it just compare Thunderbirds to Wonder Woman and the invisible plane flown by Barbie. I just can't help but to laugh. On a side note when it comes time for a Blu Ray release in HD, Network can you please use CGI to remove the lines from the characters. I am not asking for much to be changed without hurting the integrity of the show.

Tonight's Show: Space 1999 Episode 12 Voyager's Return Another Gerry Anderson Show. The Randomizer has decided my fate and their is nothing I can do, but hope for the best.