Thunderbirds Are Go 204 - Thunderbird 4A family are trapped underwater in the ruins of Bay City – but why is the Mechanic so interested in the area?

Again, we’ve got a story that focuses primarily on the rescue, even with the Mechanic on the scene – with Penelope and Parker dealing with him while Gordon and Kayo concentrate on rescuing the family. It feels like there have been far more extreme close ups of the characters and the vehicles in the first four episodes of this series than there were in the entire first twenty-six episodes, and it’s definitely helping to sell the situations better.

The humour is deriving from the characters a bit more too: Gordon the slob is told off for the untidy interior of Thunderbird 4, but the minute that they get to the rescue zone, he and Kayo are pretty much all business, with the latter proving that she can step in to any of the other craft and operate them with some style. The “Thunderbirds are Go” motif is also getting a little gentle ribbing – there’s some this week as Thunderbird 2 leaves Tracy Island, and the jokes in episode 5 became the focus of one of the advance clips. It all serves to humanise the characters a bit more.

Verdict: Some good underwater moments (bar the initial pan below the surface!) in an entertaining episode. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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