Basic ep premise = entirely ••••••.
9 year old James Bond. OK.
OK, those red dots remove expletives. The expletive I used there was the word s t u p i d .
The armoured vehicle (1) that reports in near the end was not one of the pair (I think it was 7 and 8) that were sent out.
I had never seen Joe 90 until the recent Fanderson Convention in Coventry. But I got to see it then (in fact, this episode) as no one else ever has--- in pristine digital DVD format! It's great! The series is due out on DVD fairly soon, so those of you who've loved the show forever need to start saving your pennies!
The armoured vehicles were reused in Business Holiday.
I just picked up the DVD set for this today, and it's pretty cool. After watching Fireball XL5 and Supercar recently, the bright colors and the realistic puppets were rather a shock. I also noticed that they've come much closer to their dream of invisible wires--I was halfway through the episode when it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't seen any! Once I thought to look for them, I could find them, but even then they were very unobtrusive.
I rather liked the little touches, such as Mac playing around with his glasses, and the still shot at the end showing him yanking on his tie.
Joe the kid, I understand, was actually voiced by a male child, rather than an adult female pretending to be a boy. As a result, he actually sounds like a kid--especially at the end, when he says "When do I get my badge?" Never mind the incredible scientific breakthrough, and the other handy dandy gadgets he will receive--he wants that badge!
Having them suddenly go to a series of still shots at the end, overlaid by the arguing voices, was rather effective, I think--and probably a lot easier than trying to stage that scene "live".
I would like to know just how they managed to persuade Prof. McClaine to allow his nine-year old son to go jumping into situations where angels would fear to tread.
Another thing that I didn't understand--at the beginning, when Sam asked how long the effect of the transference would last, Mac said, something like "until the electrodes are removed." In other words, as soon as he removed the equipment, the knowledge will either fade out or vanish instantly. However, in this "what if?" mission, and the following "real" missions, the knowledge seems to be locked into Joe's brain indefinitely, and becomes accessible when Joe puts on the special glasses. He can delay putting them on, he can take them off (or have them knocked off) for a fair amount of time, yet when he puts them back on, the knowledge is still there waiting for him. At what point will the knowledge disappear completely?
I'm also enjoying spotting the "actors" from Captain Scarlet!
Near the end of the episode, we discover that the whole thing has been a "what if" scenario dreamed up by Shane Weston. Taken in this context, the "personal" scene with Sam and Joe ("I'd rather fly with you, Uncle Sam,") doesn't really fit in.
We hear the one single reference to Mac's wife at the end, and you have to listen carefully. I missed it the first time, in the clash of all those shouting voices. At one point, Mac said, "Since Mary died...."
It's interesting what you can read into the voice tones. Shane Weston seemed very excited about the idea of using Joe as an agent--but only as an idea. When Joe actually addressed Shane directly, person-to-person, Shane seemed taken aback, and answered rather tentatively. In later episodes, he would sound more comfortable talking with Joe.
Oh, yes--there was a kind of visual nit near the beginning. After they finished interviewing Joe with his father's brain patterns, it showed them standing in the elevator, from the back. Sam Loover was nearly a head shorter than Mac. The scene cut to a forward shot of them in the elevator, and Sam was seen as taller than Mac. (According to the bio, Sam is one inch taller than Mac, and Shane one inch taller than Sam.)