‘DANGER AT OCEAN DEEP’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is a ‘Thunderbirds’ episode that I don’t really regard that highly. It’s decent enough, but after revisiting it recently on DVD, I’m not sure I fully understand the plot and the ending was unsatisfying.
In this episode, the Ocean Pioneer tanker gets lost in a mysterious fog whilst at sea before it suddenly explodes. There is no explanation for why the Ocean Pioneer exploded in the first place. 😐
The crewmembers aboard that Ocean Pioneer include the Ocean Pioneer I commander (voiced by John Tate), Captain Johnson (voiced by Ray Barrett) and 1st Officer Collins (voiced by David Graham).
Six weeks later, the sistership Ocean Pioneer II gets launched. Lady Penelope oversees the launch of Ocean Pioneer II at Lord Worden’s approval (voiced by Peter Dyneley). But there is something amiss.
The champagne bottle Lady Penelope used to send the ship off had been switched by Parker who shares a drink with Chauffer Stevens (voiced by John Tate). I believe Stevens is Lord Worden’s driver.
It was funny to see Parker being drunk whilst inside FAB 1. Lady Penelope doesn’t approve of Parker’s behaviour here. She will have to wait till Parker’s sober before she’s able to return home. 😀
On Tracy Island, the International Rescue team have watched Ocean Pioneer II’s launch on the TV news and receive a report from Penelope. They’re curious on why the first Ocean Pioneer exploded.
They fear the same thing will happen to Ocean Pioneer II since it’s going on an identical mission the first Ocean Pioneer went on. Eventually however, John aboard Thunderbird 5 contacts the IR team. 🙂
Apparently a typhoon has hit an island somewhere in the Pacific and damaged a hospital. The foundations are crumbling and the patients are in danger. Scott is sent off in Thunderbird 1 instantly.
Virgil in Thunderbird 2 is sent out as well, taking Pod 3 with him. Alan can’t go with Virgil since he’s to relieve John from Thunderbird 5. Gordon is sent in his place instead. Gordon is happy. Alan is sad.
Problems then ensue when Scott tries to make contact with Tracy Island again. His signal breaks up as International Rescue have trouble with their communications network. Virgil has problems too. 😐
The situation worsens as the picture becomes messy and there’s no sound when Scott and Virgil try to call in. Brains deduces they’ve lost contact with Thunderbird 5. IR is lost without communications!
Alan and Brains go up in Thunderbird 3 to check out what the problem is with John aboard Thunderbird 5. Alan relieves John of his duties and John and Brians return home in Thunderbird 3. 😐
Taking the recording of the interference from Thunderbird 5, Brains makes a discovery back on Tracy Island. He deduces the Liquid Alsterene can be highly explosive in presence of a variety of sea algae.
This is how the interference with IR’s communication network is caused. I’m not sure how that works, but it explains how the Ocean Pioneer I exploded. The same can happen to Ocean Pioneer II!
The crew aboard Ocean Pioneer II includes the captain (voiced by John Tate), his No. 2 (voiced by David Graham) and Lt. Jensen (voiced by Matt Zimmerman). They’re heading toward a mist of doom.
Once realising that Ocean Pioneer II will have communication problems like they and Ocean Pioneer I had, the International Rescue set out to save Ocean Pioneer II’s crew just before the ship explodes.
Scott is in Thunderbird 1 and John accompanies Virgil aboard Thunderbird 2. It was nice to see John be actively part of a rescue mission for a change. I believe this might be the only rescue that he does.
This is ironic since John stated that he’s done a dozen of these missions before! This is something we’ve not seen before in ‘Thunderbirds’ and I’m surprised we haven’t seen John do more missions.
In the end, the IR team saves the crew of Ocean Pioneer II before it explodes out at sea in the thick mist of something called OD-60. I’m annoyed the ending was rushed in how things were resolved. 😐
I would have liked more time spent in how the OD-60 problem was resolved as it seems to be left un-talked about. ‘Danger At Ocean Deep’ is a decent episode, but I can’t regard it as one of the best.
‘Danger At Ocean Deep’ rating – 7/10
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