#thunderthoughts

Venom

And this is why you should always have someone else with you with this kind of thing because you never know what might happen!!! Please do not get cocky when you're around a highly venomous creature but nope that's exactly what he does and look what happens!!! And then of course the drone crashes because it can't avoid a vine (seems like a design flaw for something meant to zip through the Amazon rainforest, no?) so it's International Rescue to the Rescue!!!

(Listen I do get why Scott is so stressed about the T-Drive being built but like man, does he really not trust The Mechanic here??? Even after knowing he was only ever either under the Hood's control or trying desperately to get out of the Hood's control? Does he not trust Brains's handiwork??? Trust Brains's handiwork it's the least you can do-)

Anyway I really enjoyed seeing him and Kayo working together, they make such a good team and Scott's such a troll (which is the responsibility as the older brother) but please!!! Both of you!!!! Stop jinxing it!!!! 'Just a simple search and rescue operation' etc like no stop you are going to make it worse and so it does - falling into a river, nearly being swept down a waterfall, Kayo falling (has to be saved by Scott) and then Scott falling (has to be rescued by Kayo, luckily doesn't splat into the rock wall) and honestly the rope swing sequence just reminded me of when I've play Tomb Raider...and then they have to try and catch the stupid drone.

Meanwhile Virgil just does not have a good time but luckily isn't bitten by a spider (though I uh...would've thought your uniforms should be able to block it??? If not I'd get that sorted) and the herpatologist is saved (please don't go exploring on your own again)...and it turns out Kayo's afraid of butterflies and naturally Scott finds this fucking hilarious and immediately shares it, but Kayo's gonna get her revenge (good luck).

Regarding the sideplot I loved seeing Moffy again but again why is the security so shit and also Higgins what do you mean you wanna get rich look where you're working!!!!!!!!!!! One of the most advanced places on the fucking planet!!!!!!! And you still wanna make a quick buck????????????!!!!!!!!! Fuck off!!!! Fuck offffffffffff!!!!!

Firebreak

The rescue scouts are so freaking adorable and they actually handle the situation very well and absolutely love that Scott used to be one too???? Like honestly the moment I found out several months ago you guys hadn't, in fact, made up a whole-ass country I really should've figured you guys knew what you were talking about because a lot of it is actually canon and Scotty really is a falcon!!!!!!!! Which really fits, to be honest, and he's excellent at keeping the kids calm because he's just so good in command!!!

As always love the special effects as well, you really feel the heat coming from those fires and the danger is so very real and also very hard-hitting because of how many wildfires we get these days because we know just how destructive they can be and ultimately even the Thunderbird's equipment can't do much against it, ultimately they just have to lift the Crablogger and flood the whole place by blowing up a dam...but hey, it works and the kids are fine and have bright future ahead of them.

I also didn't consider that of course there's a launch window for the Zero-XL but I guess that tracks, like you have to be precise when going to the Moon or sending something to another planet, deep space is even more complicated to get to and Jeff Tracy doesn't really have any more years to wait. So the search is truly on!!!!

idk

but it sure seems like it

Back in the TB fandom - all series and all films - after years away and I have pointless things to say:

I hate that they switched Gordon and John's hair-colours in the new series. I loved Gordon as a ginger, not as a blonde. He had the most distinctive look; it was why he was my crush.

Sophia Myles was the best Lady Penelope. I will die on this hill. Love Rosamund Pike but she makes Penny sound like an airhead with a cold.

1960s Alan is my least favourite version of the character; I never warmed to him and it pissed me off that both of the original films both ended up being about him. Ironically, I love the 2004 Alan and I love what they've done with the new version, which feels like a mixture of his predecessors.

Been watching Titanic and I miss Bill Paxton. I loved his version of Jeff.

Fermat was adorable and I miss him.

Kayo is awesome. It feels like they put a fair bit of the 2004 version into the character.

Why does the new series have the characters randomly watching footage from the old series? I know it's meant to be a tribute but watching Kayo 'scanning for information' and just watching footage of her 1960s counterpart going diving with Colonel Casey is weird.

I'm glad the link between the Hood and IR is actually addressed first-hand. The Hood was never named during the series and it was kind of exasperating, as a kid, to have to refer to him as 'bald guy with glowing eyes' if you didn't have merch information to hand. Scott, Gordon and Brains were the ones who had the closest contact with the character in the original series, only Scott saw his face in full (TB4 was attacked and the Hood had his face hidden both times Brains saw him) and it was frustrating that they didn't fully KNOW. I'm glad now that they do.

Speaking of knowing, I'm glad that the boys don't have so much trouble with having to hide their identities; they're given a bit more freedom. As a kid, all the machines seem fun, but 20 years of fanfic have made me gradually realise: it's got to be hard living that kind of life, living separately from the rest of the world and in secret. Of course they all have each other, but family can be your best friend and your worst nightmare; older siblings feel responsible for and boss about the younger and the younger feel like they're not being heard. Plus, as proven by both Tim Casey and Eddie Houseman, it's difficult to maintain friendships with that level of secrecy.

Headcanon:  In Thundera, 17-year-olds are not legal minors.

I admit this one is a stretch, since there are so many other factors not accounted for in canon, not the least of which being the question of whether or not Thundera even has a legal age of majority in the first place.

Cos I've been meaning to do this for a while!!!! I've put it under a cut because it's long - I went from reviewing several episodes at once (while I was still getting a feel for the series), to three episodes at a time (most of S2), to finally two episodes at a time.

Anyway, hope you like :D

I've loved the original Thunderbirds ever since I was a kid, introduced to the show by a relative who'd watched it when it first came out all those years ago and thought I might like it, and they were right. I loved it so much, even had some episodes on video which I watched with alarming frequency (pretty sure at one point I could've quoted them I saw them that often). I loved the (1966) film too, had a model of Tracy Island and an annual I still own to this day. I also got into Captain Scarlet - I saw the modern one first because that was actively airing when I was a kid (can't believe it turned twenty last month like way to make someone feel old 😅😅) and later the puppet version, which I ended up preferring, but still had a soft spot for the new one nonetheless.

Skip forward ten years. The new show is on the horizon. I'm unsure about it but I figure hey, New Captain Scarlet wasn't awful and I was prepared to give Thunderbirds Are Go a chance. I'd seen previews on it, watched the documentary about it, how they were merging practical and CGI and I thought I'd like it, at least.

This didn't happen. I only made it about...six or seven episodes in before tapping out, something I'd learned was a good idea to do rather than push myself to watch a show I was repulsed by. I didn't like how different the characters looked, didn't like the voices, found the practical and CGI mix obvious and jarring to look at, appalled at the fact that they went with a teenage Alan when so far as I knew that was one of the reason by the 2004 movie tanked and I couldn't stand him. I left it and never expected to return to it - though four years later I did start reading fanfiction of it, but at least that way I didn't have to look at them and I could substitute the voices for the original ones.

In 2022 I got right back into the original series and watched the whole thing - two OCs and a story idea or several were born. I still read fanfiction sometimes but I didn't expect to ever get back into the show proper because I didn't like it, right?

But the creative mind works in mysterious ways - and once I'd had the thought of 'what would my OCs' TAG counterparts be like' that was it, even if I didn't realise it at the time. In the back of my head, the idea simmered and kept simmering and when I started really thinking about it...well, something had to be done. The idea wouldn't leave until it had been written, and how could I start writing something for a show I hadn't seen much of? It just wouldn't be right I was also curious to see what was canon, what was fanon, what was taken from the original series lore...and I also knew that there was every chance I might have also changed my mind about it because come on, it's been ten years, and I've changed quite a lot in ten years.

I made a decision - try and rewatch the show. Try and stick it out for at least the first season while reminding myself that I am absolutely not the target audience - the messages will be obvious because that is the point. So around two weeks ago this was what I did, and you know what?

I was right.

Because this is one of the best shows I've ever watched and I love it so so much!!! So much!!!!! Yes, there were adjustments to be made - I still wasn't overly keen on Alan at first, I still found the practical/CGI effects a little jarring and I was not all that impressed with some of the stock footage (why did Lady Penelope keep being driven down the same stretch of road at the same time of day and apparently at the same time of year???), and I do still think some episodes could benefit from being at least half an hour long...

But I love it. I really do. The characters, the storylines, the CGI, the references, the lot - I adore the Tracys and Kayo and Brains and Grandma and MAX and EOS, I love the recurring allies, and the new Hood is a great villain. I am now almost halfway through season 2 and I am having a whale of a time because it is fantastic and I just love it. I've a glut of new blorbos and I definitely see why all kinds of whump (especially the emotional kind) are such a favourite in the fandom because there's plenty of it within canon anyway so you might as well just run with it, and so you do. I've loved every single episode so far and it's just so much fun, and I'm so glad I gave it another chance. And even though the episodes are short, they pack such a punch every time - the original series had plenty of emotional moments, but the characters getting to be more vocallly and facially expressive when things are going to shit and when people they love are in danger...it just adds another layer to it, it really does, and I've been hit right in the feels so many times already.

And the fandom's been welcoming too - I especially appreciate the love my snippets and my OCs get because part of me always worries abotu writing fic in general, let alone when introducing my own characters, but I'm thrilled people seem to like them!! It means a lot and I look forward to writing more for the series in general, because I just know I'll be writing more canon compliant stuff too!!! So thank you because I really appreciate it.

Of course I also have plenty more thoughts - I wanted to give the show a proper chance before commenting so my S1 thoughts are likely to be in a big chunk later on, but I am considering posting thoughts for each episode from now on because I have... a lot of them. Like a lot.

(I am so glad it decided to keep the whole '2060s are great but sometimes people's stupidity/short-sightedness leads to shit going wrong' schtick but wow, doesn't make it any less frustrating to watch it happen like why would you do this?)

Me????? Finishing an entire TV show????? It's more likely than you think!!!!!!!!!!

The Long Reach Part 1

The Zero-XL looked fucking awesome like I wasn't aure how putting all the Thunderbirds together was gonna worked but holy shit it worked and I loved the Epic Hero Walk towards it (also the music turning out to be played by MAX 😂😂😂😂 never change my guy) and the drama of the Chaos Crew suddenly trying to derail it (although once again why is everything so easily hacked???? I really do think this season constantly undermines these villains by not actually making them work hard to achieve their goals like come on!!!! Make an effort!!!!!!) but they launch and even Five is part of the assembly and it's just so good!!!!!! And then they launch the T-Drive and it's brilliant like this is highly advanced tech and The Mechanic should be very proud (also he's part of the family now, no one can say no to Grandma Tracy)...and then the fact they still make the effort to try and find the Chaos Crew when it looks like they're in trouble because that is who International Rescue are!!!

(And while Havoc dismisses it, it's yet another chink in Fuse's armour - covers it excellently but yeah, he is really feeling the guilt about all of this, he's just in a sunk cost fallacy at the moment)

Oh the search, though, the search had me on the edge of my seat despite the fact I know it works out, I have known for five years that it worked out but as with several other plot points I already knew it doesn't matter, the writing is good enough to make me care and it does so through the reactions of the characters and especially the boys because this is their dad, they're looking for their dad, he's been gone for eight years and they want him back!!! Scott and John and Virgil and Gordon and Alan, this is all they've ever wanted and now they have this impossible chance and they're not turning back!!!!

And Jeff managing to survive in that planetoid for that long is truly impressive like holy shit, eight years in deep space how????? How?????? Like this, this is the stuff of fanfic fuel because eight. Years. And then he shows up just in time to save Scott, he already knew he had to leave to get to higher ground but he immediately knows when one of his boys is in trouble and I just love it!!!! I love it!!!! What a way to end the episode!!!!!!

(Side-eyeing Brains once again though like why put in a hack sensor if you're not actually going to take it seriously????? My guy!!!! Please!!!!!!)

The Long Reach Part 2

Listen, listen, I have seen gifs of the reunion before but that absolutely does not compare to seeing it on screen!!!!!!!!! So, so, so many feels and I teared up so many times during this two-parter because they're finally reunited their family is finally complete because Jeff Tracy is alive and the mission is complete and he knew they'd come!!!! He held onto the memories of his family and he knew they'd come!!!!!!!!!!!!! No doubt whatsoever and that's what makes a Tracy and I love it, the group hug means absolutely everything to me because no matter how old they are they'll always be his sons, his boys and just 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 it means so much to me and I loved loved loved it!!!!!!!

The Hood, meanwhile, continues to be an arrogant tosser but also what the fuck are you talking about 'the richest man in the universe' the only other life forms we've seen confirmed are a bioluminescent thing on Europa and bioluminescent things on Mars what the fuck are you talking about??????? How does that even work??????? What do you mean????????? I mean obviously it's as much showcasing his arrogance as anything else because like you know what, I think most advanced alien societies would be way beyond that point, they probably figured out deep-space travel decades if not centuries ago but also you are so obviously evil I feel like most of them are gonna be like 'nope' like fuck off!!!!!!!!! Get a life!!!!

And Jeff Tracy thinks the same like he all but calls the Hood a little bitch and I am all here for it like he really does need better goals (how terrible, having to think about such petty things as morals 🙄🙄🙄) and sure, you a dangerous villain but the most successful? Defeated at almost every turn and the only people you can convince to work for you are faceless, useless henchmen, someone who completely failed to shut down the Thunderbirds, and a couple of anarchists and anyone else you have to mind control - even your own niece wants nothing to do with you and he gets trussed up and thrown in a container as he deserves!!!

(Also go Brains and MAX they were going right after the Hood for that and I love it!!!)

The Battle for Tracy Island was also epic because no one was taking it lying down!!!!! The Mechanic immediately gets into the action because yeah, for whatever reason the Chaos Crew underestimated him and didn't consider that he'd be prepared to defend the people who saved him and treated him like a person, Kayo and Grandma manage to survive the flying tech and Parker pulls the genius move of setting Sherbert on Fuse which works he is terrifie of the tiny dog as he should be and then!!! Then!!!!! It turns out Tracy Island's ultimate weapon is Grandma Tracy herself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because in one of the funniest scenes in the entire damn series she stops Fuse in his tracks and successfully shames him for his actions like he knows when he's in the presence of a higher authority and there is none higher than Sally Tracy and he just feels so guilty!!!!!!! He shows genuine remorse and reveals his true name (Clarence!!!! Brilliant!!!!) and honestly doesn't make that much of an effort to escape (and for once the GDF show some initiative because turns out they were on the way the whole time - no one else would bother to completely wipe out communications except the Hood!!!!!!)

And Jeff Tracy returns home and we're reminded that he's not just a father but a son, a mentor, a friend and International Rescue is finally complete. Alan graduates (he's eighteen!!!! Can you believe it????) and everyone's there and very proud but then it's right back to work!!!!! And Jeff Tracy is back in command and it's just one of the best series finales to anything, ever and I am so, so glad I gave this show a second chance because it has been a real journey and I've loved every single minute of it!!!!

I will make an official conclusion post later on just as an overall analysis but yeah, I'm just so happy to have a) seen the entirety of a TV show because that does not often happen and b) just having decided to give it another go!!!!! It's been fun and I love it and it's heartwarming to know that at least one version of Thunderbirds had a complete run!!!!!